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?
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.
Hi, @eric18
This usually happens because the app you install adds extra scripts and assets, and over time that starts to impact site speed.
Here’s how you can improve it:
- Control app loading instead of removing apps
Keep the apps you need, but make sure:
Making sure scripts aren’t loading site-wide unnecessarily
Non-essential apps (chat, reviews, popups) load after interaction or delay
This alone often gives the biggest speed gain.
-
Clean up leftover code from unused apps
Even after uninstalling, many apps leave scripts behind in the theme. Removing this leftover code often gives a faster boost than expected. -
Reduce what loads on first screen (LCP focus)
Keep the first section lightweight:
Use an optimized hero image (WebP, compressed)
Minimal scripts above the fold
This directly improves perceived speed.
- Replace multiple small scripts with fewer combined solutions (where possible)
Instead of stacking multiple apps doing similar things, consolidating reduces repeated script execution.
In most cases, it comes down to controlling how and when scripts load rather than removing functionality, which lets you keep your workflows while improving speed.
If you’re not managing this manually, tools like Website Speedy can help simplify some of these optimizations. It’s completely optional.
Disclaimer: We are the developer of the Website Speedy.
Hello @eric18
That’s often not finding a perfect balance, but being really strict about what fires on every page load. The biggest gains are generally made by auditing apps that add scripts sitewide and using native Shopify features or theme code rather than duplicating functionality. Many stores also benefit from shifting tracking and marketing scripts to load on interaction or through Google Tag Manager rather than multiple app embeds. Custom code is generally fine, it’s the stacking of app scripts that really slows things down.