Shopify theme licences explained: test stores, staging and moving stores
What a theme licence actually covers, why previews and staging sites shouldn't use it up, and what happens when you connect a new domain or move to another store. Plain answers, using our own rules as the worked example.
A theme licence answers one question: where are you allowed to run the theme you paid for? Most premium Shopify themes are licensed per store, but the details differ from seller to seller, and the details are where people get caught out: a staging copy, a store that launches on its .myshopify.com address, a client project. This guide explains how licences usually work and uses our own rules at Orbital as the worked example, because those are the ones we can state exactly. Whatever theme you buy, read that seller's licence before you launch.
One purchase, one live store
The common rule is one licence per live store. At Orbital, one purchase covers one live store or website for that theme on that platform. A Shopify licence for a theme doesn't cover its HTML version, and it doesn't cover a second store. If you run two live stores, you need two licences. The full wording is in our Licence.
Why per store? Because that's what the price is set for. A seller who allowed unlimited stores would need to charge much more for every buyer.
Building and testing shouldn't use it up
You'll spend weeks in the theme editor before launch, and you might keep a staging copy afterwards. A fair licence shouldn't count any of that. With Orbital themes, these never use your activation:
- The Shopify theme editor and theme previews, including unpublished themes, preview links and
*.shopifypreview.comaddresses. - Your own computer:
localhost, private network addresses and files opened from disk. - Staging sub-domains of your activated domain, such as
staging.yourshop.comordev.yourshop.com.
So the safe way to build is simple: keep the theme unpublished while you work, and use the editor and previews. Nothing is used up until you publish. The details are in Test stores, previews and staging sites.
What counts as "live"
This is the part that surprises people. Your own domain obviously counts, and www. counts as the same site. But a published theme on a plain .myshopify.com address also counts as a live store, because many shops trade on that address for weeks before connecting a domain. A different sub-domain, such as , is a separate site.