Section Star is a Shopify app that adds 150+ pre-built theme sections, blocks, and product bundles to any Shopify theme. It has been on the Shopify App Store since 2023, holds a 4.9 star rating across 185 reviews, and is built and supported by Next Half Apps, the studio run by Matthew Smith.
Principles
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Design first — A section should improve a page the moment it is dropped in. Nothing ships that needs a designer to rescue it first.
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Crafted, not copied — Every section is written from scratch against current Shopify and web platform capabilities. Nothing is lifted from a template marketplace and bent into Liquid.
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Performance is a feature — No external library, no app embed running on every page. Responsive images and lazy loading by default, so a section does not cost you LCP.
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Quality over quantity — There is no Slideshow 1, Slideshow 2, Slideshow 3. One section solves a UI problem properly and exposes the settings to adapt it. Section Star will never be the cheapest or the largest library on the App Store.
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Hackable — Sections publish into the theme as readable Liquid. Open the Shopify code editor and change them. The code is meant to be worked on.
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No-hassle refunds — If Premium is not a fit, the money comes back without an argument.
Why agencies use it
Agencies are the reason several of these principles exist.
A page builder makes a client dependent on the builder. Section Star does the opposite: it publishes a Liquid section into the theme and gets out of the way. The client edits it in the Shopify theme customizer they already know, and there is no second admin interface to train anyone on. When the engagement ends, the work is in the theme where the next developer can read it.
Each store carries its own install and its own plan, so there is no shared account to coordinate across clients. And because the output is standard Liquid, a section is a starting point — fork it in the code editor when a client needs something the settings do not cover.
Who builds it
Section Star is one of four Shopify apps shipped through Next Half, alongside Fundlet, Page Star, and Adjustment Track. Support comes by email, from the developer, at matt@matthewsmith.com.