Build
Headless Shopify & Hydrogen Development
Fast custom storefronts on Shopify Hydrogen, Oxygen and the Storefront API, and honest advice on when headless is, and isn’t, worth it.
Quick answer
Headless Shopify separates the storefront from Shopify’s back end: Shopify still runs products, checkout and orders, while a custom front end, often built with Shopify Hydrogen and hosted on Oxygen, controls the experience. It offers full design freedom but costs more to build and maintain than a theme, so it suits a minority of brands.
When headless makes sense
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01
Experiences themes can’t deliver
Highly interactive product builders, editorial storytelling or app-like navigation.
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02
Content-led commerce
A headless CMS lets editors publish rich content alongside products.
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03
Several front ends
One Shopify back end serving web, app and in-store screens.
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04
An in-house development team
Someone needs to own and maintain the custom application.
What we deliver
- Headless readiness assessment
- Architecture and stack recommendation
- Hydrogen (React Router) storefront build
- Oxygen hosting setup
- Storefront API and Customer Account API integration
- Headless CMS integration (Sanity, Contentful)
- Analytics and consent setup
- Performance and accessibility testing
- Documentation and handover
How we approach headless
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01
Assess
We check whether a theme could meet the goals first.
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02
Architect
Stack, CMS, hosting and integrations agreed in writing.
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03
Design
Figma designs and prototypes for key journeys.
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04
Build
Hydrogen storefront, CMS and integrations.
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05
Launch and hand over
Testing, go-live, monitoring and documentation.
Headless or theme?
| Online Store 2.0 theme | Headless (Hydrogen) | |
|---|---|---|
| Build cost | Lower | Higher |
| Ongoing maintenance | Low: Shopify hosts and updates the platform | Higher: you own a custom application |
| Design freedom | High, within Shopify’s theme system | Complete |
| App compatibility | Most storefront apps work out of the box | Many apps need custom integration |
| Content | Shopify editor and metaobjects | Any headless CMS, such as Sanity or Contentful |
| Best for | Most stores | Brands with unusual experiences, content-heavy sites or multiple front ends |
Stack
- Shopify Hydrogen
- React Router
- Oxygen
- Storefront API
- Customer Account API
- Sanity
- Contentful
- TypeScript
Questions we hear often
Is headless Shopify faster than a theme?
It can be, but a well-built Online Store 2.0 theme is already fast. Speed alone is rarely a good reason to go headless; poor performance is usually fixable in the theme.
Will my Shopify apps work headless?
Back-office apps usually do. Apps that add features to the storefront often need custom integration, which adds cost.
What is Hydrogen?
Hydrogen is Shopify’s framework for building custom storefronts, based on React Router, and Oxygen is Shopify’s hosting for those storefronts.
Will you tell me if I don’t need headless?
Yes. Most brands are better served by a strong theme. We’ll recommend headless only when the benefits clearly outweigh the extra cost.
Let’s talk about your Shopify store
Tell us where the store is today and where you want it to be. We’ll reply with clear next steps and a written quote.