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
STOQ vs. Notify!: Which Back-in-Stock App Wins?
BUYSTOQ wins the dedicated back-in-stock job; Notify! wins preorder-plus-alerts consolidation; an owned capture-and-webhook build keeps the demand data yours.
Email, SMS & Push
Superfans vs. Mobile Web: Does the App Builder Beat Your Site?
BUILDMobile web wins the Superfans matchup for most mid-market Shopify stores; the ex-Vajro rebrand is the vendor-risk receipt to price before signing.
Content & Storefront
Swym Wishlist Plus vs. a Metafields Build: Which Wins?
BUILDA metafields wishlist build beats Swym for stores with dev capacity: one bounded build replaces an activity-tiered subscription and keeps the intent data.
Wishlist & Registry
Swym vs. Wishlist King: Buy Either, or Build It?
BUILDBuilding a metafields wishlist beats both apps when dev capacity exists; Swym wins the bundled-suite buy, Wishlist King wins theme-faithful fit.
Wishlist & Registry
Tapcart vs. Superfans: Do You Even Need a Mobile App?
WAITMost Shopify stores should skip the mobile app entirely; when repeat-purchase economics justify one, Tapcart wins at roughly 70x rival adoption.
Content & Storefront
TestParty vs. Code-Level Remediation: Automate or Hand-Fix?
BUILDCode-level remediation in your own theme wins for most mid-market Shopify stores; TestParty earns its keep when releases outpace audits.
Trust, Legal & Compliance
Timesact vs. Preorder Wolf: Best Shopify Preorder App?
BUYTimesact wins deposit-led preorder programs; Preorder Wolf wins the simple flip-to-preorder case; native inventory policy covers plain backorders free.
Inventory & Operations
Triple Whale vs. Northbeam: Which Attribution Wins on Shopify?
BUYTriple Whale wins for Shopify-native spend dashboards; Northbeam wins at bigger multi-channel spend; the warehouse lane owns the truth both vendors rent you.
Analytics & Attribution
UserWay vs. accessiBe: Do Accessibility Overlays Work?
BUILDNeither overlay wins: courts reject overlays as a compliance defense and accessiBe carries a $1M FTC fine. Code-level remediation is the honest lane.
Trust, Legal & Compliance
Wholesale Gorilla vs. Native B2B: Time to Switch?
WAITNative B2B has covered core wholesale on every paid plan since April 2026; Wholesale Gorilla keeps a lane only where the 3-catalog cap or cart rules bind.
B2B & Wholesale