Magento vs Cratejoy vs Shopify + ReCharge vs custom, which for a sub-box brand?

Honest cut, by stage:

• Cratejoy, the host model. Cheapest entry, sub-box-specific UX out of the box, integrated discovery marketplace. Wins for $0, $500k GMV brands testing product-market fit. Hard ceiling: limited customization, weak gift-sub UX, no deep loyalty integration, you pay a marketplace cut. Most brands outgrow it by $1M.
• Shopify + ReCharge, the default. Fastest to launch a custom-branded sub-box store, ReCharge handles sub billing well, app marketplace fills gaps. Wins for $500k, $5M brands. Ceiling: Shopify variant limits, app-fee accumulation ($300, $1.5k/mo), B2B/corporate-gifting gaps, weaker churn cohort visibility than custom.
• Magento + ReCharge or Smartrr, the right answer at $5M+, or earlier if you need multi-brand sub house, B2B corporate gifting, deep customization at signup, or full data ownership. Higher upfront cost ($25k, $70k build) but no app-fee accumulation, full control over churn cohort dashboards, native PIM-style attribute model for customization.
• Custom-built, only for unique-architecture brands (BarkBox, Dollar Shave Club at scale). $200k+ + ongoing eng team. Don’t pick this unless you have a senior eng leader on staff.

The pattern I see: brands launch on Cratejoy, migrate to Shopify+ReCharge at $500k, migrate to Magento at $5M when app fees + variant ceilings + gift-sub gaps add up.