Build vs. Buy on Shopify
Build, buy, customize, or wait — decided with numbers. Capability-by-capability verdicts with honest 3-year cost math.
Custom wins on 3-year cost or fit — with maintenance counted honestly.
The app wins your scenario — we say so plainly.
Buy the app, build the glue: very often the honest mid-market answer.
Shopify is shipping this natively. Don't spend yet; we'll tell you when it flips.
Latest Decisions
Can Shopify's Catalog Model Hold 30+ Price Tiers?
DEPENDSA company location holds a maximum of 25 B2B catalogs (verified Sep 2026). Model 30+ tiers as volume breaks, or split the account across company locations.
B2B & Wholesale
Branding API vs. the Free Checkout Editor: Do You Need Code?
CUSTOMIZEThe free checkout and accounts editor covers most branding on every plan; Plus API overrides add precision, and the Checkout Blocks branding editor ends 2026-12-31.
Checkout & Conversion
Checkout Extension Translations: Build or Buy the Localization?
DEPENDSShopify states merchants can't override or add translations for a checkout UI extension, so whoever ships the extension owns every language it renders.
International & Localization
Build or Buy Marketing Consent and Opt-In Records on Shopify?
CUSTOMIZEShopify already stores a consent timestamp, opt-in level and source for email and SMS. What it never gives you is a report a lawyer can read.
Platform & Architecture
Build or Buy Marketplace Seller Liability Insurance on Shopify?
BUYAmazon, Walmart and TikTok Shop set the insurance requirement, not Shopify. No app sells coverage, no app tracks it, and the entire loop runs off-platform.
Trust, Legal & Compliance
Build or Buy Metafield and Metaobject Schema Migration on Shopify?
CUSTOMIZEMatrixify moves metafield data well. Nothing moves the references, including Shopify's own migrate-to-a-definition tool, which warns it can break apps.
Platform & Architecture
Build or Buy MSRP and MAP Enforcement on Shopify?
CUSTOMIZENo Shopify app runs a MAP violation workflow. Buy monitoring from Wiser Solutions or Minderest on a quote; build the reseller registry, strike ledger and hook.
Discounts & Promotions
Build or Buy a Multi-Entity, Multi-Currency Close on Shopify?
BUYBuy the connector, license the ERP's multi-entity module, and build glue only when one Shopify store has to feed two legal entities. No app consolidates.
ERP, Accounting & Integrations
Build or Buy Multi-Recipient Shipping on Shopify?
CUSTOMIZEShopify checkout is one order, one address. A single verified app carries the entire multi-address category, which is why the operations belong to you.
Shipping, Delivery & Fulfillment
Build or Buy Multilingual Support Staffing for Shopify?
CUSTOMIZENo app staffs a support desk in French. Agents come from a vendor or a payroll; routing, macros and quality review are the part you build.
International & Localization