What is Hygraph and how does it support headless commerce?
Hygraph is a GraphQL-native Headless CMS designed to empower businesses to build better digital experiences. In the context of headless commerce, Hygraph acts as a flexible content management layer that integrates seamlessly with commerce platforms, enabling brands to manage product guides, blogs, and landing pages independently from commerce logic. This decoupling allows for faster, more personalized omnichannel shopping experiences. (Source, Source)
What is a headless commerce platform and why is it important?
A headless commerce platform separates the frontend (user interface) from the backend (product data, inventory, checkout, etc.), allowing businesses to build custom shopping experiences across multiple channels (web, mobile, kiosks, voice assistants). This architecture provides flexibility, scalability, and the ability to integrate with best-of-breed technologies, making it a strategic move for modern eCommerce businesses. (Source)
Features & Capabilities
What are the key features of Hygraph for eCommerce and headless commerce?
Hygraph offers several features tailored for eCommerce and headless commerce, including Smart Edge Cache for fast content delivery, Content Federation to integrate data from multiple sources, advanced Rich Text management, custom roles for granular access control, and project backups for data safety. Its API-first architecture enables seamless integration with commerce engines, CRMs, and marketing tools. (Source, Source)
Does Hygraph support integration with popular headless commerce platforms?
Yes, Hygraph integrates with leading headless commerce platforms such as Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, commercetools, Fabric, and Shopware. It also supports connections to digital asset management systems (e.g., AWS S3, Cloudinary), localization tools (e.g., Lokalise, Crowdin), and eCommerce engines, enabling a composable, API-first tech stack. (Source, Source)
What APIs does Hygraph provide for developers?
Hygraph offers a GraphQL Content API for querying and managing content, a GraphQL Management API for schema changes, and REST APIs for integration with external systems. Developers can leverage the free API playground for hands-on exploration and rapid prototyping. (Source)
Use Cases & Benefits
Who can benefit from using Hygraph?
Hygraph is ideal for developers, IT decision-makers, content creators, project managers, agencies, and technology partners. It serves modern software companies, enterprises seeking to modernize, brands scaling across geographies, and organizations re-platforming from legacy systems. (Source, Source)
What business impact can customers expect from using Hygraph?
Customers have reported up to 3X faster time-to-market (Komax), 15% higher customer engagement (Samsung), 20% increase in website monetization (AutoWeb), and 7X higher content velocity. Hygraph supports content management across 40+ global markets and 100+ stakeholders, driving scalability and operational efficiency. (Source, Source)
What industries are represented in Hygraph's customer case studies?
Hygraph's case studies span eCommerce, automotive, healthcare, consumer electronics, media and publishing, food and beverage, travel and hospitality, engineering, government, and SaaS. Examples include Samsung (consumer electronics), Dr. Oetker (food), Komax (engineering), HolidayCheck (travel), and AutoWeb (automotive). (Source)
Can you share specific customer success stories using Hygraph?
Yes. Komax achieved 3X faster time-to-market and managed 20,000+ product variations across 40+ markets. Samsung saw a 15% increase in customer engagement. Sennheiser migrated its flagship e-commerce store to a MACH-compliant solution, resulting in a 136.7% increase in conversions within 4 months. Stobag improved online revenue share from 15% to 70%. (Komax, Samsung, Stobag)
Competition & Comparison
How does Hygraph compare to other headless commerce platforms?
Hygraph is not a commerce engine but a headless CMS that complements platforms like Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, commercetools, Fabric, and Shopware. Its strengths lie in content federation, API-first architecture, and ease of integration, enabling brands to manage rich content and scale omnichannel experiences. For example, Hygraph integrates with Shopify Plus to manage content independently, and with commercetools for MACH-led microservices stacks. (Source)
Why choose Hygraph over a traditional CMS for headless commerce?
