How Much Does Going Headless with Shopify Cost

Going headless is a choice for many established ecommerce brands when it comes to creating something extraordinary and beyond the limits of standard Shopify functionality. However, the question is how much headless costs and how to estimate the required budget. This article gets you covered – it contains the list of expenses you should bear in mind if you decide to go headless using the Shopify platform.

TL;DR Shopify headless pricing – What to consider

• Costs associated with Shopify headless commerce development are estimated based on the project timelines, hourly rates for services like web design, frontend and backend development, costs for tech stack, apps, and third-party services.
• When deciding between hiring a freelancer, a development agency, or handling the project with your in-house team, pay attention to the final budget as well as to the pros and cons of every approach.
• What indicates that you need to go headless? Your creativity is beyond Shopify’s capabilities; you want your store to be super fast; you sell across multiple platforms; you want rich content blocks; you’re aiming for a long scale.

What influences the budget – Cost factors of Shopify headless commerce

Headless is all about building custom storefronts when a Shopify theme is just not enough. In other words, when going Shopify headless, you still rely on Shopify’s backend for inventory, order management, payments, and more, but your frontend is fully custom-coded. This lets you customize your store without limits, achieve exceptional website performance, and flexibly configure your web app for various devices, even for smartwatches. But along with greater flexibility you get with Shopify headless, comes a higher degree of complexity and a broader cost range.

Headless Shopify pricing for a project may vary from $5,000 to $100,000 and more, depending on your goals and requirements. What impacts the budget?

• Platform: Shopify ($29-$2,300/month)
• Web design: $25-$40/hour
• Frontend development: $30-$65/hour
• Frameworks and libraries: free
• Backend development: $30-$65/hour
• Content management system (CMS): $0-$350/month, potentially higher for advanced needs
• Hosting and infrastructure: $0-$500/month, depending on traffic and setup
• Apps and third-party services: $0-$300/month, based on business needs

The provided costs for design and development are based on the DigitalSuits pricing. Market prices may drastically vary depending on service provider policies. If you want to know how much it takes to develop your particular project, contact us for a personalized estimate.

Now, let’s explore every factor that influences Shopify headless pricing in more detail.

Shopify plan

Going headless requires purchasing a Shopify subscription. It’s possible to build such a web app with any plan – Shopify (from $29/month), Grow (from $79/month), Advanced (from $299/month), and Shopify Plus ($2,300/month). Still, with higher tiers, you have more development opportunities, including more API calls and advanced customization options. Note that, depending on the plan, your transaction fee will also vary. Learn which features and rates accompany each plan in our guide on Shopify pricing.

Web design

Creating a website prototype, layout, and custom designs for your storefront is among the first steps in your journey. For this purpose, you need Shopify designers who are familiar with ecommerce specifics and can meet your creative expectations. Keep in mind that once initial designs are created, you will also need to adapt them for different devices, optimize them for better UX, and edit after getting user feedback. Take it into account when calculating your timelines and final headless Shopify price. Hourly rates for designers’ work range from $30 to $50/hour and higher.

Frontend development

The cost of custom frontend development fully depends on the complexity of your project. You can estimate the budget by multiplying an average hourly frontend developer rate (from $40 per hour) by the expected timelines for your project. Say, if you need 100 hours to create some elements for your headless storefront, you may expect to pay at least $4,000 for the frontend development itself. This approach will fit short-term projects, while if you’re planning a long-term project, you may also consider project-based models.

Frameworks and libraries

Shopify’s headless Remix-based framework – Hydrogen – could be a good choice for frontend development since it’s free to use and sufficient for developing a highly-functional store with a dynamic shopping experience. In this case, consider hiring specifically Shopify Hydrogen developers to achieve the results as fast as possible. Alternatively, you may consider using other frameworks, such as React.js, Vue.js, Next.js, and Angular.js. Most modern frameworks and libraries are open-source, free to use, and include no licensing fees. Still, some premium UI kits or plugins may charge a yearly subscription fee. If you use one, include its cost in your Shopify headless pricing.

Backend development

To connect your frontend with the Shopify ecosystem, develop custom apps for your headless store, integrate with third-party services, and connect with multiple APIs for processing and syncing data, you need backend developers. Costs here range from $40/hour for junior specialists to $150/hour and higher for senior developers. When hiring a specialist for your project, make sure they have expertise working with the Shopify platform and its infrastructure.

Content management system (CMS)

Shopify headless pricing often includes expenses for a CMS for managing content separately from the Shopify backend. Shopify's native CMS capabilities, when used in a headless architecture, are somewhat limited. You can choose between free, open-source options and enterprise-level platforms. Here are some of the options you might like to consider.

• Sanity has a free plan with basic features for up to 20 users. Its Growth plan costs $15/month per seat and is limited to up to 50 users. Check how we set up the Sanity headless CMS for our client – a global beauty brand.
• Storyblok provides a free 14-day trial; paid plans start from $99/month.
• Strapi is an open-source CMS with free and paid tiers. The Growth plan is $15/month per seat.

All of the above services also provide custom pricing for enterprises.

Hosting and infrastructure

You can use Shopify’s native hosting – Oxygen – to deploy your project. It’s especially required if you use Hydrogen for development since these two native services work perfectly when paired, and they’re both free. Alternatively, you can use other hosting plug-and-play platforms like Vercel and Netlify. These services are free to start, with paid tiers from around $20/month offering additional bandwidth, performance analytics, and team collaboration tools. You also might like to use AWS for hosting where the billing is usage-based. Here, costs may range from $50 to $500/month and higher depending on your traffic level and bandwidth.

