Shopify vs WooCommerce vs custom: choosing an e-commerce platform in India

The platform debate online is mostly written for American stores. Indian e-commerce has its own constraints — cash on delivery, UPI, GST, courier aggregators and very price-sensitive mobile shoppers — and they change the answer.

Shopify: our default for most D2C brands

Shopify handles hosting, security and sale-day traffic for you. Razorpay, Cashfree and PhonePe all integrate cleanly, Shiprocket apps are mature, and your team can manage products without a developer. The trade-offs are a monthly fee, transaction charges on some plans, and app subscriptions that quietly add up.

WooCommerce: control without a monthly platform fee

WooCommerce suits content-heavy brands, stores that need unusual product logic, and businesses that already run WordPress. You own everything. You are also responsible for hosting, updates, backups and performance — which is fine with a good maintenance plan and painful without one.

Custom: for B2B and unusual pricing

Wholesale portals with tiered pricing, credit limits, bulk ordering by roll or carton, dealer logins and ERP integration rarely fit a standard store. For a Chandni Chowk textile wholesaler we built a custom B2B portal; within months the majority of retailer orders were placed online and order errors fell sharply.

The India checklist, whatever you choose

• UPI first. Make UPI the most prominent payment option on mobile; it converts best and costs least.
• COD with protection. OTP verification, pin-code rules and a WhatsApp confirmation before dispatch reduce return-to-origin losses.
• GST done properly. HSN codes on products, automatic invoices with your GSTIN, and exports your accountant can actually use.
• Courier aggregation. Shiprocket or a similar aggregator gives you serviceability checks, automatic AWBs and tracking pages.
• Speed on cheap phones. Test on a mid-range Android over 4G, not on the office Wi-Fi.

What it costs, roughly

A well-built Shopify store for a new D2C brand typically starts in the mid five figures in rupees. A growth-stage store with custom design, loyalty and ERP sync costs more. Custom B2B portals are scoped individually. Whatever the platform, budget for tracking and marketing from day one — a store nobody visits is the most expensive kind.

Jitender Singh

Founder & Lead Engineer at Corewebbers, New Delhi. 14 years building web platforms and SaaS. Still reviews every architecture decision personally.

Ask a question