Which download app fits your Shopify store?
Shopify’s own Digital Downloads app is free and can suit a small catalogue of files. FetchApp adds license-key delivery and works with stores beyond Shopify too.
When Shopify’s free app is a good fit
Selling a handful of PDFs, a photo pack or an e-book from one Shopify store, with no license keys involved? Shopify’s free app can deliver them, so you may already have what you need.
That changes when you need a key to go out with the file, or you start selling somewhere other than Shopify.
Send a license key with each purchase.
Shopify’s Digital Downloads app does not issue license keys, checked 2026-08-26.
If your product needs a key, code or serial number, FetchApp can send it with the file. Add keys to each product by pasting a list, including keys copied from a spreadsheet.
Each unit sold receives the next unused key. It appears in the delivery email and on the download page, and your developer can retrieve it through the API. Two simultaneous purchases receive different keys.
There is no per-key, per-activation or per-seat fee. The keys are included in the plan.
- One per unit sold
- Not one per order
- In the delivery email
- And on the download page
- Traceable
- To the order it went out with
- Exportable
- CSV of every assignment
Up to 100 keys per Shopify line item.
Use the same catalogue across your stores.
FetchApp connects to Shopify, WooCommerce, PayPal and custom stores.
Shopify’s app works with Shopify stores. If you also sell through WooCommerce, PayPal buttons or invoices, you need a way to deliver those orders too.
With FetchApp, the same products, files and license keys can serve your Shopify, WooCommerce and PayPal sales. A developer can connect other carts through the API. Your customers’ FetchApp download history stays with your FetchApp account when you change stores.
What each one does
Compare the features you need for your shop. Blank cells mean we have not confirmed that feature in Shopify’s app.
| FetchApp | Shopify Digital Downloads | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | From $5/mo, flat | Free |
| License keys | A pool per product, one key per unit sold | No |
| Works with | Shopify, WooCommerce, PayPal, any cart via the API | Shopify only |
| Download links on the order-status page | Yes | Yes |
| Downloads from your own domain | Yes, through the Shopify connection | |
| Your own S3 or Cloudflare R2 bucket | Yes, from the Business tier | |
| Rebuild download access for past orders | Yes, by CSV import |
Your existing customers keep their downloads.
Import past orders so customers can download their purchases again.
Export your Shopify orders and import them here, and the customers who bought before the move get working download links again, license keys included if you are adding them.
Install FetchApp from Shopify and approve the connection. It sets up order notifications, adds download links to the buyer’s order-status page and marks digital items fulfilled. For orders with both physical and digital products, you pack and ship the physical items while FetchApp delivers the files.
Questions about using FetchApp with Shopify
Can I run both at once?
Yes, on different products. Some shops leave simple files on the free app and move the products that need keys. Nothing about FetchApp is exclusive.
Do my buyers notice the difference?
They get the download links on the order-status page either way. What changes is that the email comes from your shop, the key is in it, and on Shopify the files can be served from your own domain rather than ours. How the Shopify install works →
What happens to bandwidth?
Shopify meters bandwidth at the store level. FetchApp does not meter bandwidth, and from the Business tier you can serve files from your own S3 or Cloudflare R2 bucket instead of ours. Limits, in full →
I sell physical and digital in the same order. Does that work?
Yes. FetchApp delivers the digital items and marks them fulfilled. You continue to pick, pack and ship the physical products.
What does it cost to try?
Nothing. There is a free tier to test on, and the cheapest paid plan is $5 a month. Every tier, published →
Send yourself a test order.
Install it on your Shopify store, attach a file to a product, and buy it from yourself. Open the email and try the download to see what your customers will receive.