Does a Shopify collaborator account cost anything?

No. Shopify's documentation confirms collaborators do not count towards a store's user limit, so they never force a plan upgrade. Staff accounts do occupy a paid slot, which makes collaborator the correct option for agencies and freelancers.

How do I stop people requesting access to my Shopify store?

In your Shopify admin go to Settings then Users and enable a collaborator request code. This generates four digits, and no partner can send you a request without them. Share the code only with people you have hired.

Can a Shopify collaborator see my customers' personal information?

Only if you grant the Customers or Orders permission when approving the request. These are separate permissions and are not needed for most work. A theme or design job requires only Themes access.

What happens when I remove a Shopify collaborator?

They lose access immediately and cannot return without a new request and your approval. Work they already saved stays in your store because it belongs to the store, and you do not need to change your own password.

What is a .myshopify.com address and where do I find mine?

It is your store's permanent internal address, which never changes and which customers do not see. Log into your Shopify admin and look at the browser bar: it reads admin.shopify.com/store/handle, and that handle plus .myshopify.com is your permanent address.

Should I ever give a freelancer a staff account instead of collaborator access?

Rarely. The main reason is if they are not a registered Shopify Partner and therefore cannot send a collaborator request. In that case use a staff account with narrow permissions and delete it promptly when the project ends.

How do I check who has access to my Shopify store?

Go to Settings then Users in your Shopify admin. Both staff accounts and collaborators are listed with their permissions. Reviewing this every three months is good practice, as most established stores find access left over from finished projects.

myShopify Domain FinderShopify agency notes

For store owners

Your developer wants access to your store. What should you actually give them?

Shopify offers two ways to let someone in. One is free and safer. Most people pick the other one by accident.

Updated 24 August 2026Reading time 7 minutesWritten for store owners and managers

Short answer

Give a freelancer or agency a collaborator account, not a staff account. Collaborator accounts are free, they do not use up one of your paid user slots, you choose exactly which parts of your store they can see, and you can cut off access in two clicks. Staff accounts are for people on your payroll.

The difference in one screen

Both options let someone work in your store. The gap is in what they cost you, who is in control, and what happens when the working relationship ends.

Recommended for hired help

Collaborator account

For freelancers, agencies, and anyone you are paying by the project.

Free. Does not count towards your store’s user limit, so it never pushes you onto a bigger plan.
You approve the request yourself, and you pick which sections they can open.
Revoke it in two clicks the day the project ends. No password changes, no cleanup.
They log in through their own Shopify Partner account, so you never share a password.
You can require a four-digit code, meaning nobody can even ask for access without it.

For your own team

Staff account

For employees who work in the store as part of their job.

Uses one of your paid user slots. Run out and you pay to upgrade.
Also permission-controlled, so it is not automatically less safe.
Tied to a person’s email at your company. Awkward when a contractor leaves.
Cannot be requested by the other side, so you have to set it all up manually.
Correct choice for a permanent hire who needs the store every day.

Side by side

The single biggest practical difference is cost. Shopify’s documentation states plainly that collaborators do not count towards your store’s user limit. Staff accounts do. If you have hired three agencies over two years, that is three slots you never gave away.

	Collaborator	Staff
Uses a paid user slot	No	Yes
Who starts the process	They request, you approve	You create it manually
How they sign in	Their own Partner account	An account on your store
You choose what they see	Yes, per section	Yes, per section
Removing access later	Two clicks, instant	Delete the user, and check nothing else is tied to that email
Can require an access code	Yes, four digits	Not applicable
Best for	Agencies, freelancers, one-off projects	Employees, long-term team members

What three years of hiring costs you in user slots

A typical growing store hires a theme developer, an app specialist, a marketing agency, then an SEO consultant. Here is what each choice does to your available slots.

Slot limits vary by plan. The point holds on every plan: collaborators are free, staff are not.

What a collaborator can and cannot see

You decide, section by section, when you approve the request. A developer fixing your theme does not need your customer list or your order history, and you should not give it to them. Tick only the areas the job touches.

When the request arrives, you will see a list of the areas they have asked for. Common ones and what they really mean:

Themes lets them edit how your store looks. This is what almost every design or layout job needs, and it is one of the safest to grant.
Apps lets them install and configure apps. Necessary for most integration work. Worth noting that apps can carry their own monthly charges, so agree on that in advance.
Products lets them add and edit your catalogue, prices included. Needed for bulk imports and catalogue cleanups.
Orders lets them see who bought what, including names and addresses. Only grant this if the job genuinely involves orders, like a shipping or fulfilment setup.
Customers is your customer database. This is the most sensitive one on the list. Very few jobs need it. Ask why before you tick it.

