Product Options vs Variants: What’s Best for Your Shopify Store?
When building or optimizing a Shopify store, merchants often face a critical decision: should I use variants or product options? While both let you offer customization or variety to customers, they serve different purposes and come with distinct limitations.
In this post, we’ll break down the key differences between Shopify product options and variants, the pros and cons of each, and how to decide what’s best for your products.
What Are Shopify Variants?
Variants in Shopify represent different versions of the same product—such as size, color, or material. Each variant is treated as a separate SKU and can have its own price, inventory, and image.
Examples of variants:
- Small / Medium / Large sizes
- Red / Blue / Black color options
- Material: Cotton / Linen / Silk
Important Shopify limitation: Shopify allows only 3 option types (e.g., Size, Color, Material) and up to 100 variants per product.
What Are Product Options?
Product options are custom fields that give users additional choices without creating multiple variants. They can be text boxes, dropdowns, checkboxes, file uploads, or image swatches—used primarily for personalization or complex product customization.
Examples of product options:
- Engraving text
- Gift wrapping option
- Upload your logo/image
- Choose font style or icon
Since Shopify doesn’t natively support unlimited product options, you’ll need an app like SM Product Options to implement these features.
Product Options vs Variants: Key Differences
| Feature | Shopify Variants | Product Options (via App) |
|---|---|---|
| Limits | Max 3 options & 100 variants | Unlimited custom fields |
| Inventory Tracking | Yes | No (unless mapped to variant) |
| Visual Swatches | Basic (Color swatch possible) | Advanced image/color swatches |
| Text Fields | No | Yes (engraving, notes, etc.) |
| File Uploads | No | Yes (logos, images) |
| Conditional Logic | No | Yes (show/hide fields based on selection) |
| Price Add-ons | One fixed price per variant | Flexible pricing per option |
When to Use Shopify Variants
- Inventory needs to be tracked for each combination (e.g., size and color)
- Each variation needs a separate SKU or barcode
- You're under the 100-variant limit
- The options are simple (size, color, material)
When to Use Product Options
- You offer product personalization (e.g., names, engraving)
- You want to add extra charges for optional add-ons
- You’ve hit Shopify’s variant limit
- You want conditional logic (show/hide based on selections)
- You need file/image upload fields
Real Example: Customized Jewelry Store
A jewelry brand wanted to offer:
- Necklace length (variant)
- Metal type (variant)
- Engraving name (text field)
- Gift wrap option (checkbox + $5)
Since they were close to Shopify’s variant limits, they used variants for the inventory-managed fields and product options (via app) for personalization.
This hybrid setup gave them flexibility without overloading the store backend.
Best Product Options Apps for Shopify
- SM Product Options – Advanced customization, conditional logic, pricing
- Zepto Product Personalizer – Great for image previews and personalization
- Bold Product Options – Ideal for upselling with custom fields
Final Thoughts: Which Is Right for You?
Choosing between variants and product options isn’t about picking one or the other—it’s about using each where it shines. If you need inventory tracking and simple configurations, use Shopify variants. But for personalization, upselling, and complex product logic, product options offer unmatched flexibility.
Need help adding custom options to your product pages? Try SM Product Options and take your product experience to the next level.