EG has a number of built-in limits. Some come from Shopify's own platform rules (things every app on Shopify has to work within), and some are validations EG adds to keep your rules running smoothly and your storefront fast. This page collects all of them in one place so you know what to expect and how to work around the common ones.
1. Why these limits exist
Two different things create limits in EG:
Shopify platform caps. Shopify limits how many automatic discounts a store can have, how discount and checkout logic can run, and which sales channels can use certain features. EG can't change these — they apply to every app.
EG validations. These exist to keep rules easy to manage, keep the storefront popup and cart logic fast, and prevent configurations that Shopify's discount and checkout systems can't process reliably (for example, an extremely large list of products in a single discount).
If you hit a limit, the app will normally show a banner or inline message explaining what to change. This article explains what's behind those messages.
2. Plan limits
Plan | Rules you can create | Rules that can be active at once |
|---|---|---|
Standard | Unlimited | Up to 3 |
Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Standard plan merchants can create as many rules as they like, but only 3 can be turned on (active) at the same time. If you're on Standard and try to activate a 4th rule while 3 are already active, the new rule saves but stays inactive — turn off one of the other 3 first if you want it live.
What happens if you downgrade from Unlimited to Standard
If you move from Unlimited down to Standard, EG automatically adjusts your active rules so you're not left over the 3-rule limit:
Rules that depend on features only available on Unlimited are turned off first. This includes rules using:
Magic link targeting
Logged-in or guest-only customer targeting
A product tag trigger
A collection trigger
A "specific combination of products" trigger
More than 6 product variants in a "Show a popup" reward
Excluded product variants in the cart value calculation
Of the rules that don't rely on those features, only the first 3 are left active. The rest are switched off.
If a rule that gets switched off was using an EG-generated automatic discount, that discount is also paused in Shopify at the same time.
You won't lose any rule configurations — deactivated rules stay saved and can be reactivated (subject to the 3-active limit) at any time, including if you upgrade again.
Free trial
New installs start with a 5-day free trial before billing begins. If your trial ends without an active paid plan, EG stops serving rules to your storefront (your rules stay saved, but customers no longer see them), so it's worth choosing a plan before the trial runs out if you want your gift-with-purchase offers to keep running uninterrupted.
3. Rule configuration limits
Excluded variants on a cart value rule
If your rule triggers on cart value and you exclude specific product variants from that calculation, you can exclude up to 50 variants per rule. If you need to exclude more, consider whether a collection- or tag-based exclusion approach fits your catalog better, or split the logic across more than one rule.
Minimum and maximum thresholds can't be equal
When a cart value rule uses a value range (minimum and maximum cart value), the maximum must be strictly greater than the minimum — they can't be set to the same amount. This validation only applies to value-based thresholds; quantity-based minimum/maximum ranges allow the same number for both if needed.
Percentage discounts must be whole numbers
Percentage discounts in EG must be entered as whole numbers (for example, 15, not 15.5). Decimal percentages aren't allowed and will show a validation error asking you to round to a whole number.
Special case: 100% automatically becomes "Free." If you set a percentage discount to 100, EG converts it to a "Free" discount type automatically, since that's functionally what a 100%-off discount does.
Large product or collection lists and automatic discounts
If you want a rule to use an EG-generated automatic discount (rather than a Shopify discount code or a discount you manage yourself), the rule's trigger and reward together can include up to 100 unique products/variants, or up to 100 collections if the trigger is collection-based. Rules that exceed this will show a warning and won't be able to use an EG automatic discount until you reduce the count — consider switching the trigger to a product tag, collection, or cart value type instead, which don't need every product enumerated individually.
4. Discount limits
Shopify limits every store to 25 active automatic discounts at a time, shared across all apps and any discounts you create manually in Shopify admin — this isn't an EG-specific limit. If you're at 25 and try to activate another rule that uses an EG automatic discount, you'll see a banner explaining the limit has been reached. Options at that point:
Pause an existing EG rule that's using an automatic discount you no longer need active.
