AfterKit
Outgrown Shopify Digital Downloads? Here's the upgrade path.
Shopify's own Digital Downloads app is free, official, and fine at what it does: attach a file to a product, email a link. No shade — plenty of stores should start exactly there. This page is for the moment the free app stops fitting the business you're actually building.
Updated July 27, 2026 · competitor details as shown on the Shopify App Store in July 2026What the free app does — and where it stops
Digital Downloads (4.7★ across 900+ reviews) hosts files, attaches them to products and variants, sets download limits, and emails links after purchase. That's genuinely useful, and it's free.
What it doesn't do, by design:
- No license keys or credential sets. It delivers files and simple links — if you sell software seats, tool access, or anything with a login, you're on your own.
- No streaming. Buyers download video files; there's no in-browser player, no resume, no protection against a 2 GB download failing on a phone.
- Not your brand. The delivery experience is generic — there's no branded hub page that looks like your store.
- Nothing after the download. No updates feed, no Q&A, no way to bring buyers back to buy again.
- Merchants in its own reviews also ask for release scheduling and clearer visibility of which products have files attached — long-standing gaps.
Digital Downloads vs AfterKit at a glance
| Shopify Digital Downloads | AfterKit | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free plan · $14 · $39 |
| File delivery | Yes | Yes — files up to 5 GB each, edge-served |
| Download limits per order | Yes — opt-in, set per variant | — (expiring links instead) |
| License keys | — | Pools with duplicate detection + low-stock alerts |
| Multi-field logins | — | Credential sets with sections you design |
| Video & audio streaming | — | In-hub player with resume (from $14) |
| Branded delivery hub | Generic | Your logo, colors and background (from $14) |
| Buyer community (updates + Q&A) | — | Built in on Pro |
| Members-only shop with auto-discounts | — | Built in on paid plans |
| Push product updates to past orders | — | Automatic, with optional buyer email |
| Refunds revoke access | Download limits apply | Automatic — full or per line item |
Digital Downloads details as shown on its Shopify App Store listing and recent reviews, July 2026.
The moment stores usually switch
It's rarely day one. It's the day you add a second kind of product — a license key, a members portal, a video course — and realize "email a file" was the whole feature. Or the day you look at your delivery email and see a generic page where your brand should be. Or the day a buyer asks "where do I ask questions?" and the answer is a support inbox.
AfterKit's buyer hub answers all three at once: every order opens one branded page with downloads, streaming, credential cards, a members-only shop with an automatic discount, and — on Pro — a community with updates and Q&A. The order stops being a receipt and starts being a place.
A free-to-free migration
- Install AfterKit — the Free plan needs no card and handles 3 products, 1 GB and unlimited orders.
- Upload the same files (and, if you have them, paste license keys into a pool).
- Attach them to your products. New orders now deliver through AfterKit on the thank-you page, order status page, customer account and email.
- Remove the Digital Downloads attachments when you're ready. Nothing about your Shopify order history changes.
Try the upgrade without spending anything. Free plan forever; $14/month when you want streaming, branding and the hub shop.
Install AfterKitFrequently asked
Should I feel bad about starting on the free Shopify app?
Not at all — it's the right first step for a one-file store. This page exists for the day your catalog gets more ambitious than the app.
Is the move really free?
Yes, if you fit the Free plan: 3 linked products, 5 deliverables each, one key pool, 1 GB storage, unlimited orders. You only pay when you want the paid-tier features.
What if I sell both physical and digital products?
That's fine. AfterKit only acts on the products you link to it; the rest of your store is untouched.
Do buyers need an account?
No. Access works from the thank-you page, order status page and a tokenized email link; logged-in customers also see everything in their account.