01/Comparison · Ecommerce
Custom store vs Shopify in Costa Rica
When each one is worth it, real USD costs, and the exact point Shopify stops making sense for your business.
If you sell fewer than 100 products and process fewer than 1,000 orders/month, Shopify wins. If you have special rules (B2B with negotiated pricing, multi-warehouse, SINPE Móvil required, automatic e-invoicing), custom wins. This article breaks down the exact point where the cost curves cross.
Shopify
Option ASaaS platform — fast to launch, pay monthly and per sale.
- Launch in 3–5 weeks, not 8–12
- Apps marketplace with hundreds of ready plugins
- Hosting + security + updates managed by Shopify
- 24/7 support included
- Battle-tested templates with decent conversion rates
- Monthly fee + ~2% per sale grows with the business
- Technical limitations on checkout (Shopify Basic) and B2B
- No native SINPE Móvil — requires extra apps
- Deep customization clashes with Liquid architecture
- Migrating out is painful (you don't own the infra)
Custom (Next.js)
Option BBespoke store — pay once, infra and code are yours.
- No monthly fee or per-sale commission
- SINPE Móvil + BAC + Stripe in a single checkout
- Custom B2B rules (negotiated pricing, volume discounts)
- Native multi-warehouse stock
- You own the code and data from day 1
- Optimizable performance — high Core Web Vitals = better SEO
- Takes 8–12 weeks to be ready
- High upfront investment vs Shopify
- Maintenance is yours (patches, dependencies, hosting)
- No app store — everything is built or integrated
- Support depends on the dev team
02/Side-by-side comparison
Side-by-side comparison
| Feature | Shopify | Custom (Next.js) |
|---|---|---|
| Initial setup | USD 1,500 – 3,500 | USD 5,000 – 10,000 |
| Monthly cost | USD 39 – 399/mo | USD 25 – 80/mo (hosting + DB) |
| Per-sale commission | 0–2% (by plan) | 0% |
| Native SINPE Móvil | No (external apps) | Yes |
| B2B negotiated pricing | Limited (Plus +) | Native |
| Hacienda e-invoicing | Via external app | Integrated at checkout |
| Multi-warehouse | Yes (Plus) | Native |
| Time to launch | 3–5 weeks | 8–12 weeks |
03/The honest verdict
Practical rule: start on Shopify to validate (3 weeks, USD 1,800), and migrate to custom when monthly cost + commissions exceed USD 200/mo. That tipping point typically hits at USD 6,000+/mo in consistent sales. Migrating from Shopify to custom takes USD 1,500–3,500 and 4–6 weeks — keeps URLs (no SEO loss) and order/customer history.
04/Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
Can I migrate from Shopify to custom later?▾
Yes. The migration preserves URLs (to avoid SEO loss), order history, customers, and products. We quote USD 1,500–3,500 depending on catalog size. Many clients start on Shopify to validate and migrate to custom when it justifies the cost.
Does Shopify accept SINPE Móvil in Costa Rica?▾
Not natively. There are third-party apps (USD 25–60/mo) that connect SINPE to Shopify, but the integration is fragile and the UX is worse than in a custom store that has it as a native method.
How much do you save per year leaving Shopify Advanced?▾
Shopify Advanced (USD 399/mo) + 0.5% per sale. If you sell USD 15,000/mo, that's USD 4,788 + USD 900 per year = USD 5,688. A custom (USD 8,000 one-time + USD 50/mo hosting) pays back in 17 months.
What about Shopify plugins? Do you have to build everything in custom?▾
In custom you integrate what you need: Algolia for search, Klaviyo for email, Mailchimp, etc. The most common integrations (40% of Shopify apps) are standard APIs — similar cost to a Shopify app but you pay once and keep control.
05/Related reading
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