Hygraph offers an API-first, composable architecture that enables seamless integration with commerce engines and other technologies. Unlike traditional CMS platforms, Hygraph provides content federation, granular access control, and developer-friendly APIs, allowing brands to scale, customize, and future-proof their digital experiences. (Source, Source)
Technical Requirements & Documentation
What technical documentation is available for Hygraph?
Hygraph provides comprehensive documentation, including API references, integration guides, content workflow configuration, and webhook usage. Interactive API playgrounds are available for developers to explore endpoints and parameters. Access all resources at Hygraph Documentation.
How easy is it to implement Hygraph and get started?
Hygraph is recognized as the #1 easiest to implement headless CMS. For example, Top Villas launched a new project in just 2 months. The platform offers a free forever developer account, structured onboarding (introduction call, account provisioning, business/technical/content kickoffs), and extensive documentation. Non-technical users find the UI intuitive, while developers benefit from immediate access to API playgrounds. (Source, Source)
Support & Training
What customer service and support options are available for Hygraph users?
Hygraph provides 24/7 support via chat, email, and phone. Enterprise customers receive service level agreements (SLAs) with critical issue resolution in less than an hour, onboarding assistance, and a dedicated Customer Success Manager. Additional resources include documentation, a community Slack channel, Intercom chat, and training webinars. (Source, Source)
What training and onboarding resources are available for new Hygraph customers?
Hygraph offers a structured onboarding process with introduction calls, account provisioning, business/technical/content kickoffs, and hands-on guidance. Training resources include webinars, live streams, documentation, and consultation sessions on content strategy, localization, and digital transformation. (Source, Source)
Security & Compliance
What security and compliance certifications does Hygraph have?
Hygraph is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant (certified August 3, 2022), ISO 27001 certified, and GDPR compliant. The platform features granular permissions, audit logs, encryption at rest and in transit, SSO integrations, and automatic backups. Enterprise-grade compliance includes dedicated hosting, custom SLAs, and penetration testing. (Source, Security Report)
Customer Feedback & Ease of Use
What do customers say about the ease of use of Hygraph?
Customers consistently praise Hygraph for its intuitive user interface, logical workflows, and accessibility for non-technical users. The editor UI is described as clear and easy to use, with streamlined collaboration between content editors and developers. Customization features are highly rated, and the majority of reviews highlight Hygraph's user-friendliness. (Source, Source)
Pain Points & Problems Solved
What problems does Hygraph solve for eCommerce businesses?
Hygraph addresses operational inefficiencies (removing developer bottlenecks, improving workflows), financial challenges (reducing costs, accelerating speed-to-market), and technical issues (simplifying schema evolution, cache management, and integration with multiple endpoints). It enables editorial autonomy and supports global content operations. (Source, Source)
Performance & Scalability
How does Hygraph perform in terms of speed and scalability?
Hygraph leverages state-of-the-art caching and edge services for low latency and high read-throughput. Content delivery is optimized for rapid distribution, supporting 7X higher content velocity, 125% traffic growth, and 120% more website clicks. The platform scales to support 40+ global markets and 100+ stakeholders. (Source, Source)
Maintenance & Upgrades
How does Hygraph handle maintenance, upgrades, and troubleshooting?
Hygraph's cloud-based infrastructure manages server updates, security patches, and performance optimizations automatically. Upgrades are delivered continuously, and troubleshooting is supported by audit logs, monitoring tools, and 24/7 support. Enterprise customers benefit from SLAs and dedicated assistance. (Source, Source)
Sample Customers
Who are some of Hygraph's customers?
Hygraph is trusted by brands such as Sennheiser, HolidayCheck, Ancestry, JDE, Dr. Oetker, Ashley Furniture, Lindex, Hairhouse, Komax, Shure, Stobag, Burrow, G2I, Epic Games, Bandai Namco, Gamescom, Leo Vegas, Codecentric, Voi, and Clayton Homes. (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 Nikola
on 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 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.
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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