# 9 Best Shopify Hydrogen Alternatives (2026)
Comparing the best Shopify Hydrogen alternatives in 2026: stay-on-Shopify frameworks and full backend swaps, with real pricing and tradeoffs.
*Published 2026-09-25*
**Hydrogen is free. Shopify is not.** Shopify's own docs are honest about the framework costing nothing and Oxygen hosting being included on every plan except Starter, and both of those things are true. What they don't put on the pricing page: a real Hydrogen build runs [$10,000 to $150,000+ in professional services](https://weaverse.io/blogs/shopify-headless-pricing) depending on scope, on top of a Shopify subscription and its transaction fees, on top of the ongoing engineering retainer to keep a React Router app on Oxygen actually working. This guide compares the best Shopify Hydrogen alternatives in 2026: frameworks that keep you on Shopify's backend with a different toolchain, and platforms that let you leave Shopify's backend behind entirely.
**Bias disclosure:** We build [Your Next Store](https://yournextstore.com/), one of the platforms on this list. We name where it's weaker than Hydrogen (no GraphQL Storefront API, no Shopify app ecosystem, no edge hosting bundled in) and we cover Hydrogen's real strengths, not a caricature of them.
## Shopify Hydrogen Alternatives at a Glance (September 2026)
| Platform | Type | Starting price | Self-hosted option | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **[Shopify Hydrogen](https://hydrogen.shopify.dev/)** (for reference) | Framework on Shopify (React Router, GraphQL) | Free framework; Shopify plan from $29/mo (annual) | Storefront only | Staying on Shopify's backend with a custom React storefront |
| **[Your Next Store](https://yournextstore.com/)** | Managed backend + open-source storefront | $30/mo | Storefront only | An AI-built storefront on a backend you don't operate |
| **[Next.js Commerce](https://github.com/vercel/commerce)** | Open-source Next.js template on Shopify | Free template; same Shopify plan | Storefront only | Staying on Shopify but trading React Router for Next.js |
| **[Medusa](https://medusajs.com/)** | Open-source engine (Node, TS) | Free self-host; [Medusa Cloud](https://docs.medusajs.com/cloud/pricing) from $29/mo | Yes | TypeScript teams who want to own the backend, not just the frontend |
| **[Saleor](https://saleor.io/)** | Open-source engine (Python, GraphQL) | Free self-host; Cloud from $1,599/mo | Yes | GraphQL-first teams leaving Shopify's data model |
| **[Vendure](https://vendure.io/)** | Open-source engine (NestJS, GraphQL) | Free core (GPLv3); Platform on quote | Yes | Plugin-first TypeScript backend, B2B |
| **[BigCommerce](https://www.bigcommerce.com/)** | Managed SaaS (+ Catalyst for headless) | $29/mo (annual) | No | A maintained Next.js headless path off Shopify |
| **[commercetools](https://commercetools.com/)** | Composable commerce (enterprise) | Custom contract | No | Enterprise programs with a platform team |
| **[Swell](https://www.swell.is/)** | Managed headless SaaS | $29/mo (annual) | No | Subscriptions and digital + physical catalogs in one model |
| **[WooCommerce](https://woocommerce.com/)** | Free plugin (PHP), Store API for headless | Free + hosting | Yes | Teams already committed to WordPress |
Prices are public list prices checked against each vendor's own pricing page in September 2026. Payment processing fees are separate from every number above.
## What Shopify Hydrogen Actually Is (and Why People Look Elsewhere)
[Hydrogen](https://hydrogen.shopify.dev/) is Shopify's open-source React framework for building a custom storefront against the Shopify Storefront API. It's built on React Router, Remix's successor: Shopify made React Router 7 mandatory for Hydrogen starting with the [2025.5 release](https://community.shopify.dev/t/hydrogen-may-2025-release/15798). It deploys to [Oxygen](https://hydrogen.shopify.dev/), Shopify's edge hosting, included at no extra cost on every Shopify plan except Starter. You can deploy a Hydrogen app anywhere Node runs, but the tooling, the deploy previews and the CLI experience all assume Oxygen.
