Comparison
Appziot or a Custom App?
Written by the Appziot team (Product). Published October 5, 2026. Updated October 5, 2026. Questions: support@appziot.com.
Appziot and a custom app both try to put your Shopify store on a phone. Appziot is a product you subscribe to: connect the store, edit the app, prepare iOS and Android. A custom app is a project your team or an agency designs, builds, and keeps alive.
If the requirement is a branded shopping app and the editor can express it, Appziot is the smaller project. If you need behavior the editor does not have, a custom app is the honest scope. Pretending otherwise wastes the trial or the build.
Side by side
| Appziot | Custom app | |
|---|---|---|
| What you buy | Lite, Starter, or Growth subscription | Design, build, and maintenance |
| Published price | $29, $99, or $199 per month, or the annual equivalents | Whatever the proposal says. Get it in writing. |
| Trial | 30 days | Usually none. You pay for discovery. |
| Catalog | Shopify stays the source of truth | Only if your developers keep it that way |
| Editing layouts | Dashboard, without a mobile engineer | Typically a code change and a release |
| Push | Included. Rich push is on Growth. | You specify and build it |
| Checkout | Shopify checkout | Whatever you implement |
| Store listing | You own the Apple and Google accounts. Appziot helps prepare the submission. Review is not guaranteed. | Same accounts. Your team handles rejection and resubmission. |
| Unusual native features | Out of scope | This is the reason to choose it |
Choose Appziot when
You want customers to shop the store you already run, with your branding, your collections, and push you can aim at a product or the cart. You want to change supported content without waiting on a new binary every time. You would like to cancel in Shopify billing if the app is not earning its place.
Choose a custom app when
The spec includes something Appziot’s widgets and integrations do not do, and you are not willing to cut that requirement. You also have people who will maintain iOS, Android, and the Shopify integration after the launch party. A custom app is a better product in that situation. It is a worse product when the “custom” work is a normal storefront you could have edited yourself.
More of the reasoning, without the table, is in builder vs custom development. Costs are in how much an app costs.
Frequently asked questions
Can Appziot be extended with custom code?
Treat gaps as gaps. If a feature is not in the editor or the published integrations, do not assume a plugin will appear. Scope that feature as custom work, or drop it.
Who owns the App Store listing?
You should. Apple and Google accounts belong to the merchant, whether you use Appziot or a development shop. Accounts in a contractor’s name are painful to move later.
What does Appziot cost compared with custom?
Appziot Lite is $29 per month or $290 per year. Starter is $99 per month or $990 per year. Growth is $199 per month or $1,990 per year. Each has a 30-day trial. A custom build is a separate quote. Compare a few years of subscription with a quote that includes maintenance, not with the first milestone alone.
Related guides
- What Appziot includes. Connection, editor, push, and publishing help.
- Builder vs custom development. The longer version of this decision.
- Pricing. Lite, Starter, and Growth.
- How to turn a store into an app. The work either path still has to do.