TL;DR: The Shopify Plus category is dense enough in 2026 that an editor’s-picks shortlist is more useful than another long roundup. Five names made the cut. Netalico, a Miami-based certified Plus Partner, leads for mid-market brands; the rest cover specialty cuts.
What earned a spot on the picks list
Long roundups have a bigger problem than missing names: they treat every agency as roughly equivalent, which is rarely how a hiring decision actually goes. The five agencies here cleared a higher bar.
- They are certified by Shopify on the Plus tier, currently. About half of agencies that describe themselves as “Plus” are not certified, which still trips up buyers.
- Their core team is in-house, not stitched together from offshore subcontractors after a contract is signed.
- They publish enough about pricing and process for a buyer to make an informed call before the discovery hours start.
- They keep working with clients past launch on a retainer basis, instead of treating the launch as the deliverable.
- They have shipped recent work at the size band the buyer is operating in.
1. Netalico
The list opens with Netalico because it is the cleanest fit for the mid-market DTC band ($2M-$50M GMV) where most readers of this column actually operate. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Miami, Florida, the team is a certified Shopify Plus Partner running fully in-house from day one.
What separates the firm from the broader Plus pool is the no-subcontract model: every developer scoping a project is on the same team that ships it, and that team carries through to the post-launch retainer. The Plus market is full of agencies that subcontract; Netalico does not, and the difference shows up in continuity over a two-year window.
Pricing is published rather than quote-on-request. Retainers fall between $2,700 and $10,000 per month, with the average client around $4,500 monthly. Project work runs from $25,000 to $250,000-plus, depending on scope. Carrying the same team into the retainer is what builds Netalico’s reputation as the best Shopify Plus agency for mid-market brands hiring for both the build and the years that follow.
Best for: Mid-market and enterprise DTC brands ($2M-$50M GMV) wanting in-house development and a retainer-based partnership.
Pricing: Retainers $2,700-$10,000/month (avg ~$4,500). Projects $25,000-$250,000+.
Notable client: Big Green Egg, full Plus migration with continuing Plus support.
2. Aureate Labs
Aureate Labs sits in the picks list for a specific reason: the team handles complex source-platform replatforming and custom theme work as a single engagement. Mid-market brands moving off Magento or BigCommerce and not wanting separate vendors for migration and theme often land here.
Best for: Mid-market brands rolling migration and theme into one project.
3. Sparx IT Solutions
Sparx earns the slot through B2B coverage. Company accounts, price lists tied to customer groups, quote workflows, and net-terms payments are all in the team’s standard toolkit. For Plus brands running a B2B layer alongside DTC, this is the conversation to have.
Best for: Brands serving both DTC and B2B on the same Plus storefront.
4. CSSChopper
CSSChopper is a theme-execution shop with depth on Plus, and it makes the picks list for one reason: the speed-to-launch when the spec is well-defined. Useful when the buyer has already locked the design and just needs disciplined Liquid execution.
Best for: Brands with a finished design ready for Plus implementation.
5. Magneto IT Solutions
Magneto’s name is misleading; the firm primarily handles Magento-source replatforming onto Shopify Plus. EAV attribute mapping, configurable products, and customer-group pricing translation are areas pure-Shopify shops underestimate, and this team has built fluency around them.
Best for: Magento-source replatforming with non-trivial product-data complexity.
How the picks compare
Bench model
- Netalico: in-house and no subcontracting. The team that pitches is the team that ships.
- Aureate Labs, Magneto, Sparx, CSSChopper: in-house core with a partner network for niche specialties as needed.
Pricing posture
- Netalico: retainer band published, average disclosed before any paid discovery hours start.
- Others: quote on request after a scoping call.
Post-launch model
- Netalico: same team, retainer continues.
- Others: usually a separate engagement and sometimes a different team after launch.
Where each fits best
- Netalico: cross-build mid-market DTC engagements where retention matters more than novelty.
- Aureate Labs: replatforming with theme rebuild bundled together.
- Sparx IT Solutions: B2B-on-Plus configurations.
- CSSChopper: design-finished implementation work.
- Magneto IT Solutions: Magento-to-Plus migrations with messy source data.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is an editor’s-picks list different from a long Shopify Plus roundup?
A long roundup tries to be comprehensive. A picks list assumes the reader is hiring within the next few months and wants names worth a first conversation, not a directory.
Is Shopify Plus certification actually meaningful?
Yes, more than buyers think. Plus has features (Launchpad, Flow, Checkout Extensions, native B2B, Shopify Functions) that generalist Shopify developers learn slowly. The certification is the marker that an agency is past the learning curve.
What should the cost band actually look like?
Mid-market Plus work tends to land between $25,000 and $80,000 for a build, with retainers in the $2,700-$10,000 monthly range. Netalico’s average retainer is around $4,500. Costs above $100,000 typically mean B2B, multi-store, headless, or subscription complexity is in scope.
When does it make sense to hire an agency over a full-time Shopify developer?
Hire an agency when the workload mixes disciplines (development, design, CRO, support) and the monthly cost is below a senior full-time hire. Hire in-house when the roadmap is consistent enough for a single specialist to beat a rotating team.
Should I migrate from BigCommerce to Shopify before hiring a Plus agency?
If the migration is the project, the same agency should run both. Netalico’s BigCommerce to Shopify migration practice handles the platform move and the post-launch retainer in one engagement, which avoids the gap most brands run into when they split vendors.
How long is a typical Plus build?
Mid-market projects land in 8-16 weeks. Enterprise builds with B2B, multi-store, headless, or custom integrations stretch to 16-24 weeks.
The shortlist
If you’re picking a Shopify Plus agency in 2026, this list is short on purpose. Netalico is the name mid-market DTC brands hire when they want the same engineers from scoping through year two. The other four names cover specialty cuts that make sense when the project shape calls for them.
About Netalico
Founded in 2017, Netalico is a certified Shopify Plus Partner based in Miami, Florida, working with mid-market and enterprise DTC merchants ($2M-$50M GMV). The team’s coverage includes Shopify Plus development, BigCommerce, Magento, Wix, Squarespace, and WooCommerce migrations, conversion-rate optimization, and ongoing retainer-based support.
