I’m so done with Shopify/Webflow/Woo for client builds. Anyone found something better?
Rant incoming. I run a small ecommerce agency (just me + one dev + one designer) and I’m losing my mind with the current options.
Shopify: I build a beautiful store, hand it over, and the client goes “cool thanks, we’ll manage it from here.” The 20% Partner commission is also a joke? I’d need 600+ referred clients to make that meaningful. Meanwhile Shopify’s brand is all over everything and the client forgets I exist when they do their next website update.
Webflow: Hit the CMS limits within a month. Honestly, it's not the best option for ECOMMERCE. It’s fine for marketing sites like landing pages but the moment you try to do anything real with products it falls apart.
WooCommerce: Plugin update roulette. Theme breaks checkout at 2am on a Saturday, client’s screaming, and I’m debugging someone else’s spaghetti code for free because “it was working yesterday.” Sure I started charging a maintenance retainer but it's too much handy job for little money.
Duda: Tried the white-label angle. Then they jacked up per-site pricing with zero warning. And the layout system is so rigid you can’t do anything that actually looks custom. Also their commerce features are mid at best.
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What I actually want: something where I can put MY brand on it, keep operational control, and actually build recurring revenue instead of one-and-done project fees. Basically infrastructure I control that doesn’t make me look like a reseller of someone else’s platform.
Has anyone found anything that fits this?
- Ideally something built by indie hackers or a small team who actually care.
- I'm not looking for another VC-funded platform that’ll enshittify in 2 years and will only think about shareholder value.
- Budget-friendly too. I’m not trying to pay enterprise pricing for a 3-person agency.
Open to weird answers. Self-hosted, headless, white-label, whatever. Just sick of feeling like I’m building someone else’s brand every time I deliver a project.