--- title: Shopify App Store Showdown: MergeIt vs. Rocketly for Order Merging description: A detailed MergeIt vs Rocketly comparison for Shopify merchants. We analyze features, pricing, and reviews to help you choose the best order merging app. canonical: https://tacey.app/blog/shopify-app-store-showdown-mergeit-vs-rocketly-for-order-merging published: 2026-10-25T11:21:29.467Z updated: 2026-10-25T11:21:29.467Z category: Apps & Tools --- # Shopify App Store Showdown: MergeIt vs. Rocketly for Order Merging Comparing two popular Shopify order merging apps, MergeIt and Rocketly, to see which tool is better for combining shipments and cutting shipping costs. Choosing between MergeIt and Rocketly for Shopify order merging depends on your priorities. MergeIt is an established app with a tiered, paid subscription, making it a reliable choice for stores with consistent merge volume. Rocketly is a free alternative, ideal for new stores or merchants wanting to eliminate duplicate shipping costs without a new monthly fee. But while they solve the same core problem, they approach it differently. Choosing the right one depends on your store's specific order volume, workflow, and budget. This article compares MergeIt vs. Rocketly based on their Shopify App Store listings to help you decide which tool best fits your operational needs. ## What is order merging and why does it matter? Order merging is the process of combining multiple, separate orders from a single customer into one consolidated shipment. Instead of fulfilling two or more orders individually, you pack all the items into one box with one shipping label. This simple action has a direct and immediate impact on your bottom line. The primary benefit is cost savings. If a single shipment has a base cost and a second one has the same, your total is the sum of both. A combined, slightly heavier package is nearly always cheaper than paying for two separate shipments. These savings add up quickly across hundreds or thousands of orders. It also reduces packaging waste and simplifies your team's fulfillment process. ### A Worked Example: The Real Cost of Separate Shipments Imagine a customer places two separate orders an hour apart. Without a merging tool, your store incurs the cost of two distinct shipments. This means you pay the base shipping rate twice and use two sets of packaging materials, two boxes, two labels, and double the packing tape. Your fulfillment team also performs the same pick-and-pack process twice for one customer, a clear duplication of effort. With an order merging app, those two orders are automatically combined into a single fulfillment request. Your store now pays for only one shipment. While this consolidated package is heavier and may fall into a higher weight bracket, its cost is almost always substantially less than the sum of the two original shipping fees. The primary saving comes from eliminating the second base postage charge. The financial benefits extend beyond postage. You consume one set of packaging materials instead of two, reducing supply costs. More importantly, you reclaim valuable labor time. Packing one box instead of two, when repeated across many orders, frees up hours of your fulfillment team's capacity. This recovered time can be reinvested into higher-value tasks like quality assurance or accelerating dispatch times for all customers, improving the overall customer experience. ## What is MergeIt for Shopify? MergeIt is a Shopify app that finds and combines unfulfilled orders from the same customer. It supports both automatic merging through configurable rules and manual one-click merging from the Shopify admin, offering merchants a mix of automation and direct control over their order flow. The app emphasizes maintaining data integrity, ensuring that combining orders does not disrupt your sales and tax reporting. It creates a clear history of all merged orders and provides the ability to undo a merge if necessary. This focus on accuracy and control makes it a tool for stores that need a reliable, set-it-and-forget-it system. Setting up a rule is a concrete step. A merchant might define a rule to automatically merge any orders from the same customer placed within a two-hour window, as long as the shipping addresses are an exact match and both orders are unfulfilled. This simple configuration automates the savings and requires no daily intervention from your team. The undo feature provides a critical safety net. For example, if an automated merge combines an order containing a birthday gift with another order, the customer might email asking to keep them separate to maintain the surprise. The ability to "unmerge" with one click from the app's history log prevents a support headache and protects the customer experience. ## What is Rocketly for Shopify? Rocketly: Auto Merge Orders is another Shopify app focused on automating the combination of shipments to save on costs. It offers smart suggestions by grouping orders from the same customer, allowing for quick, one-click merging. Rocketly also provides customizable rules for automatic merging, which can be set to run at different intervals. Like its competitor, Rocketly is built to preserve all the critical data associated with the original orders, including inventory counts, sales analytics, and tax information. A standout feature mentioned is the ability to handle refunds for any extra shipping charges the customer may have paid across their multiple orders. This directly addresses a common customer question. The "smart suggestions" appear as a clear, actionable list in the app's dashboard. Instead of hunting through your main order list, you see a group of orders flagged for merging, showing the customer name and potential savings. This visual cue prompts action and makes the manual merge process nearly as fast as an automated one. Refunding the shipping overage is a powerful customer experience