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 Your NetSuite Integration on Shopify?
DEPENDSNetSuite integration is the honest DEPENDS: buy a connector for standard flows, build middleware when the flows are the business.
ERP, Accounting & Integrations
Should You Build or Buy Self-Service Order Editing on Shopify?
BUILDSelf-service order editing is a build for B2B and high-volume stores: deflected tickets and saved cancellations fund guardrails no app can wire to your stack.
Support & Self-Service
Should You Build or Buy Payment Method Gating on Shopify?
BUILDPayment method gating is a build for any Shopify store with dev capacity: one small Function, about a day of work.
Checkout & Conversion
Build or Buy Performance Monitoring & App Audits on Shopify?
BUILDMeasurement is free on Shopify; storefront speed comes from an audit-and-remediation program, not a speed app.
Platform & Architecture
Should You Build or Buy Photo & Video Reviews on Shopify?
BUYBuying photo and video reviews wins: visual UGC is a tier setting on your reviews app, not a platform decision.
Reviews & UGC
Should You Build or Buy a PIM on Shopify?
DEPENDSPIM on Shopify is a scale decision: metafields cover most catalogs, PIM apps win at multi-channel breadth, custom pipelines at ERP-grade complexity.
Product Data, Catalog & Merch Ops
Should You Build or Buy a Points Program on Shopify?
BUYBuying a points program wins for Shopify brands under roughly $50M in revenue; the liability math and vendor ecosystems beat building.
Loyalty, Referrals & Retention
Should You Build or Buy Post-Purchase Surveys on Shopify?
BUILDBuilding post-purchase surveys wins on Shopify Plus, where the thank-you-page extension surface is designed for exactly this.
Reviews & UGC
Should You Build or Buy Post-Purchase Upsells on Shopify?
BUYBuy post-purchase upsells for the testing loop; build only when one proven offer outgrows the fee.
Upsell, Cross-sell & Personalization
Should You Build or Buy Preorders & Backorders on Shopify?
DEPENDSBuy a preorder app to patch occasional sellouts; build on selling plans when selling before stock is the business model.
Inventory & Operations