Free vs paid preorder features
Which preorder features are free and which require a paid STOQ plan.
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Use this reference if you want to know which preorder features work on the Free plan and which need a paid one. Locked features show a lock icon and an Upgrade link next to them in the STOQ dashboard until you upgrade.
Feature comparison
Section titled “Feature comparison”Offer scheduling
Section titled “Offer scheduling”| Feature | Free | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Always-on offer (manually enable / disable) | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduled start date | No | Yes |
| Scheduled end date | No | Yes |
| Date-range scheduling (start + end) | No | Yes |
Schedule options live in the Status panel of the offer editor. On the Free plan only “Available now” and “Not available” radio buttons are active; the three scheduled options each carry a lock icon.
Payment
Section titled “Payment”| Feature | Free | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Full payment at checkout | Yes | Yes |
| Partial payment / deposit at checkout | Yes | Yes |
| Full + partial payment (customer’s choice) | Yes | Yes |
| Preorder discount | Yes | Yes |
| Manual payment collection (charge from Shopify admin or STOQ Reports) | Yes | Yes |
| Automatic payment collection, on a scheduled date | No | Yes |
| Automatic payment collection, when the order ships | No | Yes |
Automatic payment collection is shown as a selectable card next to “I’ll collect it manually” in the payment settings. On the Free plan clicking the automatic card opens the upgrade modal instead of enabling the option.
Fulfillment setup
Section titled “Fulfillment setup”| Feature | Free | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Single shipping timeline for all products | Yes | Yes |
| Unfulfilled / Scheduled / On hold fulfillment status | Yes | Yes |
| Per-product shipping timelines (a different timeline for each product) | No | Yes |
| Split fulfillments (in-stock ships immediately, preorder ships later) | No | Yes |
| Hold all fulfillments (held until you release them) | No | Yes |
| Separate orders for mixed preorders (experimental) | No | Yes |
On the Free plan, the “Different timeline for each product” radio button and the Split fulfillments, Hold fulfillments, and Separate orders checkboxes each show a lock icon and are disabled.
Order limits and customer controls
Section titled “Order limits and customer controls”| Feature | Free | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Total quantity limit on an offer | Yes | Yes |
| Show quantity remaining as plain text | Yes | Yes |
| Show quantity as counter/progress bar | No | Yes |
| Require customer to accept terms (acknowledgement checkbox) | No | Yes |
| Min/max units per order | No | Yes |
| Restrict mixed-cart orders (block preorder + in-stock in same cart) | No | Yes |
All four paid features in this section are in the Limits & terms panel of the offer editor and display lock icons on the Free plan.
Markets (geographic targeting)
Section titled “Markets (geographic targeting)”| Feature | Free | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Offer available in all markets (default) | Yes | Yes |
| Restrict offer to specific Shopify markets | No | Yes |
The “Specific markets” radio button in the Markets panel is disabled with a lock icon on the Free plan.
Product types
Section titled “Product types”| Feature | Free | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Manually select specific product variants | Yes | Yes |
| Collection-based product type | No | Yes |
| All products source | No | Yes |
On the Free plan the “Collection” and “All products” radio buttons in the Products panel are disabled with lock icons.
Countdown timer
Section titled “Countdown timer”| Feature | Free | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| No timer (default) | Yes | Yes |
| Show countdown timer (with full styling customisation) | No | Yes |
The “Show countdown timer” radio button in the offer editor’s timer settings is disabled with a lock icon on the Free plan.
Storefront placements
Section titled “Storefront placements”| Feature | Free | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Preorder button on product pages | Yes | Yes |
| Quick Buy popup: collection page | No | Yes |
| Quick Buy popup: search page | No | Yes |
| Quick Buy popup: home page | No | Yes |
| Featured Product section: home page | No | Yes |
Quick Buy and Featured Product integrations live under Preorders in the left menu, then the Settings tab, then the Pages sub-tab, in the Collection, home & search sections of the Pages editor. Each shows a lock icon on the Free plan.
