{
 "schema_version": "1.0",
 "id": "essential-announcement-bar",
 "name": "Essential Announcement Bar",
 "research_status": "researched",
 "vendor_domain": "essential-apps.com",
 "category": "E-commerce",
 "task": "E-commerce growth",
 "summary": "Shopify announcement bar app for static, rotating and scrolling top, bottom and cart-page bars with links, icons, scheduling, geo-targeting and translations; priced on how many times the bars load each month.",
 "best_for": "Shopify merchants who want a free, no-code top bar or rotating bar for shipping terms, offers and store notices, and who will pay $9.99 once they need scheduled flash-sale bars, cart-page bars or country targeting",
 "skip_if": "you want the scrolling marquee bar for free, because it starts on the $6.99 plan; your bar will load tens of thousands of times a month and nobody watches the app's email, because at the limit the bars are unpublished and do not come back on their own; or your theme already has an announcement bar that does what you need",
 "honest_knock": "The bar the listing leads with is not on the free plan. The App Store copy opens on scrolling, marquee-style announcement bars, but the vendor's own help article on bar types says running-line announcements require a paid plan, and the pricing table puts them on Starter at $6.99. What the free plan does give you is a static bar and a rotating bar that cycles several messages; one merchant who installed it expecting the moving bar for free left a one-line complaint within half an hour. Scheduling, the feature that lets a flash-sale bar switch itself on and off, and the cart-page bar both start one step higher, on Essential at $9.99.\n\nThe view allowance is counted the expensive way. The help centre says a view is every render of a bar: each page load, each reload, and each bar when you run more than one on a page. A top bar sits on every page, so the free plan's 2,000 views is a few hundred browsing sessions a month on a small store, not 2,000 shoppers.\n\nRunning out does not cost money, it takes the bar down, and it stays down. Past the limit you get an email; three days later every published bar is unpublished, and the same article says that when views reset on the 1st the bars are not published again automatically. A store that misses the email loses its announcement for the rest of the month and then keeps missing it until someone notices and republishes.\n\nThe support that most reviews praise has one account on the other side. In April 2026 a UK merchant with twelve months on the app wrote that the team had published a page on her site without her consent and made styling changes that broke two sales pages shortly before a launch. Essential Apps replied that it was sorry and had only intended to help. If you give support access to fix a placement, say exactly what they may change. We have not installed the app.",
 "pricing": {
  "status": "public",
  "entry_price": "$6.99",
  "entry_price_terms": "Starter · per month for up to 20,000 bar views, or $67.08 a year",
  "from_price_usd_month": null,
  "plans": null,
  "plans_source": null,
  "notes": "(read 2026-09-29 on apps.shopify.com/essential-announcement-bar, on essential-apps.com/announcement-bar and in the vendor's help articles on bar types and on views; plan prices, annual prices, view limits and the 7-day trial re-verified unchanged on the Shopify App Store listing on 2026-10-21) Four plans priced on monthly bar views. Free covers up to 2,000 views a month with unlimited simple bars and unlimited rotating bars, each with a link or button. Starter is $6.99 a month, or $67.08 a year at a stated 20% saving, for up to 20,000 views, and adds running-line (scrolling marquee) bars and icons, including your own uploaded icons. Essential is $9.99 a month or $95.88 a year for up to 50,000 views, and adds cart-page bars, scheduling, geolocation targeting and translations. Professional is $29.99 a month or $287.88 a year for unlimited views and every premium feature. Paid plans carry a 7-day free trial. A view is counted every time a bar is rendered: per page load, not per visitor, and two bars on one page count twice. There is no overage charge: past the limit you get an email, and if you do not upgrade within 3 days your bars are unpublished; views reset on the 1st of the month, but the help centre says the bars are not published again automatically. All charges are in USD, billed through Shopify every 30 days. Developer Essential Apps, with an address in Vilnius, Lithuania; the listing gives a launch date of 9 August 2023 and shows 1,302 reviews.",
  "verified_at": "2026-10-21",
  "source_url": "https://apps.shopify.com/essential-announcement-bar",
  "schema_offer": {
   "price": 6.99,
   "currency": "USD",
   "description": "Starter, per month for up to 20,000 bar views, or $67.08 a year; free plan up to 2,000 views; Essential is $9.99 for 50,000 and Professional $29.99 for unlimited views; billed through Shopify every 30 days. Read on the vendor's own pricing page on 2026-09-29.",
   "page": "https://marketingandsalessoftware.com/essential-announcement-bar-review.html"
  },
  "source_quotes": null,
  "recent_change": null,
  "price_history": null
 },
 "free_plan": true,
 "free_plan_evidence": "Free covers up to 2,000 views a month with unlimited simple bars and unlimited rotating bars, each with a link or button.",
 "cost_traps": [],
 "compare_with": {
  "name": "Essential Countdown Timer Bar",
  "why": "The comparison sits inside one developer. Essential Apps also publishes Essential Countdown Timer Bar, which puts a countdown in a top bar, on product pages, carts and emails. On our reading of 28 September 2026 it used the same price points - $6.99, $9.99 and $29.99 - but gave half the views on the lower plans: 1,000 free and 10,000 on Starter against 2,000 and 20,000 here, with 50,000 on the $9.99 tier in both. Both apps unpublish their widgets three days after you pass the limit. The choice is about the message. A sale with a real end date is what the countdown app is for; shipping terms, store notices and several rotating offers are what this app is for, and it lets you show them twice as often before you pay."
