- 4.9 stars across 3,615 reviews, overwhelmingly five-star — a genuinely lopsided-positive record, not a skewed average.
- Kickstart and Starter share identical preorder/alert caps; Starter's extra $10/month buys customizable emails, not more volume.
- Overage fees can meaningfully raise effective monthly cost for growing stores once a plan's preorder capacity is exceeded.
- SMS pricing depends on destination country and isn't published as a flat rate upfront.
- Free Lite plan is enough to validate the concept before paying anything.
01 What Notify Me! Back in Stock Alert Does
Install it: Notify Me! Back in Stock Alert is worth putting on your store, and the free Lite plan is enough to start collecting restock signups today. At 4.9 stars across 3,615 reviews as of September 2026, it's one of the highest-rated back-in-stock apps on the Shopify App Store. Upgrade to Kickstart ($9.90/month) the moment you're running real preorders or need SMS — the exceptions to that pick are narrow and covered below.
The app adds a "Notify Me" button to out-of-stock product pages. Shoppers enter their email (or phone, on paid plans) and get an automatic alert when the item is back in stock. It also handles preorder capture — letting stores sell against inventory that hasn't landed yet — plus a wishlist feature that lets shoppers bookmark items for later. Unlike some competitors that only place the signup button on standard product-page templates, reviewers note it also works on custom front-page placements, which matters for stores that merchandise restocks outside a normal PDP.
02 Our Verdict: Is It Worth Installing?
Yes. The math is simple: Lite costs nothing and gives a small store enough preorder, alert, and wishlist capacity to test whether restock alerts move revenue. Once a store starts running actual preorder campaigns, Kickstart's $9.90/month unlocks meaningfully higher preorder and alert capacity — a low bar to clear given the app's strong review record and a rating distribution that skews overwhelmingly positive. That's not a high average propped up by a bimodal split; it's a genuinely lopsided-positive record, with only a small share landing at two stars or below.
The one place this verdict softens: stores that will consistently exceed their plan's preorder capacity need to budget for overage fees (more on that below), and stores planning heavy SMS volume should know that cost isn't disclosed as a flat rate upfront. Neither is a reason to skip the app — both are reasons to plan the right plan tier before you scale.
03 Key Features Merchants Actually Use
- Restock email alerts — automatic email the moment a variant is back in stock, the app's core function across every plan.
- Preorder capture — sell against inventory that hasn't arrived yet, with a capped number of preorders per month that scales by plan tier.
- Wishlist actions — shoppers save out-of-stock or full-price items for later, with limits that scale up through the higher plan tiers.
- Customizable emails — branded, editable alert templates, gated behind Starter ($19.90/mo) and above.
- SMS alerts — available as an add-on with per-country pricing rather than a flat rate baked into any plan.
- Flexible button placement — reviewers specifically flag that the notify button can appear on custom front-page sections, not just standard product templates.
04 Pricing Breakdown: Lite, Kickstart, Starter, Standard
Four tiers, and the jump from Kickstart to Starter is easy to misread — both include identical preorder and alert capacity; Starter's extra $10/month buys customizable emails, not more volume. Standard is the only tier that raises the actual usage caps.
| Plan | Price | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Lite | Free | Core restock alerts, with capped preorders and wishlist actions for testing the concept |
| Kickstart | $9.90/mo | Higher preorder and alert capacity for stores running real campaigns |
| Starter | $19.90/mo | Same capacity as Kickstart, plus customizable branded email templates |
| Standard | $39.90/mo | The highest preorder, alert, and wishlist capacity, with a lower overage rate for high-volume stores |
Overage fees apply once a store exceeds its plan's preorder capacity, and they can add up quickly — high-volume stores should model their actual monthly preorder volume against each tier before committing, since Standard's higher price comes with a lower overage rate built for exactly that scenario. SMS is separate from all four tiers and priced by destination country rather than published as a flat per-message rate — worth factoring in before you assume Kickstart's $9.90 covers everything.
