Custom vs. Prescriptive: A Framework for Choosing the Right eCommerce Platform

One of the most important—and often overlooked—questions in selecting the best eCommerce platform for your business is: Do we need a platform that supports deep customization, or will a more prescriptive, out-of-the-box solution serve us just as well?

To answer this question effectively, consider the following four factors:

1. Platform Understanding: Assess each platform's out-of-the-box functionality, as well as the quality and availability of extensions, apps, and integrations commonly used to enhance its capabilities. For complex use cases, consider whether a platform is open to systems integration without excessive workarounds.
2. Growth Vision: Define your eCommerce growth trajectory and identify the technological requirements and customizations necessary to support that expansion.
3. Stakeholder Needs: Gain a comprehensive understanding of your stakeholders' requirements and determine where these might necessitate custom development.
4. Budget Realism: Establish a realistic budget that aligns with your eCommerce vision, accounting for both initial development and ongoing maintenance costs.

With these considerations in mind, most businesses will find themselves evaluating three broad categories of platforms:

• SaaS (Software as a Service): Prescriptive solutions that emphasize simplicity, speed, and lower technical overhead—but offer limited flexibility.
• PaaS (Platform as a Service): Flexible platforms with infrastructure managed by the provider, offering significant customization without the need to maintain hosting environments.
• Self-Hosted: Fully customizable platforms managed by the merchant or their partner, offering maximum control and responsibility.

Many businesses land somewhere in the middle. They want ease of use, but also flexibility. They don’t want to overpay for capabilities they don’t need—but they also don’t want to be boxed in later. This overlap is where most platform selection challenges arise.

This article aims to help you navigate this uncertainty. It outlines the distinctions between these platform types, guides you through assessing your real customization needs, compares leading platforms, and offers a decision framework to align your platform choice with your business model and goals.

Understanding Platform Types

Platform selection often begins with three broad categories: SaaS, PaaS, and self-hosted. While these labels aren't perfect, they provide a helpful way to understand the trade-offs between flexibility, control, and operational overhead.

SaaS: Prescriptive and Streamlined

SaaS platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and Wix handle hosting, updates, security, and scaling. They provide merchants with a clear set of tools and guardrails that minimize complexity. The trade-off is reduced flexibility.

• Strengths: Fast implementation, predictable costs, low technical overhead, and a wide app ecosystem.
• Limitations: Custom workflows and advanced integrations may be difficult or impossible without significant workarounds.

PaaS: Flexible but Managed

PaaS platforms like Adobe Commerce (cloud), Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and Commercetools allow for deep customization, while removing the burden of infrastructure management. These are flexible systems, typically requiring development resources to fully leverage.

• Strengths: Support for complex business logic and integrations, extensible APIs, and no need to manage hosting infrastructure.
• Limitations: Higher implementation and maintenance costs; technical expertise required.

Self-Hosted: Fully Customizable

Self-hosted platforms like Magento Open Source or WooCommerce provide complete control over the codebase, hosting environment, and data. In today’s terms, “self-hosted” usually means you deploy on a third-party cloud service—not a physical server in your office. Learn more about how developers are enhancing Magento UX in our blog on UX customization.

• Strengths: Unlimited customization, total control over hosting and deployment, and flexibility to build for exact business needs.
• Limitations: Requires full ownership of security, updates, performance tuning, and technical debt mitigation.

Assessing Customization Needs

Customization can deliver real business value—but it can also introduce unnecessary cost and complexity. The decision to customize should be based on whether the outcome directly improves revenue, efficiency, or customer experience.

Start with Your Business Model

Some businesses truly need custom logic or unique experiences that standard platforms can’t offer. Others assume they’re unique but would function effectively using existing tools or plugins. Conduct an honest audit of what’s essential to your operations versus what’s simply preferred. This is often best done with support from an experienced eCommerce consulting partner.

Weigh Customization Against Impact

Ask yourself:

• Will this customization reduce internal workload or improve accuracy?
• Will it drive measurable improvement in conversion, retention, or customer satisfaction?
• Can we justify the long-term cost of building and maintaining it?

Consider the Cost Beyond Launch

Each customization adds to your maintenance burden. Updates, compatibility checks, developer onboarding, and long-term support all become more complex. Many businesses benefit from starting with core functionality and phasing in custom work once the system is live and delivering value.

Platform Comparisons

Shopify (SaaS)

• Fast setup and strong app ecosystem
• Excellent support and theme options
• Limited flexibility in checkout and workflows

BigCommerce (SaaS)

• No transaction fees, good SEO controls
• Supports B2B and multichannel selling
• More configuration options than Shopify, but still prescriptive

Wix (SaaS)

• Great for small or solo businesses
• Easy to use, limited scalability

Adobe Commerce (PaaS)

• Advanced B2B tools, promotions, and multi-site support
• Flexible architecture, but higher cost and complexity

Magento Open Source (Self-Hosted)

• Full control and customization
• Requires technical oversight and ongoing maintenance

Commercetools (PaaS)

• API-first and headless architecture
• High flexibility for composable commerce strategies
• Requires significant planning and integration effort

A Framework for Making the Right Decision

Step 1: Clarify Business Priorities

What’s most important right now? Speed, cost control, flexibility, international expansion, B2B complexity? Rank your top goals and make sure your platform selection supports them.

Step 2: Map Requirements to Platform Capabilities

Evaluate how many of your functional needs can be met out-of-the-box. Use this simple mapping:

• ✅ Solved with existing features or extensions
• ⚠️ Requires customization that delivers clear value
• ❌ Preference-based or low-value customization

Step 3: Consider Resources and Timeline

• What can your internal team support today?
• What’s your budget not just for launch, but year 2 and beyond?
• Will you rely on an external partner for development or support?

Step 4: Think in Phases

You don’t have to commit to one platform forever. A SaaS solution might support early growth, while a shift to a more flexible platform could follow once the business model matures. Conversely, if you're already dealing with complex requirements, it may be more efficient to start with a flexible solution upfront.

There Is No Best eCommerce Platform

There’s no universally “right” eCommerce platform. The best choice is the one that fits your current needs, aligns with your resources, and leaves room for growth. Some businesses will benefit from a highly customizable platform. Others will thrive with a prescriptive, out-of-the-box solution that keeps operations simple and costs predictable.

The key is clarity—about your needs, your goals, your internal capabilities, and your willingness to support the platform over time. With that clarity, the decision becomes much easier to make—and far more likely to succeed.

Read next: Evaluating eCommerce Platform Flexibility Without the Noise