Shopify chargeback software comparison: a 40 point checklist and fill-in table you can reuse

You have three tabs open, each showing a different chargeback app. One lists a price per month. One lists a percentage. One says "contact us." Each uses different words for the same things: filings, packs, PDFs, scans, alerts. You are trying to compare them and you keep losing track of what you have checked.

This guide fixes that. It is a Shopify chargeback software comparison you can finish in about 30 minutes: 40 checks in eight groups, a table of what the public pages show for the main apps on 30 October 2026, a fill-in table for your own shortlist and the quiet differences that make two similar-looking tools behave differently. Use it as a checklist, copy the table into a spreadsheet and keep it for the next time prices change.

This guide is for you if:

• You run a Shopify store on Shopify Payments and have two or three chargeback tools on your shortlist.
• You want a repeatable way to compare them on facts, not on marketing.
• You prefer a checklist you can fill in to a ranking someone else made.

Last updated: 30 October 2026. Written by the ChargeFix team. Reviewed against sources on 30 October 2026.

We make ChargeFix, so we have a stake. We list other apps by what their public pages show, we say when a page does not show something and we include ChargeFix in the same table, limits and all. Prices and details come from vendor pages and Shopify App Store listings read on 30 October 2026. They change, so check the live page before you rely on any row.

The 30-second answer (TL;DR)

• A fair comparison has eight groups: coverage, price, evidence, filing and control, data, proof, prevention and exit.
• Compare the same unit across tools. A filing, a pack and a PDF are not the same thing.
• Check the base of any percentage fee, and what happens when you pass an allowance.
• Treat prevention and response as separate products with separate bills.
• Write down what a page does not say. A blank is information.
• Fill in the table from the vendor's own pages, then test your top two on one real dispute.
• Redo the comparison when prices change or your volume moves by a third.

Quick note: Most differences that matter are not on the pricing page. They sit in the allowance unit, the fee base, the filing mode and the data terms. That is why a checklist beats a feature list.

The eight groups at a glance

Group	The question it answers	Checks
1. Coverage	Does it work with my payments?	5
2. Price	What will I really pay?	6
3. Evidence	Does it build and judge a case well?	6
4. Filing and control	Who presses send?	5
5. Data	What happens to customer data?	5
6. Proof	What backs the claims?	5
7. Prevention	Do I need it, and what does it cost?	4
8. Exit	How do I leave?	4

What does a good Shopify chargeback software comparison look like?

It compares tools on the same facts, from sources you can check, at your own numbers. It also keeps a record of what is unknown, so you can ask.

Three habits make the difference.

Use the vendor's own page for every cell. Reviews by third parties are useful context, but the price, the allowance and the processor list should come from the vendor or the App Store listing.

Compare units, not labels. Chargeback Copilot's free plan gives 3 evidence PDFs a month. DisputeDesk's gives 5 evidence packs. ChargeFix's gives 2 filings. A PDF, a pack and a filing may not cover the same amount of work. Find out how each counts.

Price at your volume. A table of prices cannot tell you the answer. Your disputes, order value and win count can.

What do the public pages show today?

This table lists what we could read on 30 October 2026. A blank or "confirm" means the page we read does not state it, and you should ask or check the live listing. We list only facts we saw.

App	Pricing model	Free plan	Reviews on the App Store	Processor shown
ChargeFix	Flat: $19 (25 filings), $49 (100), $99 (unlimited)	2 filings a month	0	Shopify Payments
Chargeflow	Free Insights; Automation 25% of recovered, excluding the dispute fee; Prevent $0.10 per scan after 1,000 free; Alerts $29 per deflected chargeback	Insights, free forever	433	Confirm on the listing
Disputifier	20% of recovered, capped at $250 per won case, per Redo	Not stated	134	Confirm on the listing
DisputeDesk	Flat: $29 (20 packs), $129 (100), $299 (400), no success fee	5 evidence packs	Confirm on the listing	Confirm on the listing
Chargeback Copilot	Flat: $19 (15 PDFs), $39 (25), $99 (200)	3 evidence PDFs a month	0	Confirm on the listing
Counterproof	Flat: $29, $59, $99, 14-day trial	A free plan, limits not shown	0	Shopify Payments and Stripe
Chargeback Buddy	Flat: $9, $25, $49	A free plan, inclusions not shown	0	Shopify Payments sync
Do The Proof	Free drafts; Growth $0 plus $19 per won dispute or 15% of revenue won	Drafts only, you send them	0	Shopify Payments
ChargePay	Flat: $19.99 to $99.99, tied to your Shopify plan, plus alert fees	Not stated	27	Confirm on the listing
Paidback	15% of recovered, capped at $250 per dispute	Not stated	Confirm on the listing	Confirm on the listing
ChargebackWiz	18% of recovered	Not stated	Confirm on the listing	Confirm on the listing

