At PLN 1-10m annual turnover, choosing a platform stops being a matter of taste and becomes a calculation: commissions, plugins, maintenance and how much time you lose on workarounds. No "our platform is best" ideology - we show you where each of the three models wins, and where it starts to hurt.
Three models, three cost philosophies
Shopify sells convenience: you pay so you don't have to worry about infrastructure. WooCommerce sells flexibility: you get full control, but maintenance is on you. A custom platform sells fit: a system built around your process, with no commission on turnover.
Each model has a threshold where the advantage turns into a cost. The trick is knowing where that threshold is for you.
Shopify: quick start, growing commission
Shopify is great for getting started and for smooth, standard selling. The problem comes with scale: transaction fees and app subscriptions grow linearly with turnover, and every non-standard feature means another paid plugin - or a compromise.
At PLN 1-10m turnover, the sum of fees and apps can exceed the cost of running your own platform - worth calculating before you grow even further.
WooCommerce: flexible, but you maintain it
WooCommerce gives you freedom with no commission on sales. The price of that freedom is maintenance: updates, plugin compatibility, performance under heavier traffic and security are all on your shoulders (or your team's / agency's).
- Plus: no commission, a huge ecosystem, full control over the code.
- Minus: the "plugin zoo" can be fragile - one update can take down the checkout, and responsibility is scattered.
Custom platform (E20): when it makes sense
A custom platform makes sense when your process is your competitive edge - and when off-the-shelf systems start forcing compromises. Our E20 Platform means zero commission on turnover, features built for your specific business and native integration with WMS, ecChat and ecSearch, instead of gluing plugins together.
You pay for a bundle of features you use half of, while the ones critical to your industry are missing; the cost of fees and plugins grows faster than your margin; and every change in your process is a battle with the platform's limitations.
How to work out your own case
- Add up the annual transaction fees and subscriptions for all paid apps/plugins.
- Add the cost of your team's time on workarounds and maintenance (the real figure, in hours).
- Compare with the annual cost of a custom platform plus the estimated profit from features you don't have today.
If the total from points 1-2 is approaching point 3, you've stopped paying for convenience and started paying for limitations - and that's the moment to talk about a platform of your own.
FAQ
Is migrating from Shopify/Woo risky for SEO?
With a well-prepared 301 redirect map and a preserved URL structure, traffic can be maintained - we cover this in a separate article on migrating without losing SEO.
Is a custom platform more expensive to maintain?
Not by definition - the cost of commission and many plugins disappears, and maintenance is on our side under a clear contract. At the right scale, the balance tips in favour of custom.
I have PLN 1.5m turnover - is it time for my own platform yet?
It depends on your margin and how much you pay in fees and plugins. Sometimes yes, sometimes it's better to wait - which is why we start with the maths, not a ready-made recommendation.