Bat Preorders vs PreProduct: which pre-order app fits your Shopify store?

Pre-orders look simple from the outside: a product is out of stock or not launched yet, and you still want to take the order. In practice the hard part sits behind the button. When do you charge the customer? What happens if a pre-order item and an in-stock item land in the same cart? Who tells the buyer the ship date moved by three weeks? Two apps on the Shopify App Store answer these questions in very different ways, and almost nobody has compared them side by side: Bat Preorders and PreProduct.

Both carry a 4.9 rating and the Built for Shopify badge. Beyond that, they are built for different merchants. This page walks through what each one does, what it costs, and which store profile fits which app, using only what the two developers publish on their App Store listings and, for PreProduct, its own website and documentation.

Who makes these two apps

Bat Preorders

Bat Preorders (listed as "Bat Preorders | Preorder Now") is published by Bat Preorder & Presale, a developer with an address in Mumbai, India. The app launched on the Shopify App Store on August 10, 2023, so it is the younger of the two. At the time of checking it had 291 reviews with a 4.9 average, which is a lot of reviews for an app barely three years old.

Its pitch is breadth at no cost: pre-orders, partial payments, back in stock alerts, "coming soon" products, a notify-me button, and urgency tools such as countdown timers and a low-stock counter, all inside one app. The listing shows the app as free, with no paid plan displayed. The developer's own website was not readable when we checked (the pages block automated reading), so everything below about Bat comes from its App Store listing and its public reviews.

PreProduct

PreProduct (listed as "PreProduct pre-order") is made by a company of the same name based in London, UK. It launched on March 9, 2020 and had 108 reviews with a 4.9 average when we checked. Its homepage claims more than one million pre-orders processed through the app, a self-reported figure we could not verify independently.

The positioning is explicit: "pre-orders for scale". PreProduct targets brands that run seasonal launches, sold-out hero products, or thousands of SKUs on pre-order next to in-stock items, and that need precise control over when money is taken and when goods ship. It has a public documentation site with dozens of articles, which helps when you need to check a feature before installing.

Payment options: the core difference

How and when you charge a pre-order customer matters more than anything else in this category, because it decides your cash flow and your refund exposure.

Bat Preorders lists partial payments clearly: customers reserve the product with a deposit and pay the balance later. Its feature tags also include deferred payments, split payments, discounts and manual payment. What the listing does not explain is the mechanism behind "pay the balance later": there is no mention of a vaulted card or of how the second charge is collected. If your model depends on charging a stored card automatically on ship day, ask Bat's support before you commit.

PreProduct describes four charge methods on its website: Charge Upfront (like a normal order), Deposit Upfront (part now, the rest later), Charge Later (the card is vaulted with Shopify, PayPal or Stripe and charged when you trigger it) and Capture Only (the pre-order is recorded and a payment link is emailed later). You can trigger charges yourself or automate them. On top of that, the listing mentions pay-early discounts, pre-ship upsells and instalment plans, the latter flagged as a Shopify Plus feature.

On payments, PreProduct is clearly ahead for any brand with long or uncertain lead times. Bat covers the common deposit case, which is what most small stores need.

Storefront display and urgency

Both apps let you customise the pre-order button, badges and wording, and both support an availability date shown to shoppers.

Bat goes further on conversion widgets. Its listing advertises countdown timers and a low-stock "FOMO" counter, plus banners and custom text. If you want the pre-order page itself to push urgency, Bat includes that, where PreProduct does not list any timer or stock counter. If urgency is something you plan to test, our guide on low stock alerts that actually convert and our countdown timer comparison are worth a read before you switch it on.

PreProduct puts its effort into communication after the order: a customer portal where buyers can manage their pre-orders, an email campaign you can style, upcoming-charge and failed-charge emails, and the ability to send an update email when an estimated ship date changes. For a launch that slips, that last feature saves a lot of support tickets.

Back in stock alerts

This is the clearest win for Bat Preorders. Its listing describes Notify Me and Back In Stock alerts with Klaviyo sync, so one app handles both "buy it now before it arrives" and "tell me when it is back".

PreProduct's listing and visible documentation index do not mention back in stock alerts. Its "Capture Only" mode can collect interest without payment, but that is a pre-order flow, not a restock notification. If you need restock emails, plan on a separate app or a flow in your email tool.

Inventory control and fulfilment

Overselling is the real risk with pre-orders, and the two apps handle it at different depths.

Bat's listing shows an "Inventory Limit for Preorder" setting, support for multiple locations, split shipping and separate fulfilments for pre-order items, and a mixed cart option. Its order types cover coming soon, back orders, out of stock, made-to-order, product drops and pre-sales. It does not describe automatic switching to pre-order when stock hits zero, though "Out of stock" is one of its listed order types.

