Best Shopify Plus agencies in New York. And how to judge them.
We are one of the agencies you would be choosing between, so a ranked list from us would not be worth much. What is worth something is the criteria we know separate a good Plus partner from an expensive one, including where we are the wrong choice.
On this page
Digital Heroes is a Shopify Plus agency with an office in New York. We are one of the options in this market, which is exactly why this page does not rank anyone. A vendor ranking a category it competes in is marketing, not research, and you should treat every "top 10 agencies" list written by an agency the same way.
What follows is the selection criteria we would use if we were hiring for this, the questions that reliably expose a weak fit, and a plain statement of what we are and are not good for. Use it to judge us alongside everyone else.
Six things that actually separate agencies.
Partner status, checked at source
Shopify publishes its partner directory. Verify the tier there rather than believing a badge on a website. Tier is not everything, but a claimed tier that does not exist tells you a lot.
Checkout and Functions experience
Plus work is mostly checkout extensibility, Functions and Flow. Ask for a specific example of each, and what broke. Agencies that have only built themes will say yes to Plus work and learn on your budget.
Who actually does the work
Ask to meet the engineer, not just the account lead. Ask whether they are employed or subcontracted, and where. Neither answer is disqualifying; being unable to get a straight answer is.
What happens after launch
Most of the money you will spend with an agency is spent after launch. Ask what the retainer covers, what the response time is when checkout breaks on a Saturday, and who is on call.
Willingness to say no
Describe something you want that is a bad idea. An agency that agrees to everything in the sales process will also agree to everything during the build, and you will pay for all of it.
Code ownership and exit
You should own the theme repository, the app code and the documentation, and be able to hand it to someone else. Ask this before signing. A qualified answer is the answer.
Five questions that end the guessing.
"Show me a checkout extension you shipped, and tell me what went wrong." The second half matters more. Everyone has a portfolio; the failures reveal the depth.
"Which of my requirements would you push back on?" If the answer is none, they have not read the brief or they will not protect you from yourself.
"Who is on the team, and are they employed by you?" Subcontracting is fine and common. Undisclosed subcontracting is a warning.
"What does month four look like?" Agencies optimised for the build often have no answer here. That is where your relationship actually lives.
"What would make you decline this project?" A real agency has a real answer.
Judge us by the same criteria.
- Checkout extensibility, Functions and Flow work
- B2B and wholesale portals on Plus
- Migrations onto Shopify with rankings to protect
- Headless builds where there is a real reason for one
- Teams who want an engineer in the room, not only an account lead
- You want the cheapest possible theme install
- You need everyone in one room in Manhattan every day
- You want an agency that never disagrees with the brief
- The real problem is acquisition or retention, not the store
- You are not ready for Plus and want someone to say you are
The right-hand column is there deliberately. An agency that cannot name who it is wrong for has not thought about it, and you should ask every shortlisted firm for theirs.
Five answers.
Why does this page not rank ten agencies?
Because we compete in this category, so our ranking would be self-serving and you would be right to discount it. Ranked lists published by vendors almost always place the vendor first or near it, and the ordering below that is rarely based on anything you can check. Criteria you can apply yourself are more useful and more honest.
Where should I look for candidates?
Shopify's own partner directory, filtered to your region and Plus, is the primary source and it is verifiable. Beyond that, ask brands you admire who built their store; the honest referral is worth more than any directory. Treat paid placement on review sites as advertising, because that is what it is.
Does the agency need to be in New York?
Rarely, and it is worth being honest that we would benefit from telling you otherwise. What matters is working-hours overlap, responsiveness, and whether you can get an engineer on a call. If in-person workshops matter to how your team decides things, then location matters; otherwise it is a proxy for things you can test directly.
How many agencies should I shortlist?
Three. Fewer and you have no comparison; more and the process takes longer than the discovery phase would have. Give all three the same written brief, then compare what they excluded and what they questioned, not just the totals.
Do I even need Shopify Plus?
Possibly not, and an agency whose revenue depends on Plus projects has an incentive not to raise it. The test is whether you can name the Plus feature you would use in the first ninety days. See what Shopify Plus is and when upgrading pays.
Ask us the five questions.
Send the same brief you are sending everyone else. We will tell you what we would push back on, who would actually build it, and whether we are the right fit. Sometimes the answer is no.
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