See the difference
Thinking about building search in-house or hiring an agency?
A custom search build gives you total architectural control. It also comes with a $40,000 to $120,000 Year 1 bill, a 3 to 12 month timeline, and ongoing maintenance your team owns forever. Here is what ships as a single Shopify app instead.
Compare
platform
| Feature | Layers | Custom Build |
|---|---|---|
| Native ingestion of Shopify taxonomy | Yes | Partial. Must build pipeline |
| Support for Shopify combined listings and bundles | Yes | Partial. Must build logic |
| Native Shopify Markets support: per-region catalogs, currencies, and availability | Yes | Partial. Significant engineering |
| Multilingual catalog search without a separate index per locale | Yes | No. Requires ML team |
search
| Feature | Layers | Custom Build |
|---|---|---|
| Semantic embeddings understand meaning without synonym lists | Yes | Yes, on a higher plan. $40K-$120K build |
| Multilingual model supports 100+ languages in a single index | Yes | No. Requires ML team |
| Detects query intent and applies filters automatically | Yes | Partial. Basic patterns only |
| Keyword search with prefix, fuzzy, and typo tolerance | Yes | Yes |
| Behavior-based learning at the query level from clicks, adds, and purchases | Yes | Yes, on a higher plan. Requires ML team |
| Self-optimizes from behavior data, with manual tuning optional | Yes | No. Requires ML pipelines |
| Semantic search and natural language understanding | Yes | Yes, on a higher plan. $40K-$120K build |
| Acronym and abbreviation expansion | Yes | Partial. Manual synonyms only |
| Multilingual query processing mapped to the catalog | Yes | No. Requires ML team |
| Autocomplete and type-ahead suggestions | Yes | Yes |
| Camera or image-based visual search | Yes | No. $20K-$150K build |
| Price detection in queries with automatic filtering | Yes | Partial. Basic patterns only |
| Facet values and result counts computed per query and collection | Yes | Yes |
| Faceting and filtering beyond standard Shopify filters | Yes | Yes |
| Query-to-result reranking using machine learning | Yes | Yes, on a higher plan. Requires ML team |
| Handles incomplete or ambiguous queries | Yes | Partial. Basic only |
merchandising
| Feature | Layers | Custom Build |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple custom sort orders per collection | Yes | Partial. No merch UI |
| Rules engine for boosting or demoting products | Yes | Partial. No merch UI |
| Drag-and-drop merchandising interface for pinning and sequencing | Yes | Yes, on a higher plan. Full app required |
| Product sequences that keep paired or grouped items together | Yes | Partial. Custom dev required |
| Blend multiple attributes and metrics into one weighted ranking score | Yes | Partial. No merch UI |
| Contextual boosting by segment | Yes | Yes, on a higher plan. Full platform required |
| Scheduled merchandising with time-based rules | Yes | Partial. Custom dev required |
| Sort logic that varies by Shopify Market or UTM context | Yes | Yes, on a higher plan. Custom dev required |
| Visual preview of search and collection results before publishing | Yes | Yes, on a higher plan. Rarely built |
| Business metrics such as margin, inventory levels, and return rate in ranking | Yes | Partial. Multiple integrations |
| Dynamic pinning or exclusion, such as removing products when they sell out | Yes | Partial. Custom dev required |
company
| Feature | Layers | Custom Build |
|---|---|---|
| Built exclusively for Shopify Plus | Yes | No. One-off build |
| Product documentation publicly available for merchandisers | Yes | No. None included |
| Catalog updates propagate in near real time | Yes | No. $40K-$120K extra |
| Semantic search and AI ranking included without a plan upgrade or separate module | Yes | Partial. Must build pipeline |
Comparison based on Custom Build’s publicly available product documentation as of July 9, 2026, and on our own documentation. Features and plan availability change. Check each vendor’s documentation for current details.
”Layers punches well above its weight. The platform is powerful and the SDK is easy to use and gives us the flexibility to build any search experience a merchant can imagine. The team's Shopify dev agency roots mean they actually get what dev partners need.
~
Jason Hassold, Founder & Lead Developer, Negative Space
”Layers was the first time we were able to create the kind of sort orders we were used to having in Salesforce. We saw a pretty immediate impact on conversion rate.
”Layers doesn't just merchandise, it also finds the strategy and provides unparalleled control, all while saving us hours we didn't know we were losing. Not to mention, we’ve seen a massive lift in key KPIs
~
Brittany Csik, eCommerce Manager, Negative Underwear
”Layers punches well above its weight. The platform is powerful and the SDK is easy to use and gives us the flexibility to build any search experience a merchant can imagine. The team's Shopify dev agency roots mean they actually get what dev partners need.
~
Jason Hassold, Founder & Lead Developer, Negative Space
”Layers was the first time we were able to create the kind of sort orders we were used to having in Salesforce. We saw a pretty immediate impact on conversion rate.
The difference is clear
Save up to $200,000 annually
Switch to Layers and save up to 40% compared to other enterprise platforms, without losing a dollar in revenue.
Cost savings based on real-world onboarding data. Results vary by volume and features utilized.