Chargeback Dispute Specialist lists $4.99 plus 15%, $14.99 plus 13%, $29.99 plus 10% or a $499 flat plan. Chargeblast has no published rate card, according to Redo, and Redo (which sells competing products) lists Redo alerts at $15 for RDR and CDRN and $24 for Ethoca.

Look at the blanks. They are your questions for the vendor.

Group 1: coverage

These checks decide whether a tool can help you at all.

• Processor. Does it read Shopify Payments? Stripe? PayPal? Only what the vendor states counts. ChargeFix is Shopify Payments only.
• One place for disputes. If you use more than one processor, can you see all disputes together or only some?
• Countries and currencies. Does it handle your payout country? Shopify's dispute fee differs by region, from $15 in the US to £10 in the UK, per a third-party summary by Ringly.
• Reason codes. Does it cover the reasons you actually get: product not received, fraud, credit not processed, subscription, not as described?
• Card networks. Does it handle both Visa and Mastercard reasons, and Amex if you take it?

A "no" on the first check removes the tool. The others narrow it.

Group 2: price

• Model. Free, flat, success fee, capped fee, per alert, per scan or a mix?
• Allowance and its unit. What counts as one filing, pack or PDF? ChargeFix counts a dispute as one filing the first time its evidence is saved or filed, and usage resets on the 1st of the month. Ask others the same.
• Overage. What happens when you pass it: stop, upgrade or per-case charge?
• Fee base. Percentage of what? Chargeflow says its 25% excludes the dispute fee. Check for any success fee.
• Add-ons. Alerts, scans and extra seats are separate bills.
• Term. Monthly or yearly? ChargeFix yearly plans are two months free. Check refunds on yearly plans anywhere.

Price each tool at your own numbers. Our cost guide and cheapest-app guide have tables at several volumes.

Group 3: evidence

This group predicts your results more than any other.

• Reason-aware. Does evidence change with the reason, or is it one template?
• Gap check. Does it tell you what is missing?
• Strength score or verdict. Does it say whether to fight? ChargeFix gives an evidence strength score and a worth-fighting verdict.
• Records only. Is the draft built from your store's facts, with nothing invented?
• Your files. Can you attach your own photos, PDFs and policies?
• Honesty. Will it advise conceding?

Our reason code guides show what each reason needs, so you know what to look for: Visa 13.1, Visa 10.4, Visa 13.6, Visa 13.2, Visa 13.3, Visa 12.6.1, Mastercard 4837, Mastercard 4853 and Amex F29.

Group 4: filing and control

• Filing mode. Manual, automatic or both?
• Default. Which is on at install? ChargeFix defaults to manual, so nothing goes to the bank until you say so.
• Plan limits on modes. Is Auto mode on every plan? ChargeFix has it on Starter and above.
• Review step. Can you read and edit the draft before sending?
• Deadline handling. Does it show the due date, typically 7 to 21 days after the dispute opens, and warn you before it?

Evidence is final once submitted, so the review step is worth more than a small saving. If you submit nothing, Shopify sends your order data on the due date, with optional AI insights, which is usually weaker than a prepared response.

Group 5: data

• What it reads. Which customer and order fields?
• What it stores. And for how long?
• A published DPA. Is there a data processing agreement you can read? ChargeFix's is public.
• Uninstall behavior. What happens to data when you remove the app?
• Sub-processors. Who else touches the data?

ChargeFix reads customer data while you review and does not save it. Ask every vendor for the same clarity in writing, and keep the reply with your table.

Group 6: proof

• Reviews. How many, and how recent? Chargeflow had 433, Disputifier 134 and ChargePay 27 on 30 October 2026.
• Win-rate claims. Compared with what? Chargeflow cites a "300% increase" and Disputifier about 60%, per Redo. These are not comparable.
• Guarantees. Chargeflow advertises a "4x ROI guarantee." What are the terms?
• Time in market. Chargeback Copilot launched on 11 May 2026.
• Case studies. Do they name the baseline and the period?

A lack of reviews is an absence of proof, not a mark against a tool. A free plan lets you create your own.

