Shopify vs. Custom Platform
Commerce just works on Shopify
You built your custom platform because it was the right choice at the time. Switching to Shopify is the right one today.
Join the movement from custom to innovation
Thousands of brands are trading custom solutions for faster innovation on Shopify.
Faster innovation
Do more impactful work on Shopify
Commerce moves fast, which makes it really tough to keep up with the competition on your own. People switch to Shopify from custom platforms because we have thousands of engineers building and shipping new features that solve the most complex challenges in commerce—freeing you up to focus on growth, instead of playing catch up.
Shopify Editions
800 significant features and improvements released by Shopify since 2021.
Commerce focus
Strong commerce focus, even stronger features
At Shopify, we put our money where our mouth is. In 2023 alone, Shopify invested $1.7 billion into R&D, all of which was earmarked for continuous development of our products. On a custom platform, a simple update may cost tens of thousands of dollars to build, take months to implement—and there’s no guarantee it’ll even work.
The world of ecommerce moves very fast. With our custom proprietary technology, we weren't able to keep up with that same pace.
Revenue acceleration
Shopify accelerates revenue growth
Shopify gives you a comprehensive suite of first-party tools that work seamlessly across the platform and allow you to automate repetitive tasks, improve conversion, and increase return on ad spend (ROAS). Integrating just one third-party application into your custom platform may require hours of upfront work, not to mention ongoing maintenance to ensure it stays compatible.
*According to research commissioned by Shopify and conducted by a leading independent consulting firm to study TCO across major platforms in North America.
**Ad campaigns using the latest version of Shopify Audiences Retargeting Boost lists have seen as much as 2 times more orders for every marketing dollar spent on retargeting. This finding is compared to the next-best available tactic. Learn more.
***We determined this by comparing based on the comparison of average order values between transactions processed via Shop Pay and those processed via other checkout methods in Q1 2023. Learn more.
A big focus for us is frictionless commerce. A large part of that is how quickly and easily customers can checkout and the experience tracking their order post-purchase. You get out of it what you put into it, so we’re taking full advantage of the Shopify Payments ecosystem and we see that in the customer experience and results.
Revenue expansion
Reach new customers with Shopify
We’re constantly improving Shopify’s platform to unlock new revenue streams, channel partnerships, and international expansion for brands worldwide. This allows you to drive even more value than you could with a custom platform where brands are forced to build these channels from scratch—risking disjointed experiences for buyers and internal users alike.
Less maintenance, more value
Innovate without the technical debt
Shopify’s technical infrastructure, updates, and security free your teams up from time-consuming maintenance work—so you can work on projects that have a greater impact on growth.
Improve security
Managing your security posture is all risk, no reward
At Shopify, we proactively make meaningful changes to our infrastructure to reduce the burden on brands. Shopify covers all the boring and tedious work your teams don’t want to do, enabling compliance with frameworks like PCI for secure payments, SSL encryption, and SOC for retailers. With a custom platform, a single regulatory change in just one location can derail innovation and send your teams scrambling to secure everything.
Shopify offers an integral platform that is secure. We don't have to worry about things like privacy, security, and we can focus more on what matters to our business, like content management, marketing, and product development.
Learn more about Shopify’s PCI and SOC reports here.
Improve business continuity
Shopify future-proofs your tech stack
Building a custom commerce solution requires a team of developers that has a deep knowledge of the intricacies of your tech stack. When even one developer leaves a company, they take valuable knowledge with them, making it more difficult for those who stay to maintain, troubleshoot, and innovate. But because Shopify relies on popular development frameworks—and is always backed by our best-in-class strategic support teams—it's easier for businesses to share knowledge, collaborate more effectively, and build faster.
Return on Investment (ROI)
Reduce ongoing costs with Shopify
According to research commissioned by Shopify and conducted by a leading independent consulting firm, our TCO is up to 36% better than the competition*. Choosing Shopify doesn’t just save costs—it eliminates entire cost categories, like compliance, hosting, and security, while also providing an extensive app and partner ecosystem. By comparison, building and maintaining a custom tech stack is time consuming—and often requires more development resources and manpower than you might expect.
Shopify's TCO is up to 36% better than the competition
Use our TCO Calculator to see how much you could save when you switch to Shopify.
Calculate your TCO
*This research was commissioned by Shopify to study TCO across major platforms in North America.
Seamless migration
Shopify simplifies the migration process
Migrating from a custom platform can feel daunting. Shopify simplifies migrations with our intuitive UI, which can be supplemented with a powerful suite of data migration tools and best-in-class professional services team. We also have a simpler fee structure and an extensive network of partners ready to help with planning and implementation to ensure a smooth transition from your custom platform.
