Shopify development opens up multiple career paths.
Some developers freelance, some join agencies, others go full-time in-house, or even join tech companies outside the Shopify space.
Once you have a basic foundation, your main goal is simple:
get real-world experience as fast as possible.
How you do that depends on your situation, but there are two common entry points.
Freelancing means working directly with clients on a project or an hourly basis / or fixed-price project basis.
This is often the fastest way to get started, especially if you don’t yet have a strong track record.
You don’t need prior job experience, you just need to deliver value and present yourself professionally.
Freelancing platforms:
- Give you access to existing demand
- Let you build a portfolio and collect reviews
- Help you learn how real merchants think and communicate
Different platforms work in different ways, and each has its pros and cons.
For a quick overview you can watch this guide on Freelancing platforms in the Shopify space:
→ Learn more: Best Freelancing Platforms for Shopify Devs
PS. Beyond freelancing platforms, there are many other ways to get in touch with clients.
( hether it’s direct outreach, leveraging your network, partnering with marketers or designers, or more creative approaches.)
The entire sales and marketing side of being a developer is something we cover deeply in our Shopify Developer Bootcamp.
That includes concrete strategies, templates, tracking sheets, portfolio reviews, and more.
This part is a big reason why hundreds of success stories have come out of it over the years.
Full-time roles are another common path, especially within Shopify agencies.
In the Shopify ecosystem, “full-time” usually means:
- Working at a Shopify agency
- Working for a single brand as an inhouse developer
- Working for a thrid party company (App or Theme founders)
- Or even working at Shopify Directly
The challenge is that may junior roles require prior experience, which creates the classic paradox:
no job without experience, no experience without a job.
This is where freelancing helps.
Even a few small paid projects can make you a much stronger candidate for agency roles.
Positioning yourself as someone with real-world experience makes a world of difference.
This, combined with strategies to find the right companies, is also something we heavily focus on in our Developer Bootcamp.
If you want to hear a great real-world example of this path, check out our Interview with Coralie Delpha.
She went from freelancing to working directly at Shopify.
Technical skills alone are not enough once you start working with real clients.
As a Shopify developer, you’re often expected to advise merchants, explain trade-offs, and justify decisions (basically like a consultant).
This section covers some practical Shopify business knowledge that helps you sell better and build trust faster, based on industry insights.
When you recommend Shopify for a new store setup, people might ask you about the benefits.
The biggest advantages are :
- Faster time to launch
- Fewer technical decisions to maintain long-term
- A huge app and partner ecosystem
- Predictable infrastructure that scales from small shops to large brands
Understanding these strengths helps you confidently explain why Shopify is often the right choice.
→ Learn more: Shopify Benefits: How to Sell Shopify to Clients
Shopify’s pricing page doesn’t tell the full story.
Real merchant costs usually include:
- Monthly plan fees
- Transaction and payment processing fees
- App subscriptions
- Development and maintenance costs
As a developer, you should understand how these costs add up, especially at higher revenue levels.
This allows you to set realistic expectations, avoid surprises, and help merchants choose the right plan early on.
→ Learn more: Admin UI Extensions Overview
Shopify Functions let you modify Shopify's backend logic (in real time).
They’re typically used for:
- Pricing logic
- Discounts
- Shipping and payment customizations
They’re still relatively new and quite powerful when it comes to building custom features.
→ Learn more: Partner Earnings (20% recurring commission)
