Nitro Commerce has launched Nitro Apps, an AI-powered platform that allows Shopify merchants to build private applications using prompts
The platform seeks to reduce the time, cost, and development resources required by merchants to build software tailored to their workflows
Nitro said more than 700 applications were created during the platform’s private beta
Shopify merchants often rely on multiple applications to manage workflows ranging from loyalty programmes to GST reconciliation. However, finding software tailored to specific requirements can be difficult, and building a custom application can require significant time, cost, and development resources.
Nitro Commerce is looking to address this challenge with Nitro Apps, an AI-powered platform that allows Shopify merchants to build applications tailored to their stores.
Nitro Commerce
publicly unveiled the platform at Inc42’s ‘The D2C & Retail Summit 2026’, demonstrating how merchants can use prompts to create software for their specific requirements.
The startup is bringing what it calls “vibe coding” to Shopify, allowing merchants to describe the software they need instead of developing it from scratch.
“You can actually build your own private application on your own Shopify store just by a prompt,” Nitro Commerce cofounder and CEO Umair Mohammad said during the launch.
Merchants can describe their requirements through prompts, following which Nitro Apps creates and installs the application on their Shopify backend. The application remains private to the merchant’s store, while the merchant retains ownership of the underlying code.
During the launch, Mohammad presented a pre-recorded demonstration in which Nitro Apps was prompted to create “a few discount-giving games” for a Shopify store.
The prompt did not specify the type of games required, leaving the platform to determine what to build. Nitro Apps subsequently created the games and added them to the store’s admin panel.
According to Mohammad, the two games presented at the event took six hours to build and cost $44. He claimed that developing a similar application built through conventional methods could require at least four developers and a month of work.
The platform can also be used to build tools for internal business workflows, besides customer-facing experiences. For instance, merchants can use Nitro Apps to create applications for GST reconciliation, loyalty programmes, and other requirements for which suitable off-the-shelf software may not be available.
Nitro Commerce said more than 700 apps were created during the platform’s private beta, ahead of its public launch.
Mohammad said the platform can enable merchants to build software tailored to their requirements rather than relying solely on existing apps.
“Technology is no longer a constraint,” he said, pointing to how AI is changing the cost and time involved in software development.
With Nitro Apps, the startup is betting that quicker and cheaper development will make custom software more accessible to Shopify merchants.
Source: Inc42
