When does leaving Shopify
actually pay back?

Shopify India plan prices are taken from shopify.com/in/pricing. Razorpay and Cashfree standard rates are 2% across all standard tiers. App-stack defaults are based on the typical mid-stage Indian D2C brand running reviews, email/SMS, subscriptions, shipping integration, and loyalty — usually three to five Shopify apps adding up to ₹20,000–₹35,000/month. The custom build cost field is an input you control — set it to whatever number your discovery conversation surfaces.

Eighteen months. This matches how the studio thinks about engagement economics — long enough that the build cost amortises but short enough that you can predict your business at this scale. If you're planning at a different horizon, the calculator's monthly numbers are easier to reason about and you can multiply yourself.

A D2C Storefront engagement at Izafa Labs covers: Next.js + Supabase + Razorpay/Cashfree integration, customer accounts, admin dashboard, payment + shipping integration (Shiprocket or Delhivery), and a 12-month support agreement. The build cost field in this calculator is pre-filled with a typical value — adjust it to whatever number your discovery conversation produces. Scope and pricing are always confirmed on the call before any agreement is signed.

No. The calculator compares ongoing operating costs only. Migration work — data migration, customer re-onboarding, SEO redirect mapping — is a one-time cost on top of the build. It doesn't change the break-even month materially. We scope migration as part of the engagement, not as a separate line item.

Different math. Shopify Plus removes the per-transaction fee but doesn't remove the gateway fee or the apps stack. At Plus volume (~₹1.7L/month base) the break-even with a custom build can come faster than this calculator shows — usually month 6–9. If you're on Plus, send us the rough numbers via /engage and we'll run the exact comparison.

Because we can't promise them. Custom storefronts typically improve conversion 8–15% on mobile through faster page loads and a checkout you can fully control. But every catalogue is different, and quoting a conversion lift as a fixed savings number would be dishonest. The math here assumes your conversion stays flat — any improvement is upside on top of the calculated savings.

Real and worth naming: app store reach, payment-gateway integrations done for you, Shopify's CDN, fraud detection, abandoned-cart recovery flows, and a deep talent pool of Shopify developers. The decision is rarely about features — it's about whether the recurring cost of those features outweighs owning your stack outright. For brands below the threshold, the answer is no. For brands above it, the answer increasingly becomes yes.

Eight to ten weeks for a Tier 2 storefront from kickoff to launch. The studio takes two engagements at a time, so timing depends on slot availability — currently there is one client slot open for Q3 FY26. Discovery is a 45-minute conversation at no charge.

Because the studio doesn't ship those. We build on Next.js + Supabase + Razorpay because that stack is what we use, document, and support. If you're considering BigCommerce or WooCommerce, those have their own economics — usually closer to Shopify's than to a custom build, but with different tradeoffs in code ownership and migration cost. We'd point you elsewhere honestly if those fit better.

Often the right first move. Most Indian D2C brands carry one or two apps they no longer use, an enterprise tier on a feature they only need the basic version of, and a SMS provider charging twice the market rate. Audit your stack before assuming you need to rebuild. If after audit your monthly cost is still above ₹40,000, then the custom build math gets serious.