How to show estimated delivery dates on Shopify checkout

By the end of this guide, your Shopify checkout will show shoppers a delivery date range built from your processing time and your shipping transit time. The quick answer for most stores is to add a transit time to your flat shipping rates, then turn on manual delivery dates at Settings > Shipping and delivery > Estimated delivery dates. Manual delivery dates are free and available on every Shopify plan.

What you need before you start

Shopify's built-in manual delivery dates need up-to-date shipping settings, a supported rate type, a supported origin country and in-stock products. Check each item below first, because if one is missing, the dates simply won't appear.

• Current shipping settings. If your store still uses legacy shipping settings, Shopify asks you to update them first.
• A supported rate type. Manual dates need flat rates with a transit time, shipping label calculated rates, or negotiated carrier-calculated rates.
• A supported origin country. Flat rates with transit time work from Canada, the US, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Australia. Shipping label calculated rates work from Canada, the US and Australia. Negotiated carrier-calculated rates work from Canada and the US, and only for some UPS and Canada Post services.
• Single-country shipping zones. Each zone must contain one country only, with no mix of domestic and international.
• Stock above zero. Dates only show for products whose inventory is above 0.
• Fulfillment apps and locations set up first. Apps that manage fulfillment (Shopify's help page names Printful) are added as a location and can turn off transit time on your existing rates.

Automated delivery dates have extra requirements: the Basic, Grow, Advanced or Plus plan, at least one fulfilled domestic order, and an active fulfillment location in an eligible country (the US, Canada, New Zealand, or about 30 European countries including the UK, Switzerland and Norway).

The built-in setup is a few screens in your admin: one edit per shipping rate, then one settings page.

Ways to show estimated delivery dates in Shopify checkout

You can show estimated delivery dates at Shopify checkout in five ways: manual delivery dates, automated delivery dates, a delivery date widget app, an app that writes the date into the shipping option, or custom code. The built-in options cost nothing; apps and code fill the gaps, such as a cutoff other than 12 pm or dates on product pages.

Manual delivery dates (built into Shopify)

Manual delivery dates show a date range at checkout, such as Wednesday, October 27 to Thursday, October 28. Shopify works out the range as fulfillment time plus transit time. You choose the fulfillment time: Same business day, Next business day, 2 business days, or Custom (3 to 40 business days, or 1 to 8 weeks).

The dates appear at checkout, in accelerated checkouts such as Shop Pay, in order confirmation emails, and on the Thank You and Order Details pages, according to Shopify's overview. The order cutoff is fixed at 12 pm in the shipping origin's local time zone, and business days run Monday to Friday. Manual dates don't work with rates from third-party apps or negotiated FedEx rates, and third-party dropshipping apps aren't supported.

Best for: most stores using flat rates and shipping from one of the supported countries.

Automated delivery dates (built into Shopify)

Automated delivery dates show one specific date, such as Estimated delivery Mon, Jun 30, predicted from your past shipping performance. Only domestic or same-region orders qualify (US to US, Europe to Europe, Canada to Canada, New Zealand to New Zealand), and the prediction must fall within 4 days for Europe or 5 days for the US, Canada and New Zealand. Digital products, app-provided pre-orders, subscriptions and try-before-you-buy orders are excluded.

You can use both modes together: if an order isn't eligible for automated dates, Shopify shows the manual dates instead. Note that with automated dates, Shopify's help page says you are responsible for late, damaged or wrong deliveries.

Best for: stores with a steady fulfillment record and mostly domestic orders.

Delivery date widget apps

Delivery date widget apps add what the built-in settings lack: your own cutoff hours, holidays, countdowns, and dates on product and cart pages. Several also list a checkout placement, but check each listing for what that placement needs.

Essent Estimated Delivery Date (Essential Apps) has the most proof in this group, with a 5.0 rating from 1,058 reviews. The free plan covers up to 1,000 monthly views; Starter is $4.99/month (5,000 views), Essential $9.99/month (15,000 views) and Professional $24.99/month (unlimited views), with yearly prices available. Every plan lists all features, including processing time, cut-off hours, holidays, a delivery timer, Markets and geolocation targeting, and product page, cart and checkout placements. The listing doesn't say which plan or checkout type the checkout placement needs, and the Built for Shopify badge wasn't confirmed, so check the Essent Estimated Delivery Date listing.

