Refund Requests & Approvals vs ReturnFence
Two Shopify apps, side by side: detected stores, momentum, reviews, plans, listed features and who runs each. Store counts as of Oct 13, 2026.
The short answer
- Both list a free plan. Paid plans start at $29/month for Refund Requests & Approvals and $19.99/month for ReturnFence.
Head to head
Review
- · Basic approval workflow
- · Central inbox for manual refund review
- · Manually create refund review requests
- · Per-case audit trail
- · Record decisions and notes
Starter
- · Automatic refund event detection
- · Incident inbox for refund activity
- · Monitor and alert guard modes
- · Slack and email notifications
- · Staff refund activity visibility
- · Threshold-based refund policy detection
Free
- · Automatic screening for new orders
- · Refund watchlist with signal scores
- · Review queue with order links
- · Up to 2 active refund-history rules
ReturnFence Pro
- · Email alerts for newly flagged orders
- · Exportable review and activity history
- · Unlimited active refund-history rules
Coverage counts what each App Store listing names. Every feature, checked off app by app, is in Shoplist.
See every featureRefund Guard helps you control risky refunds before money leaves so money does not quietly leave your business. It lets you set rules such as requiring manager approval over a chosen threshold, and routes staff requests to an approvals queue. Get instant Slack or email alerts, review exceptions in an incidents inbox, and keep an audit trail of who requested, approved, and executed each refund.
ReturnFence evaluates each new order against merchant-configured rules using refund events in Shopify's standard 60-day order-history window. Matching orders enter a review queue where you can approve or add a hold tag before fulfillment. It does not identify Shopify Returns, prove abuse, cancel orders, or make fulfillment decisions.
- Approve refunds over a threshold (request → approve → execute)
- Incidents inbox for refunds that violate your policy
- Instant Slack/email alerts with staff + order context
- Audit log: requester, approver, timestamps, notes
- Flag new orders using recent refund-event thresholds
- Combine order value with recent refund history
- Approve or hold matches and keep an activity trail
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 |  Refund Requests & Approvals |  ReturnFence |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Refund Requests & Approvals | ReturnFence |
|---|---|---|
| App Store rating | Not published | Not published |
| App Store reviews | Not published | Not published |
| New reviews, 28 days | Not enough data | Not enough data |
| Reviewers a year or more in | Not enough data | Not enough data |
Pricing
| Measure | Refund Requests & Approvals | ReturnFence |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Lowest paid monthly plan | $29/month | $19.99/month(ahead) |
| Longest free trial | Not listed | 7 days |
| Plans listed | 2 | 2 |
Listing
| Measure | Refund Requests & Approvals | ReturnFence |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify category rank | Not enough data | #228 |
| Shopify App Charts | Not on this week’s charts | Not on this week’s charts |
| Built for Shopify | No | No |
| Launched | May 5, 2026 | Jul 15, 2026 |
| Languages | 1 | 1 |
| Developer | Elevixa | Phoenix Digital Growth |
FAQ
Refund Requests & Approvals and ReturnFence: common questions
- Is Refund Requests & Approvals or ReturnFence cheaper?
- Both list a free plan. Paid plans start at $29/month for Refund Requests & Approvals and $19.99/month for ReturnFence. Shoplist compares base prices only between monthly plans in the same currency; usage charges and annual plans vary, so check each plan’s limits.
- 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; 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. 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.