- STOQ's Free plan covers both preorders and back-in-stock alerts at once, wider than most competitors' free tiers.
- Lite ($10/mo) sits at the 71st percentile of 17 priced category peers — above the $9 median, but close enough that the gap is a few dollars a month.
- SMS alerts cost $0.025/message on every paid plan with no bundled allowance; 2,000 SMS/month can cost more than the base plan itself.
- Per-preorder overage fees step down as you upgrade: $0.25 on Lite, $0.10 on Pro, $0 on Unlimited — the tiering matters more than the sticker price.
- STOQ holds a 5.0-star rating across 3,643 reviews, a strong satisfaction record for the category.
01 Preorder & Back In Stock Pricing at a Glance
Start free, then upgrade to STOQ's Lite plan at $10/month once you outgrow the free caps — that's the pick for most stores running preorder or back-in-stock alerts on Shopify. STOQ's entry price is positioned against the category median of $9 across 17 priced apps in Shopify's pre-orders category, landing STOQ at the 71st percentile — a touch above the middle of the pack, not the cheapest option, but backed by a materially wider free tier and a 5.0-star rating across 3,643 reviews that most of those cheaper peers can't match.
STOQ (listed on the Shopify App Store as "Preorder, Back In Stock ‑ STOQ") runs four tiers: Free, Lite ($10/month), Pro ($29/month), and Unlimited ($69/month). Each step up raises your preorder and alert caps and lowers the per-preorder overage fee, while SMS stays billed at a flat $0.025 per message on every plan.
| Plan | Price | Preorder overage |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | — |
| Lite | $10/mo | $0.25/preorder |
| Pro | $29/mo | $0.10/preorder |
| Unlimited | $69/mo | none |
02 What You Get on the Free Plan (and When You'll Outgrow It)
STOQ's Free plan isn't a stripped-down trial — it covers both core features the app sells, preorders and back-in-stock email alerts, running simultaneously at modest monthly caps. That's a meaningfully broader free tier than a plan that only lets you test one feature at a time, and it means a small or pre-launch store can run a real preorder campaign and restock notifications without paying anything.
The catch is volume. The free tier's caps suit a single small drop, not an ongoing sales channel — most stores running preorders as a recurring tactic (rather than a one-off launch) will hit those limits within the first week of a live product. Once you do, STOQ doesn't throttle or lock the app; the upgrade path to Lite is the obvious next step rather than a forced decision.
03 STOQ's Paid Tiers: Lite, Pro, Unlimited Compared
Lite at $10/month is where most paying stores land, with overage preorders charged at $0.25 each once you exceed the plan's included volume. Pro at $29/month raises the included volume well beyond Lite and cuts the overage rate to $0.10. Unlimited at $69/month removes preorder and alert limits entirely and drops the per-preorder overage fee altogether, though SMS charges still apply at every tier.
- Lite ($10/mo) — right choice once you're regularly over the free preorder cap but not yet running high SMS volume.
- Pro ($29/mo) — makes sense once monthly preorder volume regularly exceeds Lite's included volume and the lower $0.10 overage rate pays for itself.
- Unlimited ($69/mo) — worth it only once preorder volume is high enough that per-order overage fees on Pro would exceed the $40/month jump to remove them.
04 How STOQ's $10/mo Entry Price Stacks Up Against the Category
Across 17 priced apps in Shopify's pre-orders category (apps above 100 reviews, measured 2026-08-17), the median entry price is $9/month, with a range of $1 to $29.99 and 89% of those apps also offering a free tier. STOQ's $10 Lite plan sits at the 71st percentile of that set — above the median, but not close to the $29.99 ceiling.
The takeaway: STOQ's price isn't the cheapest way into the category, but it sits close enough to the median that the gap comes down to a few dollars a month, and STOQ's review volume (3,643) and 5.0-star rating are strong relative to the category as a whole.
05 Hidden Costs: SMS Fees and Per-Preorder Overages
The number that roundup articles tend to flatten is SMS. STOQ charges $0.025 per SMS alert on every paid plan, with no bundled allowance. At 500 SMS alerts a month that's roughly $12.50; at 2,000 SMS alerts a month it's roughly $50 — on Lite, that's nearly five times the $10 base plan price. This, not the preorder cap, is usually what pushes a high-volume store toward Pro or Unlimited rather than staying on Lite and eating overage fees.
The per-preorder overage fee is also often described as a flat $0.25 charge, but it actually steps down as you upgrade: $0.25 on Lite, $0.10 on Pro, and $0 on Unlimited. That tiering — not the sticker price alone — is the real value shift between plans, since a store running 300 preorders a month would pay $50 in Lite overage fees but nothing extra on Pro.
06 Who Should Pay vs. Who Should Stay Free
Stay on Free if you're testing preorders or restock alerts for the first time, or running low enough volume that you haven't bumped into the plan's caps — there's no reason to pay before then. Move to Lite ($10/mo) once you exceed the free limits; it's the plan most stores should land on, priced right at the category's competitive range and cheap enough that even moderate SMS use won't dominate the bill. Pro ($29/mo) earns its keep once preorder volume regularly outgrows Lite's included volume, where the lower $0.10 overage rate starts paying for itself. Unlimited ($69/mo) is worth it only once you're running enough SMS and preorder volume that the overage math on Pro would otherwise cost more than the $40/month jump.
STOQ's $10/mo entry price is positioned against the $9 category median, but the gap is small, the free tier is unusually complete, and the review record — a 5.0-star rating across 3,643 reviews — is strong for the category. For most merchants running preorder or back-in-stock alerts, starting free and upgrading to Lite once you outgrow the caps is the straightforward, honest call.
07 Frequently asked questions
- How much does STOQ's Preorder, Back In Stock app cost?
- STOQ runs four tiers: Free ($0), Lite ($10/month), Pro ($29/month), and Unlimited ($69/month), with each higher tier raising your usage caps and lowering the per-preorder overage fee. SMS alerts cost $0.025/message on every paid plan.
- Is STOQ's pricing competitive with other preorder apps?
- STOQ's $10/month entry price sits at the 71st percentile among 17 priced apps in Shopify's pre-orders category, just above the $9 median and well below the category's $29.99 ceiling.
- Does STOQ charge extra for SMS alerts?
- Yes — every paid plan bills SMS at $0.025 per message with no bundled allowance. At 2,000 SMS alerts a month, that's roughly $50, which can exceed the base Lite plan price.
- What happens if I go over my preorder limit on STOQ?
- You're charged a per-preorder overage fee rather than being blocked: $0.25 per extra preorder on Lite, $0.10 on Pro, and no overage fee at all on Unlimited.