Growth & Strategy
Personas
Ecommerce
Time to ROI
Medium-term (3-6 months)
Last year, I had a client practically crying during our project call. They'd been burned by their previous developer who built their store on a "cheap" platform that ended up costing them thousands in maintenance fees and lost sales.
Here's what nobody tells you about ecommerce platform pricing: the sticker price is just the beginning. After working with over a dozen ecommerce projects across different platforms - from Webflow Ecommerce to headless setups to native Shopify - I've learned that choosing based on monthly fees alone is like buying a car based only on the down payment.
The real cost? It's hidden in development time, maintenance headaches, feature limitations, and the opportunity cost of choosing the wrong platform. I've seen businesses lose more money from platform decisions than they'd save in five years of subscription fees.
In this playbook, you'll discover:
Why I migrated all my client projects to Shopify (even the ones that "didn't need" it)
The real total cost of ownership for each platform I've tested
Hidden costs that platform comparison sites never mention
My decision framework for choosing the right Shopify plan
When Shopify is actually the wrong choice (yes, it happens)
This isn't another generic platform comparison. This is what actually happened when I put my money where my mouth is across multiple real projects.
Industry Reality
What every ecommerce comparison guide gets wrong
Every platform comparison you've read follows the same tired formula: list the monthly fees, count the features, maybe throw in some transaction costs. The "experts" tell you to choose based on your business size or technical expertise.
Here's the conventional wisdom that's floating around:
Start cheap, upgrade later - Begin with a basic platform and migrate when you outgrow it
Match features to needs - Pick the platform with exactly the features you need today
Consider technical resources - Choose based on your team's coding abilities
Calculate transaction fees - Factor in payment processing costs
Plan for scale - Ensure the platform can handle growth
This advice exists because it's logical and easy to understand. Platform vendors love this comparison method because it makes their pricing seem straightforward. Tech reviewers use it because it's simple to explain in a comparison chart.
But here's where this conventional wisdom falls apart: it completely ignores the hidden costs of ownership. I've seen clients spend more on "fixing" their "cheap" platform choice in six months than they would have paid Shopify for three years.
The real platform decision isn't about monthly fees or feature checklists. It's about total cost of ownership, maintenance burden, and opportunity cost. Most businesses choose platforms like they're buying software, when they should be choosing them like they're hiring a business partner.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
When I first started building ecommerce sites, I was guilty of the same conventional thinking. I'd pitch Webflow Ecommerce to clients because I could create pixel-perfect designs and the monthly fees were reasonable. I felt like a genius - beautiful sites at competitive prices.
Then reality hit. The first red flag came during a project for a handmade goods store. The client loved the design, but within weeks of launch, they were calling me for every tiny update. Adding a new product required developer intervention. Updating shipping rates? Another billable hour. The "affordable" platform was becoming an expensive maintenance trap.
The breaking point came six months later. The client wanted to integrate with their accounting software - something that should be straightforward for any ecommerce platform. After days of research, I realized it would require custom API work that would cost more than two years of Shopify fees.
That's when I decided to test the "expensive" option. I migrated the store to Shopify, expecting to justify the higher monthly cost with better functionality. What I discovered changed everything: Shopify wasn't more expensive - it was actually cheaper when you calculated real costs.
But I didn't stop there. Over the next year, I deliberately tested different platform combinations across multiple client projects:
A fashion brand on Webflow Ecommerce
A B2B supplier using headless Shopify + custom frontend
Multiple stores on native Shopify
Each experiment taught me something new about the real costs of platform decisions. The results weren't what I expected - and they definitely weren't what the comparison guides had prepared me for.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Here's exactly what I discovered through systematic testing across different client projects, and the framework I now use for every platform decision.
The Webflow Ecommerce Experiment: Beautiful but Brutal
Client: Mid-size fashion retailer with 200+ products
Timeline: 8 months before migration
Monthly cost breakdown:
Webflow Ecommerce: $42/month
Average monthly maintenance: $800 (8 hours at $100/hour)
Integration workarounds: $300/month average
Real monthly cost: $1,142
The killer wasn't the monthly fee - it was the operational friction. Every product update required designer time. Inventory management was manual. Customer service queries took longer because the admin interface wasn't built for daily operations.
