Subscriptions supported in draft orders
Source: Shopify Product Changelog
Shopify Adds Subscription Support to Draft Orders
What Changed
Shopify now allows merchants to add subscription products to draft orders. Previously, draft orders in Shopify admin were limited to one-time purchase items, which meant subscription-based products from subscription apps could not be included in manually created orders. With this update, merchants can build a draft order containing subscription items, send the customer an invoice, and the customer receives a checkout link to review and complete payment for their recurring purchase.
This closes a gap for merchants who handle sales through phone orders, B2B wholesale arrangements, or customer service workflows where staff manually create orders on behalf of customers rather than relying on the standard storefront checkout flow.
Why This Matters for App Developers
Developers building subscription apps on Shopify should review how their app’s subscription contracts and selling plans interact with the draft order object. Since subscription products rely on selling plans attached to variants, apps need to confirm their selling plan groups are correctly recognized when merchants add these products through the draft order interface rather than the storefront.
Apps that generate custom checkout experiences, invoicing tools, or admin dashboards for subscription management should test draft order creation flows to ensure compatibility. This is particularly relevant for apps serving B2B merchants or those offering assisted selling features where staff frequently create orders manually.
Practical Implications
Developers should verify that webhooks and APIs related to draft order creation and completion correctly fire for orders containing subscription items, and that subscription contracts are properly established once payment is collected through the invoice link. Testing edge cases, such as draft orders mixing one-time and subscription products, is recommended before rolling out updates to production apps. Refer to Shopify’s official documentation for current API behavior and field support related to this change.