The pitch is genuinely good for the right team: keep Shopify's checkout, inventory, fraud detection, Shop Pay and app ecosystem, and replace only the theme layer with a real React codebase instead of Liquid sections. So why does anyone go looking for a Hydrogen alternative at all?
1. **You're still paying Shopify, and Hydrogen doesn't change that.** The framework is free. The [Shopify plan underneath it isn't](https://www.shopify.com/pricing): Basic runs $39/mo ($29/mo billed yearly), Grow $105/mo ($79/mo yearly), Advanced $399/mo ($299/mo yearly), and the full headless toolkit for enterprise features usually means Shopify Plus at $2,300+/mo. If a third-party payment provider handles checkout instead of Shopify Payments, a transaction fee still applies, from 2% on Basic down to 0.2% on Plus.
2. **The build itself isn't cheap either.** [Weaverse's 2026 pricing breakdown](https://weaverse.io/blogs/shopify-headless-pricing) puts a lean Hydrogen build at $10K-$25K, a growth build with a real design system at $25K-$60K, and a B2B or multi-market build at $60K-$150K+, before the ongoing engineering retainer. Their worked example for a $50K build lands at roughly $115,000 for year one once hosting, CMS tooling and a monthly retainer are counted.
3. **You're still on Shopify's data model.** Hydrogen is a frontend framework calling the Storefront API. If the reason you wanted out was Shopify's product model, its multi-currency handling, or its app-dependent checkout customization, a new frontend doesn't touch any of that: the backend underneath is unchanged.
4. **It's a specific mental model.** React Router's loader pattern, GraphQL against the Storefront API, and Oxygen's edge runtime add up to a real learning curve if your team already writes Next.js against REST APIs elsewhere. The [mandatory React Router 7 migration](https://hydrogen.shopify.dev/update/march-2025) in 2025 was disruptive for teams who had only just settled into Hydrogen's Remix-era patterns.
5. **One Hydrogen storefront per Shopify store, by default.** That's a real constraint for brands running multiple regional or brand-specific storefronts off one Shopify backend; workarounds exist, but they add complexity Liquid multi-theme setups don't have.
If none of that describes your situation, Hydrogen is still a defensible, well-documented choice; see our fuller [best headless commerce platforms](/blog/best-headless-commerce-platforms) comparison for where it ranks against the field. If one or two of those points do describe you, the rest of this guide is for you.
## The 9 Best Shopify Hydrogen Alternatives
### 1. Your Next Store
**Best for:** Teams who want the Hydrogen-style "modern React storefront, managed commerce underneath" experience without Shopify's subscription and fees underneath it.
[Your Next Store](https://yournextstore.com/) is the platform most structurally similar to what Hydrogen is trying to be, just with a different backend. It pairs a free, [open-source Next.js storefront](https://github.com/yournextstore/yournextstore) with a managed commerce backend: products, carts, orders, inventory and customers in PostgreSQL, reached through a typed **Commerce Kit SDK** instead of a GraphQL Storefront API. Stripe handles payment processing. A live storefront built this way runs at [demo.yournextstore.com](https://demo.yournextstore.com/).
Mapped onto Hydrogen's specific gaps: there's no separate Shopify subscription sitting underneath the storefront cost, since the backend and the plan are the same $30-$360/mo line item; the API is typed REST instead of GraphQL, so there's no query-building step before you can render a page; and the AI store builder edits the actual storefront code from a chat interface, which nothing in the Hydrogen toolchain does today.
**Standouts:** AI store builder that edits your live storefront by chat, 0% platform transaction fees on every plan, typed REST SDK generated from OpenAPI, a backend built specifically for this storefront rather than retrofitted onto it.
**Tradeoffs, honestly:** No Shopify app marketplace, so integrations you'd get for free on Shopify (specific loyalty apps, some regional payment methods) may need to be built. No free plan (YNS Starter is $30/mo, where the Hydrogen framework itself costs nothing and only the Shopify plan under it does). The backend is managed, not something you self-host if you outgrow it.
**Pricing:** Starter $30, Growth $60, Pro $360 per month. 0% platform fees on every plan.
**Want the Hydrogen idea without the Shopify bill stacked underneath it?** Fork the Next.js storefront, point it at a backend built for exactly this template, and skip the second subscription.
