Should you build your own e-commerce platform?
Shopify takes a cut of every sale. But building commerce is genuinely hard. Here's the modern playbook.
The new middle ground: headless
E-commerce used to be binary: use Shopify or build everything. Now there's a powerful middle path: headless commerce.
Headless = Shopify backend + custom frontend. You get Shopify's checkout, inventory, and payments while controlling your storefront completely. Best of both worlds for many.
This changes the build vs buy calculus significantly. Let's break down all three options.
Build / headless when...
- Brand experience is your moat
- You need custom product configurators
- B2B with complex pricing
- Subscriptions + commerce hybrid
- You have engineering resources
Buy Shopify when...
- Standard retail, physical products
- Speed to market matters
- No engineering team
- You need proven checkout
- App ecosystem matters
The vibe coding reality
You can vibe code a storefront — product pages, cart, checkout UI. But you can't vibe the backend: inventory sync, payment processing, tax calculation, shipping rates, fraud detection.
The play: Vibe your frontend, use Shopify/Medusa/Saleor for the backend. This is basically headless commerce with AI assistance.
Don't try to vibe code payment processing or inventory management. Use APIs from companies that specialize in this.
The three paths
Path 1: Full Shopify
Use Shopify's themes, checkout, everything. Fastest, most constrained.
- Setup: Days
- Cost: $29-$299/month + 2.4-2.9% transaction fees
- Control: Low (theme customization only)
- Best for: Traditional retail, small teams
Path 2: Headless (Shopify backend + custom frontend)
Shopify handles commerce, you control experience.
- Setup: 2-4 months
- Cost: $299+/month + 2.4% + dev costs
- Control: High (frontend), Low (backend)
- Best for: Brands, unique experiences, technical teams
Path 3: Full custom (open source backend)
Medusa, Saleor, or complete custom. Maximum control.
- Setup: 6-12 months
- Cost: $0 licensing + high dev costs
- Control: Complete
- Best for: Marketplaces, B2B, unique business models
Real cost comparison
For a $5M/year e-commerce business over 3 years:
| Full Shopify | Headless | Full Custom | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform cost | $360K (fees) | $180K (fees) | $0 |
| Dev cost | $30K | $200K | $600K+ |
| Maintenance | Minimal | $100K | $300K |
| 3-year total | $390K | $480K | $900K+ |
What people underestimate
Checkout conversion. Shopify Checkout is optimized over billions of transactions. Custom checkout will convert worse. That lost conversion costs real money.
Payment method proliferation. Apple Pay, Google Pay, Shop Pay, Buy Now Pay Later, crypto — each payment method is integration work.
International complexity. Currency, tax rates, shipping zones, duties calculation. Shopify Markets handles this; custom means building it.
The app ecosystem. Shopify has 8,000+ apps. Loyalty programs, reviews, email marketing — all pre-built. Custom means integrating each manually.
Compare tools
Our take
Shopify for most. Headless for brands. Full custom only for marketplaces.
The transaction fees that seem expensive pay for themselves in conversion optimization, reliability, and time saved. If brand experience is your differentiator, go headless with Shopify backend. Only build fully custom if you're creating a marketplace or have a business model that existing platforms simply can't support.