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Headless Commerce
HydrogenNext.js CommerceMedusaVendureSaleor

Shopify Hydrogen Alternatieven voor Headless Commerce

Je Hydrogen Stack Kost Je Meer Dan Alleen Maandelijkse Hosting Kosten

8
Frameworks Compared
Head-to-head analysis
95+
Lighthouse Score
Across all builds
<2s
Time to Interactive
Edge-rendered storefronts
40%
Faster Than Themes
Average improvement
What Hydrogen Actually Locks Down — And Which Alternatives Don't

Your storefront ships. A buyer lands on a product page. Behind the scenes, your framework fires API calls to fetch pricing, inventory, variants. If you built on Hydrogen, that request routes through Oxygen's edge network — fast, but locked to Shopify's hosting, Remix runtime, and flat data model. Your team can't pivot to Vercel without rewriting the deployment layer. Your catalog can't handle B2B hierarchies without metafield gymnastics. Hydrogen Alternatives are headless stacks — Next.js Commerce, Medusa, Vendure, Saleor, Swell, BigCommerce Catalyst — that decouple your frontend from a single vendor's infrastructure. Some prioritize developer experience. Others scale complex catalogs or multi-currency checkout natively. The wrong choice costs you 4–6 months of rebuild time when the mismatch surfaces. The right one ships faster, scales cleaner, and doesn't trap your business inside one ecosystem.

Waar projecten falen

Hydrogen locks you into Oxygen hosting and the Remix runtime Want to deploy on Vercel, Netlify, or your own servers? That's not a config tweak — that's a significant rework.
Shopify's data model is flat There's no native support for complex product hierarchies or B2B catalogs, so teams patch it together with metafields and third-party apps. That's technical debt, and it compounds with every SKU you add.
Hydrogen's ecosystem is still young Features that Next.js has as battle-tested community packages? Your team builds those from scratch. That's weeks of dev time you don't get back.
And if you ever want to leave Shopify? You're rewriting the entire storefront What should be a manageable migration turns into a six-figure project.
Subscription commerce and multi-currency support both need third-party services bolted on Those monthly SaaS costs add up — and they introduce API latency at checkout, which is the last place you want any friction.
Picking the wrong framework costs you 3-6 months before the team even recognizes the mismatch Rebuilding mid-project doubles your budget and pushes launch past the revenue targets that justified the whole thing.

Compliance

Shopify Hydrogen

Shopify's official headless framework, built on Remix with Oxygen hosting. The right call for pure Shopify shops that want tight platform integration and don't need deployment flexibility.

Next.js Commerce

Vercel's commerce starter kit, supporting Shopify, Saleor, Swell, and BigCommerce backends. Works well for multi-platform teams or anyone already running on the Vercel/Next.js stack.

Medusa.js

A fully open-source headless commerce engine with a Node.js backend you self-host. Built for teams that want complete control over their commerce logic, data, and what they're paying for infrastructure.

Vendure

A TypeScript-native, GraphQL-first framework built for complex catalog structures. Strong fit for enterprise merchants with multi-channel distribution and product relationships that don't fit neatly into standard data models.

Saleor

Open-source, GraphQL-native, with a solid dashboard and plugin system. A good match for engineering teams that care about API design and want GraphQL throughout — not just at the edges.

Swell & BigCommerce Catalyst

Swell is built for subscription-heavy commerce with recurring billing baked in natively. Catalyst gives BigCommerce merchants a Next.js-powered headless starting point with minimal migration friction.

Wat we bouwen

Hydrogen locks your deploy pipeline to Oxygen hosting — no Vercel, Netlify, or self-hosted option without significant rework

Audit your catalog depth, team skill level, and hosting requirements — then recommend the stack that fits, not the one trending at conferences

Shopify's flat data model breaks under complex product hierarchies, B2B catalogs, or nested variant logic

Connect your frontend to Shopify Storefront API, Medusa REST/GraphQL, or Saleor schema with type-safe queries across the codebase

Hydrogen's young ecosystem means your team builds from scratch what Next.js has as battle-tested community packages

Ship product pages that hit sub-2-second Time to Interactive using ISR, streaming SSR, or edge functions based on what your framework actually supports

Leaving Shopify later requires a full storefront rewrite — what should be a backend swap becomes a six-figure project

Build custom checkout flows or extend Shopify Checkout to remove redirects and cut cart abandonment where payment friction kills conversion

Subscription commerce and true multi-currency both need third-party SaaS bolted on, adding API latency at checkout

Deploy native internationalization with locale-aware pricing, currency conversion, and hreflang tags for stores selling across multiple countries

Framework mismatches surface 3–6 months in, doubling your budget and pushing launch past the revenue window that justified it