### 2. Next.js Commerce
**Best for:** Teams who want to stay on Shopify's backend, keep the checkout and app ecosystem, but trade Hydrogen's React Router loaders for a Next.js App Router codebase.
This is the alternative most people miss because it doesn't look like an "alternative" at all: [Next.js Commerce](https://github.com/vercel/commerce) is Vercel's free, MIT-licensed, official Next.js template, and its maintained version is wired specifically to Shopify's Storefront API, the same API Hydrogen calls. You keep everything Hydrogen keeps (Shopify's checkout, admin, inventory, apps), and you swap only the frontend framework and hosting story: React Server Components and Server Actions instead of React Router loaders, and Vercel (or anywhere Next.js runs) instead of being steered toward Oxygen.
The honest tradeoff runs the other way too: Hydrogen ships deep, first-party integration with Shopify features (Shop Pay, customer accounts, B2B, markets) that Next.js Commerce's community handles with less official support, and Oxygen's deploy previews and Shopify-specific tooling don't carry over to a generic Vercel deploy. We compare both storefront templates against YNS's managed backend in detail in [Next.js Commerce vs Your Next Store](/blog/nextjs-commerce-vs-your-next-store).
**Standouts:** Free MIT template, React Server Components instead of a loader-based data model, deploy anywhere Next.js runs instead of being nudged toward Oxygen, 14.3k GitHub stars and Vercel's own maintenance behind it.
**Tradeoffs, honestly:** Still 100% dependent on Shopify's backend and its fees; this changes only the frontend framework, not the underlying cost or data model complaint. Less official first-party Shopify feature coverage than Hydrogen ships. If you want a different backend entirely, that means adopting or maintaining a community fork, since the maintained repository targets Shopify only.
**Pricing:** Template is free. Costs the same Shopify plan Hydrogen does underneath it.
### 3. Medusa
**Best for:** Teams that want to leave Shopify's backend entirely and own a TypeScript commerce engine instead of calling someone else's API.
If Hydrogen's real problem for you isn't the frontend framework but the fact that Shopify still owns the product data, checkout logic and pricing underneath it, [Medusa](https://medusajs.com/) is the most direct TypeScript answer: an open-source, [MIT-licensed](https://github.com/medusajs/medusa) commerce engine you self-host or run on [Medusa Cloud](https://docs.medusajs.com/cloud/pricing) (from $29/mo Develop, $99/mo Launch, $299/mo Scale, no GMV fees), with more than 36,000 GitHub stars as of September 2026. `npx create-medusa-app@latest` gets a running admin and API locally in minutes.
**Standouts:** TypeScript end to end (backend and frontend), module-based architecture where payments, tax and fulfillment are all swappable, Medusa Cloud with no GMV-based fees at any tier.
**Tradeoffs, honestly:** REST plus a JS SDK, not the GraphQL Storefront API Hydrogen developers already know. No Shopify-scale app marketplace: complex logic you'd have bought as a Shopify app is usually custom module work here. Self-hosting means running the backend, the admin and the storefront yourself, three deployables instead of Hydrogen's one.
**Pricing:** Free to self-host. Medusa Cloud from $29/mo, no GMV fees.
### 4. Saleor
**Best for:** Teams who want to keep querying a GraphQL API like Hydrogen's Storefront API, but against an open-source, self-hostable schema instead of Shopify's closed one.
[Saleor](https://saleor.io/) keeps the part of the Hydrogen developer experience that's genuinely pleasant, a single typed GraphQL schema, while swapping Shopify's proprietary backend for open-source Python and Django you can self-host or run on [Saleor Cloud](https://saleor.io/pricing) (production plans start at $1,599/mo Select, $3,999/mo Volume, plus custom Enterprise; free sandboxes exist for prototyping). Multi-channel modeling, currencies, warehouses and price lists per channel, is first-class in the core, which is deeper than how Shopify Markets bolts multi-currency onto its schema.
**Standouts:** GraphQL as the entire API surface, like Hydrogen, but on an open, self-hostable schema; genuinely strong native multi-channel and multi-currency modeling; a free Cloud sandbox for prototyping before you commit.
