Hydrogen
Shopify's own React framework for headless storefronts. First-class Storefront API access, server components, and a deployment path that stays close to the platform.
Custom storefronts on a Shopify backend.
Hydrogen and Next.js storefronts powered by the Storefront API. Sub-second loads, full design freedom, and the honest call on whether you need headless at all.
The stack
The pieces, chosen on purpose.
A headless build is a set of decisions. Here is what we reach for and why.
Next.js
When you need the wider React ecosystem or a shared marketing and commerce app, we build on Next.js with the App Router and incremental static rendering.
Storefront API
Products, collections, cart, and checkout pulled through Shopify's GraphQL Storefront API. Your catalog and orders stay in Shopify admin where your team already works.
Headless CMS
Sanity or Contentful for editorial, landing pages, and rich content blocks. Marketers ship pages without waiting on a deploy, structured separately from your product data.
Edge hosting
Deployed to a global edge network with caching tuned for commerce. Pages render close to the shopper, so first paint stays fast wherever they are.
Analytics
Server-side events, GA4, and Meta Conversions API wired correctly from launch, so attribution survives ad blockers and your reporting actually reflects revenue.
The honest answer
Is headless actually right for you?
Most stores under a certain scale do not need headless. We would rather tell you that than sell you a build you do not need.
Go headless when
- You have real traffic and revenue, and a fraction of a second of load time moves the number.
- Your brand needs design freedom a theme can't reach: bespoke layouts, motion, custom storytelling.
- Content is central. A heavy editorial or media stack belongs in a dedicated CMS.
- You have a developer or partner committed to maintaining the storefront over time.
- You are stitching commerce into a larger app or building experiences across several channels.
A Liquid theme wins when
- You are under the scale where a custom frontend pays for itself. Most stores are, and that is fine.
- You want speed without a build pipeline. A well built theme already loads in under two seconds.
- Your team relies on the app ecosystem and the native theme editor to move quickly.
- You would rather spend budget on product, offer, and traffic than on frontend infrastructure.
- You do not have ongoing dev capacity to keep a separate codebase healthy.
We will tell you which side you fall on before you spend a dollar. If a theme is the smarter call, we build you a theme.
How we build
Four steps, fully managed.
From the first fit conversation to a live storefront your team can run.
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01
Fit and architecture
We pressure-test whether headless is right, then map the stack: framework, CMS, hosting, and how data flows from Shopify to the edge.
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02
Design and frontend
We design the storefront and build it in Hydrogen or Next.js against the Storefront API, with the CMS wired for your content team.
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03
Performance and QA
Core Web Vitals tuned on real devices, caching at the edge, analytics verified, checkout flow tested end to end before anyone sees it.
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04
Launch and handover
We ship to production with documentation your team can follow, plus a clear maintenance plan so the storefront stays healthy.
Questions
The things worth asking.
Does headless cost more than a theme build?
Yes, usually meaningfully more. A custom storefront is more engineering: a separate codebase, a CMS, hosting, and analytics all wired together. That investment pays off at scale, where speed and design freedom move revenue.
If your store is below that scale, a well built Liquid theme delivers most of the speed for a fraction of the cost. We will give you the honest number for both before you commit.
Who maintains it after launch?
A headless storefront is a real application. Frameworks, dependencies, and APIs evolve, so it needs someone keeping it current. We hand over clean documentation and can stay on for ongoing maintenance, or work alongside your in-house developer.
If you have no dev capacity and no plan for one, we will say so plainly. That is often the strongest reason to stay on a theme instead.
Do I keep using Shopify admin?
Yes. Shopify stays your backend for products, inventory, orders, and checkout. The Storefront API pulls that data into the custom frontend, so your operations team keeps working exactly where they do today. Editorial content lives in the CMS alongside it.
How fast will the storefront actually be?
Sub-second page loads are the target, with static and server rendering at the edge and aggressive caching tuned for commerce. We measure Core Web Vitals on real devices, not just a clean local machine, and we do not call it done until the numbers hold up.
Not sure if you need headless?
Tell us about your store. We will give you a straight recommendation: a custom storefront, or a faster theme. Whichever actually moves your revenue.