Delivery Timer: Estimated Date (LAUNCHTIP) is rated 4.9 from 88 reviews and is Built for Shopify. The free tier covers 500 monthly views, then $7.99/month (10,000 views), $14.99/month (25,000) and $19.99/month (50,000), with usage pricing above that. Features include order-by and dispatch times, a Get it by countdown, an order-to-delivery timeline, and lead times by product or collection; the listing says it works with Checkout. See the Delivery Timer: Estimated Date listing.

NS Estimated Delivery Date (NestScale) is rated 4.9 from 92 reviews and is Built for Shopify. The free plan covers 100 products on product pages only. Checkout display and cut-off time start on the Growth plan at $7.99/month plus $0.04 per extra tracked order, and there is a 3-day free trial. It also includes a branded order tracking page and dates by zip code or shipping method. See the NS Estimated Delivery Date listing.

ArrivesBy – Delivery Date ETA is rated 4.6 from 51 reviews (from the page's metadata). The free Starter plan allows 3 custom rules, $4.99/month unlocks unlimited rules, Scale at $19.99/month adds cart, Thank You and order status ETAs, and the $99/month plan adds checkout extensions, which the listing marks as Shopify Plus. It suits stores with preorders, backorders or variable lead times, and it tracks how accurate its estimates were. See the ArrivesBy – Delivery Date ETA listing.

S Estimated Delivery Date Plus (Synctrack by Omega) has 450 reviews; check the listing for its current rating and pricing.

Apps that write the date into the shipping option

Apps that write the date into the shipping option show the estimate on the checkout rates themselves rather than in a separate widget.

Ship+ Checkout Delivery Dates shows an exact date next to or below the shipping option name, with buffer days, holidays and a daily cut-off time. Pricing depends on your Shopify plan: $9.99/month on Basic, $14.99/month on the Shopify plan, $19.99/month on Advanced and $29.99/month on Plus, with a 7-day free trial and no free plan. Ship+ Checkout Delivery Dates supplies its own rates, and Shopify's manual dates don't work with app-provided rates, so you can't combine the two. The developer and rating weren't listed in what we checked, so see the Ship+ Checkout Delivery Dates listing.

SO: Shipping rules (Miso Apps) hides, shows, renames or reorders delivery methods at checkout and shows estimated delivery dates based on delivery days and an order cutoff. SO: Shipping rules is free, but it launched in October 2026 and has no reviews yet, so it has far less proof than the apps above. It is English only and doesn't calculate carrier rates or print labels. It fits stores that also want rules for hiding or renaming rates; our shipping rules apps comparison covers that job in more depth. See the SO: Shipping rules listing.

Disclosure: Miso Apps, our sister studio, makes this app.

Custom code

Custom code means building an app, which is developer-level work. Shopify lists messages with delivery information and delivery date pickers as uses for the shipping-step checkout UI extension targets. API version 2025-07 is the last to support React, and extensions must move to Polaris web components to avoid being blocked from updates after October 1, 2026. Which plans these targets need wasn't verified, so check shopify.dev.

The Delivery Customization Function API can rename, sort or hide delivery options and add messaging to delivery option titles, so a developer could add a date to a rate name. A store can have at most 25 active delivery customization functions. For product-page dates through theme snippets, we found no Shopify developer documentation, so check your theme's own documentation.

How to show estimated delivery dates, step by step

The setup that suits most stores is Shopify's manual delivery dates on flat rates, done in three stages: add transit times, turn on the dates, then check your confirmation email.

Stage 1: Add transit time to your flat rates

These steps come from Shopify's transit time guide.

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Shipping and delivery.
2. In the Shipping section, click the shipping profile you want to change.
3. Next to the shipping option, click the ... menu, then click Edit shipping option.
4. From the Transit time drop-down menu, pick a suggested transit time or enter a custom one.
5. If you picked Custom, enter it and click Done.
6. Click Done.
7. Click Save.

Repeat for each flat rate. For a new rate, click Add shipping option next to a zone, fill in Name, Rate type (Flat, Order Amount or Weight), Price and Transit time, then click Done and Save.

Stage 2: Turn on manual delivery dates

These steps come from Shopify's manual delivery dates guide.

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Shipping and delivery > Estimated delivery dates.
2. Click Estimated delivery dates, then select Manual.
3. From the Fulfillment time drop-down menu, pick an option.
4. Optional: if you pick Custom, enter the time and pick a unit (business days or weeks).
5. Click Save.

To use automated dates instead, follow the same steps and select Automated in step 2. To turn dates off, select Off.

