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
ShipStation vs. Starshipit on Shopify: Which Shipping Console Wins?
BUYShipStation beats Starshipit for in-house floors at ~500–25,000 orders/mo; Starshipit's 3.7★ listing earns only a trial; under ~500 orders, Shopify Shipping does.
Shipping, Delivery & Fulfillment
ShipStation vs. Veeqo on Shopify: Which Shipping Console Wins?
BUYShipStation beats Veeqo for in-house floors of 500–25,000 orders a month; Veeqo wins for Amazon-centric multi-channel sellers at no subscription.
Shipping, Delivery & Fulfillment
Shopify Plan Tiers: Should You Stay on Advanced or Move to Plus?
BUYPlus wins past ~$10M GMV or any Plus-only need; Advanced is the workhorse tier below it, Grow under ~$2M. Plus publishes no card rate, so get the quote in writing.
Platform & Architecture
Advanced Shopify vs. Shopify Plus: When Is the Upgrade Worth It?
BUYUpgrade to Plus the year a Plus-only trigger lands or a written card-rate quote closes the plan-fee gap; otherwise stay on Advanced and re-price Plus yearly.
Platform & Architecture
Shopify POS vs. Lightspeed Retail: Which POS Fits a Shopify Store?
BUYShopify POS beats Lightspeed Retail where Shopify is the system of record: POS Pro is $89 USD/month per location (verified Sep 2026). No first-party Lightspeed app.
ERP, Accounting & Integrations
Shopify POS vs. Square: Which POS Wins for a Shopify Store?
BUYShopify POS Pro costs +$89/month per location and wins whenever your store runs on Shopify (verified Sep 2026). Square needs a third-party connector to sync.
ERP, Accounting & Integrations
Signifyd vs. Riskified on Shopify: Which Fraud Guarantee Wins?
DEPENDSSignifyd is the Shopify-referenced guarantee past ~0.3% disputes; Riskified competes via enterprise sales with no listed price; Shopify Protect and Flow cover below.
Trust, Legal & Compliance
Skio vs. Shopify Subscriptions: Is the Free Native App Enough?
WAITSkio vs. Shopify Subscriptions is a WAIT for replenishment on standard products: native is free. Skio's $599–$5988/mo tiers (verified Sep 2026) buy only native gaps.
Subscriptions & Memberships
Storyblok vs. Sanity for Shopify: Which Headless CMS Fits?
WAITStoryblok or Sanity is a WAIT on a Liquid theme: metaobjects cover catalog content. Storyblok wins for marketer-run editorial; Sanity wins for Hydrogen builds.
Content & Storefront
Storyblok vs. Shopify Metaobjects: Do You Need a Headless CMS?
WAITStoryblok is a WAIT on a Liquid theme: metaobjects hold up to 1,000,000 entries per definition (verified Sep 2026); buy Storyblok for multi-site editorial workflows.
Content & Storefront