Shopify Shipping Rates Not Showing at Checkout?

Why aren’t my shipping app’s rates showing at checkout?

On Shopify, a shipping app’s live rates show at checkout only for addresses covered by a carrier- or app-calculated shipping option. One cause is new: since Admin API version 2026-10, a carrier service created on that version is no longer added to your General shipping profile, so its rates stay hidden until that option is added, by you in the admin or by the app.

The Shopify settings, labels and plan rules on this page were checked against Shopify’s help documentation and shopify.dev on 21 October 2026.

Shopify’s developer changelog says: “Without these additional steps, merchants won’t see rates from newly created carrier services at checkout” (Shopify, 26 June 2026). A Shopify Community post of 14 October 2026 warned other merchants about it, because “it fails silently and Q4 is close”.

What changed in Shopify’s API version 2026-10?

Starting with Admin API version 2026-10, released on 1 October 2026, creating a carrier service only registers it: Shopify no longer adds it to the General shipping profile or any of its zones. Older API versions keep the automatic add until they are retired.

A carrier service is what a shipping app uses for live rates: at checkout, Shopify sends the cart and address to the app and shows the rates it returns (carrierServiceCreate). From the changelog entry, tagged as a breaking API change:

• Before: active carrier services created through the API “were automatically added to eligible shipping zones in the shop’s General shipping profile”.
• From 2026-10: “creating a carrier service only registers the carrier service”. It covers the GraphQL carrierServiceCreate mutation and the REST POST /admin/api/{version}/carrier_services.json endpoint.
• The fix Shopify recommends: the merchant adds the carrier-calculated rate to the right shipping profile in the admin. The alternative is for the app to add it through the shipping profile APIs.

Which behaviour you get depends on the API version the app uses. To find out, ask the app’s developer. The check below is the same either way.

Source: Shopify’s API versioning page (cut-off times 15:00 UTC) and the changelog above, checked 21 October 2026. Version 2025-10 stopped being accessible on 16 October 2026, and an app that targets a retired version is answered by the oldest accessible stable one. By our reading of those two pages, once 2026-07 stops being accessible on 16 July 2027, no version keeps the automatic add, so every app that creates a carrier service from then on gets the new behaviour.

The changelog describes the automatic add as reaching eligible shipping zones in the General profile and names no other profile, and a product in a custom profile uses that profile’s rates instead of the general ones (shipping profiles), so by our reading products in custom profiles never received an app’s rate automatically, before or after 2026-10.

Which shipping settings does my store have?

Shopify has two shipping set-ups (checked 21 October 2026). Open Settings → Shipping and delivery: if shipping is organised in shipping profiles, with zones and rates, your store uses shipping profiles; if it is organised by market, in a Shipping options section, your store has been upgraded to shipping options by market.

Shopify is moving stores to shipping options by market gradually: merchant rollout was due to begin on 1 October 2026 and all stores are targeted to be on it by 1 July 2027 (market-driven shipping changelog), dates Shopify’s developer upgrade guide says “are targets and may shift”. Its help centre calls it “early access” for “certain stores”, and says most stores still use shipping profiles (checked 21 October 2026). From what’s changing with shipping:

• Stores that use shipping apps might be upgraded later, after those apps become compatible.
• If an app that provides rates isn’t compatible, its rates might not show at checkout. A banner on the Shipping and delivery page tells you if an installed app isn’t compatible.
• On an upgraded store, staff who manage shipping need the Markets permission. It isn’t granted automatically or included in existing staff roles.

Shopify hasn’t said whether the 2026-10 change applies to stores on shipping options by market (checked 21 October 2026). In both set-ups the check is the same: is there a carrier- or app-calculated option wherever your customers’ addresses are covered?

How do I add carrier-calculated rates?

You add a shipping option with the rate type Carrier or app calculated, in every zone of every profile that should offer the app’s rates, or in every market on an upgraded store. The steps below come from Shopify’s help; follow the set that matches your store.

With shipping profiles

From setting up shipping rates:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings → Shipping and delivery.
2. Click the shipping profile your products are in: General, unless you have made custom profiles.
3. If no zone covers the addresses you want, click Add zone, enter a Zone name, choose the Regions and click Done.
4. For the zone, click Add shipping option.
5. From the Rate type drop-down menu, select Carrier or app calculated.
6. Click Choose carrier and apps, then select your app from the Carrier or app drop-down menu.
7. Select the services to show. If no services are listed, the app displays its rates automatically.
8. Optional: select Automatically include new services when they become available, or enter a Handling fee as a percentage or a fixed amount.
9. Click Done. Optionally set Offer free shipping over a minimum, then click Done and Save.