Group 7: prevention

Prevention is a different product from response. It tries to stop disputes before they exist, and it has its own bills.

• Do you need it? If your dispute ratio is near a threshold, maybe. VAMP excessive is 1.5% with a count of 1,500, and Mastercard's excessive chargeback program begins at 100 disputes at 1.5%.
• What does it cost? Chargeflow Alerts are $29 per deflected chargeback. Redo lists $15 for RDR and CDRN and $24 for Ethoca. Chargeflow Prevent is $0.10 per scan after 1,000 free.
• Does it pay on your order size? On low-value orders an alert often costs more than it saves.
• Is it bundled or separate? ChargeFix does not do prevention.

A response tool does not lower your dispute count, because the dispute counts when it is filed. If that is your problem, a response comparison will not solve it.

Group 8: exit

• Cancel anytime? Chargeflow states no contract and no minimum.
• Refunds on yearly plans?
• Your records. Can you export or keep what you uploaded?
• Trial length and renewal. ChargeFix paid plans have a 14-day trial, and Counterproof lists 14 days. Note when a trial becomes a charge.

The fill-in table

Copy this into a spreadsheet. One column per tool. Write the vendor's own words in each cell, and write "unknown" where a page is silent.

Check	Tool 1	Tool 2	Tool 3
Processors read
Free plan and limit
Allowance unit
Monthly price at my volume
Yearly cost at my volume
Fee base (for percentages)
Overage rule
Reason-aware evidence
Gap check
Verdict or score
Own files attachable
Filing mode and default
Review step
What data is read
What data is stored
DPA published
Reviews and count
Win-rate claim and baseline
Guarantee terms
Prevention products and bills
Cancel and refund terms
Trial length

Fill it in once, ask about the blanks and test the top two.

Illustration: a filled-in comparison of two imaginary tools

Tools X and Y are made up. The store has 8 disputes a month on $100 orders, wins half, takes Shopify Payments only and values its time at $30 an hour.

Check	Tool X	Tool Y
Processors read	Shopify Payments	Shopify Payments and Stripe
Free plan	3 PDFs a month	None
Allowance unit	One PDF per dispute	One filing per dispute
Monthly price at 8 disputes	$19 (15 PDFs)	20% of recovered
Yearly cost at 8 disputes	$228	20% of $400 x 12 = $960
Fee base	Not applicable	Recovered money
Overage	Next tier at $39	Not applicable
Reason-aware evidence	Yes	Template
Verdict	Yes	No
Filing mode	Manual default	Auto only
Data stored	Not stored	Unknown
DPA published	Yes	No
Reviews	0	120
Cancel	Anytime	12 month term

Tool Y has more reviews and supports Stripe, but it is auto-only, has no DPA, a 12 month term and costs four times as much per year at this volume. Tool X wins on most of the checks that matter for this store. The 120 reviews on Tool Y are real evidence, and the test on one real dispute is the way to find out whether Tool X is good enough to rely on.

If the store also took Stripe payments, Tool Y's coverage would count heavily, and the answer could change. That is why the table beats a single score.

Which differences are easy to miss?

These are the ones that make two similar-looking tools behave differently.

The allowance unit. One tool counts per dispute. Another counts per evidence document, and a dispute could need more than one. Ask what happens when one dispute has two documents.

When usage is counted. ChargeFix counts a dispute as one filing the first time its evidence is saved or filed, and resets on the 1st. A tool that counts on opening a dispute behaves differently from one that counts on filing. Ask.

What "free" includes. Do The Proof's free plan drafts but does not send. Counterproof and Chargeback Buddy list free plans without stating limits. A free plan for one tool is a trial for another.

The fee base. A percentage of recovered money differs from a percentage of the order or of revenue won. Chargeflow's excludes the dispute fee. Do The Proof's Growth plan offers $19 per won dispute or 15% of revenue won.

Caps. A cap per won case, such as $250 at Disputifier per Redo or Paidback's $250 per dispute, makes a percentage act like a flat fee on large orders. At about $1,000 per won case, Disputifier's capped 20% matches Chargeflow's 25%, and above that the cap is cheaper. That crossover is our own derivation from the published rates.

Tying to your Shopify plan. ChargePay's $19.99 to $99.99 is tied to your Shopify plan, so your price moves if your plan does.

Currency. Prices and dispute fees follow your payout currency.

How do you read a Shopify App Store listing?

The listing is the vendor's front page, and you can learn a lot in five minutes.