If a freelancer asks for everything for a job that is clearly one thing, it is entirely reasonable to ask them to resend the request with less. Good ones expect that question. It is a decent signal either way.

The one thing worth being careful about

Access to Themes means access to your store’s code, which on Shopify means someone could in theory add tracking or scripts to your checkout pages. This is not a reason to refuse, it is a reason to hire people you can verify. Check their Shopify Partner profile, ask for two client references, and never grant access off the back of a cold message from someone you cannot identify.

How to actually set it up

You do not create a collaborator account yourself. The developer sends a request from their Shopify Partner dashboard, and it appears in your admin under Settings, then Users. You review what they asked for and approve it. Total time on your side: about a minute.

Turn on a request code first, if you want the extra layerIn your admin go to Settings, then Users. In the collaborator section you can require a four-digit code. Once it is on, nobody can even request access without it. Send the code only to people you have actually hired.
Send your developer two thingsThey need your store’s permanent address, which ends in .myshopify.com, and the code if you enabled one. To find the permanent address, just look at your browser bar while logged in: it reads admin.shopify.com/store/something, and that “something” is what they need. A screenshot is fine. They can also look it up themselves from your public store address.
Wait for the request, then review itIt appears under Settings, then Users. Read the list of permissions they asked for before approving. If something looks broader than the job, decline and ask them to resend narrower. That is normal, not rude.
Approve, and diarise the end dateOnce approved they are in. Put a note in your calendar for when the project should finish, so that access does not quietly live on for two years after the work ended.

Collaborators can log in to your store from their Partner Dashboard or from the Shopify mobile app. Collaborator access to your store can be managed and removed from your Shopify admin. Collaborators don’t count towards your store’s user limit.

Shopify Help Center, Collaborator accounts

When to remove access, and how

Remove it when the project ends, not when you next remember. Go to Settings, then Users, click the collaborator, and remove them. It takes effect immediately, and you do not have to change any of your own passwords.

This is where collaborator accounts really earn their keep. Removing a staff account means deleting a user and then hoping nothing else was tied to that email address. Removing a collaborator is a single, clean action, because the account never belonged to your store in the first place.

One useful habit: review your user list every quarter. Open Settings, then Users, and look at who is still there. Most stores that have been running a few years find at least one agency from a project that finished long ago. Nothing sinister, just drift. Clear it out.

The short version

Hire an agency or freelancer, give them a collaborator account with only the permissions their job needs, and remove it when the work is done. Save staff accounts for people who are actually on your team. You will spend nothing extra and keep control of your store.

If you take one thing from this: the default answer for hired help is collaborator, and the default permission set is “as little as the job allows.” Both of those are free to do and both of them are things you will be glad of eventually.

Common questions

Does a collaborator account cost me anything?

No. Shopify’s documentation confirms collaborators do not count towards your store’s user limit, so they never push you into a higher plan. Staff accounts do occupy a slot. For agencies and freelancers, collaborator is both the free option and the more appropriate one.

Can I stop random people requesting access to my store?

Yes. In your admin go to Settings, then Users, and enable a collaborator request code. That generates four digits, and nobody can send you a request without them. Share the code only with people you have hired. It is the single best thing you can do here and takes about ten seconds.

Can a collaborator see my customers’ personal information?

Only if you grant the Customers or Orders permission when you approve the request. Those are separate ticks and they are not required for most work. A theme or design job needs Themes and nothing else. If someone asks for customer data for a design job, ask them why.

What happens if I remove a collaborator mid-project?

They lose access immediately and cannot get back in without a fresh request and your approval. Any work already saved to your store stays there, since it belongs to the store rather than to them. You do not need to change your own password.

My developer says they need my .myshopify.com address. What is that?

It is your store’s permanent internal address, which never changes and which customers never see. The quickest way to find it: log into your admin and look at the browser bar, where it reads admin.shopify.com/store/something. That “something” plus .myshopify.com is what they need. A screenshot of the address bar is a perfectly good answer.

Should I ever give a freelancer a staff account instead?

Rarely. The main reason would be if they are not a registered Shopify Partner and therefore cannot send a collaborator request at all. In that case a staff account with narrow permissions is fine, but be diligent about deleting it when the project ends, since a lingering staff account is exactly what causes access problems for the next person you hire.

How do I check who currently has access to my store?

Settings, then Users, in your Shopify admin. You will see both staff accounts and collaborators listed, along with what each of them can do. Worth reviewing every three months. Most established stores find at least one collaborator from a project that ended long ago.

Working the other side of this?

If you are the agency rather than the store owner, you need the client’s permanent store domain before Shopify will let you send the request. This finds it from any public store address in one paste.

Open the myShopify Domain Finder →