Best Design Apps For Shopify Stores in 2025

The Professional Method: Design in Figma, Build in Shopify

The industry standard for modern, high-fidelity web design is to use a tool like Figma before a single line of code is written. This process allows for complete creative freedom and strategic planning without the technical constraints of a theme editor.

First, you or your designer will create a pixel-perfect mockup of your new pages, sections, or entire website in Figma. This is where you finalize layouts, typography, color schemes, and user flow. Once the design is approved, it is then handed off to a developer.

The developer's role is to translate that static design into a fully functional, custom-coded Shopify section or page. This approach has several significant advantages:

• Total Customization: You are not limited by your theme's pre-built options. This is the best method to get the exact look and functionality you want, creating unique sections and pages that make your store stand out.
• Code Efficiency: Custom-coded sections are built from the ground up. This results in clean, lean code that is optimized for performance, leading to faster page load times, a critical factor for SEO and user experience.
• Uniqueness: Move beyond the generic templates that countless other stores use. A custom design ensures your brand has a distinct and memorable online presence.

The Alternative: Using Section Libraries and Theme Builders

If a full custom design process isn't feasible, another effective way to enhance your store is by using third-party section libraries or advanced page builder apps. These apps integrate with your existing theme and provide a wide variety of pre-designed, configurable sections that you can add to your pages. This is a great middle-ground for adding new layouts and features without needing to hire a developer.

Design Do's:

• Do Start with a Strong Brand Guide: Before you design anything, establish your brand's colors, typography, and logo usage. Consistency builds trust and recognition.
• Do Prioritize Mobile-First Design: The majority of your customers will visit on a mobile device. Design for the smallest screen first to ensure the core experience is seamless, then scale up for tablet and desktop.
• Do Optimize Your Images: Large images are the number one cause of slow websites. Use tools to compress your images without sacrificing quality to ensure your pages load quickly.
• Do Focus on a Clear Visual Hierarchy: Guide your customer's eye. Your most important elements, like the "Add to Cart" button, should be the most prominent. Use size, color, and placement to create a clear path to purchase.
• Do Use High-Quality Visuals: Invest in professional product photography and graphics. Clear, appealing images are crucial for selling products online and making your brand look credible.

Design Don'ts:

• Don't Overload with Apps and Pop-ups: While apps add functionality, too many can drastically slow down your site. Similarly, use pop-ups sparingly, an immediate, intrusive pop-up can cause visitors to leave.
• Don't Use Too Many Fonts and Colors: Stick to your brand guide. A chaotic mix of fonts and colors looks unprofessional and can make your site difficult to read. A good rule is no more than 2-3 fonts and a core palette of 3-5 colors.
• Don't Hide Important Information: Your contact information, shipping policies, and return policy should be incredibly easy to find. Hiding this information erodes customer trust.
• Don't Neglect White Space: Don't cram every inch of the page with content. White space (or negative space) helps reduce clutter, improves readability, and gives your design a more premium, organized feel.
• Don't Make Your Navigation Complicated: Your main menu should be simple and intuitive. If customers can't find what they're looking for within seconds, they are likely to go elsewhere.

Getting the Most Out of the Editor

To maximize this tool, start by thoroughly exploring the sections and settings your theme already provides. You can often achieve a great deal of customization simply by adjusting colors, changing layout options (e.g., image alignment, text size), and combining the default sections in creative ways. However, you will eventually find the creative limits of your theme's default block library. When you want more variety and more powerful features without hiring a developer, the next step is to expand your toolkit with apps.

Supercharging Your Sections with Apps

Several apps on the Shopify App Store are designed specifically to augment your theme editor, injecting a much larger library of pre-built, highly customizable sections directly into the drag-and-drop interface. When you install one of these apps, you'll see its new sections appear in your list alongside your theme's default ones.

These apps are a fantastic way to:

• Access More Designs: Get dozens of new sections like advanced accordions, countdown timers, testimonials carousels, and complex grids that your theme doesn't include.
• Increase Functionality: Add features like before-and-after image sliders, pricing tables, and interactive tabs.
• Bridge the Gap: They provide a cost-effective way to achieve a more custom look and feel without the investment required for a fully custom-coded solution.

When to Build Custom Sections and Solutions

While the theme editor and section apps offer incredible flexibility, there are specific scenarios where a custom-built solution is necessary. You'll know it's time to hire a developer when you encounter these needs:

• Unique, Brand-Specific Designs: If your brand requires a pixel-perfect, completely unique layout that cannot be replicated with pre-built blocks, you need a custom section. This ensures your site is a true reflection of your brand's vision and doesn't look like any other store.
• Specialized Functionality: When you need a feature that is more than just a visual layout, custom development is the answer. Examples include: A product customizer (e.g., engraving text, choosing custom colors). An interactive quiz that recommends products. A dynamic calculator for pricing or measurements.
• Peak Performance and Site Speed: While section library apps are powerful, they can sometimes add extra code to your site (often called "code bloat") to support their wide range of options. A custom-built section is coded with only the exact features you need, making it incredibly lightweight, clean, and fast-loading. For performance-critical pages, custom is always best.
• Complex Data Integration: If you need a section to pull in and display data from a third-party API or from complex Shopify metafields in a very specific way, a developer can build this logic directly into a custom section for a seamless and reliable integration.