Stage 3: Check your order confirmation email

If you customized your order confirmation template, Shopify may not add the dates automatically.

1. Go to Settings > Notifications.
2. Click Order confirmation.
3. For manual dates, confirm the template contains the estimated delivery time Liquid block right after the requires shipping condition, as shown on the manual delivery dates help page. For automated dates, click Edit code and replace the shipping method title line with the branded shipping line conditional shown on the automated delivery dates help page.
4. Click Save.

Then go through checkout with an in-stock product and a domestic address to confirm the date range appears next to your rates.

Tips to get more out of it

The best tip for estimated delivery dates is to set a fulfillment time you actually hit, because the date is a promise to the shopper.

• Plan around your carrier's pickup. Shopify's fulfillment time guide suggests finishing orders before the carrier's cutoff, for example by 3:30 pm if the carrier stops accepting at 4:00 pm.
• Remember the 12 pm cutoff. In Shopify's worked example, an order placed after 12 pm on a Wednesday, with 2 business days of fulfillment and a Friday holiday, gets an estimate of Thu Jan 30 to Fri Jan 31. The help page doesn't say how holidays are chosen.
• Run automated and manual together. Orders that don't qualify for automated dates fall back to manual dates.
• Keep rate names clean. Before turning on automated dates, move any transit wording out of custom rate names and into the rate description.
• US stores: look at Shop Promise. The free Shop Promise program adds a badge such as Trusted delivery to qualifying products, and that benefit needs automated dates turned on. The $5 Shop Cash for late deliveries was removed, though earlier eligible orders can be claimed until December 16, 2026.
• Use an app for the gaps. If you need a cutoff other than 12 pm, dates on product pages, or an origin country outside the supported list, a delivery date app is the practical route.

Common mistakes to avoid

The most common mistake with estimated delivery dates is mixing eligible and ineligible rates: if checkout shows both, no dates appear for any rate, including the eligible ones.

• Using custom flat rates. A custom flat rate only takes a description, not a transit time, so it won't show calculated dates.
• Multi-country zones. Zones that mix countries, or domestic and international, break transit times.
• Relying on app-provided rates. Manual dates don't work with third-party app rates, negotiated FedEx rates or third-party dropshipping apps.
• Installing fulfillment apps last. Apps such as Printful can turn off transit time on existing rates, so set up apps and locations first.
• Forgetting stock. Products at 0 inventory won't show a date.
• Promising too fast. With automated dates you are responsible for late deliveries, so don't set a fulfillment time you can't meet.

Frequently asked questions

Can I change the 12 pm cutoff for Shopify's estimated delivery dates?

Shopify's built-in cutoff is fixed at 12 pm in the local time zone of the shipping origin, and the help center shows no setting to change it. Apps such as Essent Estimated Delivery Date, Delivery Timer: Estimated Date and Ship+ Checkout Delivery Dates list their own cut-off times. NS Estimated Delivery Date includes cut-off time on paid plans only.

Do estimated delivery dates work on the Shopify Basic plan?

Manual delivery dates are available on all Shopify plans. Automated delivery dates need the Basic, Grow, Advanced or Plus plan, plus at least one fulfilled domestic order and a fulfillment location in an eligible country.

Why are estimated delivery dates not showing at my Shopify checkout?

The usual causes are a mix of eligible and ineligible rates at checkout, custom flat rates without a transit time, rates from third-party apps, zones with more than one country, out-of-stock products, legacy shipping settings, or an origin country outside the supported list. Check each one against Shopify's manual delivery dates help page.

Can Shopify show estimated delivery dates on product pages?

Shopify's built-in delivery dates appear at checkout and afterwards, and we found no help center page covering product pages. Apps such as Essent Estimated Delivery Date, Delivery Timer: Estimated Date and NS Estimated Delivery Date show dates on product pages, with free tiers that are capped by views or products.

Do I need Shopify Plus to show delivery dates at checkout?

Shopify's built-in manual and automated delivery dates don't need Shopify Plus. Some apps do: the ArrivesBy – Delivery Date ETA listing marks its checkout extensions as Shopify Plus on its $99/month plan, so check each app's listing for checkout requirements.

Next step

The next step is to open Settings > Shipping and delivery, add a transit time to each flat rate, and turn on manual delivery dates. If the 12 pm cutoff or the supported country list doesn't fit your store, compare the apps above on reviews, pricing and checkout requirements before you install one.