What is a headless commerce platform and why do businesses need one?
A headless commerce platform separates the frontend (user interface) from the backend (product data, inventory, checkout, etc.), allowing businesses to build personalized, dynamic shopping experiences across multiple channels. This decoupling enables faster performance, easier omnichannel selling, and future-proof system upgrades. According to a survey of 1,000 businesses, 78% are already using headless website architecture, and nearly 98% of those not using it plan to evaluate headless solutions in the next 12 months. Source
What are the main benefits of adopting a headless commerce approach?
Key benefits include faster website performance, simplified omnichannel selling, future-proof architecture, seamless integration with other technologies (CRMs, marketing automation, analytics), and developer freedom to use modern frameworks. This flexibility allows brands to create custom experiences for both shoppers and administrative staff. Source
Which headless commerce platforms are recommended for 2025?
The top 5 headless commerce platforms recommended for 2025 are Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, commercetools, Fabric, and Shopware. Each offers a unique balance of backend flexibility, scalability, and business features for modern eCommerce needs. Source
Why is moving to headless commerce considered a strategic decision?
Moving to headless commerce enables businesses to stay agile and competitive as customer expectations evolve. Decoupling the frontend from the backend allows for rapid adaptation, personalized experiences, and integration with best-of-breed technologies. Source
Key Features & Capabilities
What features should businesses look for in headless commerce tools?
Businesses should prioritize flexibility and scalability for customization, API-first architecture for seamless integration, multichannel support, headless CMS integration for content management, and user-friendly interfaces for both developers and marketers. Source
How does API-first architecture benefit headless commerce platforms?
API-first architecture allows all components (cart, checkout, product catalog, CRM) to connect easily with other tools, supporting efficient workflows and enabling integration with best-of-breed technologies. Source
What is the role of a headless CMS in a headless commerce setup?
A headless CMS enables easy management of rich content (product guides, blogs, landing pages) separately from commerce logic, allowing for updates without frontend downtime and supporting omnichannel content delivery. Source
How do user-friendly interfaces impact headless commerce adoption?
User-friendly interfaces allow both developers and marketers to efficiently manage and update the platform. Developers benefit from strong capabilities for building, while marketers can make content changes without waiting for code interventions. Source
Platform Comparisons & Use Cases
How does Shopify Plus support headless commerce?
Shopify Plus provides a fully hosted commerce backend with a polished admin interface. Developers can build custom frontends using Shopify's APIs, including GraphQL Storefront API and REST Admin API. It is best suited for large enterprise stores due to its advanced B2B and API features. Source
What are the strengths of BigCommerce as a headless commerce platform?
BigCommerce offers an API-driven SaaS commerce engine with about 95% of features exposed via REST and GraphQL APIs. It supports flexible frontends, built-in themes, and out-of-box integration with headless CMS platforms like Hygraph. Users appreciate its open, API-first logic and lower processing fees compared to Shopify. Source
What makes commercetools unique among headless commerce solutions?
Commercetools is built on MACH architecture (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) and offers modular commerce services accessible via APIs. It provides granular control for developers and a clean Merchant Center UI for non-technical users. Source
How does Fabric support mid-market and enterprise brands?
Fabric is a modular headless commerce platform with over 300 API endpoints, composable architecture, and business-friendly interfaces for managing products, pricing, and promotions. It enables custom shopping experiences across unlimited channels with fast performance. Source
What are the advantages of Shopware for headless commerce?
Shopware is an open-source headless commerce platform with an API-first backend, intuitive admin interface, and built-in CMS. It offers a Rule Builder for personalized pricing and promotions, and users appreciate its open architecture and manageable learning curve. Source
Hygraph Features & Capabilities
What is Hygraph and how does it support headless commerce?
Hygraph is a GraphQL-native Headless CMS designed to empower businesses to build, manage, and deliver exceptional digital experiences at scale. It integrates seamlessly with headless commerce platforms, enabling flexible content management, content federation, and omnichannel delivery. Source
What are the key capabilities and benefits of Hygraph?