*This research was commissioned by Shopify to study TCO across major platforms in North America.
Not ready for a complete migration? Add the world’s best converting checkout to your existing platform with the Shop Pay Component.
Improved checkout conversion
Get to revenue faster with Shopify
Shopify invests significant resources to fine tune our checkout—and now we have real data that shows it’s the world’s best-converting. A study completed in April 2023 with a Big Three global management consulting company found that Shopify’s overall conversion rate outpaces the competition by up to 36%. The same study found that Shop Pay can boost conversion by as much as 50% compared to a guest checkout.
Having the rock solid foundation of the Shopify checkout was a huge deal for us because checkouts are really hard to get right if you don't have a team that's dedicated to stability and handling all the edge cases that happen.
Increased agility
Get more done with Shopify
With Shopify, business users get autonomy back through our intuitive back-office UI. This allows them to get meaningful work done and drive value—without asking developers to make every change. Custom tech stacks put business users across your company at the mercy of a development backlog. Simple tasks like creating products and building promotions often take a backseat to engineering’s critical, yet time-consuming maintenance tasks.
Our website [experience] is absolutely seamless. It is easy for the customer. It was easy for us to make. It is easy for us to make changes on the website.… We just go in and make a huge difference. We’ve seen crazy revenue jumps. The power of Shopify.
Platform flexibility
The possibilities are endless on Shopify
Shopify is as customizable as you want it to be—by anyone who wants to innovate. Our ecosystem includes over 10,000 easy-to-install applications and pre-built integrations, each vetted by a 100-checkpoint review before it hits the Shopify App Store. Instead of adding feature requests to engineering's long backlog, business owners can test new promotions and customer acquisition channels on Shopify with just a few clicks.
We felt confident that Shopify’s ecosystem would be able to support our changing needs through changing market trends, industry shifts, and evolving consumer behaviors.
Development flexibility
Build the way you want to build
Shopify encourages you to use the tech stack that makes sense for your business. Engineers can easily swap Shopify-native capabilities for the third-party back-end systems or software you prefer or already use. Use our full platform or explore a headless or modular solution with Storefront API and Hydrogen + Oxygen, Shopify’s official development stack for headless commerce.
Shopify also makes it easy to customize or extend the platform with powerful REST and GraphQL APIs, custom apps, Shopify Functions, Metafields, and Flow—which all integrate into the Shopify admin.
Migrating from a complex, homegrown tech stack to a confined platform was frightening. Would our unique identity fit into the confines of the Shopify infrastructure? The answer: Yes.
Checkout flexibility
Make the world’s highest-converting checkout your own
The best checkout experiences are incredibly difficult to build. With abandoned cart rates hovering over 70%, it’s never been more important to get it right. Shopify Checkout gives you the highest-converting checkout experience in commerce out of the box. Plus, it’s customizable.
Customize the front end with the GraphQL Branding API and extend checkout functionality with Checkout UI, post-purchase, and discount extensions—all powered by UI components and APIs that run in a secure sandbox environment.
Shopify converts up to 36% better than the competition
Analyst validation
The experts choose Shopify
Forrester
Shopify achieves highest possible scores in The 2024 Forrester Wave™: Commerce Solutions for B2C
Shopify received the highest scores possible across 12 criteria, including Cart and Checkout, Payments, Innovation, and more. Get the report to dive into the Shopify strengths that led to our high designation.
Forrester
Shopify named Leader in The 2024 Forrester Wave™: Commerce Solutions for B2B
Our commitment to delivering powerful solutions for B2B has paid off. Read the full report to learn more about why Shopify earned the Leader designation, including the highest possible scores in Innovation, Market Presence, Partner Ecosystem, and more.
IDC
IDC names Shopify a Leader due to rapid stand-up time, reduced standup time, and more
Shopify is a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide B2C Digital Commerce Platforms for Midmarket Growth 2024 Vendor Assessment. From our proven DTC track record and low TCO to built-in payments and vast third-party ecosystem, IDC reports that “Shopify will be particularly attractive to buyers looking for a multitenant SaaS digital commerce platform.”
Gartner® Magic Quadrant™
Shopify is once again a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™
Shopify continues our tradition of excellence and innovation in commerce, being named a Leader for the 2nd consecutive year in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™.
Migration partners
Migrate with support from the world’s largest commerce partner ecosystem
Ready to make the leap from your custom platform to Shopify? Our global ecosystem of Shopify Partners has the expertise you need to navigate even the most complex migration challenges.
Featured migration partners
Shopify vs. Custom Platform
Want better results? Switch to Shopify.
From higher revenue potential to constant innovation, customers and analysts agree that Shopify’s the leading choice.