play. When a customer sees two shipping charges on their credit card but receives one box, they often feel overcharged. Proactively refunding one of those fees, perhaps with an automated email explaining the merge, turns a potential complaint into a moment of delight and builds trust. ## How do MergeIt and Rocketly compare on features? Both apps provide the core service of merging orders, but their feature sets have slight differences in focus. MergeIt highlights its integration within the Shopify admin for manual merges, while Rocketly emphasizes its smart suggestions and handling of shipping refunds. A direct comparison makes the distinctions clearer. Here is a breakdown of their features based on their Shopify App Store listings. This table helps clarify which app aligns better with your store's daily operations and what you can expect from each tool. | Feature | MergeIt | Rocketly: Auto Merge Orders | | --- | --- | --- | | **Automatic Merging** | Yes, based on flexible rules like time windows or matching addresses. | Yes, with rules for daily, weekly, or instant merging. | | **Manual Merging** | Yes, one-click from the Shopify orders page or within the app. | Yes, via "smart suggestions" that group orders for one-click action. | | **Data Integrity** | Keeps sales and tax data intact for accurate reporting. | Preserves inventory, analytics, tax, and sales data. | | **Merge History & Undo** | Yes, provides a full history with the ability to undo most merges. | Yes, allows viewing history and undoing any merge from the dashboard. | | **Shipping Refund** | Not explicitly mentioned as a primary feature. | Yes, explicitly listed as a feature to refund extra shipping. | | **Merge Suggestions** | Yes, offers "smart merge suggestions" with email alerts. | Yes, "smart suggestions" group orders for quick merging. | ### Edge Case: Merging In-Stock and Pre-Order Items Automatic rules can face challenges with complex orders. Consider a customer who buys an in-stock sweatshirt and, an hour later, a pre-order item not shipping for six weeks. An aggressive auto-merge rule might combine them. This creates a fulfillment problem: you cannot ship the full order now, and the customer must wait for everything. This is where manual review, prompted by "smart suggestions, " proves its worth. An operations manager can see the suggested merge and instantly recognize the pre-order conflict. They can choose to override the suggestion, leaving the two orders separate. This ensures the in-stock item ships immediately, meeting customer expectations while still tracking the pre-order correctly. ## What is the pricing for MergeIt vs Rocketly? The pricing models for these two apps represent two different philosophies. MergeIt uses a traditional tiered subscription based on the number of merges per month, while Rocketly is positioned as a free-to-install alternative, which is a significant differentiator for new or low-volume stores. MergeIt uses a traditional tiered subscription model. Its plans are based on the number of orders merged per month, offering different tiers for stores with varying volumes. This structure provides cost predictability, allowing a business to choose a plan that aligns with its expected usage and budget. The app typically offers a free trial period for merchants to evaluate its functionality before committing. In contrast, Rocketly is positioned as a free-to-install application on the Shopify App Store. This presents a compelling option for merchants who want to address the cost of duplicate shipments without adding a new monthly subscription fee. As with any free app, it is wise for merchants to confirm the terms of service to understand if any usage limits or future costs might apply. ### Calculating Your Return on Investment For a paid app like MergeIt, calculating the return on investment is straightforward. A merchant needs to compare their average savings per merged order against the app's monthly subscription fee. The savings come from eliminating redundant shipping and material costs. As long as the total monthly savings from merging orders exceeds the subscription price, the app generates a positive return. Any merges beyond the break-even point directly increase the store's profit margin. With a free app like Rocketly, the financial calculation is simpler as there is no subscription cost to offset. The return on investment is immediate, realized from the very first merged shipment. The consideration here is not monetary but strategic. Merchants should weigh the benefits of a free tool against factors like the level of customer support provided, the frequency of updates, and the app's long-term development roadmap. For many new or lean businesses, the ability to solve a costly problem with no upfront investment is a decisive advantage. ## Which app has stronger reviews? Both apps have excellent ratings, though the number of reviews differs significantly, suggesting one has a longer history or a larger user base. Social proof is a key factor, as it reflects the real-world experiences of other Shopify merchants who have used these tools to solve the same problem. MergeIt has accumulated a notable number of reviews on the Shopify App Store, indicating a larger and more established user base. Its overall rating is very positive, suggesting a high degree of satisfaction among merchants who use it. Common themes in the reviews praise the app's reliability and its careful handling of order data, which prevents disruptions to store reporting. Rocketly, while having fewer public reviews, shows exceptionally high satisfaction among its users. The feedback suggests that its early adopters are very pleased with its performance and simplicity. Reviewers often praise it for being a straightforward solution that delivers on its core promise effectively, with one user noting it "actually works without breaking anything." The trade-off here is one