The Shopify vs. headless debate has become almost religious in e-commerce circles. Agencies push headless because custom builds mean bigger contracts. Shopify evangelists dismiss complexity as unnecessary.
The truth is more nuanced. Here are the five factors that actually determine which approach wins for your business.
Factor 1: Your Team's Technical Capacity
This is the factor most articles gloss over, but it's the most important.
Shopify (including Plus) works best when: - Your team is primarily marketers and merchandisers - You don't have dedicated frontend developers - Your dev resources are contractors or agencies - Speed of execution matters more than perfect customization
Headless makes sense when: - You have at least 2-3 frontend developers - Your team is comfortable with React/Vue/Next.js - You have DevOps capacity for infrastructure management - You can commit to ongoing platform maintenance
The maintenance question: Shopify handles security patches, performance optimization, and infrastructure. With headless, you own all of that. A "free" open-source storefront still costs engineering time.
Real numbers: - Shopify Plus: $2,000-2,500/month platform cost, minimal dev overhead - Headless (custom): $0 platform cost, $10,000-30,000/month equivalent dev time - Headless (managed like Vercel Commerce): $1,000-5,000/month hosting, still significant dev time
Factor 2: Content and Experience Requirements
The complexity of your content strategy matters more than transaction volume.
Shopify handles well: - Product catalogs up to 200,000 SKUs - Standard product pages with variants - Collection-based navigation - Blog-style content marketing - Basic landing pages
Headless excels at: - Rich editorial content integrated with commerce - Complex product customization (build-your-own, configurators) - Dynamic pricing and personalization - Content that spans multiple channels (web, app, kiosk) - Highly interactive product experiences (3D, AR)
The Shopify Hydrogen middle ground: Shopify's own headless solution (Hydrogen) gives you React-based custom storefronts while keeping the Shopify backend. This works well if your need is primarily frontend flexibility.
Example: When headless made sense A furniture brand needed: - Room planning tool that showed products in context - Dynamic pricing based on customization - Content from interior designers integrated with products - Consistent experience across web and showroom kiosks
Shopify couldn't deliver the room planner integration. Headless (Next.js + Shopify Storefront API) worked perfectly.
Example: When Shopify was the right call A fashion brand doing $20M/year wanted headless for "performance." Their site was slow because of 8MB of unoptimized images and 40 tracking scripts, not Shopify's fault. Fixing the actual problems cost $15K. The headless rebuild they were quoted would have cost $400K+.
Factor 3: Multi-Channel and International Complexity
Where your customers buy matters.
Shopify strengths: - Built-in POS integration - Native multi-currency support - Market-specific pricing and catalogs (Shopify Markets) - Established app ecosystem for channels (Amazon, TikTok, etc.) - Managed tax calculation and compliance
Headless advantages: - Single source of truth for multiple web properties - Consistent experience across owned properties - Easier integration with legacy systems (ERP, custom POS) - Full control over international routing and content
The hidden complexity: Running a headless stack with 5 storefronts (US, UK, EU, APAC, wholesale) means: - 5x the deployment complexity - Localization systems that work across properties - Synchronized inventory and pricing across sources - Testing matrix that grows exponentially
Shopify Markets handles most of this out of the box for Shopify stores. With headless, you're building it.
When channel complexity favors headless: - B2B and B2C from the same inventory - Deep integration with manufacturing/ERP systems - Custom wholesale portals with account-specific pricing - Omnichannel experiences that go beyond standard retail
Factor 4: Performance Requirements
"Headless is faster" is the most common claim. It's also often wrong.