Manage landing pages, lookbooks, and promo content through headless CMS — decoupled from your catalog but deployed alongside it on the same domain

Ons proces

01

Commerce Architecture Review

We audit your current platform, catalog structure, integrations, and team. You get a recommendation document comparing 2-3 shortlisted frameworks with a clear trade-off analysis — not a sales pitch for whatever we happen to know best.
Week 1
02

Proof of Concept Build

A working PDP and collection page on your chosen framework, connected to real product data. This validates performance assumptions before you're committed to the full build.
Week 2-3
03

Storefront Development

Full storefront build — product pages, collections, search, cart, checkout, and account flows. Responsive, accessible, and optimized for Core Web Vitals.
Week 4-8
04

Data Migration & QA

Product data migration (if you're switching backends), redirect mapping, SEO parity checks, and cross-browser testing. Nothing goes live until Lighthouse scores clear 95.
Week 9-10
05

Launch & Monitoring

Zero-downtime deployment with real-time analytics, error tracking, and 30 days of post-launch support. We watch conversion rates against your pre-migration baseline the whole time.
Week 11-12
Next.jsRemixShopify Storefront APIMedusaVendureSaleorSwellBigCommerce CatalystVercelGraphQL

Veelgestelde vragen

Is Shopify Hydrogen de beste optie voor headless Shopify winkels?

Hydrogen heeft zin wanneer je je aan het Shopify-ecosysteem wilt committen en prima bent met Oxygen-hosting. Maar als je deployment-flexibiliteit nodig hebt, multi-vendor productbronning, of je team kent al Next.js, dan zijn alternatieven zoals Next.js Commerce of een custom Remix-setup met Storefront API vaak de betere keuze. Hydrogen verdient zijn plaats wanneer Shopify je enige commerce backend is — niet eerder.

Hoe verschilt Next.js Commerce van Shopify Hydrogen?

Next.js Commerce ondersteunt meerdere backends — Shopify, Saleor, Swell, BigCommerce — via verwisselbare provider adapters. Het deployt overal waar Next.js draait, niet alleen op Oxygen. Hydrogen geeft je engere Shopify-integratie met ingebouwde cart en checkout primitives. Kies Next.js Commerce wanneer je vendor-flexibiliteit wilt of al op Vercel deployt. Kies Hydrogen wanneer Shopify je enige backend is en je het snelste pad naar productie wilt.

Wat is Medusa en wanneer moet ik het gebruiken in plaats van Hydrogen?

Medusa is een open-source Node.js commerce engine die je zelf host. Anders dan Hydrogen — wat een frontend framework is — is Medusa een volledige backend: productbeheer, orders, payments, fulfillment, allemaal ingebouwd. Gebruik het wanneer je nul platformkosten wilt, volledige controle over je commerce logica, en de mogelijkheid om alles op je eigen infrastructuur uit te voeren. Het werkt schoon samen met Next.js of elk ander frontend dat je voorkeur heeft.

Kan ik Shopify als backend gebruiken zonder Hydrogen?

Ja. Shopify's Storefront API is framework-agnostisch — je kunt het opvragen vanuit Next.js, Remix, Astro, SvelteKit, of alles wat GraphQL-verzoeken maakt. Hydrogen is slechts Shopify's standpunt Remix wrapper. Het is niet vereist. Veel productiewinkels voeren Next.js uit met Shopify Storefront API en deployen op Vercel specifiek voor betere caching en edge performance.

Welk headless framework is het beste voor subscription commerce?

Swell heeft de sterkste native subscription-ondersteuning — terugkerende facturering, subscription-beheer en flexibele prijsmodellen zijn allemaal ingebouwd. Medusa verwerkt abonnementen via plugins. Met Shopify voeg je een third-party app toe zoals Recharge, wat API-latentie en doorlopende kosten meebrengt. Als abonnementen centraal zijn voor je bedrijfsmodel en niet slechts een nagedachte, besparen Swell of Medusa je echte integratieellende.

Hoe lang duurt het om een headless commerce storefront te bouwen?

Een productie headless storefront duurt meestal 8-12 weken, afhankelijk van cataloguscomplexiteit, integraties en aangepaste checkout-vereisten. Eenvoudigere builds — onder de 500 SKU's, standaard checkout — landen dichter bij 8 weken. Multi-currency, subscription logica, of aangepaste fulfillment workflows duwen dat naar 12-16 weken. We voeren in weken 2-3 een proof of concept uit zodat je echte vooruitgang ziet voordat je je volledig commit.

Headless Commerce Builds from $12,000
Fixed-fee. Framework selection audit included. 30-day post-launch support.
See all packages →
Next.js DevelopmentEcommerce DevelopmentCore Web Vitals Optimization Guide

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