Shopify vs a custom e-commerce site: how to choose

The short answer

For most new and growing online shops, a hosted platform such as Shopify or WooCommerce is the right start: it is quick to launch and handles payments, security and hosting for you. A custom store makes sense when the way you sell does not fit a standard checkout, or when platform fees and app subscriptions have grown into a real cost.

When a platform is the better choice

• You sell standard products with simple options such as size and colour.
• You want to launch in weeks.
• You are happy to use the platform's checkout and payment options.
• You would rather pay a monthly fee than maintain software.

When custom is the better choice

• Pricing is complicated: trade accounts, quotes, bundles, made-to-order products.
• You need deep links to stock, warehouse or accounting systems.
• You sell subscriptions, bookings or services with their own rules.
• You are paying for many add-on apps to get the behaviour you need.
• The storefront has to be unusually fast or work in a specific way.

A third option

You can keep a platform for products, payments and orders and have a custom-designed front end built on top of it. Customers get a store that looks and behaves exactly as you want; your team keeps the familiar admin screens.

Questions that decide it

• How many products, and how often do they change?
• Which countries, currencies and delivery rules do you need?
• What must the store connect to?
• What are you paying in platform and app fees each month today?

Quick answers