Most Shopify store owners ask the same first question before adding order alerts: what will this cost me every month? With Fast2SMS the answer is simple. The Shopify app is free. There is no subscription, no monthly fee, no setup fee and no commission. You pay only for the messages that go out, from your own Fast2SMS wallet.

This guide shows the real Shopify SMS price and Shopify WhatsApp cost with worked numbers: what a typical order costs, what 100, 1,000 and 10,000 orders a month cost, what abandoned checkout reminders add, and which settings raise or lower your bill. Every rate here is the published Fast2SMS rate, and every sum is plain multiplication you can check yourself.

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The short answer: free Shopify SMS app, pay per message

The Fast2SMS Shopify app works on a bring-your-own-key model. You create a free Fast2SMS account, paste your API key into the app’s Setup tab, and the app sends your Shopify order notifications through your own account. Fast2SMS bills you directly per message. Nothing is charged through Shopify billing, and the app adds no markup on top of the message rate.

So your monthly bill is not a plan price. It is simply the number of messages you sent multiplied by the rate for each message type. Here are the rates that matter for a Shopify store:

WhatsApp messages are billed on delivery. If a WhatsApp message fails, the charge is refunded within 48 hours. The category of each WhatsApp template (utility, marketing or authentication) is decided when Meta approves it, so check the category in your Fast2SMS panel before you pick a template for an event.

Real maths: what one Shopify order costs

Let us take the most common setup we see on Indian D2C stores. Each order gets three WhatsApp utility updates:

• Order placed: confirms the order with the order ID and amount.
• Order fulfilled or Shipment created: tells the customer it has shipped, with the tracking link.
• Delivered: confirms the parcel reached them.

Three messages at ₹0.25 each is ₹0.75 per order. That is the whole cost of keeping one customer informed from checkout to doorstep on WhatsApp. Now multiply it by your monthly order count:

If you have a slow month, you pay less. If you have a festive rush, you pay more, but only in line with the orders you actually received. There is no plan to upgrade and no unused quota that expires at month end.

Adding abandoned checkout reminders

The Abandoned checkout recovery event sends a reminder with a one-tap link back to the customer’s cart. On WhatsApp, these reminders usually use a marketing template, which costs ₹0.95 per delivered message.

• 50 reminders a month: 50 × ₹0.95 = ₹47.50
• 200 reminders a month: 200 × ₹0.95 = ₹190
• 1,000 reminders a month: 1,000 × ₹0.95 = ₹950

A reminder is only sent if the customer has not finished the order by the time your delay runs out. If they complete the purchase first, the reminder is cancelled automatically, so you are not paying to chase people who already bought. Read the full setup in our Shopify abandoned cart WhatsApp guide.

A full month, worked out

Say your store gets 1,000 orders in a month and sends 200 abandoned checkout reminders on WhatsApp:

• Order updates: 1,000 orders × 3 messages × ₹0.25 = ₹750
• Abandoned checkout reminders: 200 × ₹0.95 = ₹190
• App fee: ₹0
• Total: ₹940 for the month

That is the kind of number you can plan around. You can also switch events on or off at any time, and the next month’s bill follows whatever you have switched on.

What Shopify SMS costs

SMS is billed per SMS at your DLT SMS rate, deducted from your Fast2SMS wallet. We do not quote a single fixed number here because your rate depends on your account and volume. You can see it in your Fast2SMS panel, or ask sales for a quote if you send a lot.

Before any Shopify DLT SMS can go out, your business needs to be set up on DLT:

• A registered entity on a DLT portal.
• A 6-letter header (sender ID) for transactional and service messages.
• Approved SMS templates for each message you want to send, such as order confirmation or shipping updates.
• A correct PE-TM chain binding. Operators block traffic when the chain does not match, so this step matters. See PE-TM chain mismatch detected if you get stuck.

DLT registration itself is handled on the operator’s DLT portal, and Fast2SMS gives free DLT support to help you through it. Our DLT registration A to Z FAQ covers every step. Once your templates are approved and added to your Fast2SMS account, the Shopify app fetches them automatically. There are no template IDs to copy by hand.

One practical point on SMS cost: a long SMS, or one written in Hindi or another Indian script, can be counted as more than one SMS. Your Fast2SMS panel shows how each message is counted. Short, clear templates keep the count down.

