WHY CUSTOM MODULES ARE THE FUTURE OF YOUR WEBSITE
An off-the-shelf plugin does 80% of what you want and forces the remaining 20% on you. A module written for you does exactly your business rule, weighs ten times less and doesn't break at every update.
By Arnaud Poirier, freelance web & software developer, Antibes
- An off-the-shelf plugin does 80% of the need and forces the remaining 20% on you.
- A module written for you does exactly your rule, weighs less, belongs to you and survives updates.
- With code assistants, a dedicated module often costs less than a year of premium licence, from €600.
The extension market has solved the generic problems. What remains are your rules: your free shipping threshold by zone, your export VAT, your sync with your POS, your way of invoicing. There, no plugin fits any more.
The problem with the plugin “that does everything”
To cover every case, an off-the-shelf plugin ships a hundred options, settings screens, files loaded on every page. It slows the site down, conflicts with the others, and changes behaviour at every update. And the day you need a rule it does not foresee, you are stuck.
What a custom module changes
- It does your rule, exactly. Real example: a different free shipping threshold per country and per amount, with progress bars in the cart. No plugin did it cleanly; the in-house module is 300 lines.
- It weighs nothing. No useless options screen, no files loaded for nothing.
- It belongs to you. Code delivered, documented, with no annual licence.
- It survives updates because it uses the official hooks of PrestaShop or WordPress, nothing more.
What changed in 2026
Writing a module used to be expensive because everything was by hand. Today, with code assistants, the repetitive part (structure, forms, tests) goes five times faster. What remains, and what counts, is understanding your rule and verifying it. Result: a dedicated module often costs less than a year of licence for a premium plugin, from €600.
When to keep an off-the-shelf plugin
For everything standard and critical: payment, SEO, backups, simple forms. We do not rewrite what works. We write what does not exist.
Where to start
List what you do by hand because “the site can't do it”. Every line is a possible module. The offer details are on the page Custom modules.
Frequently asked questions
When do you need a custom module?+
Does a custom module break at updates?+
Do we have to rewrite everything?+
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