Repeat steps 4 to 9 for every zone. Then do the same in each custom profile: in its own set-up, Shopify has you click Add shipping option for each rate you want in each zone (setting up shipping profiles). A product can be in only one profile at a time, so check which profile holds the products whose rates are missing.

Tip: To mark up or discount the app’s rate later, click the menu icon next to the rate, then Edit shipping option, and set the Handling fee. A negative value gives a discount, and the percentage is applied before the flat fee.

With shipping options by market

From setting up shipping options:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Markets.
2. Click the market you want to set up shipping for, then click Shipping. A market inherits its shipping from its parent market; to override that for a child market, click Customize.
3. Click Add shipping option and enter a Name.
4. From the Rate type drop-down menu, select Carrier or app calculated, then select the carrier or app and its services.
5. Optional: add a handling fee, limit the option with Applies to → Specific collections, or choose where it Ships from.
6. Click Done, then Save.

A carrier- or app-calculated shipping option can have only one rate, and customers can order only from regions in an active market.

What else stops carrier rates from appearing?

Shopify documents several other causes. Work down this table in order: each row is from Shopify’s troubleshooting page unless it links another.

By default, a failing app doesn’t leave checkout empty. Shopify’s CarrierService reference says “Timeouts or errors will trigger backup rates”, and since 22 May 2025 3xx and 4xx responses from a carrier do the same (changelog). Backup rates appear only when every app or carrier-calculated rate for the shipment fails and no other eligible rate exists. By our reading, then, “Shipping not available” points first at zones, markets and profiles: Shopify shows it when checkout matches none of your rates, and backup rates exist only where at least one app or carrier-calculated rate is set up (backup rates). An app can still be the cause: one that can’t serve a request returns an empty list of rates, which isn’t an error and doesn’t trigger backup rates (CarrierService reference).

How do I test shipping rates before a busy sales day?

Test with a new checkout, not an abandoned one, to an address in each zone or market, with a product from each profile. Shopify’s troubleshooting page says an abandoned checkout “keeps the rates from when it was created”.

1. Start a new checkout for a product from the General profile, to an address in your first zone. The app’s rates should be listed.
2. Repeat for every zone or market you ship to.
3. Repeat with a product from each custom profile.
4. With shipping profiles, try a cart that mixes profiles: same-named rates are added together; if no names match, the cheapest rate from each profile is combined into one rate named Shipping.
5. After changing a setting, allow for caching: Shopify reuses the answer to an identical rate request for 15 minutes after a successful response, and 30 seconds after an error, a duration Shopify says may change without notice (CarrierService reference).

If the app can be selected under Shipping and delivery but still shows no rates, Shopify’s own checklist is: third-party carrier-calculated shipping is available and active (if the app uses it), the test address is in a zone where the app is active, and weights, dimensions and a valid physical origin address are set. If all of that is right, contact the app’s developer, who can investigate the rate request, account credentials and service coverage with the carrier (troubleshooting).

For the season’s carrier cut-offs, see Christmas shipping deadlines and how to set your cut-off. For the rest of the platform changes worth testing first, see what changed on Shopify before Black Friday 2026.

What Shopify hasn’t said

Shopify’s documentation doesn’t answer these (checked 21 October 2026):

• Whether the 2026-10 change applies to stores on shipping options by market, or how a new carrier service appears there.
• Whether reinstalling an app creates a new carrier service.
• Whether set-ups that already show an app’s rates are touched. The changelog speaks only of creating a carrier service.
• How many stores or apps are affected. No figure has been published.

This guide covers rates from shipping apps. On a plan without third-party carrier-calculated shipping the steps above don’t help: an app’s request to create a carrier service fails unless the store meets Shopify’s plan requirement (CarrierService reference), so the plan row in the table comes first. Shopify’s built-in carrier integrations, such as USPS in the US and Canada Post in Canada, work on all plans (setting up shipping rates).

Note: How we made this guide: researched and drafted with AI tools, and every fact checked against the linked sources on 21 October 2026. Spotted an error? Email support@b2bgold.app.