What adds to your Shopify SMS and WhatsApp bill

The bill only grows when more messages go out. These are the settings that do that, so you can switch them on knowingly.

Sending on both channels

Every event can go out on SMS, WhatsApp or Both. “Both” means two messages for one event: one WhatsApp message at ₹0.25 (for a utility template) plus one SMS at your DLT rate. Some stores use Both only for the order confirmation and send the rest on WhatsApp alone. That keeps the extra cost to a single event per order.

Admin copies

The “Also alert admin” option sends a copy of an event to your own numbers. You can add 1 primary admin number and up to 10 more in the Settings tab. Each copy is a separate message. For example, if Order placed goes to one admin number on WhatsApp, 1,000 orders adds 1,000 more utility messages, which is ₹250. Add two admin numbers and it is ₹500. Most owners keep admin alerts on for the events they really watch, like new orders or cancellations, and leave them off for the rest.

More events per order

The app has 12 events. If you turn on Payment received, Out for delivery and a separate Shipment created on top of the three used in our example, each order gets more messages. Each extra WhatsApp utility message adds ₹0.25 per order. Pick the events your customers actually need. Our Shopify order events guide explains what each one is for.

Marketing-type messages

Abandoned checkout reminders and the Welcome message for new customers usually use marketing templates on WhatsApp, which cost ₹0.95. They are worth using, but they are the higher-priced part of the bill, so watch the volume.

OTP logins

If you use the OTP Login tab for passwordless storefront login, each OTP sent is a message: ₹0.25 on WhatsApp authentication, or your DLT rate on SMS. Keep in mind that OTP login works only on stores using legacy (classic) customer accounts. Shopify removed legacy accounts for new stores, so this feature suits existing classic-account stores. All the notification features work on every store.

Test sends and retries

Test sends from the Automations tab go to your own admin number through your account, so count them in your test budget. A retry from the Logs tab sends the message again, and a retried message is charged like any other message.

What does not cost anything

• The app. Installing and using the Fast2SMS Shopify app is ₹0. No subscription, no monthly fee, no setup fee, no per-message commission.
• Failed WhatsApp messages. WhatsApp is billed on delivery, and failed WhatsApp messages are refunded within 48 hours.
• Template fetching, variable mapping and live previews. Setting up templates in the app costs nothing.
• Invoice PDFs. The app generates the invoice PDF itself and attaches it to a WhatsApp document-header template. You pay for the WhatsApp message, not for making the PDF. See Shopify WhatsApp invoice PDF.
• Logs and CSV export. Every message is logged in the Logs tab, and you can export to CSV at no cost.
• Duplicate COD messages. When the COD order placed event is on, COD orders skip the generic Order placed message. You never pay twice for the same order confirmation.
• Cancelled abandoned reminders. If the customer completes the order before the delay ends, the reminder is not sent and not charged.
• Signup and DLT help. The Fast2SMS account is free, with ₹50 test credit, and DLT support is free.
• WhatsApp chatbot builder and Live Chat. Both are free tools in the fast2sms.com portal. You only pay the message rate for replies you send, such as ₹0.13 for a session reply. See WhatsApp session message pricing.

Free app vs monthly subscription apps

Many SMS and WhatsApp apps on the Shopify App Store charge a monthly plan. The plan often comes with a message bundle or credit, tiers based on order volume, and a price that is charged every month whether you had a busy month or a quiet one. Some bill through Shopify, so the charge shows up on your Shopify invoice. Some add their own margin on top of the WhatsApp or SMS rate.

The pay-per-message model works differently:

• No fixed cost. A new store with 20 orders a month pays for 20 orders’ worth of messages, not for a plan.
• No tiers to outgrow. You do not need to move to a bigger plan when orders go up. The rate per message stays the same.
• One bill, one place. You top up your Fast2SMS wallet and see all usage in your Fast2SMS panel. Nothing is added to your Shopify bill.
• No lock-in. You can pause events or uninstall any time. There is no annual plan to finish.

A subscription can suit a store that wants one fixed number every month and uses every feature in the bundle. For most Indian D2C stores we set up, paying only for messages sent is easier to plan and cheaper at low and uneven volumes. If you are comparing options, our best SMS and WhatsApp apps for Shopify in India guide explains what to check in each app’s pricing page.