Orders & analytics
Section titled “Orders & analytics”| Feature | Free | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| View preorder orders list | Yes | Yes |
| View preorder analytics dashboard | Yes | Yes |
| Export orders as CSV | No | Yes |
| Export analytics as CSV | No | Yes |
| Bulk: Collect payment | No | Yes |
| Bulk: Send shipping update email | No | Yes |
| Bulk: Send order confirmation email | No | Yes |
| Bulk: Open scheduled fulfillments | No | Yes |
| Bulk: Release “On hold” fulfillments | No | Yes |
| Bulk: Reschedule fulfillment | No | Yes |
| Bulk: Reschedule payment | No | Yes |
Bulk actions in the preorder orders table each carry a lock icon on the Free plan. Clicking them opens the upgrade modal rather than executing the action.
Before you upgrade or downgrade
Section titled “Before you upgrade or downgrade”Downgrading to Free resets paid settings right away: STOQ automatically clears scheduling dates, turns off automatic payment collection, resets market targeting to “all markets”, reverts per-product shipping timelines to a single timeline, and disables hold and split fulfillment options. None of these settings are saved, so you’ll need to set them again if you upgrade later.
How to upgrade
Section titled “How to upgrade”From any screen with a lock icon, click the lock or the Upgrade link. You can also go to Plans in the STOQ sidebar to compare plans and subscribe. See Preorder plans and billing for how limits, overage fees, and trials work.
Troubleshooting
Section titled “Troubleshooting”A feature shows a lock icon
It requires a paid plan. Click the lock or the Upgrade link, or go to Plans in the STOQ sidebar to compare plans and subscribe.
Your countdown timer disappeared from the storefront
The countdown timer is paid-only, so check whether your plan dropped to Free. See Before you upgrade or downgrade above; upgrading restores the timer.
A bulk action in the orders table doesn't run
Bulk actions are paid-only on the Free plan. Clicking one opens the upgrade modal instead of executing the action.
Quick Buy or Featured Product controls aren't appearing, even on a paid plan
They only show up once the matching theme integration exists in your store. See Limitations below.
Limitations
Section titled “Limitations”- Separate orders for mixed preorders requires a paid plan and an additional Shopify permission for order editing, and is marked experimental.
- Quick Buy and Featured Product placement controls need a supported theme integration already installed in your store, even on a paid plan.
Can I test the preorder flow without upgrading?
Yes, you can test the full preorder flow on the Free plan.
- Click Add new offer on the Preorders offers list, then add products.
- In the offer editor’s Payment tab, set full or partial payment.
- Run through the standard checkout flow.
Paid features (scheduling, automatic payment collection, countdown timer, etc.) are simply unavailable until you upgrade, and they don’t affect the rest of the offer.
Which payment features are actually free?
Full payment, partial payment (deposit), and the combined Full + partial option are all free, and so is manually collecting the remaining balance yourself from STOQ Reports or Shopify admin. Only automatic collection, STOQ charging the saved card on a scheduled date or when the order ships, requires a paid plan.
What happens to my offers if I downgrade to Free?
Downgrading resets several paid settings immediately, most notably scheduling dates, automatic payment collection, market targeting, per-product shipping timelines, and hold/split fulfillment, and it stops any storefront countdown timer from showing. None of these settings are saved, so you’ll need to set them again if you upgrade later. See Before you upgrade or downgrade above for the full list.
Can I use Split fulfillments or Hold fulfillments on the Free plan?
No. Both require a paid plan, their checkboxes are locked in the offer editor on Free, and both are reset to disabled if a plan downgrades.
Why is the Collection or All products source locked?
The Collection and All products types automatically sync inventory for an entire collection or your full catalog, which is a higher-tier, data-intensive feature, so both are gated to paid plans. On Free you can still add products manually, selecting specific variants, without limit.
Are bulk actions completely unavailable on the Free plan?
The bulk action buttons (collect payment, send shipping update or confirmation emails, reschedule or open fulfillments, reschedule payment, release held fulfillments) appear in the orders table on every plan, but clicking one on Free opens the upgrade modal instead of running it. Individual actions on single orders may also be restricted.
Related guides
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