Pay Link vs Checkout Links vs Shopify Quick Sale

The three options at a glance

This page covers links a customer opens to pay for an order. For a reusable link to one product, Shopify’s own checkout link does the job; see Shopify payment links explained. Prices, ratings and features were checked on October 18, 2026.

In all three, the customer pays on Shopify’s checkout. “Not stated” means the vendor’s help doesn’t say, not that the feature is missing. Not compared here: CartPop, whose App Store listing now says it “is not currently available on the Shopify App Store.”

Make a payment link with Shopify Quick Sale

Quick Sale needs no POS hardware and has made payment links since December 2025. Shopify’s help on creating a Quick Sale and taking payment by link gives these steps:

1. In the Shopify app, tap the menu icon, then Quick Sale. To sell from a particular location, choose it from the Inventory menu.
2. Tap Add product or Custom amount. You can leave shipping blank; the customer picks a rate at checkout.
3. Tap Collect, then Payment link.
4. Let the customer scan the QR code, or tap Share link to send it by text or another app (Copy link is there too).
5. Tap Done. The sale waits as Payment pending under Pending links in the transaction history. Reopen it there; once payment is confirmed, the screen shows the order summary.

Shopify’s help also lists these catches: you can’t attach a customer before checkout or save the sale as a draft, automatic discounts don’t apply, staff need the Quick Sale permission, and an out-of-stock item blocks the link until you restock or remove it.

Other native routes: Send cart and draft links

At a POS Pro location, build the cart, tap ⋯ (More actions) > Send cart, enter the customer’s email and tap Send. The email links to Shopify’s checkout, and Shopify’s help says it works only when you’re taking payment for the whole order. Shopify credits the paid sale to the POS channel, your store and the staff member (if they signed in with email, not a PIN).

On POS Pro you can also save the cart as a draft (⋯ > Create draft order), then open it in the Shopify admin under Orders > Drafts and choose Share > Copy link for a link you can text. Native POS options vs Pay Link compares these routes at the counter.

Don’t confuse them with Pay by link, added to POS in October 2025, which Shopify’s help describes only as a QR code a customer at the counter scans to pay with a local payment method such as iDEAL or TWINT.

Checkout Links: a link-building app with a POS tile

Checkout Links sends customers straight to checkout with the cart, discounts and details filled in. As of October 2026 it’s Built for Shopify, rated 5.0 from 36 reviews, and costs US$25 a month on one plan.

For the counter, it adds a Create Link tile to Shopify POS, pitched for “Phone, DM, or WhatsApp orders”. In its POS help, staff build the cart and tap the tile for a short URL and QR code carrying the products, quantities, discounts and attached customer. You show the QR code, or copy the link and send it yourself. A One time use toggle, on by default, makes the link expire after the first successful purchase. POS-made links are tagged with the location and staff member in Checkout Links’ own stats; its help doesn’t say whether POS shows a link as paid.

Its setup help adds two catches: products and discounts must be on the Checkout Links sales channel, and Shopify bundles can’t be sold through it. The US$25 also covers popups, abandoned cart recovery, influencer gifting and B2B invoice links.

Pay Link: a POS-cart link with the total up front

Pay Link is part of Countermade, the Shopify POS apps from Invenire Studios. It makes the link from the Shopify POS cart, and the customer pays on Shopify’s own secure checkout, so staff never see or type card details. A double tap makes one link, not two. You see the total before the link goes out, with a note when shipping will be added at checkout. You can also check whether the customer has paid.

What you need

• Shopify POS Pro.
• Pickup in store, turned on under Settings > Shipping and delivery. Checkout asks for a delivery address and may add shipping, so this lets the customer choose pickup.

More on the Pay Link app page.

If you want an app

• You want a link and QR code from the POS cart, without saving a draft: Checkout Links.
• You want the total shown up front, and to see when it’s paid: Pay Link early access.

For deposits, see how furniture stores take phone orders and deposits. For the whole phone-order workflow, see how to take phone orders without asking for card details.

Next step

If you want links made from the POS cart, with the total shown up front, join early access and we’ll email you when Pay Link is ready for your store.