Customer accounts and legacy customer accounts
Customer accounts let your customers sign in to view and manage their orders, profile information, and saved addresses. When a customer signs in, the details stored in their account are auto-filled during checkout for a faster checkout experience.
There are two versions of customer accounts:
- Customer accounts is the newest version of customer accounts, and lets your customers sign in using a one-time 6-digit verification code sent by email. A password isn't required to sign in.
- Legacy customer accounts lets your customers sign in using an email and a password.
If your store is using legacy customer accounts, then you should upgrade to customer accounts to get access to the latest features and provide the best sign-in and accounts experience to your customers.
Review the following table to compare the features available between customer accounts and legacy customer accounts.
| Feature | Customer accounts | Legacy customer accounts |
|---|---|---|
| Sign-in experience | Customers can sign in using the following options:
| Customers can sign in using either of the following options:
|
| External identity provider | Connect with any OAuth2.0 + OIDC-compliant identity provider and support SSO across all surfaces. | Use Multipass which doesn't support SSO. |
| Account creation | Anyone can sign in without going through a separate step to create an account. If a new email address signs in, then a new customer is created in your Shopify admin. | Before signing in, customers must create an account on a separate register page, or accept an account invite. |
| Unified customer account experience | One sign-in and a centralized account portal unlocks all features. | Separate app-specific sign-ins and account portals. |
| Branding | Use branding from your checkout settings. | Use branding from your online store theme settings. |
| Customizations | App-based customizations that are more secure, upgrade-safe, and easy to edit in the visual editor | Requires editing Liquid code, easily breaks during theme updates, vulnerable data security |
| Update customer information | Customers can self-serve editing their name and email address in their customer profiles. | Customers have to contact merchant’s support staff to update information in their customer profiles. |
| Order history and status | ✔ | ✔ |
| Saved addresses | ✔ | ✔ |
| Saved payment methods | ✔ | ✘ |
| Self-serve returns | ✔ | ✘ |
| Store credit | ✔ | ✘ |
| Reordering with Buy again button | ✔ | ✘ |
| Works with B2B | ✔ | ✘ |
| Works with Markets | ✔ | ✘ |
| Homepage redirect after sign-in | ✔ | ✘ |