Agencies build shops, run campaigns and recommend apps to their clients all the time. Usually only the project is paid. If the client keeps using the recommended app for a year, the agency earns nothing from it.
The Heartly partner program changes that for Shopify agencies and freelancers. Bring a client shop to Heartly and you receive a share of that shop's subscription revenue. This article explains how the program works, what it pays and what to watch out for.
The program at a glance
- Who it is for: Shopify agencies and freelancers based in the EU who look after shops.
- Commission: by default 30 % of the net subscription revenue Heartly receives from Shopify for the shop.
- Duration: 12 months per referred shop.
- Payout: quarterly or, on request, monthly, by the 15th of the following month via Stripe.
- Invoicing: Heartly issues a self-billing credit note as a ZUGFeRD e-invoice. You do not write an invoice yourself.
- Status: pilot phase. Rate and duration are confirmed for each agency in the partner portal.
How it works, step by step
- Register your interest. On the partner page you enter your agency's email address and website. We get in touch personally as soon as a pilot place opens.
- Set up the partner portal. You accept the pilot terms, add your billing details and complete Stripe verification for payouts.
- Register the client shop. Before installation you enter the client's myshopify.com domain in the portal. A registration is valid for 60 days, and you can hold up to 25 open registrations at a time.
- The client installs Heartly. The merchant installs the app from the Shopify App Store and approves permissions and billing themselves. With collaborator access you can prepare the installation.
- The merchant confirms the relationship. After installation the merchant confirms in Heartly that you look after their shop. From then on the shop counts towards your commission.
Why attribution uses the shop domain
Many partner programs rely on referral links and cookies. For Shopify apps that is unreliable: between your link and the installation there is the App Store, often a different device and sometimes several days. Cookies rarely survive that path.
The permanent myshopify.com domain never changes. That is why you register the shop before installation and the merchant confirms the relationship afterwards. Both sides can follow it, and there is no argument about who brought which client.
What the program actually pays
The basis is the amount Heartly actually receives from Shopify for the shop: after Shopify's share, excluding taxes, minus refunds and chargebacks. Amounts in other currencies are converted at the European Central Bank reference rate.
A worked example for orientation: ten client shops on an assumed plan with a €79 list price come to up to €237 a month at 30 %. That is an upper bound, because the calculation starts from the list price before Shopify's share. On the partner page you can adjust the assumptions to your own client portfolio.
What your clients get
A commission is only a good deal if the recommendation helps the client. Heartly supports shops with recurring campaign work:
- Flash sales in minutes with their own sale page, countdown and stock limit. A tap on "Go to checkout" puts the product in the cart with the discount applied, without a code. Why that matters is explained in Why buyers abandon the checkout.
- Autopilot and AI assistant suggest products, discount and timing. The agency stays in charge of strategy and approval.
- Reach: live sales appear in the Heartly app, on deals.heartly.io and for AI shopping assistants.
- Built for Germany: the 30-day reference price logic under § 11 PAngV is part of the product.
Ground rules
- Participation is not exclusive; you can keep recommending other apps.
- You may only register shops you have a business relationship with.
- Recommendations must be factual and true. Mass outreach and promises Heartly has not approved are not allowed.
- Self-referrals and duplicate attributions do not count.
The full rules are in the pilot terms for agency partners.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Shopify pay out the partner commission?
No. Shopify bills the Heartly subscription to the merchant and pays the app revenue to Heartly. The commission for the referring agency is a separate Heartly partner program, paid out by Heartly via Stripe.
How much is the commission?
By default 30 % of the net subscription revenue Heartly receives from Shopify for the shop, for 12 months per referred shop. The rate confirmed for your agency in the partner portal is what counts.
Do I need to send an invoice?
No. Heartly settles by self-billing credit note and provides it as a ZUGFeRD e-invoice. You only keep your billing details in the partner portal up to date.
Does the program cover WooCommerce shops?
Not yet. The partner and payout model is validated on Shopify first and extended to other platforms afterwards.
Can I join if my agency is based outside the EU?
Not at the moment. During the pilot, invoicing and payouts are only available for partners based in the EU.