# Groups and communities for Shopify app developers

Source: watchfor.tools, an independent directory for people who build Shopify apps. No paid placement, no affiliate links. Not affiliated with Shopify.
Canonical: https://watchfor.tools/communities

Three places where people who work on Shopify talk to each other, and who is in each one. Two are for people who build on Shopify. One is for merchants. One costs money to join, and one does not take open applications. Each listing's watch note says who is in it and what its rules let you post.

## For people who build on Shopify

### ShopDev Alliance

Page: https://watchfor.tools/communities/shopdevalliance
Summary: A paid, private Slack for working Shopify developers.
Platform: Slack
Price: $30/mo or $300/yr
Entry: Referral only since 1 September 2026
Watch for: It is a community for freelance developers, not for app businesses. App and theme developers are named as welcome, and both founders are freelancers. So the main topics are client work, scope and rates, not listing strategy, Partner billing or App Store distribution. It is useful for hiring and for talk about platform releases. It has less on the other topics this directory covers. Getting in is the real cost, not the fee. Since applications closed you need a referral, an award or a forum badge, so you cannot decide to join this week. The published figures, 170+ members and 18 time zones, are self-reported and were read on 13 October 2026. There is no public archive to see who is in it before you pay. Not sponsored by or affiliated with Shopify, which the site states itself.

### Shopify Developer Community

Page: https://watchfor.tools/communities/shopifydevcommunity
Summary: shopify's official forum for app and theme developers, where shopify staff answer api questions.
Platform: Discourse forum run by Shopify
Price: Free
Entry: Open, with an account to post
Watch for: It is for technical questions about Shopify's APIs, and its guidelines remove promotional posts as spam. So it is a place to get answers and see what other developers run into, not to find customers. The talk is about building, not running an app business: pricing, marketing and growth are mostly absent. The figures are the forum software's own counts on the day it was read.

## For merchants, read sideways

### Shopify Community

Page: https://watchfor.tools/communities/shopifycommunity
Summary: shopify's official public forum, where merchants ask and partners answer.
Platform: Discourse forum run by Shopify
Price: Free
Entry: Open, with a Shopify account to post
Watch for: Built for merchants, not app developers. Its rules count any app recommendation outside the Ask and Offer board as spam, even an honest one for an app you have no link to. So on most boards you can help with the problem but cannot name your app. Technical questions about Shopify's APIs belong on the separate developer forum at community.shopify.dev. The account count includes every merchant who ever signed in, so the 30-day figure is the one that says how busy it is. The figures are the forum software's own counts on the day it was read.

Member figures are the community's own, with the day they were read on each listing. Every entry keeps its watch note, and it is no more the organizers' to edit than a tool's is.