 },
 "links": {
  "record": "https://aibuildermarketplace.com/api/v1/products/essential-announcement-bar.json",
  "review": "https://marketingandsalessoftware.com/essential-announcement-bar-review.html",
  "marketplace": "https://aibuildermarketplace.com/marketplace/essential-announcement-bar/",
  "vendor_site": "https://essential-apps.com"
 },
 "purchase": {
  "seller": "the vendor",
  "how": "AIBuilder Marketplace does not sell this software. Sign up, start a trial or buy on the vendor's site.",
  "handoff_url": "https://platform.shoffi.app/r/rl_yW8NibYD",
  "affiliate": true,
  "disclosure": "Where purchase.affiliate is true, purchase.handoff_url is an affiliate link: AIBuilder Marketplace may earn a commission at no extra cost to the buyer. Commission never changes what a record says, and products are not ranked by commission. Where it is false the link is the vendor's plain site."
 },
 "provenance": {
  "research": "hand-researched dossier, read on the vendor's own pages",
  "researched_since": "2026-07",
  "method": "https://aibuildermarketplace.com/how-we-review/",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0. Credit 'AIBuilder Marketplace' with a link to https://aibuildermarketplace.com/atlas/.",
  "note": "A rebuild is not a new measurement: pricing.verified_at is the date that matters."
 },
 "cost": {
  "status": "available",
  "engine": "https://aibuildermarketplace.com/agents/#cost",
  "rules": {
   "currency": "USD",
   "unit": "store",
   "axis": "stores",
   "plans": [
    {
     "id": "free",
     "name": "Free",
     "model": "free",
     "evidence": "Free covers up to 2,000 views a month with unlimited simple bars and unlimited rotating bars"
    },
    {
     "id": "starter",
     "name": "Starter",
     "model": "per_unit",
     "monthly": 6.99,
     "annual_year": 67.08,
     "evidence": "Starter is $6.99 a month, or $67.08 a year at a stated 20% saving, for up to 20,000 views"
    },
    {
     "id": "essential",
     "name": "Essential",
     "model": "per_unit",
     "monthly": 9.99,
     "annual_year": 95.88,
     "evidence": "Essential is $9.99 a month or $95.88 a year for up to 50,000 views"
    },
    {
     "id": "professional",
     "name": "Professional",
     "model": "per_unit",
     "monthly": 29.99,
     "annual_year": 287.88,
     "evidence": "Professional is $29.99 a month or $287.88 a year for unlimited views and every premium feature"
    }
   ],
   "notes": [
    "A Shopify app is billed per store that installs it; charges are billed in USD every 30 days.",
    "The plan you need is set by monthly bar views (2,000 / 20,000 / 50,000 / unlimited), which the cost engine cannot size: pick the plan by your views, then read the price per store."
   ],
   "not_computable": [
    "Bar views per month (every rendered bar counts, two bars on one page count twice); past the limit bars are unpublished after 3 days rather than charged."
   ],
   "rules_verified_at": "2026-10-21"
  },
  "growth": {
   "annual": {
    "product_id": "essential-announcement-bar",
    "currency": "USD",
    "axis": "stores",
    "unit": "store",
    "billing": "annual",
    "rows": [
     {
      "units": 1,
      "cheapest_plan": "free",
      "cheapest_plan_name": "Free",
      "total_month": 0.0,
      "billed": {
       "amount": 0.0,
       "every": "month"
      },
      "ranges": [],
      "per_plan": {
       "free": 0.0,
       "starter": 5.59,
       "essential": 7.99,
       "professional": 23.99
      }
     },
     {
      "units": 2,
      "cheapest_plan": "free",
      "cheapest_plan_name": "Free",
      "total_month": 0.0,
      "billed": {
       "amount": 0.0,
       "every": "month"
      },
      "ranges": [],
      "per_plan": {
       "free": 0.0,
       "starter": 11.18,
       "essential": 15.98,
       "professional": 47.98
      }
     },
     {
      "units": 3,
      "cheapest_plan": "free",
      "cheapest_plan_name": "Free",
      "total_month": 0.0,
      "billed": {
       "amount": 0.0,
       "every": "month"
      },
      "ranges": [],
      "per_plan": {
       "free": 0.0,
       "starter": 16.77,
       "essential": 23.97,
       "professional": 71.97
      }
     },
     {
      "units": 5,
      "cheapest_plan": "free",
      "cheapest_plan_name": "Free",
      "total_month": 0.0,
      "billed": {
       "amount": 0.0,
       "every": "month"
      },
      "ranges": [],
      "per_plan": {
       "free": 0.0,
       "starter": 27.95,
       "essential": 39.95,
       "professional": 119.95
      }
     },
     {
      "units": 10,
      "cheapest_plan": "free",
      "cheapest_plan_name": "Free",
      "total_month": 0.0,
      "billed": {
       "amount": 0.0,
       "every": "month"
      },
      "ranges": [],
      "per_plan": {
       "free": 0.0,
       "starter": 55.9,
       "essential": 79.9,
       "professional": 239.9
      }
     }
    ],
    "switch_points": [],
    "conflicts": [],
    "unknowns": [
     "Bar views per month (every rendered bar counts, two bars on one page count twice); past the limit bars are unpublished after 3 days rather than charged."