The reality: - A well-optimized Shopify store scores 90+ on Lighthouse - A poorly-built headless store can score 40 - Performance comes from implementation, not architecture
Where headless can win on performance: - Static generation for product pages (pre-rendered HTML) - Edge caching with granular control - Optimized JavaScript bundles (no Shopify's script overhead) - CDN-level personalization without client-side JS
Where Shopify can match or beat headless: - Shopify's global CDN is actually excellent - Oxygen (Shopify's hosting) optimizes for Hydrogen apps - Theme-based stores with good practices perform well - Less JavaScript complexity = fewer performance bugs
The honest performance comparison: Shopify standard theme: 2-3s LCP typical Shopify optimized theme: 1-1.5s LCP achievable Headless (poorly done): 3-5s LCP common Headless (well done): 0.5-1s LCP achievable
The gap between "well done" headless and "well done" Shopify is often 0.5-1 second. Is that worth 10x the development cost?
Factor 5: Total Cost of Ownership (Honest Numbers)
Everyone underestimates headless costs. Here's a realistic breakdown.
Shopify Plus (typical $10M-50M brand): - Platform: $2,000-2,500/month - Apps: $500-2,000/month - Theme customization: $50,000-150,000 one-time - Ongoing development: $5,000-15,000/month - Year 1 total: $150,000-400,000 - Ongoing: $100,000-250,000/year
Headless commerce (same scale): - Platform backend (Shopify, commercetools, etc.): $500-3,000/month - Hosting (Vercel, AWS, etc.): $1,000-10,000/month - Initial build: $200,000-600,000 - Ongoing development: $15,000-40,000/month - DevOps/infrastructure: $5,000-15,000/month - Year 1 total: $500,000-1,000,000 - Ongoing: $300,000-700,000/year
The cost multiplier: Headless typically costs 2-4x more than Shopify for equivalent functionality. The question is whether the benefits justify that multiple.
When the cost is justified: - Revenue enables the investment ($50M+ typically) - Technical requirements genuinely can't be met by Shopify - Competitive advantage comes from the custom experience - Team exists to maintain the platform long-term
When it's not: - "We want to be faster" (optimize Shopify first) - "We need more customization" (Shopify's customization is extensive) - "Our agency recommended it" (check their incentives) - "Future-proofing" (you can migrate later if needed)
The Decision Framework
Answer these honestly:
Go Shopify (or Shopify Plus) if: - [ ] Your team is < 3 developers - [ ] Standard product pages meet 80%+ of your needs - [ ] You're under $30M revenue - [ ] Speed to market matters more than perfect experience - [ ] You'd rather buy apps than build features
Go headless if: - [ ] You have 3+ frontend developers committed long-term - [ ] Content and commerce integration is core to your brand - [ ] You have specific technical requirements Shopify can't meet - [ ] You're $50M+ with budget for ongoing platform investment - [ ] You need capabilities that don't exist in the Shopify ecosystem
Consider Shopify Hydrogen if: - [ ] You want Shopify's backend with custom frontend - [ ] Your team knows React/Remix - [ ] You're on Shopify Plus already - [ ] You need frontend flexibility but not full headless complexity
The Hybrid Approaches Nobody Talks About
Pure Shopify and pure headless aren't the only options.
Shopify + Custom Storefront for Key Pages Keep Shopify for checkout and account. Build custom experiences for: - Homepage with complex content - Product detail pages for hero products - Lookbooks and editorial content - Landing pages for campaigns
Route between them seamlessly. Best of both worlds for specific use cases.
Headless Backend, Shopify Checkout Use any frontend with Shopify's Checkout API. You get: - Complete frontend freedom - Shopify's bulletproof checkout - Shop Pay conversion boost - Simplified payment compliance
This is increasingly common and reduces headless risk significantly.
API-First Extensions Build specific features as microservices that integrate with Shopify: - Product configurators - Quote builders - Custom checkout extensions - Personalization engines
Keep Shopify for the core, extend where needed.
The Real Question
Don't ask "Shopify or headless?" Ask:
"What specific capability do we need that Shopify can't provide, and is that capability worth 2-4x the ongoing cost?"
If you can't answer specifically, you probably don't need headless yet. And that's not a failure. It's smart resource allocation.
Planning a platform decision and want a technical assessment? [Let's evaluate your options](/contact).