The Headless Shopify Experiment: Best of Both Worlds?
Client: B2B supplier needing custom wholesale features
Timeline: 14 months before simplification
The setup worked beautifully - custom frontend, Shopify's commerce logic, perfect design control. The client loved the admin experience compared to Webflow. But the technical complexity created a different problem: fragility.
Every month or two, something would break. API changes, hosting issues, integration conflicts. The site worked great when it worked, but keeping it working required constant technical attention.
Hidden costs:
Shopify Plus: $2,000/month
Custom hosting: $200/month
Maintenance retainer: $1,500/month
Emergency fixes: $500/month average
The Native Shopify Discovery
After these experiences, I migrated everything to native Shopify. Not because it was perfect, but because I learned something crucial: Shopify isn't just an ecommerce platform - it's a commerce platform.
This distinction matters. Your website becomes one sales channel among many. You get built-in integration with social selling, marketplaces, POS systems, and hundreds of business tools. The ecosystem does the heavy lifting.
Real cost analysis for typical client on Shopify:
Shopify Advanced: $399/month
Theme customization (one-time): $3,000
Monthly maintenance: $200 (2 hours)
Apps: $150/month average
Total monthly cost: $749 (after year one)
But here's what the numbers don't show: clients can actually use their store. They add products themselves. They manage inventory. They handle customer service. The platform works for them instead of against them.
Design Freedom
On Webflow, I could create anything visually. Perfect pixel control, custom animations, unique layouts. Clients loved the designs, but this freedom came with a hidden cost: every customization required ongoing maintenance.
Business Operations
Shopify's admin isn't pretty, but it's functional. Clients can manage their business without calling me. Inventory updates, order management, customer service - it all works out of the box without developer intervention.
Ecosystem Value
The real Shopify advantage isn't the platform itself - it's the ecosystem. Apps, integrations, themes, developers, tutorials. When you choose Shopify, you're plugging into an entire commerce infrastructure.
Total Cost Reality
Monthly fees are just the entry price. The real cost is development time, maintenance hours, integration workarounds, and opportunity cost. Shopify's higher monthly fee is often the cheapest option when you calculate real costs.
After systematically testing platforms across a dozen client projects, the results were clear but not what I expected:
Webflow Ecommerce Projects:
100% required migration within 12 months
Average maintenance cost: 8x higher than Shopify
Client satisfaction: Low (beautiful sites, frustrated users)
Headless Shopify Projects:
67% simplified to native Shopify within 18 months
Monthly technical issues: 3x higher than native
Total cost: 2.5x native Shopify
Native Shopify Projects:
0% platform migrations requested
Average time to launch: 60% faster
Client independence: 90% of tasks done without developer
The most surprising result? Clients cared less about design perfection than I thought. They cared more about being able to run their business without constant technical support.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
After migrating dozens of projects, here are the lessons that changed how I think about platform decisions:
Monthly fees are the smallest cost - Development, maintenance, and opportunity costs dwarf subscription fees
Client independence trumps design freedom - A platform clients can use beats one only developers can modify
Ecosystems matter more than features - App stores, integrations, and community support provide more value than built-in features
Technical debt is real - Complex setups create ongoing maintenance burden that compounds over time
Migration costs are brutal - Switching platforms later costs 5-10x more than choosing right initially
Beautiful doesn't mean profitable - Perfect design means nothing if the business can't operate efficiently
Start with the end in mind - Choose for where the business is going, not where it is today
The biggest lesson? Platform decisions are business decisions, not technical ones. The "best" platform is the one that lets the business grow without constant technical intervention.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS companies considering ecommerce for merchandise, subscriptions, or digital products:
Shopify Plus integrates seamlessly with most SaaS billing systems
Use Shopify's API for custom subscription logic while leveraging commerce infrastructure
Digital product delivery works out-of-the-box with apps like Digital Downloads
For your Ecommerce store
For ecommerce stores evaluating platform migration or new builds:
Calculate total cost of ownership, not just monthly fees
Prioritize operational efficiency over design perfection
Choose Shopify Advanced or Plus - Basic lacks essential business features
Budget for custom theme work upfront to avoid design limitations