1. Pricing section. Look for plan names, prices, trial and what each plan includes. A listing that hides inclusions is a question for the vendor.
2. Review count and date. Recent reviews matter more than the average score. Zero reviews means unproven, not bad.
3. Description. Look for the processor names and the reasons covered.
4. Support. Is there an email, a help center or a chat?
5. Developer. What else do they publish, and since when?
6. Permissions. What access does the app request? Compare it with what it needs.

Keep the listing open next to the fill-in table. Anything you cannot find goes in the "unknown" column, and unknowns become your questions.

What does a blank cell tell you?

A blank is not a failure. It is a prompt. Here is how to treat the common ones.

Blank cell	What it may mean	What to do
No price shown	Priced by quote, as with Chargeblast per Redo	Ask for a written quote at your volume
Free plan limits not shown	Limits exist but sit inside the app	Install and read the plan page before relying on it
Processor not listed	Often Shopify Payments only, but not stated	Ask directly before you install
No DPA	Terms may be in a privacy policy only	Ask for the data terms in writing
Win rate with no baseline	A marketing figure	Ask what it is compared with
No cancellation terms	May be monthly, may not	Check before paying for a year
Reviews: none	New listing	Test on a free plan

The pattern is that most blanks have a harmless explanation and some do not. You do not know which until you ask, and the speed and clarity of the reply is part of what you are comparing.

A short email you can send to any vendor

Copy this, change the bracketed parts and send it to each tool on your shortlist. Sending the same questions to everyone makes the answers comparable.

Hello, I run a Shopify store on Shopify Payments with about [number] disputes a month on an average order of [amount]. I am comparing chargeback tools and have a few questions.

1. Which payment processors do you read, and are disputes from each shown in one place?
2. What counts as one unit of your allowance, and what happens when I pass it?
3. Do you file automatically, and can I keep manual approval on?
4. What customer data do you read and store, and do you have a published data processing agreement?
5. What would my monthly cost be at my volume, in writing?
6. What are the cancellation and refund terms, including on yearly plans?

Thank you.

Six questions is enough. A vendor that answers them clearly in a day is showing you how it will treat you as a customer.

Illustration: tallying the table

If you prefer a quick visual to a weighted score, mark each cell green, amber or red and count by group. Here is a made-up result for two tools on our imaginary store.

Group	Tool X	Tool Y
Coverage	5 green	5 green
Price	5 green, 1 amber	2 green, 4 red
Evidence	5 green, 1 amber	1 green, 5 red
Filing and control	4 green, 1 amber	1 green, 4 red
Data	4 green, 1 amber	1 green, 4 red
Proof	1 green, 4 amber	4 green, 1 amber
Prevention	Not needed	Not needed
Exit	4 green	1 green, 3 red

Tool Y wins only on proof. Tool X wins on everything else, and its amber cells are all about lack of reviews, which a free-plan test addresses. The tally is crude, but it shows at a glance where each tool is strong, and it protects you from letting one strong group, such as review count, outweigh five weak ones.

A tally is also easy to share with a partner or an accountant. They see the pattern without reading forty rows.

How long should the comparison take?

About 30 minutes for a shortlist of three, if you have your own numbers ready.

• 5 minutes: write your disputes a month, average order, processor and busiest month.
• 10 minutes: fill in coverage and price from the listings.
• 10 minutes: fill in evidence, control, data and exit.
• 5 minutes: list the blanks and send the email.

Then give the vendors a day or two to reply and test your top two on a real dispute. Do not skip the test to save time. It is the only step that shows you the output.

How do you turn the table into a decision?

After you fill in the table:

1. Remove any tool that fails coverage. Wrong processor, wrong reasons.
2. Remove any tool that costs more than it saves at your volume. Use the break-even guide.
3. Rank what is left on evidence, control and data. Those predict results and risk.
4. Test the top two on a real dispute in Manual mode.
5. Decide, set a reminder to review in 90 days and note the renewal date.

Our guide on how to choose a chargeback app gives a weighted scoring sheet for step 3.

When should you redo the comparison?

Do it again if:

• your monthly disputes change by a third or more;
• a vendor changes its pricing or allowance;
• you add a processor;
• you launch in a new country;
• a vendor changes its data terms;
• 90 days have passed since the last review.

A saved table makes the rerun a ten-minute job.

