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
PageFly vs. GemPages: Which Page Builder Wins on Shopify?
BUILDBuilding an OS 2.0 section library beats both builders once dev support exists; PageFly wins price-led teams, GemPages wins template-first seasonal calendars.
Content & Storefront
PageFly vs. Shogun: Budget Builder or Mid-Market Platform?
BUILDBuilding an OS 2.0 section library beats both apps once dev support exists; PageFly wins lean budgets, Shogun wins multi-store teams with A/B now an add-on.
Content & Storefront
Payfy vs. a Payment Function: Rent Rules or Write One?
BUILDOne payment-customization Function, about a day of dev work, retires Payfy's subscription for stable gating rules; buy only with zero bench or weekly rule churn.
Checkout & Conversion
PortalSphere vs. a Native B2B Portal: Rent or Build It?
CUSTOMIZEA B2B buyer portal belongs on native rails: customer-account extensions on native B2B beat renting a hosted portal layer once a dev bench exists.
B2B & Wholesale
Postscript vs. Attentive: Which SMS Platform Fits Shopify?
BUYPostscript wins the mid-market SMS head-to-head with published tiers; Attentive earns its quote past roughly 100,000 engaged subscribers.
Email, SMS & Push
Postscript vs. No SMS at All: Does Texting Earn Its Keep?
DEPENDSPostscript is a buy only when your motion needs the interrupt: drops, restocks, reorders. With no native SMS, the honest alternative is email and push.
Email, SMS & Push
Rebuy vs. AfterSell: Suite or Specialist for Upsells?
BUYAfterSell wins the post-purchase slot on specialist tiers; Rebuy wins when cart, checkout, and post-purchase run as one program. Both meter your order growth.
Upsell, Cross-sell & Personalization
Recharge vs. Loop Subscriptions: Who Wins After Skio?
DEPENDSLoop wins for retention-led programs while Recharge digests Skio; Recharge wins on incumbent scale and integrations. Native covers simple replenishment free.
Subscriptions & Memberships
Recharge vs. Smartrr: Which Subscription Path Wins?
DEPENDSSmartrr wins for brand-led DTC programs while Recharge digests Skio; Recharge wins on incumbent breadth. Native covers fixed-cadence replenishment free.
Subscriptions & Memberships
Redo vs. Native Returns + Flow: Does the Returns App Earn It?
DEPENDSRedo wins when exchange conversion and shopper-funded coverage move a quarterly number; native returns, store credit, and Flow cover simple flows free.
Returns & Exchanges