Shopify or a custom-built store for your Indian D2C brand? A practical comparison of cost, speed, payments, flexibility and when headless Shopify makes sense.
Online bechna hai — Shopify lein ya custom website banwayein? Dono sahi ho sakte hain. Faisla aapke products, budget aur growth plan pe depend karta hai.
Shopify kab best hai
- Standard D2C flow: browse, cart, pay, deliver.
- You want to launch quickly and manage products yourself.
- You need a large app ecosystem (reviews, subscriptions, loyalty).
- Indian payments and shipping integrations are available through apps and gateways.
Custom kab better hai
- Unusual flows — memberships plus store, B2B pricing, configurators.
- You want full control of design, performance and data.
- The store is part of a bigger system (ERP, CRM, portals).
Best of both: headless Shopify
Headless Shopify keeps Shopify as the commerce engine but lets you build a fully custom front-end. Our Total Fitness project uses a headless Shopify nutrition store with a custom Shopify app, Razorpay and Shiprocket — alongside gym memberships and loyalty on one account.
Cost comparison (Curious Kaizer)
A custom e-commerce store with a Shopify backend starts at ₹50,000. Fully custom or headless builds are quoted after scope review. Remember Shopify has its own monthly subscription and app costs.
💡 Not sure? Start on Shopify with a custom theme. If you outgrow it, move to headless without migrating your products and orders.