How do I see which apps are slowing down my Shopify store?

Use Shopify's built-in Speed Report under Online Store > Themes > View Report. It shows your store speed score and lists apps contributing to slowdowns. For more detail, run your store through Google PageSpeed Insights and look at the JavaScript execution breakdown in the diagnostics section.

Which types of Shopify apps slow stores down the most?

Live chat widgets, review apps with heavy scripts, loyalty programmes, and personalisation tools tend to have the highest performance impact. These apps typically load large JavaScript bundles on every page, even when their functionality is not active or visible to the current visitor.

Is there a way to keep an app but reduce its speed impact?

Sometimes. Check whether the app offers a lightweight mode, lazy loading, or options to restrict which pages it loads on. Many chat apps, for example, can be configured to load only when the user scrolls to the bottom of the page or clicks a trigger button, which defers the script load and reduces its impact on initial page metrics.

Shopify App Performance: How to Audit and Cut Speed Killers

The average Shopify store has 6 to 9 apps installed. Each one that loads JavaScript on your storefront is a potential drag on speed. Some add negligible weight. Others add 200KB of script that blocks rendering before a single product image has loaded.

The frustrating part is that you often install an app to solve one problem, see a benefit in that area, and never connect it to the PageSpeed score that quietly dropped 8 points the same week.

Here is how to find what is costing you and fix it.

Start With Shopify's Speed Report

Go to Online Store > Themes and click "View Report" under your live theme. Shopify's speed report gives you a store speed score (1 to 100) and a breakdown of third-party scripts contributing to slowdowns.

This report is a good starting point, but it only shows apps affecting your theme. Apps that operate purely in the background (inventory sync, order routing) will not appear here because they do not load scripts on the storefront.

Run a Manual Audit in PageSpeed Insights

Paste your homepage URL and a product page URL into Google PageSpeed Insights. Look at the "Reduce unused JavaScript" and "Eliminate render-blocking resources" diagnostics. The file names listed there will often include the app name or a recognisable domain (for example, cdn.judge.me for Judge.me reviews, static.klaviyo.com for Klaviyo).

Note which apps appear in these diagnostics and how much each one is contributing to the total blocking time.

Use the Waterfall Method

For a more precise read, open Chrome DevTools on your store (F12), go to the Network tab, disable cache, and reload the page. Sort by size and look for large JavaScript files loading from third-party domains.

This shows you exactly what is loading, in what order, and how long each resource takes. An app that loads 300KB of JavaScript synchronously before the page renders is a concrete problem you can now measure and act on.

Categories That Typically Carry the Most Weight

Based on analysis of stores in our dataset, these app categories most consistently impact performance:

Live chat and support widgets load large scripts immediately on page load, even when the widget is not open. Many load the full messaging platform SDK whether or not the visitor ever interacts with it.

Loyalty and rewards programmes often inject scripts across every page to track session activity and show earning notifications. The tracking component is frequently heavier than necessary.

Review apps with photos and carousels load significant assets on product pages. The more visual your review widget, the heavier it tends to be.

Personalisation and recommendation engines run inference on the client side in some implementations, which is particularly expensive on mobile.

What to Do With What You Find

For each high-impact app, you have a few options:

Remove it if you are not getting measurable value from it. Be honest with yourself about whether you are actually using what the app provides.

Replace it with a lighter alternative. Many popular apps have faster-loading competitors. For reviews, for example, apps that load content server-side or defer scripts score better than those that inject heavy client-side bundles.

Configure it to load conditionally. Check the app's settings for options to restrict loading to specific pages, or to defer loading until user interaction.

Move the script to load asynchronously. If you have theme access and the app allows it, modify how the script is called in your theme code using defer or async.

Set a Performance Budget

Decide on a maximum acceptable PageSpeed score drop per new app before you install it. Test on a staging store first. If installing the app drops your score by more than 5 points and you cannot configure it to load more efficiently, weigh that cost against the revenue it is expected to generate.

Apps that improve conversion but hurt speed can still be net positive — but you need to know the tradeoff exists before you make it.

Track your store speed monthly. Compare against similar stores in your category at CommerceRank.ai to see whether your performance is above or below the benchmark for your sector.