05 What the 3,615 Reviews Say (Ratings Deep-Dive)
The review volume itself is a signal: 3,615 reviews today, up from 3,409 in late July 2026 — roughly 200 new reviews in about five weeks, meaning the app is actively used and actively reviewed, not a stagnant listing coasting on old ratings. The overwhelming majority of reviews are five-star, which lines up with the 4.9 aggregate rating rather than being propped up by a skewed average.
Recent reviews lean heavily on support quality, with merchants describing quick, hands-on responses from the support team. The most common complaint is a mild learning curve, though that friction reportedly gets resolved once the merchant contacts support. There's no visible pattern of complaints about false stock alerts, surprise SMS billing, or theme-compatibility breakage in the available review record.
06 Pros and Cons
- Proven at scale — 3,615 reviews is a far deeper trust signal than most competitors in this category can show.
- Real free tier — Lite isn't a crippled trial; it's usable for a genuinely small store to validate the concept before paying anything.
- Responsive support — reviewers consistently describe tickets getting resolved, not just acknowledged.
- Starter's price jump buys branding, not volume — merchants comparing Kickstart and Starter should know the caps are identical.
- Overage fees compound fast — growing preorder volume on Kickstart/Starter can meaningfully raise the effective monthly cost before it makes sense to upgrade to Standard.
- SMS cost isn't upfront — country-dependent SMS pricing means merchants can't fully cost out a text-message strategy from the pricing page alone.
07 Who This Is For
Who this is for: Small to mid-sized Shopify stores selling limited-run or preorder inventory who want restock signups live today at no cost, graduating to paid tiers as preorder volume grows. It's less of a fit for stores that already run heavy SMS-driven marketing through Klaviyo — restock alerts there are just another flow on an existing send budget, and paying for a second, separate SMS relationship inside this app is redundant in that specific case.
08 How It Compares to Alternatives
Other back-in-stock apps exist on the Shopify App Store, including Back in Stock | Restock Alerts (Crawlapps) and Back in Stock by Amp, but neither currently matches Notify Me's review volume, which makes Notify Me the safer default pick for stores that want a deep track record to lean on. Klaviyo's restock flows are the right call only for stores already paying for Klaviyo with headroom in their send limits; for anyone else, it's a redundant cost layered on top of an existing subscription. None of these apps touch Shopify's checkout extensibility changes, since back-in-stock buttons live on the storefront/product-page layer rather than inside checkout — a non-issue for the whole category, not a Notify Me differentiator.
09 Conclusion
Install Notify Me! Back in Stock Alert. The free Lite plan costs nothing to test, the 4.9-star rating across 3,615 reviews is backed by a genuinely lopsided-positive distribution rather than a skewed average, and Kickstart's $9.90/month is a low-risk next step once preorders start moving. Just plan your tier around real preorder volume — overage fees are where costs sneak up — and budget SMS separately since it's priced by country rather than bundled flat into any plan.
07 Frequently asked questions
- Is Notify Me! Back in Stock Alert free?
- Yes, the Lite plan is free and includes a capped number of restock notifications, preorders, and wishlist actions each month — enough for a small store to test the feature before upgrading.
- What's the difference between Kickstart and Starter plans?
- Nothing in terms of volume — both plans include the same preorder and alert capacity. Starter's extra $10/month over Kickstart's $9.90 adds customizable email templates, not higher limits.
- How much does SMS cost on Notify Me?
- SMS isn't included in any plan's base price and is billed separately based on the destination country's carrier rates, so it isn't published as one flat number on the pricing page.
- What happens if I exceed my plan's preorder limit?
- You're charged a per-preorder overage fee once you exceed your plan's limit, with Standard offering a lower overage rate than Kickstart or Starter. Stores that consistently run well past their plan's cap typically save money by upgrading to Standard.
- How does Notify Me! compare to other back-in-stock apps?
- Other options exist, including Back in Stock by Amp and Crawlapps' Back in Stock app, but neither currently matches Notify Me's review volume — which is why it's the safer default pick for stores that want a proven track record. Klaviyo's restock flows only make sense if you're already paying for Klaviyo with room in your send limits.