There are thousands of “WooCommerce vs OpenCart vs Shopify” articles online — almost all of them recycle the same list of pros and cons, written by people who’ve never actually launched a shop. We’ll do it differently: we’ll show three real shops we built on different platforms, and the exact moment when the “out-of-the-box” solution stopped being enough. Because that moment is what decides the platform choice — not the rankings.
Sportlabs: the WooCommerce shop we had to rewrite
Sportlabs is a sports nutrition shop: over 200 global brands (Optimum Nutrition, MuscleTech, Olimp, Dymatize…) across 19 categories. The brief was to carry three roles at once: a brand storefront with its own identity, full-blown e-commerce with filters, and a promo engine with sales, countdown timers and promo codes.
Where the “box” broke. A standard WooCommerce build can’t pull that combination off: the typical multi-step checkout kills conversion, and the stock cart and product page don’t give you the control you need. So we rewrote the key templates from scratch — the product page, the cart, and a custom single-step checkout built around Nova Poshta — to match the brand’s dark-green UI.
The takeaway for you: WooCommerce is great as long as the standard scenarios are enough. The moment you need a non-standard checkout, your own promo engine, or deep branding, that’s engineering on top of WC, not “configuring a plugin”. And that’s fine — just budget for it from the start.
3DPlast: OpenCart for non-standard logic
3DPlast is Ukraine’s largest manufacturer of 3D-printing filament. Here the requirements rarely show up in an ordinary shop: multiple languages (UK/RU/EN), dual B2C + B2B pricing (every product card shows a “wholesale and retail” pill), an accumulating 2% cashback programme, and even a unique mechanic — returning empty spools for a discount (15–30 UAH per spool off the next order).
Why OpenCart. When the core of the task is a manufacturer’s product catalogue with its own commercial logic (B2B pricing, bonuses, a reference blog about filament properties), OpenCart gives a solid e-commerce foundation without unnecessary content bloat. We built a custom theme and layered this logic on top of it.
The takeaway for you: the platform is dictated not by “features in general” but by your specific commercial rules. B2B+B2C, loyalty programmes, non-standard discounts — if that’s core to the business, it needs to be designed into the architecture, not bolted on with plugins at the end.
RC Toys UA: architecture decides, not the platform
RC Toys UA is a shop for radio-controlled models that grew out of the founder’s own hobby: 1,500+ models and parts, 36 brands, 9 model types and 25+ sub-categories. It serves both newcomers (ready-to-run models) and experienced hobbyists (parts plus advisory content).
The main challenge wasn’t which engine to pick, but the information architecture: how to keep 1,500+ items inside a navigation people can actually make sense of. Add checkout for three Ukrainian carriers and a dual-CTA on the product card. This, too, is WooCommerce — but not “out of the box”.
The takeaway for you: on a large catalogue, the platform matters less than the structure. The best CMS won’t save a shop where the customer can’t find the product. Architecture and navigation first, engine second.
So what should you build your shop on?
Boiling the three stories down to one:
- WooCommerce — when you need flexibility, content and branding, and you accept that complex scenarios (checkout, promos) mean development, not a plugin.
- OpenCart — when the core is a clean product catalogue with its own commercial logic (B2B/B2C, bonuses).
- Shopify — when you want a fast start with no in-house development, aiming at international markets.
- Custom — when the logic is unique enough that any off-the-shelf platform starts getting in the way.
What all three cases have in common: the turning point is always the same — the point where your real requirements outgrow a “shop out of the box”. Finding that point before launch, not after, is what professional stack selection actually means.
Shipping and payment: nothing sells without them
In every one of these projects, shipping and payment were critical: the custom single-step Nova Poshta checkout at Sportlabs, three carriers at RC Toys. This isn’t “a detail at the end” — this is exactly where shops lose customers on the last step. We’ve collected ready-made Nova Poshta and payment integrations in our module catalogue.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an online shop cost in Ukraine?
It depends not on the platform, but on your requirements: a shop running standard scenarios costs substantially less than one where you need to rewrite checkout or build B2B logic, as in the cases above. We’ll give you an approximate range after a short brief.
Can I migrate a shop from a website builder (Prom, Horoshop)?
Yes — products, orders and customers can usually be migrated. Complexity depends on the size of the catalogue and the structure of the data.
What if I don’t know which platform I need?
That’s normal — and it’s our job. We determine the stack from your requirements (assortment, pricing, integrations), not from fashion. Sometimes the most honest answer is “you don’t need custom, an off-the-shelf solution will do”.
Summary
Three shops — three platforms, and in each case the choice was driven by specific requirements, not a ranking. There’s no “best” CMS — there’s the one that holds up under your logic, catalogue and integrations.
Want to see the results in action — take a look at our cases. Ready to discuss your shop — tell us about the task: we’ll suggest a stack honestly, even if it isn’t the most expensive option for us.
