Docket vs Shopify Order Printer

Shopify Order Printer is Shopify’s own free app. It prints invoices, packing slips, and pick lists, supports bulk printing, and gives merchants full HTML, CSS, and Liquid template control. If that is the document workflow you need, the free app is a strong choice.

The difference is not that Order Printer cannot print. It is what happens before and after the print action.

Printing is on demand

Shopify documents selecting and printing multiple orders at a time, with the browser handling printing or PDF saving. Its current documentation does not describe automatic generation or a built-in hosted PDF link added to customer notification emails. The current selection limit is in the dated table below.

Docket generates enabled document types from order, refund, and draft-order events. It gives you copy-paste snippets for Shopify’s notification templates, where a hosted link resolves the latest stored PDF for that order and document type.

Template flexibility vs focused settings

Order Printer is more flexible. It supports multiple templates and exposes HTML, CSS, and Liquid. That is the better fit when you need a fully custom layout, barcode, font, or document type and are comfortable maintaining template code. The current template limit is in the dated table below.

Docket deliberately does not expose template code. It provides a logo, one accent color, per-document footer text, a packing-slip price toggle, seller and VAT details, numbering, and quote terms. Sample PDF previews use fixed data, so previewing does not create a merchant record. An app update can affect documents generated later, but it cannot rewrite PDFs already stored in the archive.

What changed with Shopify’s legacy app

Shopify deprecated the legacy Order Printer and provided an import into the current app. Its migration documentation says Liquid variables are updated wherever possible and most templates should work, while also providing troubleshooting for templates that do not display correctly. That is more precise than claiming every migration failed or that every template worked without compatibility changes.

Price, compared honestly

Docket will launch with Unlimited at $9.99 USD monthly or $99.99 USD annually. A Shopify-native trial will begin after approval, with no usage metering. If billing ends while Docket remains installed, existing documents and public customer links remain available. Uninstalling deletes that archive. The facts below come from the current Shopify App Store listing and linked Shopify Help Center documentation, checked on the date shown.

Ready to move? Switching from Shopify Order Printer explains what must be configured, what does not import, and where Order Printer remains more flexible.