Shopify vs hand-coded HTML: what a 73 vs 100 test showed

The test

Two versions of the same store

On October 7, 2026 we ran Google's PageSpeed Insights on two versions of a sample online store with the same photos, products and background video. One was coded the way a default store theme typically is. The other was hand-coded. On mobile, the typical version scored 73 for Performance, 88 for Accessibility, 92 for Best Practices and 100 for SEO (report). The hand-coded version scored 100 in all four (report). You can open both pages and run the test yourself: the typical version and the hand-coded version (details in the press release).

Limits

What this does not show

It is a sample store built by ZenMasterWorks, so it is not a measurement of Shopify as a platform or of any real store. A real store's score depends on its theme, its apps and its media. The comparison isolates one thing: the code on the page. Treat it as a demonstration that code can account for a large share of the difference, not as a ranking of platforms.

Why code matters

Blocking time is the heavy one

In Lighthouse, Total Blocking Time carries 30% of the Performance score, and it comes from JavaScript. A page that ships almost none starts ahead of one that has to run a lot of it (the scoring weights are laid out in the code teardown).

The trade-offs

When hand-coded fits, and when a platform does

A hand-coded page is just files. It cannot take payments, track inventory or run a cart by itself. If you sell many products or need checkout, a store platform or a payment service is the practical choice. Hand-coded pages fit sites that are mostly information: local service businesses, portfolios, brochure sites and landing pages. Many owners use both, with a fast information site and a store attached to it.

Test yours

How to check your own store

• Run pagespeed.web.dev on your homepage and on a product page, on Mobile.
• Read the first issue it lists. Apps and tracking tools often show up as unneeded scripts, so ask whether each one earns its place.
• Fix one thing, test again, and note the change.
• Compare your four scores with the 73, 88, 92 and 100 above.

If you want a head start

Start from code that already passes

Every template here is the complete, hand-coded file behind a live sample site with a public report. Open a sample such as the pet grooming site, run the test yourself, then decide. Templates are $29 each or $99 for all of them (see the catalog), and the $19 book walks through the method. Downloads work on an honor system (how it works), and building for clients needs a different license (licensing).

The platform-style templates in the catalog are hand-coded versions of the kinds of sites people usually build on builders and store platforms.