Balance 
Shopify's built-in deposits vs Balance Due
If you are on Shopify Plus you may already have deposits. If you are not, you need an app. Either way the work starts after checkout.
At a glance
Shopify's help centre has the current scope of the built-in feature on your plan.
- Built-in deposits
- Shopify Plus only
- Balance Due
- Basic, Shopify, Advanced and Plus
- Same checkout
- Yes, both use deferred purchase options
- Balance schedule
- Shopify's, or yours
- Hold until paid
- Manual or Flow, or automatic
- Cost
- Included in Plus, or from free
What Shopify includes
Shopify's built-in deposits and partial payments are available to Shopify Plus stores and let you offer a deposit on selected products with the remaining balance recorded as payment terms on the order (see Shopify's help centre for the current scope on your plan). Stores on Basic, Shopify and Advanced do not get the merchant-facing feature, but every plan supports the underlying mechanism, deferred purchase options, which is what deposit apps build on. That is why Balance Due works without Plus.
The built-in feature takes the deposit and records the balance. What happens afterwards, the reminders, the retries, the hold and the follow-up, is left to Shopify's standard notifications, to Flow, or to you.
Plus gives you the deposit. The balance, the hold and the chasing are still yours unless something handles them.
What an app adds on any plan
The plan editor
Percentage or fixed, by product, collection or tag, with your own storefront wording.
The collection process
A scheduled charge at 9am store time, retries with payment links, an overdue flag and merchant alerts.
Reminders and the customer page
Schedule, reminder, receipt and overdue messages by email and text, each linking to a payment page with pay now.
The hold and the reconciliation
An automatic Shopify fulfilment hold released when the order is paid, and order edits, refunds and payments taken elsewhere reconciled against the order.
Side by side
| Shopify built-in (Plus) | Balance Due (any plan) | |
|---|---|---|
| Available on Basic, Shopify, Advanced | No | Yes |
| Deposit at native checkout | Yes | Yes |
| Balance charged from saved card | Yes, per Shopify's schedule | Yes, on your schedule |
| Charge when you mark the order ready | Check help centre | Yes |
| Retry ladder and overdue process | Check help centre | Yes |
| Reminders and receipts | Shopify notifications | Yes, plus texts |
| Fulfilment hold until paid | Manual or Flow | Automatic |
| Instalments | Check help centre | No, a deposit and one balance |
| Cost | Included in Plus | From free |
Which is the better fit
When the built-in feature is enough
A Plus store with a simple deposit and one balance date, and a team that is happy to manage holds and follow-up in Flow or by hand.
- You are on Plus already
- One fixed balance date per product suits every order
- You have Flow automations for holds and follow-up, or the volume is small enough to do by hand
When Balance Due is the better fit
Any store that is not on Plus, and Plus stores that want the follow-up handled and the balance charged when the work is done rather than on a date.
- You are not on Plus
- You want the follow-up process, reminders and holds handled for you
- You want the balance charged when you mark the order ready rather than on a fixed date
The three routes for a non-Plus store
A deposit app, the draft-order workaround, or an upgrade to Plus. The guide to deposits without Plus weighs all three. The short version: the workaround works for a handful of orders a year and becomes admin work beyond that, and upgrading to Plus only for deposits is the expensive route, after which you may still want an app for the follow-up.
On Plus, use one or the other per product. A product with Shopify's own deposit option should not also carry a Balance Due plan.
If Shopify brings deposits to every plan
Possibly it will. Shopify moved B2B features to all plans in 2026, so it could happen. Balance Due would still handle the collection process on top: the schedule you choose, the ready trigger, the retries, the reminders, the hold and the customer page. The built-in feature takes the deposit; the app is for everything after it.
Related
Shopify deposits without Shopify Plus
The practical guide.
Fulfilment hold
Automatic on every Balance Due plan.
Pricing
From free.
Depo alternative
Flat monthly price instead of a percentage of every order.
Downpay alternative
Similar model, GBP pricing, holds and reminders on every plan.
Depositly alternative
Newer apps compared on what actually happens after checkout.
Questions
Can Balance Due run alongside Shopify's built-in deposits on Plus?
Use one or the other per product. A product with Shopify's own deposit option should not also carry a Balance Due plan.
Will Shopify bring deposits to every plan?
Possibly. Shopify moved B2B features to all plans in 2026, so it could happen. Balance Due would still handle the collection process on top.
Does Balance Due use the same mechanism as the built-in feature?
Yes. Both create deferred purchase options, so the checkout, the payment terms on the order and the saved card are the same.
Can the built-in feature charge the balance when I mark an order ready?
Check Shopify's help centre for the current scope. Balance Due's ready rule charges the balance when you press mark ready, with an outer limit of up to 365 days.
Does the built-in feature hold fulfilment?
Not automatically. A hold can be placed by hand or through Flow. Balance Due places and releases the hold itself.
What does Balance Due cost on Plus?
The same as on any plan: free for up to 3 open payment plans, then £19.99, £49.99 or £99.99 a month in GBP through Shopify.
Does Balance Due need any Plus-only API?
No. Deferred purchase options, payment terms, payment mandates and fulfilment holds are available to apps on every plan.
Try it on a test order
The fastest comparison is a deposit order on your own dev store with Shopify's test gateway.