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Page Builder vs Custom Theme: Which Is Better for Your Shopify Store?
Shopify currently offers merchants over 1,000 themes, both free and paid, to help customize their online stores. But even with this variety, many store owners eventually run into limitations when trying to create a truly unique, high-performing storefront. In these cases, they typically choose between two options: page builder vs custom theme.
Both options come with its pros and cons. The key is figuring out which one fits your goals, skills, and budget best. In this guide, we’ll break down the key differences between page builders and custom themes, from cost and customization to performance and maintenance, so you can decide which option is the best fit for your Shopify store.
Let’s start with the basics when comparing page builder vs custom theme.
What Is a Page Builder?
A page builder is a visual design tool that lets you create and customize web pages without needing to write a single line of code.
It’s designed for entrepreneurs, small business owners, dropshippers and anyone who wants to build a professional-looking Shopify store quickly without needing developer assistance.
How a page builder works
With a page builder, you can visually build your page layout and see every change happen in real time.
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You start by choosing your page structure, adding sections, rows, and columns to create the foundation of your layout.
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Then, you drag and drop elements like text blocks, images, buttons, galleries, or videos right where you want them.
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Next, you customize design details such as colors, fonts, backgrounds, spacing, and even animations to match your brand’s style.
Most page builders already provide pre-designed templates and layout blocks, so you can launch a polished, professional-looking page in minutes.
And with AI-powered tools now integrated into modern builders, you can even generate full page designs from a single prompt or image.
AI-powered page builder makes the entire process faster, smarter, and more creative than ever.
Pros & cons of page builder
Pros:
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Beginner-friendly, no coding skills required.
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Real-time visual editing with drag-and-drop simplicity.
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Huge time-saver compared to hiring a developer.
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Includes pre-built templates and design blocks.
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Budget-friendly option for startups and small businesses.
Cons:
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Advanced users may find it less flexible than hand-coded sites.
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May require monthly subscriptions or add-ons for full features.
Popular Shopify page builders
Here are some popular Shopify page builders on Shopify App Store:
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GemPages (4.9/5): Great for beginners, offering AI-powered tools and a flexible drag-and-drop editor, 400+ CRO templates and mobile optimization.
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Shogun (4.8/5): Powerful for marketing teams, with A/B testing and content scheduling features.
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EComposer (4.9/5): Advanced customization with dynamic content blocks.
Read more: 10 Best Shopify Page Builder Apps in 2026
When to choose a page builder?
A page builder is ideal if you’re:
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A beginner wanting full control over your site’s design without hiring a developer.
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On a limited budget but still want a professional look.
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Launching quickly and need a ready-to-go, customizable layout.
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Regularly updating marketing pages, seasonal offers, or product highlights.
What Is a Custom Theme?
A custom theme is a fully tailored Shopify design built specifically for your brand, often from the ground up. Unlike a page builder, which relies on drag-and-drop tools and pre-built layouts, a custom theme gives you complete control over your store’s look, feel, and functionality.
If you’re familiar with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or Shopify’s Liquid templating language, you can code your own theme or hire a developer to do it for you. How a custom theme works
How a custom theme works
Regarding custom themes, developers build out unique templates for different parts of your store, like the homepage, product pages, or checkout, then connect them to Shopify’s data system to display products, collections, and customer information dynamically.
You can either:
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Build your theme from scratch using Shopify’s Theme Kit or GitHub integration, or
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Start with a base theme like Horizon, Dawn, then customize it heavily to fit your brand.
Pros & cons of custom theme
Pros:
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100% unique design tailored to your brand identity.
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Full control over layout, functionality, and performance.
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Faster, cleaner code that improves SEO and site speed.
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Scalable, easily add new features as your store grows.
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Better integration with advanced Shopify APIs or third-party tools.
Cons:
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Requires coding knowledge or hiring a developer.
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Longer development time compared to using a page builder.
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Higher upfront cost for design and maintenance.
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Updates and fixes may require technical expertise.
When to choose a custom theme?
Go for a custom theme if you:
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Have a growing or established business that needs a unique brand identity.
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Want full creative and technical control over your store’s design.
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Require custom functionality not available in standard Shopify themes or apps.
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Are scaling up and want to optimize performance and conversions long-term.
Page Builder vs Custom Theme: Feature-by-Feature Comparison
Let’s break down the page builder vs custom theme decision across 6 key areas: cost, ease of use, customization, launch time, speed and performance, and maintenance.