Use a Shopify discount code instead of an EG automatic discount for the new rule.
If you have multiple automatic discounts that could apply to the same order, check your discount combination settings so they combine (or don't) the way you expect — see the Discounts guide for more on how EG discounts interact with other discounts.
5. Test mode and magic links
Combined test links: up to 5 rules
You can combine several rules that are in test mode into a single test link, so you can preview how they interact together on the storefront. A combined test link supports up to 5 rules (the rule you're combining from, plus up to 4 others).
Only rules already in test mode and saved are eligible to be added to a combined link.
Magic link rules can't be included — test mode isn't available for rules that use magic link targeting.
Test links expire in 24 hours
Both single-rule test links and combined test links are valid for 24 hours from the moment they're generated. After that, the link stops working and you'll need to generate a new one. Test links are encrypted and meant for internal preview use — don't share them with customers.
Test mode and scheduling don't mix
A rule can't use test mode and an active schedule ("run this rule for a specific time period") at the same time:
Turning on test mode disables the option to set a schedule.
If a rule already had both test mode and a schedule enabled from before, you'll see a warning that discounts may not apply correctly outside the schedule window while testing — turn off test mode, or switch the rule to run continuously, to resolve it.
Magic link cookie lifetime
When a customer follows a magic link, EG sets a cookie so the targeted offer keeps working for that visitor on later visits. The default cookie lifetime is 14 days, and this is configurable per rule.
6. Alerts
You can add up to 3 email addresses to receive alert notifications (for example, low-stock alerts on reward products). By default, alerts also go to the store owner's email; there's a setting to send alerts only to your listed addresses instead.
7. Platform constraints
Online Store channel. EG's storefront popups, banners, and cart logic run through your Online Store theme. EG does not work on the Shop app/channel, and gift-with-purchase promotions configured in EG won't apply there.
Checkout. Cart and checkout validation rules (for example, rules that block checkout under certain conditions) run through Shopify's standard checkout using Shopify Functions.
Theme compatibility. EG's storefront features rely on your theme supporting Shopify's standard cart APIs (adding, updating, and reading cart contents via Ajax) rather than a fully custom cart implementation. Most current Online Store themes support this out of the box. EG does not work on headless storefronts.
Common questions
I'm on Standard and activated a new rule, but it's not showing on my storefront. Why? You likely already have 3 active rules. Standard plan allows unlimited saved rules but only 3 active at once — turn off another rule, or upgrade to Unlimited for unlimited active rules.
I downgraded and some of my rules turned off by themselves — is my setup lost? No. When you downgrade to Standard, EG automatically pauses rules that use Unlimited-only features (or that exceed the 3-active limit) but keeps their configuration saved. You can turn them back on after upgrading again, or after freeing up space within the 3-active limit.
Why can't I set my percentage discount to 12.5%? EG only supports whole-number percentages. Round to the nearest whole number, or use a fixed amount discount instead (available with the EG Automatic discount method) if you need finer control.
Why did my 100% discount rule change to "Free"? This is expected — a 100% discount and a free item are the same thing from a checkout perspective, so EG stores it as a "Free" discount type automatically.
My test link stopped working overnight — is that normal? Yes. Test links (single-rule and combined) expire 24 hours after you generate them. Generate a new one from the rule's test mode section.
Can I combine a magic link rule with other rules in a test link? No. Magic link rules don't support test mode, so they can't be added to a combined test link. Test the magic link itself by visiting the link directly.
I have 25 automatic discounts and can't turn on a new EG discount — what do I do? This is a Shopify-wide limit on active automatic discounts, not something EG can raise. Pause an existing automatic discount you don't need right now, or set the new rule up with a Shopify discount code instead.
Related articles
see the Plans & Billing guide for understanding EG plans and upgrading
see the Test Mode guide for using magic links and testing rules before they go live
see the Discounts guide for how EG discounts interact with other discounts
Troubleshooting: why isn't my rule showing on the storefront?