Shopify vs a custom-built online shop: which is right for you?

Shopify already handles the hard parts of running a shop: inventory, shipping, tax, fraud protection, a checkout customers trust. Building all of that yourself is months of work solving problems Shopify solved years ago. What varies isn't whether to use Shopify, it's how much of your site talks to it.

• A simple embed: Shopify's own hosted widget shown on a single page. Fast to add, and checkout stays on Shopify. Fine if you've got a handful of products and don't need them woven through the rest of the site.
• A custom storefront: your product grid built to match your site's design, pulling live from Shopify, with search and filtering. Checkout still goes to Shopify. This is where most businesses with a real catalogue end up.
• Deep integration: a custom checkout, subscriptions, wholesale pricing, or syncing Shopify data into your own site's database. Needs a higher Shopify plan and is genuinely more work, so it's only worth it if your business already needs that logic.

On my side, Shopify integration starts from £600 and is built into the Premium package. On Shopify's side you'll need your own account, since their subscription and transaction fees are billed to you directly and separately from my price. Their entry plan starts from £19 a month and covers everything a simple embed or a custom storefront needs.

Start with the honest question: does your product need explaining, filtering, or showing off, or is it a handful of items someone already knows they want? The first calls for a custom storefront. The second is fine with the simple embed. Deep integration is for businesses already running subscriptions or wholesale, not a starting point.