Hygraph offers operational efficiency, financial benefits, and technical advantages such as GraphQL-native architecture, content federation, enterprise-grade security, Smart Edge Cache, custom roles, rich text management, and project backups. Proven results include 3X faster time-to-market for Komax and a 15% improvement in customer engagement for Samsung. Source
How does Hygraph address operational inefficiencies in content management?
Hygraph eliminates developer dependency by providing a user-friendly interface for non-technical users, streamlines workflows, and accelerates content creation and localization. It ensures consistent content delivery across channels and regions through content federation. Source
What technical advantages does Hygraph offer for developers?
Hygraph's GraphQL-native architecture simplifies schema evolution and data retrieval, while robust APIs and content federation enable integration with third-party systems. Smart Edge Cache optimizes performance and content delivery. Source
How does Hygraph ensure security and compliance?
Hygraph is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant (since August 3rd, 2022), ISO 27001 certified, and GDPR compliant. It offers granular permissions, SSO integrations, audit logs, encryption at rest and in transit, regular backups, and enterprise-grade compliance features. Source
What feedback have customers given about Hygraph's ease of use?
Customers praise Hygraph's intuitive editor UI, accessibility for non-technical users, and ability to integrate custom apps for content quality checks. Hygraph was recognized for "Best Usability" in Summer 2023. Source
How quickly can businesses implement Hygraph?
Implementation timelines vary by project scope. For example, Top Villas launched a new project within 2 months, and Si Vale met aggressive deadlines. Hygraph offers a free API playground, free developer account, structured onboarding, and extensive documentation for rapid adoption. Source
Who is the target audience for Hygraph?
Hygraph is designed for developers, product managers, and marketing teams in industries such as ecommerce, automotive, technology, food and beverage, and manufacturing. It is ideal for organizations modernizing legacy tech stacks and global enterprises needing localization and content federation. Source
What pain points does Hygraph solve for businesses?
How does Hygraph differentiate itself from other headless CMS platforms?
Hygraph stands out as the first GraphQL-native Headless CMS, offering content federation, user-friendly tools, enterprise-grade security, and integration capabilities. Its focus on composability and extensibility allows businesses to adapt to evolving demands. Source
What customer success stories demonstrate Hygraph's impact?
Komax achieved 3X faster time-to-market, Autoweb saw a 20% increase in website monetization, Samsung improved customer engagement by 15%, and Dr. Oetker enhanced their digital experience using MACH architecture. More stories are available at Hygraph Customer Stories.
What KPIs and metrics are associated with the pain points Hygraph solves?
KPIs include time saved on content updates, system uptime, content consistency across regions, user satisfaction scores, reduction in operational costs, time to market, maintenance costs, scalability metrics, and performance during peak usage. More details can be found in the Hygraph CMS KPIs blog.
How does Hygraph handle value objections from prospects?
Hygraph addresses value objections by understanding customer needs, highlighting unique features (API-first, headless architecture, GraphQL), demonstrating ROI (cost reduction, speed-to-market, scalability), and sharing success stories such as Samsung's improved engagement. Source
What is the overarching vision and mission of Hygraph?
Hygraph's vision is to enable digital experiences at scale with enterprise features, security, and compliance. The mission is rooted in trust, collaboration, ownership, customer focus, continuous learning, transparency, and action-first values. Source
How does Hygraph's product contribute to achieving its vision?
Hygraph's product contributes by offering GraphQL-native architecture, content federation, Smart Edge Cache, enterprise-grade features, ease of use, and integration capabilities, empowering businesses to scale digital operations and deliver exceptional experiences. Source
What performance highlights does Hygraph offer?
Hygraph delivers exceptional performance through Smart Edge Cache, high-performance endpoints, and optimized GraphQL API usage. These features ensure reliability and speed for high-traffic, global audiences. Source
What security certifications does Hygraph hold?
Hygraph is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant (since August 3rd, 2022), ISO 27001 certified, and GDPR compliant, demonstrating its commitment to secure and compliant content management. Source
How does Hygraph support integration with headless commerce platforms?
Hygraph supports integration with headless commerce platforms through its API-first, GraphQL-native architecture, enabling seamless content management and omnichannel delivery alongside platforms like Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, commercetools, Fabric, and Shopware. Source
Top 5 best headless commerce tools to watch out for 2025
Discover the top 5 headless commerce tools of 2025 to boost flexibility, scalability, and customer experience for modern eCommerce businesses.
