Shopify is finally preparing to lift its long-standing product variant limit from 100 to a massive 2048 variants per product, with general availability planned for the second half of 2025. This change is one of the most anticipated updates on the platform, aimed at solving a major pain point for merchants and developers alike.
In this article, we’ll explain the current 100-variant restriction and its problems, outline Shopify’s roadmap to 2048 variants (2K variants), and detail the technical changes in Shopify’s APIs, Liquid code, and themes. We’ll also cover what app developers and theme builders need to do to prepare, and highlight how this expansion benefits merchants in industries like apparel and electronics.
The 100 Variant Limit Today and Why It’s a Problem
Shopify has long limited each product to a maximum of 100 variants and 3 options (e.g., Size, Color, Style). This created several issues:
- Complex Products Outgrow 100 Variants: Many product configurations exceed this cap quickly, especially in categories like fashion, furniture, and electronics.
- Only 3 Option Types: Limiting to three attributes prevented full customization for configurable products.
- Workarounds Introduce Complexity: Merchants resorted to using third-party apps or splitting one product into multiple listings, complicating inventory and UX.
- Performance Considerations: The cap was originally introduced to avoid performance degradation on storefronts and admin interfaces.
From 100 to 2048 Variants: Shopify’s Expansion Plan
Shopify’s plan to support up to 2,048 variants per product is being rolled out in phases:
- 2024 Developer Preview: Shopify introduced new GraphQL APIs and allowed developers to test high-variant products in preview stores.
- Early 2025 Plus Merchant Rollout: Shopify Plus stores began receiving early access to 2048-variant support.
- General Availability in Late 2025: Shopify plans to make this feature available to all merchants across all plans.
- Important Note: The current limit of three product options per product remains unchanged. While there is speculation about increased flexibility, Shopify has not confirmed any changes to this limit.
Under the Hood: Technical Changes Enabling 2048 Variants
Shopify had to re-architect multiple systems to support this enhancement:
GraphQL Admin API Enhancements
- New Mutations and Data Model: Shopify now treats product variants and options as separate, first-class objects.
productSetMutation: Allows bulk updating up to 2,000 variants asynchronously in one call.- Bulk Operations Support: Efficient creation and update of large variant sets using
productVariantsBulkCreateand similar mutations. - Legacy APIs Deprecated: REST API calls like
/productsand/variantsare now deprecated for high-variant products.
GraphQL Query Improvements
- 2000 Variant Cap in Queries: GraphQL queries can now return up to 2000 variants for a single product.
- ShopResourceLimits: Developers can query store-specific limits to adapt app behavior dynamically.
- Webhook Changes: Shopify now limits product update webhooks to include only the first 100 variants’ full data, plus IDs for the rest.
Theme & Liquid Code Changes for High-Variant Products
Shopify introduced changes to ensure high-variant products do not harm storefront performance:
product.variantsLimited to 250: Liquid now only returns the first 250 variants.- New Liquid Objects:
product.options_with_values: Use this instead of looping through all variants.product_option_value: Helps determine availability, selection status, and links.
- Pre-selected Options via URL: New
?option_values=parameter for better UX. - AJAX-Based Variant Loading: Shopify themes should now use dynamic loading for variant data.
- Pagination Support:
{% paginate product.variants by 50 %}enables large variant tables in themes. - App Block Compatibility: Theme app extensions must now dynamically load variant data if they depend on more than 250 variants.
What App Developers Should Do
Key Action Items:
- Migrate to GraphQL Admin API 2024-04+: All public apps must now use the updated product APIs.
- Refactor Variant Handling Logic: Update logic, UI, and performance assumptions.
- Adapt to New Webhook Format: Handle partial variant data and fetch updated variants using IDs.
- Test Extensively: Use high-variant dev stores to simulate real-world usage.
Optimization Tips:
- Implement UI pagination, filtering, or lazy loading when handling large sets of variants.
- Use shop-level GraphQL queries to dynamically detect variant limits and adapt accordingly.
- For theme app extensions, use Storefront API or section rendering for full variant coverage.
Benefits for Merchants
The expanded limit provides several advantages for store owners:
- Enable Complex Products: List up to 2048 variant combinations under a single product.
- Simplify Catalog Management: Avoid splitting similar products into multiple listings.
- Improve Inventory Accuracy: Track stock across detailed SKU combinations.
- Enhance Customer Experience: All product variations can be selected from one product page.
- Boost SEO & Ad Performance: Consolidate traffic and backlinks to a single product URL.
- Support More Use Cases:
- Fashion: Support extensive size, color, and style combinations.
- Electronics: Create SKUs for different hardware configurations and bundles.
- Furniture: Offer custom builds across multiple option categories.
Preparing for the 2048-Variant Era
For Developers:
- Migrate all apps and extensions to the new APIs.
- Test your logic against 500–2000 variant product scenarios.
- Adjust admin and frontend interfaces to handle high-variant complexity.
For Merchants:
- Audit products previously split due to the 100-variant cap.
- Plan to consolidate or expand product configurations once your plan gains access.
- If you’re on Plus, reach out to Shopify support for early access.
Conclusion:
Shopify’s support for up to 2048 variants marks a significant milestone in platform flexibility and scalability. It opens doors for merchants to offer more detailed, accurate, and customer-friendly product configurations. While the three-option limit remains, the increased variant capacity alone resolves many long-standing limitations for high-SKU product catalogs. With the right preparation, both merchants and developers can unlock new opportunities for product innovation and streamlined store management.
Resources:
Shopify Developer Docs – Support high-variant products in themes
Shopify Dev Community – New GraphQL Product APIs forum
Shopify Changelog – Admin GraphQL API 2024-04
Shopify Dev Docs – Product API migration overview
Shopify Help Center – Product variant limits
Shopify Dev Docs – productSet mutation
Shopify Dev Docs – productVariantsBulkCreate mutation
Shopify Dev Docs – Theme variant best practices
Shopify Dev Docs – Liquid objects for product option value
