Why we recommend Shopify by default, and when we do not
We recommend Shopify by default because the risky parts are its job. The reasons, the exceptions, and the two things we always change on a new store.
Our position, stated plainly
The reasons
| What Shopify takes off your plate | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Checkout | The step where money changes hands is maintained by a team that does only that, converts well, and you cannot break it |
| Payments | Methods, fraud checks and compliance handled; you configure, you do not operate |
| Hosting and uptime | A campaign or a press mention does not take the store down |
| Security patching | No plugin stack to keep current on a Sunday |
| Admin and operations | Orders, inventory, customers and fulfilment in one place your team already knows |
| Exit | Products, customers and orders export cleanly; URLs can be redirected |
For a store run by a small team without a full-time developer, that list is most of the risk of running a store.
The exceptions
- Unusual selling. Complex configurators, pricing with many variables, B2B approval flows, made-to-order rules that no app models well. Then the store is software.
- Integration as the core. Real-time, two-way integration with production, planning or ERP systems that drives the business. Possible on Shopify, sometimes better built around your systems.
- A strong WordPress team. If you already run WordPress well, with patching, backups and monitoring in place, WooCommerce is defensible and keeps you in one ecosystem.
- The store is the product. A marketplace or a sales platform, not a shop.
If one of those describes you, we say so and scope accordingly. If none does, Shopify.
The two things we always change
The app list gets a budget. Every app must earn its place with orders, margin or hours saved, and storefront apps get measured for the speed they cost. Quarterly, the list is reviewed and the forgotten ones go. We wrote up the audit method.
The images get a process. Product photos are sized and formatted for the slots they fill before they are uploaded, with fixed dimensions in the theme so nothing jumps. Most slow product pages are camera-resolution images, and a process prevents them better than a clean-up cures them.
What this means for you
If you are choosing a platform for a store that sells in a reasonably standard way and you do not have a developer on staff, choose Shopify and put the app budget and the image process in place on day one. If one of the four exceptions describes you, talk to us about what the store actually needs to be. Either way, the recommendation comes with the reasons, and you can check them against your own situation.
Frequently asked questions
What is your commercial relationship with Shopify?
We are a Shopify Partner, and the apps we publish are billed to merchants through Shopify on our behalf, which you can read in those apps' own terms. Judge the recommendation on what it rests on rather than on that relationship: the parts of a store that go wrong at night, checkout, payments, hosting and security patching, are Shopify's responsibility on Shopify and yours everywhere else. Where that is not the deciding factor, this article says so, and the alternatives are in the comparison below.
Isn't Shopify limiting for design?
Within a theme, somewhat, as any theme system is. That limit is removed by a headless storefront, where we build the pages shoppers see in code we own and Shopify keeps doing checkout, orders and inventory. That step is not needed until the volume justifies it.
What about the monthly fee and the payment fees?
Real costs, and lower than they look once you add what a self-hosted platform costs in hosting, maintenance and the person who keeps it alive. Compare the total, including the time, not the subscription against a free plugin.
When would you tell a store not to use Shopify?
When the way it sells is genuinely unusual, such as complex configurators or B2B approval flows, when deep two-way integration with production or planning systems is the core, or when a strong internal team already runs WordPress well and wants full control. Those are a minority, and we say so honestly when we meet one.
Sources
- Shopify Help Center: Web performance (accessed 2026-09-11)
- Shopify developer documentation: Headless storefronts (accessed 2026-09-11)