# How do we migrate active subscription contracts (Recharge, Skio, or native Shopify Subscriptions) from one Shopify store to another during consolidation?

Reviewed by Martin Dejnicki, Director of SEO & AI Search · facts verified October 9, 2026 · canonical: https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/store-consolidation-subscription-migration

## Short answer

Active subscription contracts move between two Shopify stores only as far as their saved payment methods do, because each store keeps its own. Shopify sends a store consolidation to its paid Professional Services migration: credit cards only, on Plus or Enterprise ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods), October 2026). [Recharge's](https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/13470522130455-Migrate-current-customers-from-one-store-to-another-store) and [Skio's](https://help.skio.com/docs/-migrations-migration-moving-subscriptions-from-store-a-on-platform-x-to-store-b-on-platform-y-important-considerations) guides route Shopify-vaulted cards through Shopify's own transfer (October 2026).

- **Shopify's route for a consolidation:** Paid Professional Services, Plus or Enterprise. Shopify's payment migration page sends a store consolidation with subscriptions to Professional Services for the cards, then has contracts recreated through the API (October 2026) ([Shopify Help Center, Migrating payment methods to your Shopify account](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods))
- **Recharge between Shopify stores:** Can't migrate payment information. Recharge says a store move changes product, variant, customer and subscription IDs, and historical analytics and reporting don't transfer (October 2026) ([Recharge, Migrate current customers from one store to another store](https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/13470522130455-Migrate-current-customers-from-one-store-to-another-store))
- **Skio store A to store B:** 1 to 3 weeks, cannot be expedited. Skio must be installed on the source store. Skio can't move Shop Pay payment methods or Prepaid gift subscriptions, and runs no repeat rounds (October 2026) ([Skio Help Center, Moving subscriptions from store A on platform X to store B on platform Y: Important Considerations](https://help.skio.com/docs/-migrations-migration-moving-subscriptions-from-store-a-on-platform-x-to-store-b-on-platform-y-important-considerations))
- **Shopify Subscriptions contracts:** CSV export to another store. Each row's customer and payment method IDs must already exist in the destination admin, and billing must fall at least 24 hours after the import (October 2026) ([Shopify Help Center, Import and export subscription contracts](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/shopify-subscriptions/import-export); [Shopify Help Center, Importing and exporting a contract CSV](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/shopify-subscriptions/import-export/importing-and-exporting); [Shopify Help Center, Troubleshooting common contract CSV import issues](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/shopify-subscriptions/import-export/common-issues))

## Deploi's call

Move the contracts only after their payment methods have moved, and decide the consolidation on the payment-method mix, not the org chart. Count subscribers by where their payment method sits before the business case is signed. Shop Pay subscribers have no confirmed route between stores. PayPal subscribers move only if your app developer confirms an import flow, so price both losses into the model from day one.

**CUSTOMIZE: Consolidate the subscriptions when**

- Shopify confirms in writing that its paid Professional Services migration will move your cards, on Plus or Enterprise ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods), October 2026).
- Legacy cards sit in Stripe, Braintree or Authorize.net, and the destination store can connect that account as a secondary gateway ([Skio's guide](https://help.skio.com/docs/-migrations-migration-moving-subscriptions-from-store-a-on-platform-x-to-store-b-on-platform-y-important-considerations), October 2026).
- The Shop Pay and PayPal share is small enough to re-collect, with the loss priced in.
- Someone owns the glue: ID mapping and a billing check, which [Deploi's subscription migration record](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/subscription-platform-migration) scores CUSTOMIZE (October 2026).

**WAIT: Keep both stores billing while**

- Shop Pay or PayPal carries a large share of subscribers.
- Shopify hasn't confirmed which cards it will move for your stores.
- Skio's 1 to 3 week queue, which "cannot be expedited", would land on your peak ([Skio's timeline](https://help.skio.com/docs/-migrations-migration-moving-subscriptions-from-store-a-on-platform-x-to-store-b-on-platform-y-important-considerations), October 2026).
- One brand can keep both storefronts as Plus expansion stores, 9 of which the fee includes ([Shopify Plus pricing](https://www.shopify.com/plus/pricing), October 2026).

## Why is moving subscriptions between two Shopify stores harder than it looks?

Moving subscriptions between two Shopify stores is harder than it looks because each store keeps its own saved payment methods. Shopify says each store in a Plus organization "operates completely independently with its own separate data, settings, and configurations" ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/organization-settings/expansion-stores), October 2026). The contract data is the easy part, because it moves by export and import. The card behind each contract is the hard part, so a consolidation follows [the payment-first sequence for migrating an active subscription program](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/migrate-active-subscriptions-during-replatform). One thing differs: Shopify's secondary-gateway route serves Stripe, Braintree, PayPal Express and Authorize.net, not Shopify's own vault ([shopify.dev](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrate-to-subscriptions-api/migrate-customer-information), October 2026). [Deploi's cross-store accounts record](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/cross-store-customer-account-portability) reads the same store boundary for shopper accounts and order history (October 2026).

