Platforms Have a Ceiling
Shoptet and Shopify are excellent tools. They cover the needs of 90% of e-shops in the Czech market. But what about the remaining 10%?
If you've hit the platform's limits — whether in design, features, or performance — it might be time to think about a custom solution. But be warned: a custom e-shop is significantly more expensive and complex. Let's honestly review when it makes sense and when it doesn't.
5 Signs You're Outgrowing Your Platform
1. Design Limits Your Brand
Shoptet templates are functional but limited. If you need unique product cards, non-standard filtering, interactive product configurators, or business-specific checkout flow — you'll hit a wall.
2. You Need Internal System Integration
Have your own ERP, WMS, or CRM that needs real-time bidirectional sync? Shoptet API has its limits. A custom e-shop can connect to anything — Salesforce, SAP, custom warehouse systems.
3. Performance Can't Handle Your Load
If you have thousands of daily orders or hundreds of thousands of products, platform performance starts to suffer. A custom Next.js solution with ISR loads pages in milliseconds even with a massive catalog.
4. You Need Custom B2B Features
Individual customer pricing, order approval workflows, quotation systems, volume-based contract pricing — standard platforms handle this poorly or not at all.
5. You're Paying More for Apps Than the Platform
On Shopify, monthly app costs can easily reach 5,000–10,000 CZK. If you're paying for 8 different apps that a custom solution would include natively, the math starts working differently.
When a Custom E-shop Does NOT Make Sense
Let's be honest — most e-shops don't need a custom solution.
- Revenue under 5 million CZK/year — Shoptet or Shopify will be cheaper
- Fewer than 500 products — platforms handle this fine
- No maintenance budget — custom e-shops require ongoing development
- You don't want to wait — Shoptet launches in 2–4 weeks, custom takes 2–4 months
What a Custom E-shop Looks Like
A custom e-shop in React and Next.js is a web application tailored precisely to your needs. It's not a template with modifications — it's code written from scratch. If you're curious about the difference between a website and an application in general, check out Web vs. Web Application.
Typical architecture:
- Frontend: React/Next.js — blazing-fast SSR pages
- Backend: Node.js API or headless CMS (Strapi, Sanity)
- Database: PostgreSQL (Supabase) or MongoDB
- Payments: Stripe, GoPay, Comgate — direct API integration
- Hosting: modern cloud, AWS, or custom server
How Much Does It Cost
| Variant | Price | Time |
|---|---|---|
| MVP (basic e-shop) | from 140,000 CZK | 6–10 weeks |
| Business (full e-shop) | 150,000–300,000 CZK | 3–5 months |
| Enterprise (B2B, integrations) | 300,000+ CZK | 5–8 months |
Plus monthly hosting costs (500–3,000 CZK) and ongoing development/maintenance.
How to Migrate from a Platform
You don't have to jump straight in. Common scenario:
- Start on Shoptet — validate your product, get your first 100 customers
- Hit the limits — design, features, integrations
- Build custom in parallel — while the old e-shop runs
- Migrate — products, customers, orders, URL redirects
The key is preserving URL structure and setting up 301 redirects so you don't lose SEO positions.
Summary
A custom e-shop is an investment that pays off when your business has outgrown platform capabilities. If you're not sure whether that's your case, get in touch — we'll look at it together and honestly tell you whether a custom solution makes sense or it's better to stay on Shoptet. For a complete price overview, read How Much Does an E-shop Cost.