When choosing to build your ecommerce store with Shopify, one of the first and most important questions you’ll need to ask yourself is: “Should I go for a native Liquid template or a Headless build?”. 

Shopify, as an ecommerce platform, is extremely flexible and offers solutions tailored to every size and kind of business, whether you’re just starting out or your business has grown to an enterprise level. This flexibility doesn’t just come in its robust feature set but also in terms of the skeleton your store is built on to begin with. 

Regarding ecommerce store architecture, Shopify offers the best of both worlds with Liquid, their templating language, and Hydrogen and Oxygen, their headless tech stack.

In this blog, we’ll take a look at both options for your Shopify storefront, breaking down the features and pros and cons of each so that you can create the exact shopping experience you need. 

What is Shopify Liquid?

Shopify Liquid is Shopify’s Ruby-based native templating language used to build frontend experiences directly within the Shopify platform. It enables developers to create dynamic web pages by retrieving data from Shopify's backend and displaying it within themes. 

Liquid is the bridge between a store’s content (such as product details, prices, or customer information) and the front-end code, making it essential for any customization within Shopify’s native environment. It's designed to be easy to learn, especially for merchants and developers working within Shopify's ecosystem.

Shopify merchants looking to “get up and go” love Shopify Native Liquid templates because they are easy to set up and flexible enough to be customized to match their brand identity and product offerings. 

Shopify’s own Online Store 2.0 is built on Liquid, allowing users to access all of Shopify’s latest and greatest features and functionality. This allows access to all of Shopify’s apps from their marketplace and the ability to build any other apps you may need, whether with the help of an agency or an in-house development team.  

Pros of Shopify Liquid:

Shopify's native Liquid is Shopify’s out-of-the-box solution, which is easier to implement overall than a headless architecture. Here are the benefits of running a Liquid-based store:

1. Seamless integration with Shopify’s ecosystem.

2. Easier and faster to implement; no complex architecture is needed.

3. An integrated Content Management System (CMS) makes building and implementing marketing campaigns and content additions/changes a breeze. 

4. Lower cost to develop and maintain. Pick a theme, pick your apps, customize as needed, and you’re good to go!

5. Suitable for small-to-medium-sized stores that don’t require deep customization.

6. Shopify has a Liquid-based theme store that doesn’t require any developer experience to get the look and feel you want. 

7. Choose from 8,000+ existing Shopify apps from Shopify’s App Store to add additional functionality to your website or build your own. 

8. Shopify Liquid includes built-in SEO tools to ensure good search performance. 

Cons of Shopify Liquid:

Due to Liquid’s “fits-most” approach, a few cons come with using it for your store. They are: 

1. Integrating with third-party services and apps requiring sophisticated frontends is harder.

2. The Liquid API is primarily a templating language, so developers cannot write complex functional code for custom business logic on the server side without the help of a separate middleware application.

3. Even with a wide array of themes available, a Liquid storefront's customization options are still more limited than those of a headless Hydrogen storefront. Visible customizations are simple, but if you want anything beyond that, you’ll need to do some custom development or hire a team to do it for you. 

4. Since a Liquid store's front and back ends are coupled, you're more reliant on Shopify. If the provider chooses to remove or change a feature you depend heavily on, you’re out of luck and might even have to consider changing providers entirely.  

What is Shopify Headless Commerce?

Unlike Liquid, Shopify’s headless solution, Headless Commerce, decouples the frontend from Shopify’s backend, allowing the use of custom frontend technologies (e.g., React, Vue.js). Shopify’s Hydrogen and Oxygen exist to support these headless builds.

Hydrogen is the frontend framework, while Oxygen handles your backend hosting. Together, these tools, linked via API, provide a flexible architecture that enables developers to customize every aspect of the user experience.

Headless setups allow merchants to build the exact store architecture and setup they want, rather than using an existing solution and trying to make it do what they need. 

Pros of Shopify Headless:

Headless storefronts enhance your store’s user experience while enabling merchants to implement and integrate modern technologies with less friction than traditional monolithic setups, such as Shopify Liquid. Here are the benefits of using Shopify Headless Commerce:

• Building a headless store means complete control over the frontend design and performance—there is no need to rely on pre-built themes and designs. 

• Great load times for those with large catalogues or dynamic content.

• Easy integration with third-party services like CMS, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, or other platforms. Pick and choose the best tools for the job without needing to use whatever your ecommerce platform offers you. 

• Enables omnichannel experiences and cross-platform applications.

• You can build your own URL structure without being trapped by the structure that comes with your monolithic platform. This is a great way to ensure SEO optimization and easy navigation. 

Cons of Shopify Headless:

Going headless with Shopify is great for merchants seeking ultimate flexibility, but there are a few tradeoffs. Here are the cons of Shopify Headless: 

• Higher development costs and complexity. Building and maintaining a headless store requires a skilled development team, which quickly increases costs. 

• A longer implementation timeline will also add to your costs and require some patience. 

• Increased maintenance workload, especially as new Shopify backend updates are released.

• While Shopify’s most recent version has taken steps to make it easier, managing content is still more complicated on Headless.

• Unlike with Liquid, where apps “just work,” Headless apps are more difficult to install in themes, increasing complexity and development time. 

• Technical on-site SEO and page searchability can be potentially impacted when transitioning to a Headless approach.

Shopify Liquid vs Headless - Key Differences

Architecture

Liquid’s architecture is tightly coupled. Your frontend and backend both run within Shopify. Headless, however, is decoupled. Your frontend is built with the custom frameworks of your choosing. 

Customizability

A headless build offers the ultimate customization with endless possibilities, while a Liquid setup is still customizable, but you’re limited to Shopify’s themes and app ecosystem. That said, merchants using Liquid have still been able to create beautiful and functional stores with what Shopify has to offer. 

Performance

There’s a belief that performance is better on Headless. Still, neither format is inherently more performant than the other. Partner with a highly skilled development agency that understands your vision for a speedy, high-performing, headless build. 

Cost

Liquid is the clear winner in this category as it is much more cost-effective for smaller businesses. Headless, on the other hand, can get expensive quickly due to the time and skill required to get started with it. 

That said, while the initial cost of getting started with Headless is pricey, the cost of running the build itself depends on your tech stack. With a good team supporting you, you can also save money on Headless stores over time through code reuse and development efficiency. 

When to Choose Shopify Headless vs Liquid

Still unsure about which option might be right for you? Here’s a brief summary of each.

• Use Shopify Liquid if:

• You’re a small or mid-sized business with standard customization needs.

• You want a quick, cost-effective store setup.

• You prefer working within Shopify’s integrated system.

• Use Shopify Headless if:

• You need a fully customizable, high-performance frontend.

• You want to integrate other platforms (e.g., CMS, PIM).

• You have a large or enterprise-level business that requires flexibility.

Conclusion

Choosing between Shopify’s native Liquid templating language and a Headless setup using Hydrogen and Oxygen depends on your business needs and long-term goals. Liquid offers a faster, cost-effective setup ideal for small to medium businesses looking for an easy-to-maintain, flexible storefront. Meanwhile, Headless Shopify unlocks endless customization possibilities and performance enhancements, which are ideal for large-scale, enterprise-level businesses. 

Whatever your business requirements are, as a Shopify Plus Partner Agency, we at Blue Badger are available for all your Shopify Headless or Liquid needs. From integrating all your systems to developing custom themes for your store, we offer everything an ecommerce business needs to meet customer expectations and thrive in this always-changing industry. Contact us today to learn more.