How to keep your Shopify messaging cost in check

These are the habits that keep bills sensible on the stores we help.

1. Use WhatsApp for order updates. At ₹0.25 per utility message, WhatsApp order updates are easy to budget, and the message can carry buttons, a tracking link and an invoice PDF.
2. Send only the events customers need. Order placed, shipped and delivered cover most stores. Add Out for delivery or Payment received only if your customers ask about them.
3. Use Both only where it matters. SMS as a backup on the order confirmation is common. Doubling every event is rarely needed.
4. Turn on the COD event. COD orders then get one COD message instead of two confirmations, and you get a clear message for cash orders. See our Shopify COD verification guide.
5. Keep marketing consent on. The “respect Shopify marketing consent” setting is on by default. With the opt-out list, it skips marketing-type messages (abandoned cart and welcome) for people who do not want them, while transactional order updates still deliver.
6. Set a sensible abandoned delay. The delay can be 5 minutes to 24 hours. Many customers finish on their own within a short while, and those reminders get cancelled automatically.
7. Check the Logs tab weekly. Failed messages show a reason on hover. Fixing a wrong template or a bad number stops the same failure from repeating.

What the ₹50 test credit gets you

A new Fast2SMS signup comes with ₹50 test credit. At ₹0.25 per WhatsApp utility message, that is about 200 WhatsApp utility messages. That is plenty to connect the app, map your templates, run test sends to your own number and watch a few real orders go through.

A simple way to test:

1. Sign up at fast2sms.com and copy your API key.
2. Install the app from the Shopify App Store and paste the key in the Setup tab. Click Validate & Save.
3. In Automations, turn on Order placed, Order fulfilled and Delivered on WhatsApp. Pick your approved templates and map variables with the dropdowns.
4. Use Test send to your admin number and check the live preview against what arrives on your phone.
5. Place a test order and follow it in the Logs tab.

Once you are happy, top up your wallet and let real orders run.

High volume stores

If your store sends tens of thousands of messages a month, or you run large bulk campaigns from the fast2sms.com portal as well, talk to our sales team. Call +91-6262778811 or email [email protected] to discuss your volume and SMS rate.

One thing to know while planning: the Shopify app sends automated, event-based messages. Marketing broadcasts and campaigns to your whole customer list are sent from the fast2sms.com portal using Bulk SMS or bulk WhatsApp, and are billed at the same per-message rates. See how to send bulk WhatsApp messages.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Fast2SMS Shopify app really free?

Yes. The Fast2SMS Shopify app is free to install and use, with no subscription, no monthly fee, no setup fee and no commission. You only pay Fast2SMS for the messages you send, from your own wallet.

What is the Shopify SMS price with Fast2SMS?

Shopify SMS is billed per SMS at your DLT SMS rate, taken from your Fast2SMS wallet. The rate depends on your account and volume. You can see it in your Fast2SMS panel or ask sales for a quote.

How much does Shopify WhatsApp cost per message?

WhatsApp order updates on utility templates cost ₹0.25 per delivered message. Authentication (OTP) messages are also ₹0.25, marketing messages are ₹0.95, and session replies in Live Chat are ₹0.13.

How much does WhatsApp cost per Shopify order?

With three WhatsApp utility updates per order (order placed, shipped and delivered), the cost is ₹0.75 per order. Add or remove events and the cost changes by ₹0.25 per utility message.

What will 1,000 Shopify orders a month cost on WhatsApp?

At three utility updates per order, 1,000 orders means 3,000 messages at ₹0.25, which is ₹750 for the month. The app fee stays ₹0. Abandoned checkout reminders, if used, are added separately.

What will 100 orders a month cost?

About ₹75 a month. That is 100 orders × 3 WhatsApp utility messages × ₹0.25. There is no plan fee on top, which makes the pay-per-message model easy on small and new stores.

What will 10,000 orders a month cost?

At three WhatsApp utility updates per order, 10,000 orders is 30,000 messages, which is ₹7,500 for the month. At this volume, talk to sales on +91-6262778811 about your overall messaging needs.

How much do abandoned checkout reminders cost on WhatsApp?

Abandoned checkout reminders usually use WhatsApp marketing templates at ₹0.95 per delivered message. So 200 reminders a month cost ₹190. Reminders are cancelled automatically if the customer completes the order first.

Is there a monthly fee for Shopify SMS alerts?

