Headless Shopify with Hydrogen or Next.js
Headless Shopify builds on Hydrogen or Next.js start at $7,200 (160 hours at $45) and usually take 8 to 12 weeks.
I build headless Shopify stores: Shopify keeps products, checkout and orders, and a React front end, on Next.js or React Router with Shopify's Hydrogen library, replaces the theme. It suits brands with content-heavy or app-like storefronts, and teams that already work in React. A headless build starts at $7,200 (160 hours at $45) and usually takes 8 to 12 weeks.
Who it's for
- Brands whose storefront works more like an app or a magazine than a catalogue
- Teams that already run React or Next.js and want the store in the same codebase
- Stores that mix content from a headless CMS into product and collection pages
What you get
- A storefront using Shopify's Hydrogen library: React Router on Shopify's Oxygen hosting, or Next.js on Vercel or Netlify
- Home, collection with filters, product with variants, cart, search and account pages on the Storefront API and Customer Account API
- Shopify's own checkout, so payments and checkout apps keep working
- SEO tags, structured data and a sitemap
- Core Web Vitals checked before launch
- Code in your GitHub repo, with GitHub Actions CI/CD
How it works
- 01 A check that headless is worth it for your store; often it isn't
- 02 React Router on Oxygen or Next.js on Vercel, picked by your team's skills and where you want to host
- 03 A fixed quote in hours at $45, split into milestones
- 04 The build page by page, on a preview URL from the first week
- 05 Launch on your domain
8 to 12 weeks for most builds, which is 160 to 300 hours of work.
When you don't need me
Most Shopify stores don't need headless. A well-built Liquid theme can be just as fast and costs less to build. It also keeps the theme editor and theme apps working, while headless means paying a developer for changes your team could make in the editor. I don't have a published headless Shopify case study yet; my proof here is 10+ production React and Next.js apps and the PharmaFreak Next.js storefront.
Proof
From past work
Front-end development and a performance pass on a supplement brand's Next.js storefront (2023).
A fast, motion-rich React site for a French web and mobile agency, with green Core Web Vitals (2023).
- New
This site's previous version, built in React and three.js, scored 94 for mobile performance and 100 for accessibility.
FAQ
Questions
Since Hydrogen 2026-10 (October 2026), Hydrogen is a library that runs inside Next.js as well as React Router, so the choice is the framework and the host: React Router on Shopify's Oxygen hosting, or Next.js on Vercel. Next.js suits teams that already use it or want more control over hosting and their CMS. My 10+ production React apps include Next.js builds, and I'll recommend whichever your team can maintain after I hand it over.
Not by default. A careful headless build can be very fast, and a careless one can be slower than a good Liquid theme. I check Core Web Vitals before launch either way.
Apps that work in the Shopify admin or in checkout keep working. Apps that add code to the theme, such as review widgets and upsell pop-ups, need an API or a headless version, and some have neither. I check each of your apps before we start.
Other services
Next step
Get a fixed quote
Send me your store URL, what you want done and your deadline. I'll reply within 24 hours with questions or a quote in hours at $45.