Written by NikolaĀ
onĀ May 20, 2025
Headless commerce brings agility to your eCommerce business. When you decouple your online store's frontend from the backend systems that power it, you can build faster and more flexible shopping experiences for your customers.
However, as always, choosing the right platform is critical. To help you with the selection process, we'll review top headless commerce tools.
#What is a headless commerce platform, and why do you need one?
A headless commerce platform is an eCommerce solution where the frontend (what users see) is separated from the backend (where product data, inventories, discount calculations, and checkouts are managed).
Thanks to this ''decoupling'', you can build a personalized and dynamic shopping experience on different channels - web, mobile, kiosks, voice assistants, or even smart devices, as you are not limited by the bulky structure of an all-in-one commerce platform.
Since a headless commerce platform manages all the backend services, you are free to connect to multiple frontends, which communicate with the backend through APIs.
This is a huge leap from traditional eCommerce platforms, where a predefined frontend is tightly coupled with the backend, often forcing online merchants to build their storefronts using only the available templates.
However, traditional monolithic platforms struggle to meet customer expectations for fast, personalized, and seamless shopping experiences.
Headless commerce emerges as the answer with a flexible, API-first approach that gives brands full control over the frontend experience while managing strong backend operations.
Over the last few years, headless commerce has moved from a niche concept to a mainstream eCommerce strategy, and the trend is growing.
A survey of 1,000 businesses reveals that 78% are using a headless website architecture, while among those not using headless at the moment, nearly 98% plan to evaluate headless solutions in the next 12 months.
Why headless commerce?
One of the main benefits of headless commerce platforms is that you can design your online store any way you want, without the restrictions of a traditional platform.
Apart from this contentmanagementflexibility, let's mention other benefits of having a headless commerce platform:
Faster performance: With a headless setup, your page often loads faster, which creates a smoother user experience, which boosts conversions.
Simplified omnichannel selling: One backend can provide content and commerce functionality to several channels at once.
Future-proof system: You can upgrade, replace, or customize parts of your frontend or backend without changing the entire platform.
Integration with other technologies: Headless platforms easily integrate with CRMs, marketing automation, or analytics tools, so you can build a fully connected commerce ecosystem and make smarter data-driven decisions.
Developer freedom: Your engineering team can choose modern frameworks (like Next.js, Nuxt, or React) to build high-performance storefronts.
As a matter of fact, with a headless commerce platform, you can create a custom experience on both ends - for shoppers and your administrative staff - and meet specific needs that are unique to your brand.
#Key features to look for in headless commerce tools
Unless you're an expert, choosing the right headless commerce tool can be challenging. To start our search, let's briefly mention what features to look for.
Flexibility and scalability for customization
A headless commerce tool should let you build exactly the storefront you want, without imposing rigid templates or other limitations. You should be able to quickly adapt to new customer expectations, launch seasonal promotions, or scale your infrastructure without changing the platform.
API-first architecture for seamless integration
Every component, such as cart, checkout, product catalog, CRM, etc., should connect easily with other tools in your tech stack. In other words, it's easy to plug in best-of-breed technologies and keep your workflow efficient well into the future.
Multichannel support (web, mobile, IoT, etc.)
You should be able to effortlessly deliver content and make transactions across all touchpoints, like websites, mobile apps, kiosks, smartwatches, or even voice assistants.
Headless CMS integration for managing content
When you pair your commerce engine with a headless CMS, you can easily manage rich content such as product guides, blogs, and landing pages separately from the commerce logic, without frontend downtimes.
User-friendly interfaces for both developers and marketers
Ideally, the headless solution should have both strong developer capabilities and an intuitive dashboard for non-technical users. Developers can build fast and efficiently, while marketers can make updates without waiting for code interventions.
Here's our pick of the top headless commerce platforms this year.
1. Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus is an enterprise e-commerce platform with over 48,426 business users. It gives you a fully hosted commerce backend with a polished admin interface, while developers can build custom frontends using any technology via Shopify's APIs.
