The Best Shopify PPC Agencies, Compared Honestly
Search for a Shopify PPC agency and every organic result is the same kind of page: an agency telling you about itself. Hedges & Company, Ink Digital, Singlegrain, 1Digital, First Pier – good agencies, all of them pitching, none of them comparing. A listicle from a site with zero backlinks still out-ranks most of those pitch pages, because nobody has published a real side-by-side.
So here is the comparison I would want if I were hiring. It is narrower than most “best PPC agency” roundups on purpose: every agency below had to show, in writing, on its own site or its own Clutch profile, that it actually works on Shopify. Several well-known ecommerce PPC agencies I checked for this page — Logical Position, Disruptive Advertising, KlientBoost, GrowMyAds among them — never mention Shopify once. They may well run Shopify ad accounts every day. They just do not say so anywhere I could verify, so they are not on this page. No scores out of ten, either. Scores on someone else’s business are invented precision, and they are why these lists usually feel rigged.
Disclosure: I run a competing business. That is exactly why I have kept myself out of the ranking below rather than quietly placing myself in it. Every agency here is assessed on published facts, and my own pitch is at the foot of the page where you can ignore it.
What makes an agency a Shopify fit, not just an ecommerce one?
Every agency on this page runs PPC for ecommerce brands generally. What actually separates them on a Shopify account specifically comes down to four things, and all four are knowable before you book a call.
- Whether Shopify work shows up as a service line, not a case study. A named “Shopify PPC” or “Shopify Plus development” page, or a published Shopify Partner badge, means the agency built a practice around it. A client logo that happens to run Shopify does not.
- Minimum spend or minimum project size. The range on this page runs from a $1,000 minimum to a $10,000 minimum project, and a brand doing $4,000 a month in ad spend who signs with an agency built for $100,000 accounts gets whoever is least busy that week.
- Whether the ads and the store are the same engagement. Two agencies here will also rebuild or migrate the Shopify store itself. That is the right fit if your problem is partly the site. It is a cost you do not need if your store is fine and the only thing broken is the account.
- The fee model. A percentage of ad spend means the agency earns more when you spend more, which is a conflict on the one decision that matters most. A flat retainer or hourly rate does not have that problem. Ask directly which one you are signing.
Ask one question on every call: “Show me a Shopify store you run ads for right now.” An agency with a real Shopify practice answers that in one sentence. One that mostly does WordPress or BigCommerce and “also does Shopify” takes longer to answer, and that hesitation is informative.
What do these six agencies actually charge?
Ratings, review counts, minimums and team sizes all come from each agency’s Clutch profile, read on 20 October 2026. Where a figure is not published I have said so rather than guessing.
| Agency | Rating | Minimum | Hourly rate | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Pier | 4.9 (23) | $10,000+ | $150 – $199 | Shopify Plus dev and PPC together |
| Mavlers | 4.9 (119) | $1,000+ | $50 – $99 | Cheapest true Shopify specialist |
| Ink Digital | 5.0 (2) | $5,000+ | $150 – $199 | UK Shopify PPC specialist, thin record |
| Hedges & Company | 4.7 (3) | $1,000+ | $200 – $300 | Automotive-niche Shopify stores only |
| SmartSites | 4.9 (368) | $1,000+ | $100 – $149 | Paid and organic on Shopify, one roof |
| OuterBox | 5.0 (93) | $1,000+ | $150 – $199 | Shopify dev and PPC combined |
First Pier
★ 4.9 / 5
23 reviews on Clutch
The deepest Shopify-specific stack on this page: Shopify and Shopify Plus development and migrations, Klaviyo email and SMS, and PPC under one roof. Clutch lists ecommerce development as 45% of its work, PPC as a smaller slice alongside it.
Minimum
$10,000+
Hourly rate
$150 – $199
Team
10-49
Founded
2009
Services: Ecommerce Development · Ecommerce Marketing · Pay Per Click · Conversion Optimization · Email Marketing · SEO
Quality 4.9 · Schedule 4.8 · Cost 4.6 · Willing to refer 4.9
What clients praise
“They are the real deal.”
