How to choose an e-commerce platform and when a custom store pays off
The platform decides how much you pay every month, what you can change and whether you will be moving the store in two years. Here is a comparison by costs and limits, not by the marketing pages of each solution.
The short answer
While your store is small, a hosted platform is almost always worth it. You launch quickly, the monthly fee is small compared to sales and you do not deal with technology. As you grow, two things start holding a platform back: fees that grow with your turnover and limits on what you can change. That is where a custom store makes sense.
The second reason for custom has nothing to do with turnover: as soon as you sell something that does not fit a standard template (product configuration, price calculated by dimensions, connection to production or stock), the platform will hold you back from day one.
Three paths and what each costs
| Solution | Entry cost | Monthly costs | When it makes sense | Where you hit limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hosted platform | Low, setup and theme | Subscription plus add ons and transaction fees | You are starting, want to be online within a month, sell standard products | Changes beyond the template, speed, custom logic, data export |
| WordPress with a store plugin | Medium | Hosting and maintenance | You have a content website and want to add sales | Speed with a larger catalogue, regular updates required |
| Custom online store | From CZK 79,900 | Hosting and upkeep from CZK 990 | You are growing and need your own logic, integrations and full control of data | Higher entry investment, longer preparation |
Custom prices are from my price list: Empire System from CZK 79,900 (payments, orders, invoices, admin, server side tracking). With an app or customer zone, several languages and launched campaigns from CZK 149,900 (Dynasty System). Large catalogues and stock or ERP integrations are priced individually. Details on the e-commerce development page.
Calculate it on your own numbers
The simplest way to decide is to add up everything you pay in a year. With a hosted platform that is the subscription, paid features, transaction fees or commissions, the theme and the time you spend on it. With custom, the one off price plus running costs.
An illustrative example: a store pays CZK 2,000 a month for the plan and features and CZK 1,000 for add ons, so CZK 36,000 a year. Over three years CZK 108,000, and the store is still not theirs. A custom store for CZK 79,900 plus Upkeep at CZK 990 a month comes to roughly CZK 115,000 over three years and remains entirely theirs, including the data and options. The difference is in what you get for the money, not in the amount.
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Get a free proposal →Questions to ask before deciding
- Who owns the data? Can you export products, orders and customers at any time in a usable form? Hosted solutions often limit exports.
- What if I want to change the checkout process? Is it possible at all, or are you limited to what the platform offers?
- What will I pay at double the turnover? With per order fees the price grows with your success, with custom it does not.
- How fast will the store be with my catalogue? Platforms with thousands of products often slow down, and you lose in ads and on Google.
- Can it track purchases server side? Without that, ad systems do not know what really sold and optimise blindly.
Measurement matters more than the template
Most decisions revolve around looks, but money depends on something else: whether the store can tell ad systems which order came from where. If you measure only in the browser, blocking costs you part of the data and ads learn from distorted numbers. Server side measurement solves this and is part of custom stores.
In practice: two stores with the same ad budget, one measuring precisely and one not. The first knows which products and campaigns earn money and moves budget there. The second guesses. After half a year the difference in sales can exceed the whole price of the store.
Three costly mistakes when choosing
Deciding by design. A theme can always be changed, logic and limits cannot. Ask what the platform can do with orders, shipping and pricing, not how the demo store looks.
Underestimating data. Before signing, check how you will export products, orders and customers. When you want to leave, it is too late to ask.
Forgetting speed. You pay for a slow store twice: it ranks worse on Google and sells worse from ads. With a catalogue over five hundred items, ask to see an existing store of a similar size and measure it.
When not to leave your platform
If the store works, grows and nothing limits you, leave it alone. Moving to custom makes sense as a response to a specific problem: growing fees, slowness, an uneditable checkout, missing connections to stock or accounting. Without such a reason it is wasted energy.
The same rule works the other way: if you have paid for features you do not use for two years and every change is “not possible”, waiting will not solve anything. If your current store is not selling, read why your online store is not selling first.
Want a website that brings enquiries?
Tell me in two minutes what you need. I reply within 24 hours with a free homepage design and a fixed price in writing.
Get a free proposal →Frequently asked questions
Which e-commerce platform is best?
The one that does not hold back your specific sales. A hosted platform is usually enough while the store is small, custom starts to pay off as turnover grows. Whether you need custom logic or a stock integration also decides.
How much does a custom online store cost?
Empire System from CZK 79,900: payments, orders, invoices, admin, automatic emails and server side purchase tracking. With an app or customer zone, several languages and launched campaigns from CZK 149,900. Large catalogues and stock or ERP integrations are priced individually. The price is fixed in the offer.
Can a store be moved from a platform to custom?
Yes. Products, categories and customers can be exported and imported, orders depend on what the platform allows. An important part of the move is redirecting old addresses so you do not lose Google rankings.
How long does a custom store take?
It depends on the number of products, variants and integrations, and you get the exact deadline in writing with the offer. The longest part is usually not the build but preparing data: names, descriptions, prices, variants and photos.
Do I need an online store, or is a website with enquiries enough?
If you sell custom work, by arrangement or in large volumes, a website with enquiries and invoice payment is often enough. A store makes sense where customers buy on their own and immediately.