Creating bundles with a subscription plan like like Recharge, Seal, and Appstle in Simple Bundles 2.0
If your store relies heavily on subscriptions, we recommend using Simple Bundles 1.0 for now. It offers a more seamless experience for managing recurring orders until Shopify provides full native subscription support in Simple Bundles 2.0.
See creating bundles with a subscription plan in Simple Bundles 1.0
While native subscription functionality isn’t available in Simple Bundles 2.0 due to limitations in Shopify’s API, many merchants have successfully integrated subscriptions through popular third‑party apps.
Popular subscription apps recommended for merchants
Many merchants have integrated their bundles with leading subscription platforms. Some of the popular options include:
- Recharge Subscriptions
- Seal Subscriptions
- Appstle
- Bold Subscriptions
- Loop Subscriptions
- Skio
Key considerations for subscription orders in Simple Bundles 2.0
- Compatibility with Subscription apps
Subscription orders processed through third-party apps are considered to originate outside of Shopify’s native sales channel. As a result, they are handled using the same order editing process as in Simple Bundles 1.0.
However, when the bundle is sold as a one-time purchase only, the bundle product will be broken down into its components at checkout using the Cart Transform API method.
- Understanding selling plan limitations
Subscription orders typically use selling plans—which many merchants use for recurring orders—but are not currently supported in Simple Bundles 2.0. Shopify’s API does not yet provide native support for selling plans, so if these are critical for your business, you may want to continue using Simple Bundles 1.0 and explore third‑party subscription solutions.
Using subscription-only products in bundles in the Recharge app
If you're using Recharge Subscriptions and including subscription-only products (i.e., no one-time purchase option enabled) in your bundles, it’s important to note that Shopify will reject the add-to-cart action when the bundle is added to the cart via the storefront. This issue is not theme-related. Instead, it's tied to how Shopify and Recharge handle selling plan requirements for subscription-only products.
For example:“Aro Home + Gardenia Whisper (150ml) with FREE Mystery Gift”, the product “Gardenia Whisper inspired by Mont-Blanc Resorts®” is configured in Recharge as subscription-only (with the one-time purchase option turned off).
As a result, when a customer tries to add this bundle to cart through the storefront, Shopify rejects the add-to-cart request entirely because it includes a product that must be purchased with a selling plan, but the bundle isn’t set up to pass that plan.
Solution: In Recharge, make sure that "One-Time Purchase" is enabled for all bundle component products. This ensures that the parent bundle can be successfully added to the cart, even if the customer is only purchasing the subscription product as a one-time purchase.
One-time bundle purchase vs. a subscription purchase
Below, we show how a bundle appears on the storefront and in the order admin as a one-time order vs. a subscription order. Below is a comparison of how a bundle appears to customers and in the Shopify admin when purchased as a one-time order versus a subscription.
Bundle as a one-time purchase
Bundle product page with subscription plans What customers see at checkout:
Checkout page - Using Cart Transform API
How it appears in the Shopify order admin:
2.Bundle as a subscription
What customers see at checkout:
How it appears in the Shopify order admin:
Need more help? Contact our team anytime—we’re happy to help!