No. There is no monthly fee for Shopify SMS alerts with Fast2SMS. You pay only per SMS at your DLT rate. If you send nothing in a month, you pay nothing for that month.

Will the charges show on my Shopify bill?

No. Charges never go through Shopify billing. Fast2SMS bills you directly from your own Fast2SMS wallet, and you can see every message and deduction in your Fast2SMS panel.

Do I pay for WhatsApp messages that fail?

No. WhatsApp messages are billed on delivery, and failed WhatsApp messages are refunded within 48 hours. The Logs tab shows the failure reason when you hover on a failed message.

Does sending on both SMS and WhatsApp cost double?

Yes, choosing Both sends two messages for that event: one WhatsApp message and one SMS. You pay for each. Many stores use Both only for the order confirmation and WhatsApp alone for the rest.

Do admin alert copies cost extra?

Yes. Each “Also alert admin” copy is a separate message billed at the normal rate. One admin number getting a WhatsApp copy of every order on 1,000 orders adds 1,000 utility messages, or ₹250.

How far does the ₹50 test credit go?

The ₹50 test credit covers about 200 WhatsApp utility messages at ₹0.25 each. That is enough to connect the app, run test sends and see real orders go through before you top up.

Is there a free Shopify SMS app for India?

Yes. The Fast2SMS app is a free Shopify SMS app built for India, with free install and no monthly fee. It sends SMS and WhatsApp to Indian +91 numbers, and you pay only per message sent.

Does the invoice PDF on WhatsApp cost extra?

No extra fee for the PDF itself. The app generates the invoice PDF and attaches it to a WhatsApp document-header template. You pay only for the WhatsApp message it rides on, at that template’s rate.

How much does OTP login cost on Shopify?

Each OTP is one message: ₹0.25 on WhatsApp authentication or your DLT rate on SMS. OTP login works only on stores using legacy (classic) customer accounts; Shopify removed legacy accounts for new stores.

Do COD orders get charged twice for confirmation?

No. When the COD order placed event is on, COD orders skip the generic Order placed message. Order placed then covers prepaid orders only, so each order gets one confirmation and one charge.

Is DLT registration a cost I should plan for?

DLT registration is done on the operator’s DLT portal, and any fee there is set by that portal, not by Fast2SMS. Fast2SMS gives free DLT support to help you register your entity, header and templates.

Why does a Hindi SMS sometimes cost more?

A long SMS, or one written in Hindi or another Indian script, can be counted as more than one SMS. Your Fast2SMS panel shows how each message is counted. Short templates keep the count down.

Are session replies to customers charged?

Yes, at ₹0.13 per message when you reply to customers in the fast2sms.com portal’s Live Chat. The Live Chat tool and the WhatsApp chatbot builder themselves are free to use.

Does a retry from the Logs tab cost money?

A retry sends the message again, so it is charged like any other message. Check the failure reason first; if a template or number is wrong, a retry will fail the same way.

Can I run bulk campaigns from the Shopify app?

No. The Shopify app sends automated order and customer event messages only. Bulk SMS and bulk WhatsApp campaigns are sent from the fast2sms.com portal at the same per-message rates.

Is pay per message cheaper than a monthly subscription app?

For most small and mid-size Indian stores, yes, because you pay nothing fixed. A subscription charges the same plan price in quiet months. Compare using your own order volume and the events you actually need.

Do welcome messages for new customers cost more?

Welcome messages usually use a WhatsApp marketing template at ₹0.95 per delivered message. Customers on your opt-out list, or without marketing consent when that setting is on, are skipped.

How do I get a better rate for high volume?

Call Fast2SMS sales on +91-6262778811 or email [email protected]. Share your monthly order volume and channels, and the team will discuss your SMS rate and overall needs.

Can I pause messages to control cost?

Yes. Every event in the Automations tab has its own on/off toggle. Turn an event off and no more messages go out for it, so no more charges for that event.

Start with ₹0 and pay only for what you send

Install the free app, connect your Fast2SMS key and switch on the events you need. With ₹0.75 per order for three WhatsApp updates, you will know your monthly cost before your first order goes out. For the full feature tour, read our free SMS and WhatsApp app for Shopify FAQ.

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Need help? Schedule a free meeting · [email protected] · +91-6262778822 · Sales: +91-6262778811