Headless Shopify: Why We Almost Never Recommend It

Why Agencies Push Headless

"You should go headless" is something I've heard from agencies pitching $150K+ projects. After 20+ years in e-commerce, here's my honest take: headless is almost never worth it for Shopify stores.

What Headless Actually Means

The concept is simple: separate the frontend from Shopify's backend.

Traditional Shopify: Customer → Shopify Theme → Shopify Backend

Headless: Customer → Custom Frontend (React/Vue) → API → Shopify Backend

You use Shopify for products, orders, inventory, payments. But you build your own frontend from scratch.

Why We Usually Say No

Cost. A headless build typically costs $80-200K upfront. A great theme costs $15-40K. That's a 5x difference for marginal gains.

Maintenance. Headless sites need constant developer attention. Theme updates come from Shopify automatically.

Complexity. Every feature that's one click in a theme becomes custom development in headless. Cart? Build it. Search? Build it. Everything.

The "performance" myth. A well-optimized theme scores 90+ on Lighthouse. Headless can score 95+. Is that 5-point difference worth $100K?

When Headless Actually Makes Sense

Same content, multiple platforms. If you need identical experiences on web, mobile app, and in-store kiosks — headless lets you share one backend.

Existing React/Vue team. If you have developers who only know React, headless lets them work in familiar territory.

Literally impossible in Liquid. Some rare interactions truly can't be built with Liquid. But verify this claim carefully — most things can.

The Question to Ask

Before going headless, ask: What specifically can't I do with a fast theme?

If you can't answer specifically, you don't need headless. You need a better theme.

Not Sure What You Need?

We'll tell you honestly if headless makes sense for your situation. Most of the time, it doesn't — and that's not a bad thing.