ReturnHQ : Return & Exchange vs Smart Sorting Auto Collection
Two Shopify apps, side by side: detected stores, momentum, reviews, plans, listed features and who runs each. Store counts as of Oct 13, 2026 for ReturnHQ, Oct 26, 2026 for Smart Sorting Auto Collection.
The short answer
- On the Shopify App Store: ReturnHQ 5.0 from 9 reviews and Smart Sorting Auto Collection 5.0 from 16 reviews.
- Only Smart Sorting Auto Collection lists a free plan. Paid plans start at $19/month for ReturnHQ and $9/month for Smart Sorting Auto Collection.
- Smart Sorting Auto Collection lists 5 features ReturnHQ’s listing doesn’t mention, including Automated, Custom rules, Push down.
Head to head
Momentum
New reviews each month
Review pace is the clearest public read on how fast an app is winning new merchants.
Founder
- · All couriers, auto pickup retry
- · Customizable returns & exchange portal
- · Email & WhatsApp notifications
- · Same or different-product exchanges
- · Store credit & discount-code refunds
- · Unlimited requests · $0.12 each
Unlimited
- · 1 courier included
- · 2 return & exchange rules
- · 2 workflow automations
- · Customizable returns & exchange portal
- · Email & WhatsApp notifications
- · Same or different-product exchanges
Scale
- · All couriers, auto pickup retry
- · Customizable returns & exchange portal
- · Email & WhatsApp notifications
- · Same or different-product exchanges
- · Store credit & discount-code refunds
- · Unlimited requests · $0.06 each
Free
- · 1 sorting rule per collection
- · Push out-of-stock items to the bottom
- · Sort up to 250 products per collection
- · Sort up to 5 collections
- · Updates every 24 hours
New Store
- · 3 sorting rules per collection
- · Push out-of-stock items to the bottom
- · Sort up to 250 products per collection
- · Sort up to unlimited collections
- · Updates every 6 hours
Growing Store
- · 6 sorting rules per collection
- · Push out-of-stock items to the bottom
- · Sort up to 1000 products per collection
- · Sort up to unlimited collections
- · Updates every 3 hours
Scale Mode
- · Push out-of-stock items to the bottom
- · Sort unlimited products per collection
- · Sort up to unlimited collections
- · Unlimited sorting rules per collection
- · Updates every 30 minutes
Coverage counts what each App Store listing names. Every feature, checked off app by app, is in Shoplist.
See every featureAutomated returns and exchanges from start to finish. Customers submit requests through a branded portal that validates orders and queues them in your inbox. Approve in one click and the refund, courier pickup, and customer notifications fire automatically. What used to take 15 minutes per return takes 30 seconds. Built for stores that want returns out of email threads, spreadsheets, and 5 separate dashboards.
Smart Sorting keeps your collection pages organized without manual work. Create sorting rules that push sold-out products to the bottom, keep bestsellers and new arrivals visible, and reorder products automatically as your inventory and sales change. Apply different rules to different collections and let the app re-sort them on a schedule.
- Bulk reorder products across multiple collections using CSV upload
- Smart fuzzy matching finds products even with slight name variations
- Preview product position changes before applying them to live collections
- Automatic verification and retry logic ensures successful reordering
- Create custom sorting rules for each collection
- Automatically push sold-out products to the bottom
- Keep bestsellers and new arrivals at the top
- Re-sort collections automatically on a schedule
All the numbers
Every figure, side by side
A green dot marks the app ahead on a measured figure. Estimates, gaps and apps that leave no storefront trace never take the lead.
Adoption
| Measure |  ReturnHQ |  Smart Sorting Auto Collection |
|---|---|---|
| Detected stores | Not published | Not published |
| Net store change, 28 days | 0 | 0 |
| Stores added, 28 days | Not enough data | Not enough data |
| Big-brand share | Not enough data | Not enough data |
| Top store categories | Not published | Not published |
| Top store countries | Not published | Not published |
Reviews
| Measure | ReturnHQ | Smart Sorting Auto Collection |
|---|---|---|
| App Store rating | 5.0 ★ | 5.0 ★ |
| App Store reviews | 9 | 16(ahead) |
| New reviews, 28 days | Not enough data | Not enough data |
| Reviewers a year or more in | Not enough data | Not enough data |
Pricing
| Measure | ReturnHQ | Smart Sorting Auto Collection |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Not listed | Yes |
| Lowest paid monthly plan | $19/month | $9/month(ahead) |
| Longest free trial | Not listed | Not listed |
| Plans listed | 3 | 4 |
Listing
| Measure | ReturnHQ | Smart Sorting Auto Collection |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify category rank | #33 | #20 |
| Shopify App Charts | Not on this week’s charts | Not on this week’s charts |
| Built for Shopify | No | No |
| Launched | Feb 24, 2026 | Jul 30, 2026 |
| Languages | 1 | 2 |
| Developer | RankEase | Holly Palm |
FAQ
ReturnHQ and Smart Sorting Auto Collection: common questions
- Is ReturnHQ or Smart Sorting Auto Collection cheaper?
- Only Smart Sorting Auto Collection lists a free plan. Paid plans start at $19/month for ReturnHQ and $9/month for Smart Sorting Auto Collection. Shoplist compares base prices only between monthly plans in the same currency; usage charges and annual plans vary, so check each plan’s limits.
- Which has better reviews, ReturnHQ or Smart Sorting Auto Collection?
- On the Shopify App Store: ReturnHQ 5.0 from 9 reviews and Smart Sorting Auto Collection 5.0 from 16 reviews.
- What features does each app list that the other doesn’t?
- ReturnHQ lists 4 the others don’t mention, such as Collection creation, Import and export, Real-time updates, Segments. Smart Sorting Auto Collection lists 5 the others don’t mention, such as Automated, Custom rules, Push down, Redirect. A feature missing from a listing may still be supported; this compares what each App Store listing says.
- Where does this comparison’s data come from?
- Shoplist crawls Shopify storefronts to detect which apps each store runs, and reads each app’s Shopify App Store listing for reviews, pricing, features and integrations. Store counts are as of Oct 13, 2026 for ReturnHQ, Oct 26, 2026 for Smart Sorting Auto Collection; estimated figures are labeled.
How Shoplist compares apps
Store counts come from Shoplist’s crawl of Shopify storefronts, which detects the apps each store runs; they are as of Oct 13, 2026 for ReturnHQ, Oct 26, 2026 for Smart Sorting Auto Collection. Reviews, ratings, plans, features and integrations come from each app’s Shopify App Store listing. 28-day figures are labeled when estimated, and a figure that is missing or estimated never decides who leads. Read the methodology.