PreProduct is more explicit. You can list pre-orders manually, in bulk, or automatically as stock runs out. It offers customer-level and variant-level maximum limits, multi-location selling, and a choice between mixed carts and pre-order-only carts. Its "fulfilment holds" keep pre-order lines from shipping until stock lands, so a 3PL or ERP only ships what is ready, and you trigger fulfilment when you decide.

For a store with one warehouse and a handful of pre-order SKUs, Bat's controls are enough. For a brand with a 3PL and hundreds of SKUs, PreProduct's holds and automation remove a lot of manual work.

Integrations

• Email: Bat lists Klaviyo, Mailchimp and Omnisend. PreProduct lists Klaviyo, with 10+ Klaviyo events on its Scale plan, and runs its own pre-order email campaign. If you are not on Klaviyo, Bat gives you more choice (see our Klaviyo alternatives on a budget).
• Shopify Flow: both list Flow. PreProduct documents 15 Flow actions on Scale and more triggers on Scale Plus. Bat lists Flow without detail.
• Shopify POS: both list POS.
• Page builders: both list PageFly.
• Helpdesk and returns: PreProduct lists Gorgias and Loop Returns. Bat lists neither.
• API and headless: PreProduct offers API access on Scale and lists headless support. Bat lists no API.

PreProduct runs through the native Shopify checkout, which its listing states plainly. Bat lists "Checkout" among the Shopify features it works with.

Pricing

Bat Preorders is listed as free. No paid plan, trial or commission appears on its App Store listing. We could not read its website to confirm whether higher limits or paid tiers exist outside the listing, so check inside the app before you build a large launch on it.

PreProduct has three plans, billed in USD every 30 days:

The 5% commission on Starter is the number to watch. On $2,000 of paid pre-orders a month it costs $100, more than the Scale plan, which would charge $59.99 with no commission at that volume. Small stores with occasional pre-orders will find Starter cheap; anyone doing steady volume should do the maths. Our article on free vs paid Shopify apps covers this trade-off in general terms.

Support and reviews

Bat's listing promises 24/7 live chat, email, phone and video call support. Recent reviews frequently thank named support agents for fast help and custom tweaks. A few mention a fiddly setup, and one recent review from Australia complained about slow support responses, so experiences vary.

PreProduct's listing does not state support channels or hours. Support depth depends on plan: limited on Starter, priority on Scale, developer support on Scale Plus. Reviews regularly praise the founder-led support. One older review criticised the cancellation process; the developer replied that cancelling is done by uninstalling the app, and that cancelling within the 7-day trial costs nothing.

Three store profiles

A small fashion label restocking bestsellers

You sell 40 products, a few bestsellers sell out every month, and you want to keep taking orders with a deposit while also collecting emails for items that will come back. Bat Preorders fits: it is free, handles deposits, adds back in stock alerts, and the countdown and low-stock counters can support a drop.

A DTC brand launching a new product with a 10-week lead time

You expect 3,000 pre-orders, you do not want to take full payment months before shipping, and your 3PL must not ship pre-order lines early. PreProduct on the Scale plan fits: charge later on a vaulted card, fulfilment holds, Klaviyo events for the launch sequence and Flow actions to automate the rest.

A Shopify Plus brand with an ERP and thousands of SKUs

Pre-orders run all year next to in-stock items, with instalment plans for high-ticket products. PreProduct Scale Plus is built for this case, with API access, Flow triggers, Gorgias and Loop Returns, and 0% commission.

Switching from one app to the other

Neither app documents a migration tool from the other, so treat a switch as a fresh setup.

1. Finish or export open pre-orders first. Orders already placed stay in Shopify, but deposits awaiting a balance or vaulted-card charges depend on the app that created them. Collect or settle outstanding balances before uninstalling.
2. Note your current settings: which products or variants are on pre-order, limits, ship dates, button and badge wording.
3. Install the new app and rebuild listings. With PreProduct you can use bulk or automatic listing; with Bat, set up products and the inventory limit.
4. Check your theme: remove the old app block or embed so two pre-order buttons do not appear.
5. Reconnect email flows: Klaviyo events and templates have different names in each app.
6. Test a mixed cart with one in-stock and one pre-order item before going live.

If you move from Bat to PreProduct, remember that back in stock alerts do not come along: set up a replacement first. If you move from PreProduct to Bat, review how deferred balances will be collected, since Bat's listing does not describe vaulted-card charging.

Bottom line on features

Bat Preorders wins on price, back in stock alerts, urgency widgets, email tool choice, listing languages and advertised support hours. PreProduct wins on payment flexibility, fulfilment control, automation, API, and integrations for larger operations. Both are well rated and both carry the Built for Shopify badge, so the choice comes down to your volume and how long your lead times are. If you are planning a pre-order launch for the holiday season, our Black Friday CRO checklist helps you time it.