A Shopify chargeback software comparison also goes stale faster than most purchases. The apps in this guide were priced on 30 October 2026, several launched this year and at least one, Chargeback Copilot, launched in May. Plans get renamed, allowances change and new entrants appear. Treat the table in this post as a snapshot that shows you how to read a listing, then rebuild the live version with the vendors' own pages open next to you. Date every cell you fill in. When you look at the sheet again in a quarter, a cell with no date is a cell you cannot trust.

Common mistakes in a software comparison

• Comparing labels. A pack is not a filing.
• Skipping the fee base. Percent of what?
• Using a ranking. It cannot know your volume.
• Ignoring blanks. An unknown is a question.
• Mixing response and prevention. Different products, different bills.
• Trusting win-rate headlines. Not comparable.
• Forgetting the exit. Yearly lock-in on a first purchase is a risk.
• Skipping the test. One real dispute teaches more than a table.

What we checked, and what you should check

We read the Chargeflow pricing page, the Shopify App Store listings for the apps in the table and Redo's published articles on 30 October 2026. We attribute Redo's figures because it sells competing products, and Ringly's fee table is a secondary source. Cells marked "confirm" are not stated on the pages we read. Before you rely on a row, confirm these.

• The live price and allowance.
• The processors supported.
• How data is read, stored and removed.
• The cancellation and refund terms.

Frequently asked questions

What should I compare when choosing Shopify chargeback software?

Compare coverage, price, evidence handling, filing control, data practices, proof, prevention and exit terms. Use the same units for every tool and price each at your own volume. Write down what a page does not say, because a blank is a question to put to the vendor.

How do I compare prices when apps charge differently?

Convert each to a yearly cost at your own numbers. A flat plan is its price times 12. A success fee is its percentage times your yearly recovered money. Add alert or scan fees only if you plan to use them, and include your time.

Which Shopify chargeback apps have free plans?

ChargeFix gives 2 filings a month, Chargeback Copilot 3 evidence PDFs and DisputeDesk 5 packs. Do The Proof drafts for free and you send the response. Counterproof and Chargeback Buddy list free plans without stating limits. Check each plan before you rely on it.

Does every chargeback app work with Stripe?

No. ChargeFix works with Shopify Payments only, and Counterproof lists Shopify Payments and Stripe. Other apps list their own coverage, and some pages do not say. Confirm the processor in the listing or with the vendor before you install, because an app that cannot read your payments cannot help.

How do I check a vendor's win-rate claim?

Ask what it is compared with, over what period and for which reason codes. Chargeflow's "300% increase" and Disputifier's roughly 60%, per Redo, measure different things. Without a baseline and a case mix, a win-rate number cannot be compared.

Do I need prevention as well as a response tool?

Only if your dispute ratio is near a monitoring threshold or your losses justify it. A response tool does not lower your count, because disputes count when filed. Alerts and scans are separate products with separate bills, and they often fail to pay on low-value orders.

How often should I redo a software comparison?

When your disputes change by a third or more, when a vendor changes prices, when you add a processor or country, and about every 90 days. A saved fill-in table makes the rerun a ten-minute job, so keep it where you can find it.

Is a tool with no reviews risky?

It is unproven, not necessarily poor. Several newer apps, including ours, have none yet. Reduce the risk by testing on a free plan in Manual mode, reading the draft carefully, checking the data terms and trying it on a closed dispute before you rely on it for a live deadline.

What is the quickest way to start a comparison?

Write your disputes a month, average order and processor. Remove apps that do not read your processor. Price the rest at your volume, keep two with a Manual mode and a clear data answer, and test both on one real dispute in Manual mode.

Start free trial with ChargeFix

If your table points to a flat-price tool with a Manual mode and a public data agreement, ChargeFix is built that way: a free plan to start, flat monthly plans after that and never a cut of what you win. It checks your evidence item by item, tells you honestly whether a case is worth fighting and drafts a letter from your real records. Nothing goes to the bank until you say so. It works with Shopify Payments only, and paid plans include a 14-day free trial.

Start free trial

Sources

• Chargeflow pricing
• Redo: the best chargeback software for Shopify, by fees and win rate
• Redo: chargeback recovery for Shopify, what you actually keep after fees
• Shopify Help Center: overview of the chargeback and inquiry process
• Shopify Help Center: fraud and dispute monitoring programs
• DisputeDesk on the Shopify App Store
• ChargePay on the Shopify App Store
• Paidback on the Shopify App Store
• Do The Proof on the Shopify App Store
• Counterproof on the Shopify App Store
• Chargeback Buddy on the Shopify App Store
• Chargeback Copilot on the Shopify App Store