How to spotthe right Shopware agencybefore you sign

Selection

How do you recognise the right Shopware agency?

The right Shopware agency rarely gives itself away through its case studies; it shows in the questions it asks you before any price is mentioned. Which version is running? Where is the shop hosted? Which extensions are installed, and is an ERP connected? Whoever asks this knows where the effort in Shopware actually sits. Whoever quotes a flat fee in the first phone call is guessing.

If you want to put several offers side by side, a short list that you run through with every agency helps. The order is deliberate: at the top is what will still keep your shop busy in two years, at the bottom what can be renegotiated if need be.

1. VersionExperience with 6.6 and 6.7Has the agency moved shops or extensions to Shopware 6.7, and can it explain what had to be changed along the way?
2. ExtensionsPlugin and Store expertiseCan it build its own extensions and still tell you honestly when a solution from the Shopware Store is enough?
3. OperationsUpdates and maintenanceIs there a staging environment, a plan for updates and a clear rule on who is responsible after go-live?
4. CommunicationContact personDo you talk to the people who write the code, or does every question pass through a project manager who forwards it?
5. EngineeringCode qualityIs the code checked (static analysis, review), documented, and handed over to you at the end?
6. LegalData protectionDoes the agency offer a data processing agreement on its own initiative before it gets access to customer data?

Versions

What should a Shopware 6 agency know about 6.6 and 6.7?

A Shopware 6 agency should be able to explain without looking it up why the move to 6.7 was more than a routine update for many shops. With 6.7, Shopware switched the Administration build from Webpack to Vite, removed the compatibility layer for Vue 2 and moved the framework to Symfony 7. Extensions with their own components in the Administration therefore needed separate versions for 6.6 and 6.7, and anyone who had not planned for that ended up with a half working backend.

The topic does not settle down for good. Shopware has announced the next major version, 6.8, for 2027, and extended support for 6.6 continues until then (as of October 2026). For you this means a shop on 6.6 is still covered for now, but it needs a plan for the next step. Ask the agency which of your extensions it considers critical and why.

A good answer names specific places (custom modules in the Administration, checkout customisations, older Store extensions without a 6.7 version) rather than a vague "we'll take a look". How such an update works in practice is described in our article Shopware update without nasty surprises.

Extensions

Build a plugin or use the Store: which Shopware service provider fits?

Which Shopware service provider suits you depends mostly on whether you need custom logic or rather a shop that runs cleanly on ready made extensions. Some agencies prefer to build everything themselves, others assemble almost everything from the Shopware Store. Both can be right. It only gets tricky when someone masters just one of the two routes and then proposes it for every task.

Two points about the Store that many shop owners underestimate. Since 28 December 2023, extensions there are only rented (monthly or yearly), and when the rental ends, so does the right to use them; ten recommended Store extensions are ten running costs. Every extension is checked before publication, first automatically with PHPStan and SonarQube, then by hand. That lowers the risk considerably, but it does not spare you your own testing.

Then there is the question of where your shop runs. According to the developer documentation, Shopware Cloud as SaaS only accepts apps, not plugins. If someone offers you a classic plugin for a SaaS shop, they simply have not looked at your setup. How to weigh Store, app and custom development is covered in more detail in Shopware plugin: buy it or have it built.

Operations

How do you check whether a Shopware agency handles maintenance and updates?

Whether a Shopware agency takes maintenance seriously shows in how it handles the small updates, not only the big ones. Shopware usually releases minor versions monthly, and they are not supposed to break existing code. Major versions, on the other hand, contain changes that extensions can fail on, and every extension has to state explicitly which Shopware versions it supports.

In practice you ask about three things. Is there a staging environment where every update runs before it goes live? Who checks after the update that checkout, payment and the integrations still work? And who is responsible when something stops working on a Friday evening? All three deserve names and procedures, not statements of intent.