However, keep in mind that unless you're running a huge 6-figure store, there's no reason to switch from regular Shopify. The Shopify Plus B2B and API features are only useful for big enterprise stores, while low payment processing fees are only going to save you money if you have a huge transaction volume.
Key features:
GraphQL Storefront API and REST Admin APIāĆĆ£.
Hydrogen and Oxygen tooling for fast building and deploying React-based headless storefronts.
Large choice of ERP, CRM, CMS, and other extensions that plug into an ''easy-to-use admin'' interface.
For example, you can use Hygraph to seamlessly manage all your content needs, from product descriptions to blog content, without disrupting your eCommerce system.
As a matter of fact, by migrating to Hygraph, an online home decor company managed to increase sales 2x after the new pages were released.
2. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is an API-driven SaaS commerce platform with an ''Open SaaS'' approach. It offers a commerce engine with a modern admin dashboard, while the developers are free to decouple the frontend, as needed.
Key features:
About 95% of platform features are exposed via REST and GraphQL APIs, with webhooks for events.
Flexible frontend which lets you use the built-in theme and Page Builder, or go headless with the framework of your choice, with the out-of-box support for headless CMS like Hygraph or WordPress.
As a result, BigCommerce users get Shopify-like ease of use with a more open, API-first logic.
Besides, some users prefer BigCommerce over Shopify because of the functionality and features, as well as lower processing fees.
3. commercetools
Commercetools is one of the first headless commerce solutions built on MACH architecture (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless). It offers a suite of modular commerce services like catalogs, carts, orders, etc. These are accessible entirely via APIs, which gives developers granular control to build personalized customer experiences.
Key features:
API-first microservices, where each commerce function is delivered via independent services with well-designed REST and GraphQL APIs.
Front-end agnostic - you can build custom frontends on any device or touchpoint.
The Merchant Center, with its clean UI, lets non-technical users handle daily tasks without ticketing developers.
Interested in building an agile eCommerce platform with a MACH-first approach?
Here's how one of the oldest retailers in Germany successfully integrated Hygraph as an enterprise-ready CMS into their MACH-led microservices tech stack, achieving 3x content velocity and cutting time to market by 50%.
4. Fabric
Fabric is a modular headless commerce platform oriented to mid-market and enterprise brands. It provides a suite of commerce APIs and easy-to-use business applications, which should help retailers go headless without a steep learning curve.
Key features:
A full suite of headless APIs, with over 300 endpoints, which allows custom shopping experiences across unlimited channels and fast performance (<50ms responses).
Composable architecture with modular PIM, OMS, storefront, and other services.
Business-friendly interface for managing products, pricing, and promotions.
Although API-centric, Fabric has an excellent UI, so you can adopt a headless commerce architecture without leaving behind the merchandisers and marketers who need to operate the system day-to-day.
If you're considering a transition to headless commerce, Hygraph is an ideal CMS to accompany your journey. It offers the flexible content management required to scale quickly and hit the ground running.
5. Shopware
Shopware is an open-source headless commerce platform that combines a flexible, API-first backend with an intuitive admin interface. You can self-host or use their cloud - and avoid vendor lock-in, all while providing plenty of features for omnichannel commerce.
Key features:
API-first and headless ready - all core commerce functionality is exposed via a comprehensive REST API (with optional GraphQL) for headless implementations.
Built-in ''Shopping Experiences'' CMS.
Rule Builder - a drag-and-drop business logic tool for things like personalized pricing or promotions.
We decided to put Shopware on this list because it hits a good balance between openness and polish. Users who switch from Shopify Plus to Shopware often cite the open-source architecture and a more manageable learning curve as reasons.
Moving from traditional to headless commerce is no longer a nice-to-have but a strategic move.
As customer expectations evolve, decoupling the frontend from the backend helps businesses stay agile and competitive.
Each platform covered here offers a specific balance of backend flexibility and business features. Take time to evaluate your real needs and resources and choose the tool that best aligns with your goals.
If you're considering a move to headless or want to learn more about composable commerce strategies, we recommend exploring additional resources or consulting a headless commerce expert.
Blog Author
Nikola Gemes
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