Although theme updates are always free to download, Shopify does not always offer an automated theme upgrade process. While very recent versions of themes can be updated in an automated fashion, this process will fail if there are any customizations made to the code. This includes any code that is added via an app. As a result, upgrading your theme version to gain new features and bug fixes can be an extremely daunting process. Doing it yourself involves downloading the latest version of the theme, setting up all the theme options again, copying over any code customizations you've done, and reinstalling any apps you're using that affect the customer-facing portions of your site. We can take this stress away from you and help you complete a theme upgrade. The process starts with this audit to determine how much time will be needed. Why is an audit needed? Unfortunately, we can't simply offer a fixed price for a theme upgrade because the amount of time required varies from one store to another. For example, for a store that doesn't have many apps and hasn't done a lot of custom code work on their theme, it can only take a few hours to do the upgrade. On another store with tons of apps and custom coding, it can take 20+ hours. The reason is because we don't know what all files have been edited and what the coding does. It pretty much requires file-by-file scrutiny which is very time-consuming, and these jobs are also very difficult to quote accurately. What is the average cost of a theme update? The vast majority of projects range between $350–$800, depending on your store’s complexity. If your theme is lightly customized and already OS 2.0 compatible, it could be even less. More complex stores (e.g. older themes, heavy custom code, third-party integrations) may be higher. What if I choose not to move forward with the upgrade? You are under no obligation to continue with the theme upgrade service after receiving our quote, but please be advised that the audit fee is non-refundable. If you do choose to move forward with the upgrade, the audit fee will be rolled into your upgrade cost.
