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
Athos Commerce vs. Native Search & Discovery: Upgrade or Wait?
BUYAthos Commerce beats free native search past roughly 1,000 SKUs and pays back in 6–9 months above ~10K; the January 2025 merger adds vendor risk worth pricing.
Search & Discovery
Attentive vs. Postscript: Which SMS Lane Fits Your Scale?
DEPENDSAttentive earns its quote once SMS is a headline channel at negotiated scale; Postscript-class self-serve tiers cover most mid-market programs.
Email, SMS & Push
Boost AI Search & Filter vs. Native Filters: Worth the Fee?
CUSTOMIZEA metafield-first customize play beats defaulting to Boost: native renders clean facets free to ~1,000 SKUs, and Boost pays back above ~10K or for filter-led UX.
Search & Discovery
Checkout Blocks vs. Built Checkout UI Extensions: Rent or Own?
BUILDBuild checkout UI extensions when checkout logic gets specific; rent Checkout Blocks for the generic layer of banners, fields, and trust content.
Checkout & Conversion
Smile.io vs. a Custom Loyalty Build on Shopify: Which Wins?
BUYSmile.io beats a custom loyalty build for most mid-market Shopify programs; the store-credit build lane wins on fee math at scale and owned member data.
Loyalty, Referrals & Retention
Should You Build or Buy Your Shopify Subscriber Portal?
BUILDBuilding a custom subscriber portal wins once subscriptions pass roughly 30% of revenue; below that share, the stock app portal covers skip, swap, and saves.
Subscriptions & Memberships
Build or Buy Subscription Analytics & Cohorts on Shopify?
BUILDBuilding subscription cohort analytics in your warehouse wins at about $30M revenue; below that, bundled dashboards and a Lifetimely-class app cover it.
Subscriptions & Memberships
Should You Build or Buy Synonyms & Typo Tolerance on Shopify?
DEPENDSSynonyms and typo tolerance follow the site-search verdict: free native synonym groups to ~1,000 SKUs, buy a search app mid-catalog, build at scale.
Search & Discovery
Tapcart vs. Mobile Web: Where Should Your Mobile Budget Go?
BUILDMobile web beats Tapcart for most mid-market Shopify stores; buy Tapcart only when opted-in push volume beats your SMS bill.
Content & Storefront
Should You Build or Buy Transactional Email Customization on Shopify?
BUILDBuilding custom transactional email templates wins for mid-market Shopify stores: one-time Liquid work on templates you own, no new subscription.
Email, SMS & Push