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
Should You Build or Buy AI Translation Review on Shopify?
CUSTOMIZECustomizing wins for AI translation quality on Shopify — keep the AI layer, build the review loop, and store approved copy portably in Translate & Adapt.
AI & Automation
Algolia vs. Shopify's Native Search & Discovery: Upgrade or Wait?
BUYAlgolia beats free native Search & Discovery past roughly 1,000 SKUs, pays back in 6–9 months above ~10K, and loses to a self-hosted build past ~100K SKUs.
Search & Discovery
Build or Buy Automated Collection Sorting on Shopify?
BUILDBuilding automated collection sorting wins for mid-market Shopify stores with a dev bench: a scheduled Admin API job replaces a sort-app subscription for good.
Search & Discovery
Should You Build or Buy B2B Checkout Customization on Shopify?
BUILDBuilding B2B checkout customization wins on Shopify — wholesale checkout rules are too company-specific to rent, and Functions are the sanctioned surface.
B2B & Wholesale
Should You Build or Buy B2B Registration & Approval on Shopify?
BUILDBuilding B2B registration and approval wins for mid-market Shopify stores — native B2B still ships no auto-approve workflow for wholesale applicants.
B2B & Wholesale
Build or Buy Wishlist + Back-in-Stock on One Data Model?
BUILDBack-in-stock and wishlist on Shopify are one BUILD, not two decisions: both features run on the same signal, stored once and owned.
Wishlist & Registry
Build or Buy Barcode & Warehouse Ops on Shopify?
BUYBuying wins for barcode and warehouse ops on Shopify: scanning tools and WMS platforms are solved software, and the only build lane that pays is integration glue.
Inventory & Operations
Build or Buy Birthday & Anniversary Rewards on Shopify?
BUILDBuilding birthday and anniversary rewards on Shopify Flow, store credit, and your email platform wins for any store without a loyalty app.
Loyalty, Referrals & Retention
Build or Buy Bulk Discount Code Generation on Shopify?
BUILDBulk discount code generation is the cleanest BUILD in the discounts stack: a one-time script replaces a subscription that wraps the same API.
Discounts & Promotions
Bundle Inventory Sync on Shopify: Build, Buy, or Wait?
WAITBundle inventory sync is a WAIT: native Shopify Bundles decrements component stock for free, and oversell bugs trace to app sync mechanics.
Bundles & Kits