The criticism
Team Continuity and Reporting Detail. One client noted the challenge of keeping the team consistent, and another asked for more detailed monthly ad spend reports.
Right for Brands that want the PPC manager and the Shopify Plus developer to be the same team, especially mid-migration or rebuilding the store around the ads.
Wrong for A brand on a different platform, or one that only wants media buying without a developer attached to the retainer. The $10,000+ minimum project size is also the highest here.
Mavlers
★ 4.9 / 5
119 reviews on Clutch
Clutch lists its ecommerce systems work as 90% Shopify, and it is the cheapest hourly rate of any agency on this page by a wide margin.
Minimum
$1,000+
Hourly rate
$50 – $99
Team
250-999
Founded
2012
Services: Ecommerce Development · Email Marketing · Pay Per Click · Web Development · Demand Generation · SEO
Quality 4.9 · Schedule 4.9 · Cost 4.8 · Willing to refer 4.9
What clients praise
“Mavlers have an excellent project management process and system that ensures nothing falls between the cracks.”
The criticism
Opportunity for Improved QA. Clients noted occasional issues with attention to detail.
Right for Budget-conscious Shopify stores that want a real Shopify specialist without paying the higher hourly rates charged by agencies based in the United States.
Wrong for A brand that wants a single senior point of contact rather than a large offshore team structure (250-999 employees).
Ink Digital
★ 5.0 / 5
2 reviews on Clutch
A UK agency built around Shopify PPC specifically, pitching to DTC, multi-product, subscription and seasonal Shopify brands on cutting wasted spend.
Minimum
$5,000+
Hourly rate
$150 – $199
Team
10-49
Founded
2019
Services: SEO · Pay Per Click · CRM Consulting · Content Writing · Web Design · Web Development
Quality 5.0 · Schedule 5.0 · Cost 5.0 · Willing to refer 5.0
What clients praise
“They are a breath of fresh air!”
The criticism
No critical pattern published. With only 2 reviews, Clutch does not generate a feedback summary for them, so there is nothing to show here either way.
Right for DTC brands on Shopify with a subscription or seasonal sales pattern, particularly outside the United States.
Wrong for Anyone who wants a long track record before signing. Two published reviews is not enough to see a pattern either way.
Hedges & Company
★ 4.7 / 5
3 reviews on Clutch
A pure niche play: a named Shopify Partner (badge published on its own site) running PPC and SEO only for automotive parts, accessories and marine Shopify stores.
Minimum
$1,000+
Hourly rate
$200 – $300
Team
10-49
Founded
2004
Services: Pay Per Click · SEO · Conversion Optimization · Ecommerce Marketing · Content Marketing · Email Marketing
Quality 5.0 · Schedule 4.7 · Cost 4.7 · Willing to refer 4.7
What clients praise
“The team was very open, transparent, and hands-on in their account management.”
The criticism
Continuity and Fee Scope. Reviewers raised staff turnover affecting continuity, and one said the agency did not honor an agreed monthly fee cap.
Right for Auto parts, accessories or marine Shopify stores, where category-specific feed and fitment data is most of the job.
Wrong for Any Shopify store outside automotive and accessories, where the specialization buys nothing, and its $200-$300 hourly rate is the highest here.
SmartSites
★ 4.9 / 5
368 reviews on Clutch
A generalist at scale with a dedicated Shopify ecommerce development line and a client testimonial naming a Shopify rebuild directly, running paid and organic side by side.
Minimum
$1,000+
Hourly rate
$100 – $149
Team
250-999
Founded
2011
Services: SEO · Pay Per Click · Advertising · Social Media
Quality 4.9 · Schedule 4.9 · Cost 4.9 · Willing to refer 4.9
What clients praise
“They have great communication, fast response times, and excellent service.”
The criticism
Challenges with Initial Customization. Standard benchmarks were applied before strategies were tailored to the specific client.
Right for Shopify brands that want paid and organic under one roof and value process over specialism.
