Checkout Blocks, now Shopify-owned: what it does and where it stops

This article originally covered Checkout Blocks as a promising third-party app. The update worth re-publishing: Shopify acquired Checkout Blocks in early 2024 and made it free for Plus merchants — so the question in 2026 isn't whether to install it, it's what it covers and where it stops.

What it is now

Checkout Blocks is the no-code layer over checkout extensibility. Inside the checkout editor, a Plus merchant can add content and field blocks at the standard extension points and drive them with conditions — no developer in the loop:

• Content blocks — banners, trust messaging, delivery notes, custom text and images placed at any extension point.
• Custom fields — gift messages, order notes, date pickers, dropdowns — saved to cart attributes and visible on the order.
• Conditional visibility — show or hide blocks by customer tag, country, cart line properties, subtotal, product, and similar rules.
• Link and upsell surfaces — post-purchase and thank-you page content without touching code.

What it replaced

In the checkout.liquid era, every one of those items was a code change in a file merchants were afraid to touch. The 2023 version of this article called the modular approach a game-changer; that aged fine. The part that didn't: it described Checkout Blocks as one more app to evaluate. It's table stakes for Plus now — if you're on Plus and haven't opened it, that's the first move before commissioning any custom checkout work.

Where it stops

The rule builder's vocabulary is the boundary. Conditions can reference what Shopify already knows: tags, cart contents, totals, country. They cannot ask your systems anything. From real requests that crossed that line:

• "Show the PO-number field only for accounts with approved credit in our ERP" — external lookup, needs an extension.
• "Validate the delivery date against our routing calendar" — live API call, extension.
• "Hide installments when the customer's lifetime order count is zero" — computed customer data plus a payment customization Function.

The sequence that respects your budget: configure everything Checkout Blocks can express, then write custom extensions only for the rules it can't. The two coexist cleanly at different extension points — most checkouts Tom builds on are a mix of both.