Shopify has just rolled out one of the biggest updates we’ve seen in years — the product variant limit has officially been increased from 100 to 2,048 variants per product.
If you’ve ever worked with a complex catalogue, you’ll know how much of a headache that old 100-variant limit was. It forced brands to either split products across multiple listings or rely on third-party apps to get around it. This update completely changes that. Shopify has basically re-engineered a big part of its platform to make this possible, and it’s a serious step forward for merchants with larger product ranges.
For us as developers, this is a pretty exciting one — it’s going to make product management cleaner, improve performance, and open up way more possibilities for customisation. You can read the official announcement from Shopify here on their blog.
Why this matters
Let’s say you’re selling a sofa that comes in 6 sizes, 10 fabrics, and 12 colours. Under the old system, that combination would’ve easily blown past the 100-variant cap. You’d have to split it into separate products or drop options, which was annoying for both you and your customers.
Now, you can manage all those options under a single product. That means a simpler, smoother shopping experience for customers (no jumping between pages), stronger SEO because you’re focusing all traffic to one product URL, easier stock management, and less setup hassle overall. Basically, it brings Shopify much closer to the flexibility of big enterprise-level ecommerce systems, while keeping that clean, familiar Shopify workflow.
What’s new behind the scenes
To make this possible, Shopify had to rethink how products are handled inside the platform. The old REST API just couldn’t handle the amount of data tied to products with thousands of variants. So they rebuilt everything on the new GraphQL Admin API, which is faster and built for scale.
If you’re using custom apps or integrations, those might need updating to support this new product model. Apps that haven’t yet moved over from the REST API might still be limited to 100 variants, so it’s worth checking with your developers or partners before going all-in.
It’s also good to know that while the variant limit is now 2,048, there’s a separate limit of 250 media items per product (like images or videos). So you can still have tons of variants, but you might need to be smart about how you assign media if your catalogue is super visual.
Performance and scalability
Shopify didn’t just increase the limit and call it a day — they’ve put a lot of work into making sure performance keeps up. According to their official blog, creating products at the new limit is up to 10x faster than it used to be, and even single-variant products are now about 33% faster in the admin.
That’s a big deal for large stores. Managing huge catalogues can be slow and frustrating, but this update keeps things quick both in the backend and on the storefront. It’s built to scale without making your workflow more complicated.
What store owners should do now
If you’re running a Shopify store, here’s what you should be thinking about. First, review your current products — if you’ve had to split listings before, now’s a good time to tidy things up and combine them. Next, check your apps and integrations — make sure everything’s updated to use the GraphQL Admin API. If not, you could still be stuck with the old limit. And finally, plan for the future — even if you don’t need thousands of variants right now, this gives you loads more flexibility to expand your range down the line.
If you’re not sure where to start or whether your current setup supports the new limits, that’s exactly the kind of thing we can help with. If you need support updating your store or rebuilding with the latest Shopify features, check out our Shopify web design and development services or our Shopify agency London page to learn more about how we can help.
Why this update is such a big deal
For years, this has been one of the most requested features from Shopify merchants — and honestly, it makes total sense. The old 100 variant cap worked fine for simple stores, but it’s always been too small for fashion, furniture, and customisable product businesses. This update shows Shopify is really doubling down on scalability and enterprise-level capability, without losing that simplicity that everyone loves about the platform. It’s a sign of where things are heading — bigger stores, more flexibility, and fewer compromises.
Our take at Futurmedia
We’ve been waiting for this one. It’s the kind of change that makes our lives easier as developers and gives our clients more creative freedom in how they sell. No more awkward product splits, no more patchwork solutions — just one clean product page that can handle everything.
If you’ve been held back by Shopify’s old variant limits, this update unlocks a ton of potential. You can go bigger with product options, expand your customisation, and keep everything streamlined on both the front and back end.
We’re already helping clients restructure their catalogues and update their stores to take full advantage of this. If you want to do the same, or you’re planning a new Shopify build and want to make sure it’s future-proof, get in touch.
👉 Contact us at Futur Media and we’ll help you get set up for the new 2,048-variant era.
Shopify has basically just removed one of its biggest technical limits. For brands with complex catalogues, this isn’t just a small quality-of-life improvement — it’s a whole new level of flexibility. More choice for customers, cleaner management for merchants, and a much smoother experience across the board. Honestly, this one’s been a long time coming, but it’s worth the wait.