Shopify or a custom storefront? A straight answer for Toronto retailers in 2026

E-commerce is one of those areas where the honest answer is usually “use Shopify.” The platform is good, it is maintained by someone else, and it handles the boring, critical parts (payments, taxes, fraud, hosting, security patches) so you do not have to. We build custom storefronts, and we still steer most retailers onto Shopify, because for the large majority of small stores it is the better call.

But “most” is not “all.” There is a real line where an off-the-shelf platform starts costing you more than it saves: in per-transaction fees at volume, in catalog or checkout logic it cannot bend to, or in integrations it has never heard of. This is the same build-vs-buy logic we apply to online booking systems, pointed at your cart instead of your calendar. The goal is to help you tell which side of the line you are on before you spend anything.

Use Shopify, most of the time

For a store selling normal products to normal customers, Shopify is hard to beat: a checkout that converts, payments and tax handling out of the box, an app for everything, and a system you run yourself. The pricing is straightforward (all in CAD from Shopify’s Canadian pricing page, regular monthly with the annual rate in brackets):

• Starter, $7/month. For selling through social and a link in bio, not a full storefront. Fine if you mostly sell over Instagram or WhatsApp.
• Basic, $49/month ($37 annually). The real starting point for a small store with its own site.
• Grow, $132/month ($99 annually). The middle tier, formerly just called “Shopify.” More staff accounts and better reporting.
• Advanced, $517/month ($389 annually). For higher-volume stores that want the lowest fees and advanced reports.
• POS Pro, $119/month per location, if you also sell in person and want one system for both.

The default rule is the one we give for booking tools: if Shopify fits as-is, use it. A platform you do not build, host, secure, or patch beats a custom storefront on every axis that matters, until you genuinely outgrow it.

The number that actually matters: transaction fees

The monthly plan is the small number. The fees on every sale decide whether you outgrow Shopify, so understand how they work.

If you use Shopify Payments (their built-in processor), you pay a card-processing rate per online order: 2.8% + 30 cents on Basic, 2.6% + 30 cents on Grow, and 2.4% + 30 cents on Advanced. That is roughly in line with any processor; someone has to move the money.

The fee people miss is the extra cut Shopify takes if you do not use Shopify Payments, on top of whatever your outside gateway charges: a third-party transaction fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, and 0.6% on Advanced. The higher your plan, the smaller the penalty. For most stores the move is to use Shopify Payments and skip it entirely.

Here is why it matters for the build question. At $10,000 a month in sales, a 2% gap is around $2,400 a year: annoying, not decisive. At $200,000 a month, that same gap is $4,000 a month, real money every month, forever, for software you do not own. That is when the platform’s cost at your volume stops being a footnote.

When off-the-shelf starts to hurt

These are the signals that you have crossed the line. You do not need all of them; one or two is usually enough.

• Your catalog or checkout logic is genuinely unusual. Made-to-order configurations, complex bundles, rentals priced by duration, B2B pricing that changes per customer, quote-then-buy flows. When the buying flow itself is the product, bending Shopify around it gets fragile fast.
• You need deep integration with systems Shopify has never heard of. Your own ERP, a legacy inventory system, custom fulfillment, internal pricing rules. Shopify integrates with popular apps, not your in-house software.
• The per-transaction fees are real money at your volume. Once monthly fees run into the thousands, owning the checkout and routing payments yourself can pay back a build in a year or two.
• You want to own the platform, not rent it. If your store is the core of the business and you cannot tolerate platform rules, app deprecations, or pricing changes deciding your roadmap, owning the code is a strategic choice.
• One thing that is not a reason on its own: “Shopify looks too templated.” Theming gets you far, and a custom build is the wrong fix for a design preference.

What a custom storefront costs

A custom build is a one-time cost you own, versus a subscription you rent forever. In our pricing terms, a clean storefront with a normal catalog and checkout sits in the application range that starts around $15,000 and scales with scope. Unusual catalog logic, B2B pricing, or deep ERP integrations push you well above that. We break the brackets down in what a custom small business website costs in Toronto.

Worth saying plainly: a custom storefront is not just the build. You take on hosting, security, PCI scope, payment integration, and maintenance that Shopify handles for its monthly fee. That ongoing weight is why the off-the-shelf platform wins for most stores. You come out ahead only when the fees you escape, or the capability you gain, clearly outweigh both the build and the upkeep.

A short way to decide

• Use Shopify if: you sell standard products, your checkout is conventional, your volume keeps the fees modest, and you would rather run the store than maintain the software. This is most retailers.
• Build custom if: your catalog or checkout logic is unusual, you need deep integration with systems Shopify cannot reach, fees at your volume are large enough to fund a build, or owning the platform outright is a real strategic need.

Most businesses are in the first bucket, and that is fine. The point is to know which bucket you are in before you commit, instead of overpaying for a build you did not need. Restaurants are their own version of this question, where the painful number is the delivery-app cut on every order: what the delivery apps cost a Toronto restaurant.

Where we fit

We build custom storefronts when a business has truly outgrown Shopify, and we set businesses up on Shopify (and tell them to stay there) when they have not. If you are not sure which side of the line you are on, tell us how you sell today: your platform, your rough monthly volume, and where it is hurting. You will get an honest read, including “stay on Shopify, you do not need a build,” if that is the right call.