Cost
Page builder
Page builders are generally the more affordable option for most Shopify store owners. Many offer free plans or low-cost subscriptions, making them especially suitable for startups and small businesses with limited budgets.
On average, the cost of designing a landing page using these tools comes to around $30 - $150 per month.
For example, GemPages Shopify landing page builder offers several pricing options:
GemPages pricing plans are affordable for any size of businesses
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A free plan that includes 1 published page, a drag-and-drop page builder, and GemAI Image-to-Layout with up to 60 sections.
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The most recommended plan at $29/month, which includes unlimited published pages, 400+ prebuilt CRO sections, AI-generated content (up to 100 rewrites per month), and GemAI Image-to-Layout with 300 sections.
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Additional plans for growing businesses at $59/month and enterprise-level needs at $199/month.
So, carefully compare features before choosing a solution. And keep in mind that some tools offer add-ons you may not actually need, which can increase overall costs.
Custom theme
A custom theme, on the other hand, is a long-term investment. Because it’s built specifically for your brand, the upfront costs are significantly higher.
The cost depends largely on how you hire your developers and the complexity of your project:
You can hire a freelance developer or choose a development partner agency for complex projects.
For smaller tasks like minor design tweaks, theme adjustments, or fixing bugs, hiring a freelance Shopify developer is often the most cost-effective option. You can find them on platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer, or LinkedIn. And average hourly rates usually range between $15 to $29/hour, depending on location and experience.
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Beginner: around $15/hour
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Intermediate: around $33/hour
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Expert: around $95/hour
For larger or more complex projects, a Shopify development agency is the better choice. Agencies offer a complete team (designers, developers, and project managers), ensuring professional execution and smoother collaboration.
Typical project-based pricing for custom theme development ranges from $500 to $2,000+, depending on features and scope.
Beyond development, you should also plan for ongoing expenses such as:
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Ongoing maintenance and updates (especially as Shopify releases new versions)
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Potential hosting or optimization costs if performance enhancements are needed
Ease of use
Page builder
Page builders are built to be easy and beginner-friendly. With a simple drag-and-drop editor, you can add, move, and style elements visually, then what you see is exactly what your customers will see. You can adjust layouts, change colors, and preview updates in real time without any guesswork.
Most Shopify page builders also come with ready-made templates, so even if you have no design experience, you can quickly create professional-looking product pages, landing pages, or homepages in just a few clicks.
These pre-made templates are CRO optimized so you can start using right away
Custom theme
Looking at this factor in page builder vs custom theme, custom themes usually take a bit more effort to work with. Shopify’s built-in theme editor lets you make simple changes like updating colors, fonts, or images, but anything more advanced often requires knowledge of Liquid, HTML, and CSS. In many cases, you’ll need a developer to handle bigger layout or functionality updates.
Because of that, making changes later on isn’t always quick or easy unless you have some technical experience or ongoing support from a developer.
Customization
Page builder
Page builders give you complete creative control over your store’s appearance, from layout and colors to fonts, buttons, and animations. You can design different page types like:
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Home page
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Product page
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About us page
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Policy page
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Check-out page
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Landing page
You can simply drag and drop images, videos, color palettes, and design blocks that best fit your brand’s vibe. Most builders also let you experiment with different layouts to see what resonates most with your target audience.
Consistency is key to building trust, and page builders make it simple to keep your brand style cohesive across every page.
That said, today’s advanced page builders are powerful enough for most small to medium businesses. Unless you’re a large enterprise with complex animations or highly specialized functionality, you’ll rarely hit a creative wall with a modern page builder. For most stores, they offer more than enough flexibility to design and grow with ease.
Custom theme
With a custom theme, your design possibilities are virtually endless.
You can create a completely unique layout, add custom animations, build advanced features, or integrate third-party systems, all tailored to your business needs.
Because you, or your developers, control the code, there are no limitations to what you can design or build.
That said, this level of customization takes more time and technical expertise. Every adjustment may require coding or developer support. But the payoff is a website that’s 100% your own, with clean, efficient code that performs smoothly and represents your brand perfectly.
Launch time
Page builder
If speed is your top priority, page builders are the clear winner in the page builder vs custom theme comparison.. You can launch a complete, professional-looking Shopify store in as little as 1 - 2 weeks, sometimes even faster.
For smaller websites with around 5 - 10 pages, setup can take just a couple of days. The only time things slow down is when you’re dealing with a larger site (20+ pages), complex eCommerce setups, or multiple third-party app integrations.
