Comparisons
Comparisons
The decisions you have to make before a project starts, with a table of real differences and what I would pick. No "it depends on your needs".
A freelancer / An agency
A freelancer for a project with clear scope and one specific specialism: you talk to whoever writes the code and there is no layer in between. An agency when you need several disciplines at once (design, campaigns, content) or when your company cannot depend on one person for years.
A paid theme / A custom theme
A customised paid theme, in the large majority of projects, and I say that even though it bills less: you launch sooner, a vendor maintains it, and the budget goes to what converts. A custom one earns its place when the paid theme has been modified so much that updating is impossible, or when the brand needs something no theme in the store does.
Native B2B / A wholesale app
Native B2B, by default and on any plan that supports it: the price arrives at the theme already resolved instead of being recalculated on top, with no monthly fee and no third-party dependency. A public app only wins when you need per-account discounts and do not have Plus, or when the app brings the whole flow and its model suits you.
Shopify / WooCommerce
Shopify if you want to sell rather than administer: the checkout, the hosting, the updates and payment compliance are not your problem. WooCommerce if you need total control of the code, or the store is a small part of a content site already living in WordPress, and you have somebody to maintain it.
Shopify Plus / Shopify Advanced
Advanced, unless you tick one of these four: more than three B2B price lists actually in use, a negotiated price per account, different catalogs per branch, or Shopify Functions written for your store. If you tick none, the budget for the plan upgrade goes further spent on order flow.