When building new features on Shopify, there are typically three paths to consider: native functionality, prebuilt apps, or custom development. Each comes with tradeoffs in cost, complexity, and control. This framework helps teams make smarter implementation decisions—starting with what’s built in and escalating only when necessary.

Shopify is a flexible SaaS platform that allows for a range of capabilities through native tools, third-party apps, and custom development. However, we typically recommend that clients approach discovery with an open mind and be willing to adapt their requirements to fit within Shopify’s native functionality whenever possible.

When you’re exploring how to achieve a particular feature or functionality in Shopify (or another SaaS platform, like BigCommerce), you generally have three paths available:

1. Native Functionality
2. Prebuilt Apps
3. Custom Apps

Why Start with Native Functionality?

When organizations decide to move to a SaaS platform like Shopify, they’re often seeking the benefits of SaaS:

• Reducing overall costs
• Improving platform stability and performance
• Empowering non-technical users to manage content and configurations

Leveraging native functionality is the best way to achieve these goals. As soon as you begin layering third-party or custom apps, several tradeoffs emerge:

• Increased cost: Apps often come with monthly or usage-based fees.
• Reduced stability: Third-party solutions may not offer the same level of performance or reliability as Shopify’s core features.
• Greater complexity: Managing and configuring non-native tools can introduce a steeper learning curve and operational overhead.
  • This is especially relevant as your business grows. As businesses scale, the need for automation becomes more critical, since manual processes become increasingly difficult and expensive to maintain. Not all prebuilt apps include tools like APIs or webhooks that enable automation, which can limit your ability to streamline operations.

Understanding Shopify’s Extensibility

Shopify offers extensibility through APIs, but there are limitations. No app—prebuilt or custom—can modify Shopify’s core capabilities. Instead, apps extend functionality by offering their own services or APIs outside of Shopify’s core platform. That means when you rely on an app for a critical feature, you are now depending on their infrastructure: their servers, their security protocols, their support channels, and their performance. That’s where stability risks can increase.

Before concluding that a feature isn’t supported natively, we recommend consulting Shopify’s official documentation—it’s an excellent resource for confirming what can be done out-of-the-box.

Step 1: Explore the App Store

If native functionality does not satisfy your requirements, the next step is to explore Shopify’s App Store.

Shopify’s App Store features over 8,000 apps—ranging from simple enhancements to full-blown integrations.

While we’ve worked with many apps, we haven’t worked with all of them. Even within apps we’ve used, we may not have explored every feature. That’s why discovery is often required to determine if a particular app can solve your specific need.

App Discovery Process

Here’s how we typically identify and evaluate potential apps:

1. Search the App Store using keywords relevant to the feature or problem you’re solving.
2. Use external tools, like Google searches or ChatGPT, to supplement research.
3. Shortlist and prioritize candidates based on:
   • App Store ratings and reviews
   • Screenshots, demo videos, or example sites
   • Reputation of the vendor

How to Evaluate an App

Once we have a shortlist, there are a few ways to better understand what each app can do:

1. Install and test: Most apps offer a free trial period—this is the best way to see how the app behaves in your environment.
2. Read the documentation: Some apps provide detailed guides or videos, which are useful for complex configurations. Occasionally, documentation is gated and requires contacting the vendor.
3. Request a live demo: Especially for premium apps, vendors often have sales reps who can walk you through functionality and offer managed setup support. In many cases, pricing is not listed publicly and must be discussed with the vendor—this can also open the door to negotiated pricing.

If an app almost meets your needs, you might consider submitting a feature request to the vendor before resorting to custom development.

Step 2: Evaluate Custom Development Cautiously

Developing custom apps should be a last resort, considered only after exhausting other options. Before going down that path, ask yourself:

• Can my requirements be adjusted to align better with existing tools?
• Can native Shopify functionality satisfy my amended requirements?
• Is there a reputable third-party app that provides a sufficient solution?

If the answer to all of these is “no,” then custom development may be warranted—but it comes with significant trade-offs.

The Tradeoffs of Going Custom

While custom apps or headless solutions can deliver maximum flexibility, they also shift responsibility back to you:

• Cost and complexity: Custom builds require substantial upfront investment and ongoing maintenance.
• Operational burden: You become accountable for hosting, DevOps, performance, security, and updates.
• Loss of ecosystem value: Moving beyond theme-level changes into external hosting or headless checkout undermines the very benefits Shopify provides—reduced maintenance overhead, guaranteed uptime, built-in security, and an ecosystem of standardized apps that integrate seamlessly.

In effect, choosing custom development moves you away from the SaaS model and toward bespoke software, with all the long-term obligations that come with it.

The Bigger Question

If your business requires broad or deep customization—such as replacing core features like checkout or customer accounts—it’s worth asking a hard question: is a SaaS platform the right fit for your business?

Small, targeted custom apps can make sense in specific contexts. However, when customization replaces significant platform capabilities, you risk undermining the advantages that led you to choose SaaS. If you still believe that SaaS is the best fit for your business, then remember why you choose SaaS in the first place—lower costs, reliable performance, strong security, and the ability to scale through apps without reinventing the wheel—and consider whether deep customization aligns with those goals.

Final Thoughts

The key to success on Shopify is understanding the tradeoffs between cost, control, and complexity. Here’s my recommendation hierarchy:

1. Start with native features.
2. Explore the app store.
3. Request feature enhancements when appropriate.
4. Consider custom development only when necessary.

Here’s a quick summary of the options available when implementing new features:

Approach	Cost	Flexibility
Native Functionality	Low	Low
Prebuilt Apps	Medium	Medium
Custom Apps	High	High

By approaching your requirements with flexibility and a strategic mindset, you can maximize the benefits of Shopify’s SaaS foundation while avoiding unnecessary costs and complications.