For code quality there is a simple yardstick: Shopware itself has Store extensions checked automatically with PHPStan and SonarQube. Ask whether the agency uses something comparable for its own code and whether the code belongs to you in the end. With Shopware development at Scalableloops, we test extensions on 6.6 and 6.7, and your contacts are the developers who wrote the code. Not every agency has to work this way, but it is a question you can put to any of them.

Partner status

What does Shopware partner status tell you, and what does it not?

Shopware partner status tells you how many Shopware certifications a company holds in total. Shopware lists agencies on its website in four levels: Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze. Platinum requires 20 certifications, Gold at least 10, Silver at least 4, and Bronze also requires certifications (as of October 2026).

Two things can be read from this: people there have passed Shopware exams, and the company maintains its relationship with the vendor. What the level does not measure does not appear in the criteria at all: project quality, reliability on deadlines, experience in your industry or how support works after go-live. And large teams naturally reach many certifications more easily than small, specialised ones.

So use the status as a starting point, not as the decision. Ask which certifications belong to the people who would work on your project, and ask to see a project similar to yours. An agency without partner status is not automatically the weaker choice either; it just has to prove its experience in other ways.

Data protection

Which data protection duties apply when a Shopware expert works on your shop?

As soon as a Shopware expert can get at customer data in your shop during maintenance, updates or development, even only in theory, this usually counts as processing on your behalf. Art. 28 GDPR then requires a contract that sets out, among other things, the subject matter and duration, the nature and purpose of the processing, the type of data and your rights as the controller. And a Shopware shop holds names, addresses, orders and often phone numbers.

That makes it a useful test during selection. A careful agency raises the contract itself and asks which access it actually needs (instead of asking for the administrator account straight away). Also check whether test data is anonymised before a copy of the shop ends up on some development machine, and whether tracking or review services are integrated in a data minimising way.

First meeting

Which questions belong in Shopware consulting before you sign?

A first round of Shopware consulting should include questions that an agency can only answer well if it has looked at your shop beforehand. So send a few key facts in advance: version, hosting location, the list of extensions, connected systems. That turns the meeting into an assessment rather than a round of introductions with slides.

These are the questions we have been challenged on most in our own conversations, and the answers are easy to compare across agencies:

1. VersionWhat do you see as the biggest risk in our shop for the next update?A good answer names specific extensions or customisations.
2. TeamWho exactly works on our project, and who can we reach afterwards?Names and roles, not just "our team".
3. QualityHow do you test before anything goes live?Staging environment, test steps, acceptance by you.
4. CostsHow is your price made up?A breakdown by components, not a bare flat fee. What Shopware itself costs is covered in Shopware pricing and editions.
5. RightsWho owns the code at the end?It should be yours, with access to the repository.
6. AttitudeWhen would you advise us not to build something?An agency that also advises against things is thinking about your operations, not only about its offer.

Red flags

Which warning signs should make you avoid a Shopware agency?

We would be careful with a Shopware agency that names a fixed price before it has looked at your shop at all. Without knowing the version, extensions and interfaces, nobody can estimate that seriously. The same goes for lines like "updates are no problem for us" when no staging environment comes up in the same conversation.

Other things that would make us hesitate: the code is not to be handed over, or your shop depends on an in-house system without which it stops running. Full administrator rights are requested, but a data processing agreement is never mentioned. A plugin is recommended for a cloud shop. Or there is no name when you ask who your contact will be after go-live. None of these points rules an agency out on its own, but each one deserves a follow-up question. And if your shop still runs on Shopware 5, also check whether the agency has guided that move before (more in Migrating from Shopware 5 to 6).

What now

How to arrive at the right Shopware agency

1. 01Describe your shopPut version, hosting, extensions, interfaces and your goal on one page. Send this page to every agency in advance.
2. 02Set your criteriaTake the list above and weight the points for your case, for example maintenance before price.
3. 03Hold two or three conversationsAsk the same questions in every conversation and note the answers side by side. You usually see the difference as soon as you ask about the next update.
4. 04Settle contract and accessBefore the first login: put the data processing agreement, the access required, the staging environment and the contacts in writing. If you would like to talk to us, you can book a free Shopware consultation.