I’m trying to scale my store, but I keep running into a trade-off between site speed, apps, and custom code. Too many apps slow things down, but removing them breaks workflows. If you’ve already optimized your store, what actually made the biggest difference for you?
Topic summary
Balancing Shopify site speed with essential apps and custom code. The original issue: too many apps slow pages, but removing them breaks workflows; what changes deliver the biggest gains?
Key context and constraints:
- In the EU, cookie consent banners add unavoidable delay. Focus on real loading time over Lighthouse scores; with premium themes, 50–60 Lighthouse is considered good.
- Shopify now penalizes JavaScript-based “fake” speed hacks that previously inflated scores.
Suggested improvements with biggest impact:
- Remove redundant apps; consolidate into one multifunction app or native Shopify features.
- Replace single-purpose/heavy apps with lightweight custom code (e.g., sliders) and uninstall the app.
- Defer or lazy-load images, scripts, review widgets, and tracking to prioritize first paint.
- Audit regularly and clean leftover app scripts after uninstalling.
- Where possible, integrate app functionality natively; move external resources to the theme’s assets and minify scripts.
Open items/next steps:
- Share the store URL for a case-by-case audit to decide which apps are essential and which can be coded natively.
- No final resolution yet; discussion remains ongoing.
It always depends on where you operate your shop. In the EU, you always have a speed killer with the cookie banner.
Nowadays, page speed is no longer excessively important. The actual loading time is what matters to the user. With premium themes, a score of 50-60 in Lighthouse is very good.
Fake optimizations with JavaScripts, which are offered on certain platforms, are now penalized by Shopify. This is how shops achieved speed values of 98-100. Fortunately, those days are over. There are, of course, many ways to improve this, such as moving external resources to the /asset/ folder or minifying scripts.
Many apps can also be integrated natively into the shop. This must always be examined on a case-by-case basis in order to be able to give a good answer here. Some apps are too essential to be replaced.
Hi @eric18
What is your store? Why do you need too many apps?
Yep, this is a super common pain point. What helped most on stores I’ve optimized:
1. Remove redundant apps.
Many apps overlap. Replacing 3–4 apps with one multifunction app (or native Shopify features) made the biggest speed gains.
2. Convert heavy apps into custom code.
If an app only uses one small feature, I recreate that feature with lightweight custom code and uninstall the app entirely.
3. Defer or lazy-load everything possible.
Images, scripts, reviews widgets, tracking—loading them after the initial page paint keeps things fast.
4. Audit scripts regularly.
Old app scripts linger even after uninstalling. Cleaning these up makes a big difference.
For most stores, the biggest lift comes from cutting app bloat and replacing micro-features with custom code.
Hello, you are right. Installing the too many apps definitely slow down the loading speed of any shopify store. But the main difficulty happens when all of them apps are really necessary, that running the Shopify store smoothly. In this case, you need to consider custom coding.
By converting the Shopify app functionality, with custom coding definitely helps a lot. Like if you are using a app for Slider. Instead of using the app, you can hire a Shopify developer that can create the same slider with the help of custom coding.
Also, if you can share the store url so that I can check which apps are used in your store. And whether it’s possible to convert them with the help of custom coding.