When you sell to another country on Shopify, each market can have its own web address. You can use a subfolder, a subdomain, or a separate country domain, and the choice affects setup effort and search visibility. This guide compares the options using Shopify's own guidance.
The options
Shopify calls these international domains, and its help center says they need the Basic plan or higher. You can combine the methods and switch between them later.
| Option | Example |
|---|---|
| Subfolder | example.com/fr-fr |
| Subdomain | fr.example.com |
| Country domain | example.fr |
| Primary domain only | example.com for everyone |
How they compare
Shopify recommends subfolders for a first international setup. A subfolder sits on your primary domain, so it inherits that domain's existing search ranking and authority, and it needs the least setup.
- Subfolders: Use your primary domain and its existing authority. Minimal setup
- Subdomains: Benefit less from the primary domain's ranking, and can take longer to build authority
- Country domains: You buy a separate domain per market, and each one builds its own authority. Shopify describes this as the most effort
- Primary domain only: No region-specific URLs, so no search traffic aimed at secondary markets
Shopify describes country domains as suited to a deliberate expansion into a new market. Check availability and eligibility first. Shopify notes that some extensions, such as .ca and .fr, have residency or business registration requirements.
What Shopify sets up either way
Whichever option you choose, Shopify creates hreflang tags for each international domain or subfolder and includes all published languages in your sitemaps. That is covered in hreflang on Shopify.
- ✅ Hreflang tags, created automatically
- ✅ Sitemaps that include every published language
- ❌ URL redirects when you remove a market. Shopify says you must import those yourself
Limits to know before you choose
A few rules shape what you can build. They are easier to plan around than to fix afterwards.
- Subfolder codes: A language-only subfolder such as /fr can exist only on the primary market. Other markets need language plus country, such as /fr-ca
- myshopify.com: You cannot create international domains from your myshopify.com domain
- Duplicate content: When one market has several domains, Shopify says each should target a different language
- Removing a market: Its URLs return 404 errors unless you set up redirects
- Changing primary domain: Your subfolder URLs change with it
- Currencies: Selling in multiple currencies requires Shopify Payments
Where to set it
In your Shopify admin, go to Markets and click the market. Under Languages and domains, click Manage domains, then choose subfolders or a separate domain or subdomain. A separate domain has to be added in Settings, then Domains, first.
The address is only half the job. Each market still needs translated content, and Shopify shows your default language where a translation is missing. See adding languages with Shopify Markets.
Doing this at scale
LinguaFlow drafts AI translations for each language you add, applying your brand glossary and tone rules. You review and edit before publishing, and it publishes through Shopify's native Translations API with no theme edits, with an audit log and rollback. See LinguaFlow.