Rules native discounts cannot express
Spend-threshold gifts, tiered ladders, and gift selection are the actual reasons to install anything.
Best apps / Promotions
The Best Shopify Free Gift & BOGO Apps
A free gift above a spend threshold is one of the few promotions that lifts basket size instead of just cutting price. Set the threshold wrong and it is a discount with extra steps.
THE SHORT VERSION
Shopify's native discounts cover a surprising amount — including some buy-X-get-Y cases — so the first honest question is whether you need an app at all. Where you do is gift-with-purchase above a spend threshold, tiered gift ladders, and letting the customer choose their gift. The strategic case for a gift over a percentage discount: a gift costs you its cost price, whereas 15% off costs you 15% of every item in the basket, and a gift gives shoppers a reason to add rather than a reason to wait for the next sale. Set the threshold with the AOV calculator.
What we judged on
The criteria below are the ones that actually change the outcome on a client store. Everything else is a feature list.
Inventory caps on the gift
Running out mid-campaign is the most common way this goes wrong.
Cart progress display
A gift nobody knows they are close to earning changes no behaviour at all.
Stacking control
How the gift interacts with sales, affiliate codes, and loyalty rewards is where profitability is decided.
Clean fulfilment
The gift needs to appear on the packing slip at zero value without confusing your courier.
The picks
BOGOS
Best for gift-with-purchaseBOGOS is the promotions app on our stack for anything Shopify's native discounts cannot express cleanly: spend-threshold gifts, tiered gift ladders, and customer gift selection. It handles the mechanics well; the work that decides whether the promotion makes money is choosing a gift with a big gap between cost and perceived value, and capping the stock you commit. Our BOGOS guide covers both.
What is good
- Gift-with-purchase above a spend threshold, done properly
- Tiered gift ladders and customer gift selection
- Inventory caps on the gift item
- Cart progress messaging built in
What to watch
- Overlapping rules get hard to reason about quickly
- Needs a fulfilment check so gifts ship at zero value correctly
- Gift weight can tip parcels into a higher shipping band
Shopify native discounts
Try this firstGenuinely worth checking before you install anything. Shopify's built-in discount engine handles percentage and fixed-amount discounts, free shipping, and some buy-X-get-Y configurations without a subscription or an extra script. If your promotion fits inside that, use it — you get better performance and one less app to maintain.
What is good
- Free and built in
- No additional scripts or page weight
- Handles a fair range of buy-X-get-Y cases
- Nothing to migrate or cancel later
What to watch
- No spend-threshold gift-with-purchase
- No tiered gift ladders or gift selection
- Limited cart progress messaging
Our verdict
Check whether native discounts cover your promotion first. If you need spend-threshold or tiered gifts, BOGOS — with the threshold set above your current AOV and a hard cap on gift stock.
Not sure which of these you actually need?
Send us your store. We will tell you which apps are earning their subscription, which are costing you page speed, and what we would install instead — free, no strings.
Frequently Asked
Questions
What clients ask before they commit to an app in this category.
Free gift or percentage discount?
A gift generally protects margin better and gives shoppers a reason to add an item. A percentage discount is simpler and better when you need to clear specific stock.
Where should I set the threshold?
Just above your current average order value, so the gift prompts one more item rather than rewarding orders you already had. Run it through the AOV calculator.
Do free gifts attract bad customers?
A low threshold on a generic gift attracts one-time bargain hunters. A threshold above your AOV with a gift that fits the brand rewards your better customers instead.
Affiliate disclosure: QodeBites may earn a commission from some links on this page — we only recommend apps we actually build with on client stores. It costs you nothing extra, and it never changes what we recommend.