Champ › Add a forum to Shopify

How to Add a Forum to Your Shopify Store

Updated 5 November 2026

Shopify does not include a forum. To give your customers a place to ask questions and talk to each other, you add one. There are three ways to do it. This page explains each way, what it costs you in time and money, and which kind of store it suits.

The short answer#

For most Shopify stores, a forum app is the simplest choice. A separate forum site makes sense for a very large community, or when the forum matters more than the store.

Way 1: Install a forum app#

A Shopify forum app adds the forum to your store from the Shopify App Store. You install it like any other app, and you pay for it on your Shopify bill.

The best forum apps put the forum on your store's own web address. Champ does this with a Shopify feature called the App Proxy: when a customer opens yourstore.com/community/champ, Shopify asks Champ for the forum page and serves it from your store's address. You can change the /community/champ part. You match the forum's colours, fonts and logo to your store in the Champ dashboard.

What you get with a good forum app:

• Customers sign in with the account they already use at your store. No second password.
• You choose who sees each forum with Shopify customer tags, such as vip or wholesale.
• Every question and answer is a page on your store's website, which Google can find.
• The app company runs the servers, the backups and the updates.

What to check before you install one:

• Limits. Some apps limit how many members or posts you can have on each plan. Champ has no

limits. See Shopify forum apps compared.

• Sign-in. Check that customers can use their store account. Ask the developer if the

listing does not say.

• Spam protection. A public forum gets spam. Check what the app does about it. Champ's is

described in the anti-spam guide.

• Your data. Check that you can download your content if you leave. Champ gives you a full

export at any time.

Way 2: Embed a hosted forum in a Shopify page#

Some forum companies host the forum on their own servers and give you a piece of code. You make a new page in Shopify (Online Store › Pages), paste the code into it, and add the page to your menu.

This works, but there are trade-offs:

• The forum often loads inside a frame or with a script, so the forum content may not be part of

your store's pages. Google may index the forum company's copy instead of yours.

• Customers often need a separate account, unless you set up single sign-on.
• The forum keeps its own design, so it can look different from your store.

Way 3: Run a separate forum site#

You can run a full forum product such as Discourse at its own address, for example community.yourstore.com, and link to it from your store's menu.

This gives you the most features and control. It also gives you the most work: a separate design, a separate sign-in (unless a developer sets up single sign-on), and either a server to look after or a hosting plan to pay for. Read Champ vs Discourse for a full comparison.

How to add a forum with Champ, step by step#

1. Install Champ from the Shopify App Store.
2. Start the 14-day free trial. Shopify shows the price and the trial on its approval screen.
3. Create your first forums, for example "Questions", "Show and tell" and "News".
4. Choose the colours, font and logo in the Champ dashboard.
5. Add a link to the forum in your store's menu (Online Store › Navigation in Shopify).

The installation guide shows each step with the exact buttons to click. Most stores have a working forum the same day.

Which way is right for your store?#

• You sell products and want fewer repeat questions: a forum app. Read about a

customer support forum.

• You want a private area for VIPs, wholesale buyers or students: a forum app that uses

customer tags. Read about a members-only community.

• You want customers to share photos and tips: a forum app on your own domain, so the

content helps your store. Read about a customer community.

• You run a very large community with its own staff and developers: a separate forum site

may be worth the extra work.

Common questions#

Does Shopify have a built-in forum? No. Shopify has a blog with comments, but no forum where customers can start their own topics. You add a forum with an app or another service.

Can I add a forum to Shopify for free? Some forum apps have a free plan with limits on members or posts. Champ has a 14-day free trial and then one plan at $29 a month with no limits.

Will a forum slow down my store? With Champ, the forum is its own set of pages, so the forum's content does not load on your product and collection pages. The only exception is the optional Community button, a small button that links to the forum from every page. You can switch it off under App embeds in your theme editor.

Can I see a forum before I install anything? Yes. See a live Champ forum on our own Shopify store.