In a fast-moving digital world, agility matters. Trends change quickly, and while competitors are still waiting for their custom site to go live, a page builder lets you launch, test, and refine in real time, helping you strike while the idea is still fresh.
Read more: Top 3 Fastest Landing Page Builders for Shopify [2026]
Custom theme
Choosing to start your Shopify store with a custom theme involves multiple stages like planning, wireframing, design mockups, development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Liquid), backend setup, testing, and debugging.
As a result, you’re typically looking at a timeline of 8 - 12+ weeks before your store is ready to launch.
So if you’re eager to start selling quickly or testing new markets, a custom build might slow you down in the early stages.
Speed & performance
Page builder
Gone are the days when page builders slowed down websites. Modern Shopify page builders like GemPages are now built with lightweight, optimized code, meaning your store can load just as fast as a custom-coded theme when set up properly.
Many page builders now use lazy loading, clean code generation, and auto image optimization, ensuring minimal impact on site speed. You also get built-in performance tools, so you can test and fine-tune your pages directly inside the editor.
While it’s true that older or poorly configured builders could slow things down, the best modern ones deliver fast, SEO-optimized, mobile-responsive experiences without sacrificing design freedom.
GemPages uses optimized and minified code, helping pages perform better and support SEO best practices.
Custom theme
A custom theme gives you full control over your store’s performance from the ground up. Since every line of code is written specifically for your business, developers can fine-tune every element to achieve lightning-fast load times and smooth functionality.
Beyond performance, a custom theme also provides complete SEO control so that you can optimize page structure, meta tags, keywords, and schema markup exactly the way search engines like Google prefer.
Ongoing maintenance
Page builder
Many Shopify merchants tell us they turn to page builders because of how easy they are to maintain. Once your store is up, you can make design edits, update content, or launch new campaigns without ever needing to contact a developer. Most page builders automatically handle software updates, security patches, and compatibility with Shopify’s latest versions.
If something breaks, you can usually fix it yourself through the builder’s visual editor or with a quick message to their support team. They’re always ready to support you.
Custom theme
Custom themes, on the flip side, require more ongoing maintenance, especially as your store evolves. Because they’re built with custom code, updates to Shopify’s platform or third-party apps can sometimes cause compatibility issues. To fix or modify features, you’ll likely need to involve a developer familiar with your theme’s codebase.
That said, a well-built custom theme can remain stable for years with proper upkeep. It’s like owning a high-performance car, it runs beautifully but needs occasional tuning from a professional. You also have to manage backups, code reviews, and updates manually (or through your agency).
How to Decide Which Option Fits Your Store
Now that we’ve covered a detailed comparison of page builder vs custom theme, you should have a clearer picture of both options. If you’re still unsure which one is right for you, let’s take a look at some final tips shared by experienced sellers.
1. Know your goals
Start by defining what your website needs to achieve. Are you launching a small boutique with a few products, or building a full-scale eCommerce brand?
If your goal is to get online quickly and start selling, a page builder offers simplicity and speed.
But if you want a high-performing, scalable site with advanced features, a custom theme gives you the flexibility to grow.
2. Assess your tech skills
If coding terms sound intimidating, choose a page builder.
However, if you (or your team) have web development experience, a custom-coded theme will let you unlock more control and creative freedom.
3. Test before you commit
Try out a few page builders, some like GemPages already offer a free plan so you can explore how intuitive they are without spending anything. If you find yourself limited by their design options or performance, it may be worth considering a custom build later on.
4. Get expert advice
If you’re still unsure, talk to a page builder tool provider, or Shopify expert. They can assess your store’s goals, audience, and budget to help you decide which path offers the best return on investment.
Verdict
At the end of the day, the right choice between page builder vs custom theme depends on your goals, budget, and resources. If you have the time, budget, and technical support, a custom theme gives you ultimate control over your Shopify store. But hiring the right developer or agency is absolutely crucial. Choose the wrong one, and you could end up wasting both time and money before your store even launches.
On the other hand, if you want to launch quickly, design freely, and stay within budget, starting with a page builder is a smart move. And GemPages is one of the best choices out there. With its AI-powered tool, intuitive drag-and-drop editor, you can easily build a stunning, high-converting Shopify store without touching code. Plus, you’ll always have 24/7 customer support to guide you whenever you need help.
FAQs about Page Builder vs Custom Theme
