SendOwl

I'm a long time (since 2010), established brand with no negative reviews or other issues, but I realized today another paid plugin here in Shopify is creating downloads my browsers are blocking as dangerous files (!!!). That's not a great user experience, so I began seeking out alternatives.

Before I could even attempt to use the app, I got repeated 500 server errors and an error code that suggested I contact support.

With no discussion or explanation, I received this email this afternoon, after installing the app and giving them access to my customers and account info as required?

I don't understand the reasoning, but I am highly concerned about the outcome now.

The message:

"Hi

After conducting a review I am sorry to say that we are not able to approve your account.

I understand this will be a disappointment to you and given our security practices, I am not able to share the details of the review process or the reason for our decision.

Paul Tomes
Head of User Operations, SendOwl."

I am completely baffled, dismayed and, evidently, not allowed to request info on why they would choose to do this, so I'm sharing my experience in order to let others know.

At the very least, I would attempt to create your account before installing the app so they don't gain access to sensitive information.

As for me, I guess my goat care resources must be troublesome, so I'll go on my way to find another solution, with no idea what I did wrong to warrant this treatment in the first place.

Pre-April 2025, I would give SendOwl 5 stars. Worked in the background, very reliable, did everything I needed.

At $15 /month it was great value for money. They probably undercharged, to be honest, so it makes sense for them to revisit their pricing in April 2025.

However, my new plan will be $159/month. This amounts to a 3% cut of my entire online business. No thank you. Not doing it.

I am currently looking for alternatives that will simply deliver digital downloads without charging MailChimp-like fees for it.

From $24 USD to $299 USD a month - that's a 1145.83% price increase... Ridiculous!!

I have been using SendOwl to deliver digital downloads to my customers since I started my shop 5 years ago. I use it solely for the Shopify integration, I need no other features. I have ~ 100 digital products in my catalogue, but I don't even need the 5 GB file storage.

Sorry, I am running this little business all by myself and I can't justify paying $299 a month just to deliver download links to my customers.

I have been using SendOwl for a while now at $19/month for unlimited digital products. I use Amazon S3 to store the files. They are going up on the price at the end of April 2025, so my monthly fee will now be $159 instead of $19. You have got to be kidding me with the $140/month price increase?! Um no. I will go elsewhere. Terrible business practice, especially when their website still advertises "unlimited products" on their pricing page. Since I pay for the app, I expect to have no advertisements on the download page. I am not happy that the download page you are directed to from the customer email to download the files has 2 advertisements at the bottom of the file list.

I used to LOVE This app - (installed it back in 2019 as couldn't find any other alternatives). They have just moved my pricing from $36 to $190 and didn't bother telling me. That's not how you treat your customers - whoever made this decision within your business - should be fired. You have likely lost a ton of business. BAD, BAD, BAD!!

SendOwl has helped us securely deliver digital content - a service we have not had the resources to build ourselves. They are quick with customer service and pivoted nicely when shopify deprecated the old checkout process.

*EDITED* (Went from 700$ plus a month to 150$ plus a month with the premium pricing plan : 99$ per month plus 0.11$ per transaction after talking with customer support) I have been using sendowl for 7 years and used it even before I got a Shopify store. The app works really well and have nothing to complain about the app really. I even struggle to find a replacement. However, in october they changed their pricing. I went from 20$ a month to 150+$ a month (on the new plan). Customer support was nice, responsive and friendly. However since this is their new way of billing (flat fee + transaction %), they cannot do more for me. I am pondering whether I will be switching apps soon because it's just too expensive.

UPDATE: I've now been using Sendowl for 12 years. We think it's flawless. But when we do have a problem, support has always gone above and beyond. Couldn't be happier.

From 2013: Hard to know which is better...the app or the support. George is extremely responsive and goes above and beyond. There's a tiny learning curve to the app, but once you've jumped to small hurdle, it's a fabulously easy program to use from our end.

I've gotten feedback from customers and they've also felt it's worked easily for them.

But...today I fell absolutely in love with Digital Delivery because I'd accidentally uploaded the wrong pdf file for a product. A customer clued me in. I went into Digital Delivery, uploaded the correct file...and THEN Digital Delivery automatically asked me if I'd like them to send an email to all customers who'd purchased that particular PDF, sending them a link to the correct file. OMG!! Do you know how much time that saved me? I was soooooooo happy to see that.

Definitely couldn't recommend the program more. Wish i could give it 10 stars!!

UPDATE: Have been using the app for a month now. It works flawlessly. And George continues to offer truly the best, most helpful customer service, ever. Ran into problems when I installed a new app, and George found the problem in no time at all.

Also have to add that I had noooooo idea that my customers were going to love our downloadable products as much as they do. It's made a huge difference in sales. Thanks, SendOwl and George!

DO NOT USE. We have been a loyal SendOwl customer for years and they instituted an absurd price increase. Unacceptable and do not use this service.

worked great, but with a price hike that puts the monthly fee more than my monthly take - unsustainable. no thankyou.