Shopify subscription draft orders: checkout and limits

Shopify’s 28 October 2026 release lets merchants add subscription products to draft orders and send customers an invoice to finish the purchase. It gives assisted sales a route into recurring purchases while keeping review and payment with the customer.

Prepare the purchase, then send it for checkout

The draft-order guide supports recurring and prepaid subscriptions alongside one-time products. Configure a purchase option in a subscriptions app, add the product to Orders → Drafts, choose Add purchase option and select its plan. Save, then send an invoice or checkout link. Completing checkout creates the order and subscription.

Marking these drafts paid or taking a credit-card payment in the admin is still described as coming soon. Do not apply the general draft-order payment instructions to this subscription workflow.

Check the limits before quoting

Subscriptions cannot be added for a B2B company, to bundles or custom items, or as preorder or try-before-you-buy options. Custom and locked prices are unavailable, although discounts remain possible. Payment terms and deposits affect only the first order. The selected shipping rate also applies only initially; recurring deliveries use the lowest available rate.

The recurring subtotal excludes shipping, taxes, duties and discounts. Our recommendation is to review both the first payment and the ongoing arrangement with the customer rather than quoting that subtotal as a final recurring charge.

Before introducing the workflow to a sales team, run a test purchase with the subscription app you actually use. Check the plan, cancellation information, confirmation and resulting subscription record. Make clear who handles a correction after checkout. We have checked the documentation, not tested a live merchant installation.