    ]
   },
   "monthly": {
    "product_id": "essential-announcement-bar",
    "currency": "USD",
    "axis": "stores",
    "unit": "store",
    "billing": "monthly",
    "rows": [
     {
      "units": 1,
      "cheapest_plan": "free",
      "cheapest_plan_name": "Free",
      "total_month": 0.0,
      "billed": {
       "amount": 0.0,
       "every": "month"
      },
      "ranges": [],
      "per_plan": {
       "free": 0.0,
       "starter": 6.99,
       "essential": 9.99,
       "professional": 29.99
      }
     },
     {
      "units": 2,
      "cheapest_plan": "free",
      "cheapest_plan_name": "Free",
      "total_month": 0.0,
      "billed": {
       "amount": 0.0,
       "every": "month"
      },
      "ranges": [],
      "per_plan": {
       "free": 0.0,
       "starter": 13.98,
       "essential": 19.98,
       "professional": 59.98
      }
     },
     {
      "units": 3,
      "cheapest_plan": "free",
      "cheapest_plan_name": "Free",
      "total_month": 0.0,
      "billed": {
       "amount": 0.0,
       "every": "month"
      },
      "ranges": [],
      "per_plan": {
       "free": 0.0,
       "starter": 20.97,
       "essential": 29.97,
       "professional": 89.97
      }
     },
     {
      "units": 5,
      "cheapest_plan": "free",
      "cheapest_plan_name": "Free",
      "total_month": 0.0,
      "billed": {
       "amount": 0.0,
       "every": "month"
      },
      "ranges": [],
      "per_plan": {
       "free": 0.0,
       "starter": 34.95,
       "essential": 49.95,
       "professional": 149.95
      }
     },
     {
      "units": 10,
      "cheapest_plan": "free",
      "cheapest_plan_name": "Free",
      "total_month": 0.0,
      "billed": {
       "amount": 0.0,
       "every": "month"
      },
      "ranges": [],
      "per_plan": {
       "free": 0.0,
       "starter": 69.9,
       "essential": 99.9,
       "professional": 299.9
      }
     }
    ],
    "switch_points": [],
    "conflicts": [],
    "unknowns": [
     "Bar views per month (every rendered bar counts, two bars on one page count twice); past the limit bars are unpublished after 3 days rather than charged."
    ]
   }
  }
 },
 "unknowns": [
  "Plan-by-plan prices are not structured in this record yet; pricing.notes has the full text.",
  "Contract terms (cancellation, data export, data location, minimum seats) are not researched as separate fields; pricing.notes mentions them only where the vendor's pricing page does.",
  "Being verified: free trial and refund terms are not yet matched to a verbatim line on the vendor's own pages. Not matched does not mean there is none.",
  "Not tested hands-on by us: what the product does comes from the vendor's pages and our reading of them."
 ],
 "verification": {
  "price": "read",
  "free_trial": "being_verified",
  "refund": "being_verified"
 },
 "status_page": null,
 "task_evidence": null,
 "open_questions": [
  {
   "question_id": "essential-announcement-bar:cancellation_terms",
   "key": "cancellation_terms",
   "question": "Can a customer cancel at any time, and what happens to an annual plan that is cancelled mid-term?",
   "status": "open"
  },
  {
   "question_id": "essential-announcement-bar:data_export",
   "key": "data_export",
   "question": "Which data can a customer export, in which formats, on which plans?",
   "status": "open"
  },
  {
   "question_id": "essential-announcement-bar:data_location",
   "key": "data_location",
   "question": "Where is customer data stored, and can a customer choose the region?",
   "status": "open"
  },
  {
   "question_id": "essential-announcement-bar:pricing_gap_1",
   "key": "pricing_gap_1",
   "question": "Our price check could not put a number on this part of the cost: Bar views per month (every rendered bar counts, two bars on one page count twice); past the limit bars are unpublished after 3 days rather than charged. Can you publish the price or the rule?",
   "status": "open"
  }
 ],
 "vendor_answers": [],
 "agent_channels": {
  "vendor_mcp": null,
  "agent_checkout": {
   "status": "not_found",
   "detail": "No explicit support for purchases by AI agents on the vendor's own pages.",
   "checked_at": "2026-10-07",
   "method": "homepage, /pricing and the pricing page we cite, read as plain HTML (no JavaScript) and searched for explicit support of purchases by AI agents: Agentic Commerce Protocol, Instant Checkout, Agent Payments Protocol, buy in ChatGPT, agentic checkout"
  }
 }
}