Spotlight runs on 0.4% of the 3,500,000+ Shopify stores across our full detection dataset. For how its share is moving right now, see theme trends.
#46 most-used theme in our datasetSpotlight is a Shopify theme used by 0.4% of the Shopify stores in our dataset, ranking #46 among all themes we track. The figure reflects live storefront detection of the active theme, not Theme Store download counts.
Theme store ID: 1891 — the number Spotlight stamps into every store that installs it.
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Spotlight has held steady at about 0.2% of the stores scanned each month in recent months. See all Shopify trends →
Across 110 real Spotlight stores, 69.8% pass Google’s Core Web Vitals (median LCP 1.5s). Filtered to stores running only a few apps, that rises to 74%, isolating the theme’s own speed from the apps merchants pile on.
Spotlight is a free Shopify theme, one of the themes Shopify builds and ships itself. It is aimed at creators: artists, performers, makers, and personal brands that want the person up front, not just the product. The design is media-forward, with room for images, video, and a story, so it suits a small catalog tied to a name rather than a large store. If you are launching a creator storefront without a budget for a paid theme, Spotlight is built for that starting point.
As a free theme, Spotlight covers the basics and leaves the extras to apps. You get the standard Shopify sections, a clean product page, and a layout that leans on visuals. What it does not include is the deeper merchandising, filtering, and promotion tooling that paid themes carry, so a growing catalog will outgrow it. Stores on it tend to run only a few apps, which fits a simple creator setup more than a feature-heavy store.
Where it fits: A creator or performer launching on a budget. Spotlight puts personality and media first, which suits an artist, musician, or maker selling a small, personal range. For that, free and good-looking is hard to argue with.
The trade-off: It is a free theme, and it shows. Merchandising, filtering, and promotion features are thin, so a store that grows past a small catalog will need a paid theme or a stack of apps. Its reviews also run lower than most free themes, so preview it carefully against your own content before committing.
Ideal store: A single creator or small brand with a handful of products and a story to tell. It gives back less to a large catalog, a promotion-heavy store, or anyone who needs advanced filtering out of the box.
Before you commit: Test it with your real media. Spotlight lives on strong images and video, so it looks flat with weak visuals. And because it is free, treat it as a starting point: a serious growth phase will likely mean moving to a theme with more built in.
| # | App | % of stores | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Judge.me Product Reviews App
Product reviews |
23.3% | |
| 2 |
Klaviyo
Email Marketing |
12.5% | |
| 3 |
Recharge
Subscriptions |
9.2% | |
| 4 |
Countdown Timer
Countdown timer |
9.2% | |
| 5 |
Loox ‑ Product Reviews App
Product reviews |
9% | |
| 6 |
Shopify Inbox
Support - Other |
7.4% | |
| 7 |
Printful: Print on Demand
Print on demand (POD) |
5.1% | |
| 8 |
PageFly ✦ AI Page Builder
Page builder |
4.9% | |
| 9 |
Essential Announcer
Web push |
4.4% | |
| 10 |
Omnisend Email Marketing & SMS
Email Marketing |
3.7% |
Store owners can request removal of their domain from example listings.
This figure comes from live detection: we scan Shopify storefronts and read the active theme each one runs, then express it as a share of the 3,500,000+ stores in our dataset. It is a share of every store in our dataset, not just recently scanned stores, so it moves more slowly than the month-over-month figures on our trends page. We report what is currently detected, not historical installs or Theme Store / App Store counts.
Independent by design: rankings are determined solely by live detection data. Affiliate relationships never affect what ranks or how stores are counted. Read the full methodology →
Free to cite and republish with a link to shopthemedetector.com. Use these figures in articles, reports, and marketing pages. No permission request needed. Quote the date you read the page, since the numbers recompute daily.
ShopThemeDetector, "Spotlight Shopify theme usage statistics", 2026. https://shopthemedetector.com/shopify-themes/spotlight