Top 5 best headless commerce tools to watch out for 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 content management flexibility, 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.

#5 best headless commerce platforms

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 API‚Äã.
• 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.

#Conclusion

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.