Apps and third-party services

When going headless you still can leverage Shopify apps using APIs. Some Shopify integrations may require more effort than others though, requiring custom coding. You should also be prepared to pay subscription fees for some apps, and, in case you need some tailored features, for custom Shopify app development.

The most common functionality you might need for your store is adding reviews, analytics, search and filtering, email, and CRM. Popular services that deal with this functionality include:

• Yotpo for reviews – pricing starts from $79/month
• Plausible for analytics – pricing starts from $9/month for up to 10K monthly pageviews
• Algolia for search and filtering – free for up to 10K search requests and $0.50 per additional 1K requests.
• Hubspot for emails and CRM – has free tools; paid plans start from $15/month.

Your final headless Shopify price will include monthly/yearly fees for your desired apps and third-party integrations.

What additional headless Shopify cost should you bear in mind

On top of the obviouse expenses, you may encounter less visible ones which still should be included in your calculations.

QA and performance optimization

Once everything is set up, you need QA services to test your project and ensure specialized tools like bug trackers if you run an in-house development process. On top of that, to achieve the best possible website performance, you should invest in Shopify speed optimization that includes code refactoring and minification, caching strategies, and image optimization.

Support and maintenance

Every Shopify project needs continuous maintenance and support to keep running smoothly and deliver a perfect user experience without breakdowns. For this, you need a retainer specialist who ensures your store is promptly updated and optimized. Such services may also include adding new features and integrations. At Digitalsuits, Shopify retainer services range from $1,200/month for 15 hours to $3,600/month for 60+ hours.

Unexpected or planned scaling

Seasonal traffic spikes may lead to additional server load which results in higher costs for hosting. However, if your business is drastically growing, expect to increase your expenses for hosting, apps, and third-party services proportionally to the required resources. You will also need additional features, integrations, and optimization.

Agency vs Freelancers vs In-house: Shopify headless commerce cost

You have three options for approaching your Shopify headless development: with an agency, freelancers, or in-house specialists. Which option is better? Let’s explore.

Shopify headless pricing with an agency

Working with an agency offers a higher level of reliability and expertise. Typically, it provides a dedicated development team that handles all the technical aspects. There’s no need to worry about providing tools, technology, or equipment – the agency takes care of everything. They bring their expertise and deal with any challenges independently. Depending on the timelines and requirements, an agency may charge per hour or per project. Shopify headless commerce cost per project may range from $10,000 to $100,000 and more. If you prefer this option for your headless project, ensure that your agency has proven Shopify expertise and a relevant track record, and has gained a good reputation. If you’re looking for such an agency, check the Digitalsuits’ headless commerce works and Clutch reviews to see if we fit you. We’re a certified Shopify Partner with hands-on experience building solutions of any complexity.

What is Shopify headless cost with freelancers?

Hiring freelance developers may be less reliable but more affordable than hiring an agency. The most common challenges here are problems with communication and meeting deadlines. Freelancers also have limited capacity compared to a well-established team. However, if you need a specialist with some specific expertise or plan to scale your headless project and need support, it could be a valid alternative. The average hourly rate is $40-150, depending on the specialist’s qualification. If you’re looking for an individual developer or other specialists for your project, you can also consider outstaffing services provided by agencies. The main benefit of this approach is that you don’t need to be involved in the hiring process, and you can still be sure to hire a top-quality specialist.

How much is Shopify headless with an in-house team?

In-house headless Shopify development is a good option for long-term ownership if you have a reliable team with relevant expertise. At the same time, you will likely spend more time managing the project than with an external team: you should fill any talent gaps, ensure onboarding, establish project management processes, and more. In addition to paying a salary to every specialist ($3,000-$15,000/month, depending on skills), you will also need to ensure equipment and the necessary paid tools.

Do you really need to go headless?

We’ve compiled the most crucial points that may indicate you need to go headless.

1. You’re looking for full design freedom, and your ideas are beyond what can be done with Shopify themes. Headless can be a strong choice for you, since you can create anything – animations, multi-step flows, interactive lookbooks, etc.

2. You want an ultra-fast store with fully optimized performance. Modern headless frameworks ensure such an opportunity, giving you complete control over caching, lazy loading, and rendering when implemented right.

3. You’re selling across multiple platforms, such as mobile apps, websites, marketplaces, in-store devices, or even AR/VR platforms. Headless lets you manage content from a single place and deliver it to any interface.

4. You need to implement a powerful CMS. Integrating with a headless CMS like Sanity or Strapi will let you add rich content blocks, custom landing pages, and reusable design components.

5. You’re planning for a long-term scale. Headless lets you turn your project into something more complex, adding unique product configurations, robust personalization, and tailored logic.

On the other hand, you should stick to traditional Shopify or Shopify Plus if you are just starting your business or if existing Shopify functionality is enough for your requirements. There’s no need to go headless if Shopify already covers what you need — sometimes, simpler is better. You should also bear in mind that headless stores may require more time and budget than regular stores, and if you’re limited in these resources, you would do better to refuse to go headless. If you still have doubts about whether you need Shopify headless solutions, send us your request for a consultation.

Summing up

To calculate your budget for Shopify headless development, you must consider multiple factors, from your tech stack and features to the cooperation model and team you plan to work with. It’s better to estimate all the required work and tools beforehand so as not to be surprised during the process. If you need a consultation or project estimation, don’t hesitate to contact the DigitalSuits team. We will gladly help you find solutions that fit your objectives and specialists who will make your project a reality.

Looking for more details on the headless journey? Check our guide on how to go Shopify headless.