WordPress vs Shopify vs Custom Website: Which Platform Fits a Pakistani Business?

WordPress vs Shopify vs Custom: Which Should You Choose?

The right platform depends on what your website must do. Most Pakistani small businesses need one of four things: a brochure site that brings enquiries, an online store, a booking system, or a private portal for clients or staff. WordPress, Shopify and a custom build each fit one or two of these well and the others badly.

WordPress is free, open-source software that runs on hosting you rent. Shopify is a paid online store service: Shopify hosts the store and you pay a monthly fee. A custom website is software written for your business, usually on a framework such as Laravel or Next.js, and hosted on a server you control.

How Do the Three Compare on Cost, Editing and Payments?

Running costs come from our domain and hosting price guide and Shopify store price guide, which list the sources and dates.

Which Platform Fits Your Type of Business?

Start with what your website must do, not with the platform name. This decision guide covers the cases we see most often.

If you sell products and also publish a lot of advice content, WordPress with WooCommerce can do both in one place. Our Shopify vs WooCommerce comparison for Pakistan covers that choice in detail.

When Is WordPress the Right Choice?

WordPress is the default for service businesses because it is free software, it runs on low-cost Pakistani or international hosting, and almost any developer can work on it later. You can edit pages, add articles and change prices yourself. For SEO, you control every title, URL and page.

The trade-off is upkeep. WordPress, its theme and its plugins need regular updates and backups, or the site becomes a security risk. Budget for that, either your own time or a maintenance plan. WordPress also needs a reasonably modern server: WordPress.org currently recommends PHP 8.3 or newer. Our WordPress website price guide breaks down build costs.

Choose something else if you sell many products and want no technical upkeep at all, or if your site is really an application with logins and workflows.

When Is Shopify the Right Choice?

Shopify is built for selling products. Stock, variants, orders, discounts and customer accounts work from day one, and Shopify handles hosting, security and updates. For a clothing brand, cosmetics seller or gift shop that wants to focus on products instead of servers, that is worth a monthly fee.

Three points matter in Pakistan:

• Shopify Payments is not available here. Stores use cash on delivery and third-party gateways instead.
• Third-party gateways carry a Shopify fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced, on top of the gateway's own charge. COD orders carry no Shopify fee.
• The bill is in US dollars, so the rupee cost moves with the exchange rate, and paid apps add to it.

Shopify is a poor fit for a service business with few or no products. You pay for store features you will not use.

When Is a Custom Website Worth It?

A custom website is worth it when the work your website does is the business itself: a booking system with deposits and staff rotas, a dealer ordering portal, a school parent portal, or a marketplace with vendor payouts. Platforms handle these with stacked plugins and workarounds that break as you grow.

The costs are higher at both ends. Building takes longer, and every change later needs a developer. Before choosing custom, ask whether a platform plus one or two plugins would do 90% of the job. If yes, start there and go custom when the business proves the need. Our guides to Next.js vs WordPress and Laravel vs Node.js explain the main custom options in plain terms.

What Does Each Cost Over Three Years? A Worked Example

Example figures for a small product store, not a real client. Platform fees follow the published prices above; your own figures will differ.

If most of your orders are COD, the Shopify transaction fee barely matters. If most customers pay by card or wallet, the 2% adds up quickly and WooCommerce or a higher Shopify plan looks better.

What About Wix, Headless and Ready-Made Templates?

Website builders such as Wix and Squarespace suit a one-person business that wants to build the site itself, but they bill in dollars and limit what you can move later; see Wix vs a custom website. A headless set-up separates the editing system from the front end; it is rarely needed for a small business, as our headless CMS guide explains. If you are unsure whether you need an app at all, read website or mobile app first and PWA vs native app.

Whatever you choose, two decisions sit underneath it: whether you pay for a template or custom design, and which hosting serves Pakistani visitors best.

What We Would Build for You

We build on all three, so we recommend the one that fits rather than the one we prefer.

• Service business: a WordPress site from Rs 40,500 for up to 5 pages or Rs 85,500 for up to 10, with WhatsApp buttons, enquiry forms and basic SEO set up. See our business websites service.
• Product store: Shopify or WooCommerce from Rs 157,500, with COD, local gateway options where available and courier-friendly order flow.
• Booking system or portal: a custom web app from Rs 360,000, typically within Rs 360,000 to Rs 1,350,000 depending on scope.

Every project starts with a written scope and a fixed price. The domain and hosting are registered in your name.

Questions to Answer Before You Decide

1. What must the website do in its first year: inform, sell, book or manage?
2. How many products will you list, and how will most customers pay?
3. Who will update content each week, and how comfortable are they with an admin panel?
4. What can you spend each month on running costs, in rupees and dollars?
5. Do you need features that no plugin or app offers today?

Write the answers into a short brief using our website brief template, then compare quotes on the same scope.

Frequently Asked Questions