## Where can a subscriber's saved payment method sit, and what moves it?

A subscriber's saved payment method sits in Shopify Payments, Shop Pay, a legacy gateway or PayPal, and where it sits decides whether any route reaches the destination store.

**Where a saved payment method sits decides its route between two Shopify stores; Shop Pay has no confirmed route**

| Where the payment method sits | Route to the destination store |
| --- | --- |
| Shopify Payments vault, cards | Shopify's paid Professional Services migration, on Plus or Enterprise; credit card numbers only |
| Shop Pay | No confirmed route: Skio can't move it, and says it isn't clear whether Shopify's team can |
| Stripe, Braintree or Authorize.net, as on legacy Recharge | Connect the same account to the destination store as a secondary gateway |
| PayPal billing agreements | Not through Shopify's service; ask the app developer whether its separate import flow supports your PayPal account |

Sources: [Shopify Help Center, Migrating payment methods to your Shopify account](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods); [Skio Help Center, Moving subscriptions from store A on platform X to store B on platform Y: Important Considerations](https://help.skio.com/docs/-migrations-migration-moving-subscriptions-from-store-a-on-platform-x-to-store-b-on-platform-y-important-considerations); [Shopify developer docs, Migrate customer information to Shopify](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrate-to-subscriptions-api/migrate-customer-information). Verified October 9, 2026.

So count subscribers by place before you plan anything else. [Which saved payment methods break when the account behind them changes](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/subscription-billing-cycles-payment-tokens-migration) has its own answer.

> **Recharge and Shopify word the Shopify Payments route differently**
> Recharge's Migr8 guide says "Shopify does not allow Shopify Payments payment methods to be migrated between stores" ([Recharge Migr8 guide](https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/21540011979031-Automating-customer-and-subscription-data-migration-to-Recharge-with-Migr8), October 2026). Shopify's own page tells a merchant consolidating stores to "Use Shopify Professional Services to migrate payment methods" ([Shopify's payment migration page](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods), October 2026). Both can be true if Recharge means app tools, so get Shopify's answer in writing.

## What do Recharge, Skio and Shopify Subscriptions each do with the contracts?

Recharge, Skio and Shopify Subscriptions each recreate the contracts in the destination store, and each needs the payment methods there first.

- **Recharge:** you export the subscriptions, update product, variant and payment method IDs for the new store, then import. Recharge warns that a store move "changes product, variant, customer, and subscription IDs" and that historical analytics and reporting don't transfer ([Recharge store-to-store guide](https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/13470522130455-Migrate-current-customers-from-one-store-to-another-store), October 2026). Recharge Support doesn't run the migration for you.
- **Skio:** its migrations team runs the move once Skio is installed on the source store, customers are imported into the destination and a variant-mapping file is filled in. Skio quotes 1 to 3 weeks that "cannot be expedited" and can't move Prepaid gift subscriptions ([Skio store A to store B guide](https://help.skio.com/docs/-migrations-migration-moving-subscriptions-from-store-a-on-platform-x-to-store-b-on-platform-y-important-considerations), October 2026). Skio then cancels the source store's subscriptions silently, so run [Skio's subscriber and consent exports](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/skio-bulk-export-subscriber-consent-data) first.
- **Shopify Subscriptions:** contracts export as a comma-separated values (CSV) file for another store with the app installed ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/shopify-subscriptions/import-export), October 2026). The import rejects any payment method ID that doesn't match one in the destination admin ([Shopify's CSV troubleshooting page](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/shopify-subscriptions/import-export/common-issues), October 2026).

## What should you settle before the consolidation case is signed?

Settle three answers before the consolidation case is signed, because each one moves the expected subscriber loss.

1. **Where each subscriber's payment method sits,** counted by place: Shopify Payments, Shop Pay, a legacy gateway or PayPal. Plan the Shop Pay count as a re-collection campaign. Plan the PayPal count the same way unless your app developer confirms its import flow supports your PayPal account.
1. **Shopify's written answer on the card move,** naming the stores and the cards. Shopify's page gives its paid Professional Services migration as the route for a consolidation ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods), October 2026).
1. **What a contract with no payment method does.** Shopify's billing attempt fails by default when no valid payment method exists ([shopify.dev billing attempt reference](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/latest/input-objects/SubscriptionBillingAttemptInput), October 2026). An app can instead skip payment and create an unpaid order to collect by hand ([shopify.dev processing policy reference](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/latest/enums/SubscriptionBillingAttemptPaymentProcessingPolicy), October 2026).

Pause billing in the source store's app while payment methods and contracts move: Shopify "strongly recommend[s]" it, to avoid double-billing a contract ([shopify.dev](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrate-to-subscriptions-api/migrate-customer-information), October 2026). [Deploi's subscription migration record](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/subscription-platform-migration) runs both platforms for 2 to 4 weeks (October 2026). Use that overlap to compare dates and amounts, with each subscriber billing on one store at a time. Keep the source store open until the last contract has billed from the destination. [The retiring store's draft orders and open carts](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/store-consolidation-draft-orders-open-carts) need their own cutover plan.

