The Short Answer
For most new e-commerce entrepreneurs, a custom-built store offers more control and better long-term economics — but Shopify is faster to launch. The right choice depends on your product type, technical comfort, and growth plans.
The Case for Shopify
Shopify is genuinely excellent for simple product catalogs (1–500 products), entrepreneurs who want to manage everything themselves, and businesses that need to launch in under 2 weeks. Its app ecosystem handles most common e-commerce needs without custom code.
Monthly cost: $39–$399/month (Basic to Advanced), plus transaction fees if not using Shopify Payments, plus app subscriptions which can add $100–500/month for a fully functional store.
The Case for a Custom Store
A custom-built e-commerce store (built on WooCommerce, or fully custom) has no monthly platform fees, no transaction fees, and no limits on customization. For businesses with complex product variants, subscription models, or unique checkout flows, custom is often the only viable path.
We've seen clients save $400–800/month in Shopify app fees alone after migrating to a custom store — money that goes directly into ad budget.
The tradeoff: upfront development cost and the need for a developer for ongoing changes.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Shopify if: you want to launch fast, have a simple product catalog, prefer managing things without a developer, and plan to stay under $100K/year revenue initially.
Choose a custom store if: you have a larger product catalog, need custom functionality, want to avoid ongoing platform fees, or are building for long-term scale.
At groweik, we build both — and recommend based on your specific situation. Book a free strategy call to discuss which is right for you.