Shopify progress bar apps compared

BlueCart, Essential Free Shipping Bar, and Progressify help merchants show cart or shipping goals. They have different plan limits and reward tasks. Use this guide to choose a test, then check the current Shopify listing before you install.

Facts checked September 26, 2026. Activory develops BlueCart. The other apps belong to separate developers. We used the official Shopify App Store listings for current prices, trials, and listed features. We did not test the competing apps in a merchant store.

Which app fits your task?

• Choose BlueCart to test tiered reward steps, a progress bar or checklist, and cart upsells in one app.
• Choose Essential Free Shipping Bar to test a focused bar with a free entry plan. Check its view limit and the paid plan for cart page placement and upsells.
• Choose Progressify to test up to three stacked goals and its listed gift-with-purchase feature.

These are starting points. Your theme, reward rules, and required plan can change the choice.

How do the apps compare?

App	Price and trial on its listing	Main listed tasks	Plan limit to check
BlueCart	$4/month; 7-day trial	Tiered progress or checklist; cart upsells; market, customer-tag, and UTM rules; currency handling	BlueCart shows progress toward a gift. It does not create or add the gift.
Essential Free Shipping Bar	Free plan; paid plans from $9.99/month with a 7-day trial	Free shipping bar, goal progress, product upsells, and location rules	Free plan: up to 1,000 monthly booster views for top bars and product pages. Its $14.99/month Essential plan lists cart page boosters and upsell products.
Progressify	$5/month; 5-day trial	Up to three stacked goals, gift with purchase, product upsells, Shopify Markets, and countdown timer	Test the exact gift action and stacked goal behavior in your theme.

The app names link to the source of each listing row. A listing may describe a feature without showing every setup step or theme limit. Prices and plans can change.

What if you only need one free shipping message?

Try Essential's free plan if top bar or product page placement and its monthly view limit meet your needs. If you need the message inside a cart drawer, check the current plan and theme setup first. The free plan row does not list cart placement.

BlueCart can also show a free shipping goal. Its main use is clearer when a store needs several reward steps, a checklist, or a cart upsell in the same campaign.

What if you need several rewards?

BlueCart lists tiered reward progress and cart upsells. Progressify lists up to three stacked goals and gift with purchase. These are different campaign formats. Test the exact number of visible goals, the reward rule, and the shopper's cart path before you choose.

Does a progress bar create a free gift?

Do not assume that it does. The BlueCart listing describes progress toward a free-gift goal. Activory confirms that BlueCart does not create the offer or add the gift product. The Progressify listing names gift with purchase, but the listing alone does not prove how your exact gift setup will work. Test the complete gift path.

When should you choose BlueCart?

Use BlueCart when you want shoppers to see the next step in a cart campaign. Its listing names a tiered progress bar, goal checklist, cart upsells, market rules, customer-tag and UTM targeting, and automatic currency handling. The listed Pro plan is $4/month with a seven-day trial. Check the BlueCart listing for current details.

BlueCart displays progress toward Shopify shipping and discount rules. Set up the underlying reward separately. For a planned threshold, try the free shipping calculator, then test the campaign in the BlueCart launch guide.

When should you choose Essential Free Shipping Bar?

Use Essential when a simple free shipping goal is the first task and you want to test a free entry plan. Its official listing says that the free plan has up to 1,000 monthly booster views and supports top bar and product page boosters. Its Starter plan begins at $9.99/month and lists location targeting. Its Essential plan is $14.99/month and lists cart page boosters, product upsells, and analytics. Check the plan required for the exact placement and number of monthly views that you need.

When should you choose Progressify?

Use Progressify when the campaign needs several offers on screen or an app with a listed gift-with-purchase feature. Its official listing names up to three stacked goals, product upsells, Shopify Markets, and a countdown timer. It lists $5/month and a five-day trial. Ask the app developer or test the store if the exact gift setup is important.

How should you decide?

1. Write down the reward: free shipping, discount, gift, or upsell.
2. Decide whether the app must create the reward or only show progress toward it.
3. List the places where shoppers must see the bar, including cart drawer and mobile.
4. Check the plan's view limit, goal count, and upsell controls.
5. Test market, currency, product, customer, and campaign rules in your store.
6. Check the cart total and unlocked message before checkout.

An older version of this guide included Hextom Free Shipping Bar. Shopify now marks that app as unavailable. The BlueCart and Hextom status page explains what to check if you already use it.

How was this checked?

We checked the official listings for BlueCart, Essential Free Shipping Bar, and Progressify on September 26, 2026. Each row shows only facts from those listings or a stated Activory product limit. We did not use review counts to choose an app. We did not treat an unlisted feature as absent. No listed feature guarantees more sales; results depend on the offer, threshold, margin, and store setup.