Wrong for A brand whose problem is specifically a hard Shopify Plus migration, where a dedicated Shopify developer goes deeper.
OuterBox
★ 5.0 / 5
93 reviews on Clutch
Runs named Shopify Website Design and Shopify SEO service lines alongside the media buying, the only one here that will also rebuild or re-platform the store.
Minimum
$1,000+
Hourly rate
$150 – $199
Team
250-999
Founded
2004
Services: SEO · Pay Per Click · Conversion Optimization · Web Design · Email Marketing
Quality 4.9 · Schedule 4.9 · Cost 4.8 · Willing to refer 5.0
What clients praise
“What stands out about their team is the fact they always fulfill their promises on time and within budget.”
The criticism
Challenges with Staff Turnover. Turnover occasionally affected continuity and required reorienting new team members.
Right for Shopify brands who need the store rebuilt or re-platformed as well as the ads run.
Wrong for Anyone who only wants media buying, where you are paying for Shopify development capability you will not use.
What should you ask on every call?
Every agency on this page will sound competent on a call, because selling is a separate skill from running an account and the person you meet first is good at the first one. These five questions are the ones where the answers actually differ.
- Show me a Shopify store you run ads for right now. Not a case study from two years ago. An agency with a real Shopify practice has a current answer ready.
- Is the fee a percentage of spend or a flat rate? If it is a percentage, ask what happens to their fee when they recommend cutting spend.
- Who logs into my Shopify admin and my ad accounts, and how many other stores do they manage? A senior person on six accounts and a junior on twenty are different products at the same price.
- If you also touch the store, where does the line sit between the dev work and the media buying, and are they billed separately? Get this in writing before you sign, not after the first invoice.
- Show me an account you took over that you could not fix. Nobody wins every account. The ones worth hiring can tell you about a loss and what they learned.
Ask for the name of the person who will actually be in your Shopify admin and your ad accounts, then look them up before you sign. If the person on the pitch call is not the person in the login, you want to know that while you still have leverage.
Do you even need an agency under $5,000 a month?
This is the part the pitch pages leave out. If you are spending under roughly $5,000 a month on Shopify ads, a management fee of $1,000 or more is a fifth or more of your total budget going to management rather than to media. Two of the six agencies above will not even take you at that size, and a third starts at $10,000 in project fees before a dollar reaches an ad platform.
Below that level you are usually better off running the campaigns yourself and buying a few hours of help to fix what is actually broken, then revisiting what full PPC management costs once the account has grown past the point where the fee is a rounding error instead of a tax.
An agency that takes a $3,000-a-month Shopify account on a $1,000 retainer is not doing you a favor. The economics force that account to whoever is least busy in the building. A good agency saying no to you is useful information, not a rejection.
Questions people ask
How much does a Shopify PPC agency cost?
Is a Shopify PPC agency different from a regular ecommerce PPC agency?
Should I pick an agency that also builds Shopify stores?
Do I need a Shopify PPC agency if I am spending under $5,000 a month?
The alternative to all of them
Every channel,
one manager.
I run Google Ads, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft for direct-to-consumer brands on Shopify, by myself. The person you meet on the call is the person in your account, because there is nobody else to hand it to.
$1,500
Starting monthly fee
$0
Minimum ad spend
1
People in your account
- No multiple managers. One person runs every channel, so nothing falls between them, and the fee buys work rather than an account manager, a sales team and an office.
- The ad accounts are opened in your name. The conversion history stays yours when you leave, and Smart Bidding runs on that history.
- Rolling, not a twelve-month term. I keep the work by doing it.
I am wrong for enterprise, for brands that need cover around the clock, and for anyone who wants an account manager between them and the work. If that is you, hire from the list above. It is a good list, which is why I wrote it. Otherwise, here is how I work with ecommerce brands.
Greg Asuncion
Marketing Director, Digital Karbon
Live accounts, over the same 24 months.
The Lifeguard Store17.5xPetticoat Lane3.9xShurhold3.6x See all three case studies