## When is consolidating the subscriptions the wrong move?

Consolidating the subscriptions is the wrong move when store structure solves the problem for less than a merge costs in subscribers.

> **When not to do this**
> - **When one brand runs both stores for separate customer bases.** Plus includes your main store and 9 expansion stores in the platform fee, then $300 USD a month per extra store ([shopify.com/plus/pricing](https://www.shopify.com/plus/pricing), October 2026). Keeping both stores can still cost less than the subscribers a merge loses. Put each store's app subscriptions in that sum, because [Deploi's multi-store architecture record](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/multi-store-architecture) calls the app stack multiplied by store count the deciding cost (October 2026).
> - **When the two stores are two brands.** Shopify sells Plus as "one brand per contract" ([Shopify's Plus pricing FAQ](https://www.shopify.com/plus/pricing), October 2026), so merging the subscriptions means merging the brands. See [how a multi-brand group contracts for Plus](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/shopify-plus-contracts-for-3-brands).
> - **When most subscribers pay through Shop Pay or PayPal.** Shopify's migration page names no route for Shop Pay and leaves PayPal billing agreements to the app developer's separate import flow ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods), October 2026), so the merge trades revenue for tidiness.
> - **When catalogs or business models genuinely differ.** The same multi-store record splits stores only where catalogs, brands or business-to-business (B2B) selling truly diverge.

## Deploi's point of view

**Where we disagree.** "Same platform, so the data just moves" is the standard framing for a Shopify-to-Shopify merge. Same platform, different merchant account. And the merchant account is the boundary that matters for anything with a stored payment credential behind it.

**Our judgment on the source store.** Budget for the source store to stay open, on its plan and with its subscription app installed, until the last contract bills from the destination. Every app exports from the source store, and Skio has to be installed there to run its migration, so the old store is a migration dependency rather than a cost to cut early.

**What this page adds.** that a Shopify-to-Shopify move has no secondary gateway for Shopify's own vault: Shopify sends a consolidation to its paid card migration on Plus or Enterprise, Shop Pay has no confirmed route between stores, and Recharge's and Shopify's pages word the Shopify Payments route differently.

## When this answer changes

- Shopify changes which payment methods its Professional Services migration moves between stores, or names Shop Pay on its migration page.
- Recharge or Skio changes its store-to-store terms, such as Skio's 1 to 3 week queue or Recharge's ID remapping.
- Shopify Subscriptions' contract CSV starts carrying payment methods between stores.
- Shopify changes the Plus expansion-store allowance or the $300 USD monthly price per extra store.
- Recharge publishes one migration path for Recharge and Skio stores.

## Sources

1. [Shopify Help Center, Migrating payment methods to your Shopify account](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrating-payment-methods), checked October 9, 2026
2. [Recharge, Migrate current customers from one store to another store](https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/13470522130455-Migrate-current-customers-from-one-store-to-another-store), checked October 9, 2026
3. [Skio Help Center, Moving subscriptions from store A on platform X to store B on platform Y: Important Considerations](https://help.skio.com/docs/-migrations-migration-moving-subscriptions-from-store-a-on-platform-x-to-store-b-on-platform-y-important-considerations), checked October 9, 2026
4. [Recharge, Automating customer and subscription data migration to Recharge with Migr8](https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/21540011979031-Automating-customer-and-subscription-data-migration-to-Recharge-with-Migr8), checked October 9, 2026
5. [Shopify Help Center, Import and export subscription contracts](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/shopify-subscriptions/import-export), checked October 9, 2026
6. [Shopify Help Center, Importing and exporting a contract CSV](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/shopify-subscriptions/import-export/importing-and-exporting), checked October 9, 2026
7. [Shopify Help Center, Troubleshooting common contract CSV import issues](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/purchase-options/subscriptions/shopify-subscriptions/import-export/common-issues), checked October 9, 2026
8. [Shopify developer docs, Subscription billing attempt input](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/latest/input-objects/SubscriptionBillingAttemptInput), checked October 9, 2026
9. [Shopify developer docs, Subscription billing attempt payment processing policy](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/latest/enums/SubscriptionBillingAttemptPaymentProcessingPolicy), checked October 9, 2026
10. [Shopify developer docs, Migrate customer information to Shopify](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/purchase-options/subscriptions/migrate-to-subscriptions-api/migrate-customer-information), checked October 9, 2026
11. [Shopify, Shopify Plus pricing](https://www.shopify.com/plus/pricing), checked October 9, 2026
12. [Shopify Help Center, Overview of expansion stores for organizations on the Shopify Plus plan](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/organization-settings/expansion-stores), checked October 9, 2026
13. [Deploi Build vs. Buy, Recharge Alternatives: Build or Buy the Subscription Migration?](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/subscription-platform-migration), checked October 9, 2026, Deploi research
14. [Deploi Build vs. Buy, Do Customer Accounts Follow Shoppers Across Plus Stores?](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/cross-store-customer-account-portability), checked October 9, 2026, Deploi research
15. [Deploi Build vs. Buy, Build or Buy Your Multi-Store Architecture on Shopify?](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/multi-store-architecture), checked October 9, 2026, Deploi research