of stability versus agility. An app with more reviews like MergeIt has likely been tested across more stores and scenarios, suggesting a stable and mature platform. An app with fewer, perfect reviews like Rocketly may be newer and more nimble, potentially offering more responsive support and faster feature development based on early user feedback. > Every manual task you repeat is a tax on your growth. The goal is to design the tax out of the system. Odera Joseph Echendu, Founder, [Tacey](https://apps.shopify.com/tacey?utm_source=tacey&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=shopify-app-store-showdown-mergeit-vs-rocketly-for-order-merging) ## Which order merging app is right for my store? The best choice between MergeIt and Rocketly depends entirely on your store's priorities and order volume. There is no single "best" app, only the right fit for your specific business needs. The decision comes down to a trade-off between a free tool and a paid one with a longer track record. **Pick MergeIt if:** Your store has a consistent and predictable volume of orders to merge each month. The tiered pricing is justifiable if the savings on shipping labels reliably exceed the monthly fee. Its larger number of reviews also provides more social proof and confidence in its stability. This is for the established store where operational reliability is paramount. **Pick Rocketly if:** You are a new store, have a low or unpredictable number of duplicate orders, or want to solve the problem without any new subscription costs. The free price point is its biggest advantage, making it a no-risk option to try. The specific feature for refunding shipping can also improve customer experience. This suits a founder who is watching every dollar. ## Are there other ways to combine orders? While dedicated apps like MergeIt and Rocketly are effective, they aren't the only solution. Some merchants use manual workarounds, though these can be prone to error and consume valuable time. Another option is to use a broader post-purchase tool that includes order merging as one of its features. The manual process in Shopify is risky. It involves canceling one paid order, carefully copying the items, and editing the other order to add them. A mistake here could mean shipping the wrong products or creating an inventory nightmare. The cost of getting it wrong is a returned package, a frustrated customer, and hours spent fixing data in the backend. For instance, Tacey provides a merchant-facing [order merge](/order-merge) tool within its admin. It allows a store owner to combine two paid orders from the same customer into a single shipment. The absorbed order is canceled without a refund for its items, and its items are added to the surviving order at no new charge, preserving the original payments. This is a merchant action, distinct from customer-facing edits. Ultimately, the goal is to find a workflow that reduces shipping costs and operational complexity without disrupting inventory or sales data. Whether that's a specialized app or a feature within a larger platform depends on your existing app stack and business processes. Before committing to an app, it's a good practice to analyze your past orders to count how many times customers have placed multiple orders in a short period. This data will give you a clear estimate of your potential savings and help you determine whether a paid app provides a positive return on investment or if a free solution is sufficient. ## Frequently asked questions ### Does merging orders affect my sales reports? Both MergeIt and Rocketly are designed to preserve the integrity of your sales and tax data. They typically work by canceling one order and adding its items to the other, ensuring your revenue numbers remain accurate and are not artificially inflated. ### Can I unmerge an order? Yes, both apps offer the ability to undo a merge. This is a crucial feature if a mistake was made or if a customer's request changes after the orders have been combined, giving you the flexibility to revert to the original state. ### What happens to the extra shipping cost a customer paid? This depends on the app and your settings. Rocketly explicitly mentions a feature to refund the extra shipping cost to the customer. With MergeIt, you may need to issue a manual refund if you choose to pass the savings on to the customer. ### Can I merge orders automatically? Yes, both MergeIt and Rocketly support automatic merging based on rules you define. You can set conditions, such as a time window or matching shipping addresses, to have the apps combine orders without any manual intervention. ### Will merging orders mess up my inventory? No, these apps are built to handle inventory correctly. When an order is merged, the items from the canceled order are typically restocked and then re-allocated to the surviving order, so your inventory counts remain accurate across all products. ### Do these apps work with my 3PL? Generally, yes, but timing is critical. Merging must happen before order information is sent to your third-party logistics (3PL) provider. Most 3PL integrations sync new orders quickly, so you must set your merge time window to be shorter than your 3PL's sync frequency to avoid shipping two separate packages. ### What happens if I merge orders with different discount codes? This is an important edge case to test. Well-designed apps will preserve the discounts applied to each original order, ensuring the final merged order's total accurately reflects all promotions. However, you should always verify this behavior during the free trial period to confirm it aligns with your reporting needs. ### Can I merge a fulfilled order? Generally, no. Order merging apps are designed to work on unfulfilled orders. Once an order has been sent to your warehouse or a 3PL for fulfillment, or a shipping label has been created, it is typically locked and cannot be merged.