**Tradeoffs, honestly:** Python, Django and GraphQL is a three-skill hire if your team is JavaScript-only, and self-hosting means running Postgres, Redis and Celery workers, a heavier ops footprint than Hydrogen's "point at Shopify's API" model. Saleor Cloud's production pricing has no small-team tier between free self-hosting and $1,599/mo. Our dedicated [Saleor alternatives](/blog/saleor-alternatives) guide covers nine options if the Python stack itself is the blocker.
**Pricing:** Free to self-host. Saleor Cloud from $1,599/mo.
### 5. Vendure
**Best for:** Teams that want a clean, plugin-first TypeScript backend with GraphQL still as the entire API surface.
[Vendure](https://vendure.io/) is a NestJS and TypeScript commerce engine with separate admin and shop GraphQL schemas by default, a cleaner default than exposing one graph to both internal tooling and public storefronts. Vendure Core is free under GPLv3 (with a plugin exception so your own plugins can use any license); the commercial Vendure Platform (B2B features, support) and Vendure Cloud are both quoted per project with no GMV-based charges.
**Standouts:** TypeScript throughout, including the GraphQL resolvers you'd extend; a plugin architecture that's widely regarded as the cleanest in open-source commerce; flat, quote-based commercial pricing instead of revenue scaling.
**Tradeoffs, honestly:** No published self-serve pricing for the commercial Platform tier, you talk to sales. No official storefront template, where Hydrogen at least gives you a fully scaffolded starting point. Smaller community than Shopify's ecosystem, so fewer pre-built integrations.
**Pricing:** Core free (GPLv3). Platform and Cloud on quote.
### 6. BigCommerce (Catalyst)
**Best for:** Teams that want Hydrogen's "maintained, first-party Next.js path" experience, minus Shopify specifically.
[BigCommerce](https://www.bigcommerce.com/) is the closest SaaS equivalent to what Hydrogen offers: a managed backend with a maintained, official headless storefront framework, [Catalyst](https://www.catalyst.dev/), built on Next.js by BigCommerce itself rather than a community fork. If what you liked about Hydrogen was "the vendor maintains my storefront framework for me," Catalyst is the most direct match, just on a different backend with more built-in B2B and multi-storefront capability than Shopify ships natively.
**Standouts:** First-party, actively maintained Next.js framework (not a community fork); more commerce logic (customer groups, price lists, multi-storefront) built into the core than Shopify; a real migration path if BigCommerce's data model is a better fit for your catalog.
**Tradeoffs, honestly:** Every plan carries a revenue cap (Core tops out around $30K in trailing-twelve-month sales before you need to upgrade), and using a payment provider outside its embedded list adds a fee, similar to Shopify's own non-Shopify-Payments surcharge. No self-hosted option.
**Pricing:** Core $29/mo (annual), Growth $79/mo (annual), Scale $299/mo (annual), Performance from $1,499/mo.
### 7. commercetools
**Best for:** Enterprise programs whose Hydrogen build was already scoping toward Shopify Plus and a platform team anyway.
Once a Hydrogen build's scope includes multiple brands, multiple regions and a dedicated platform team, it's worth comparing against the platform actually built for that scale. [commercetools](https://commercetools.com/) is API-first composable commerce: catalog, cart, checkout and order management as separate services you assemble rather than one bundled engine with a reference storefront included. Customers like L.L.Bean and Bang & Olufsen run dozens of storefronts and brands from one backend, a scale most teams evaluating Hydrogen haven't hit yet. If you're comparing commercetools itself rather than arriving from Shopify, our dedicated [commercetools alternatives](/blog/commercetools-alternatives) guide has more options.
**Standouts:** Built for multi-brand, multi-region programs beyond what Shopify Plus or Markets targets; a large ecosystem of certified integration partners; usage-based pricing tied to orders rather than a flat GMV cut.
**Tradeoffs, honestly:** No published price list, you negotiate a contract even for the free trial's next step. No storefront, admin UI or CMS included, composable means you or a systems integrator build and maintain all of it, a much bigger lift than forking Hydrogen's scaffolded template. Overkill for the team size that typically evaluates Hydrogen in the first place.
**Pricing:** Custom annual contracts. Free trial available.
### 8. Swell
**Best for:** Teams whose real complaint about Hydrogen is Shopify's rigid product model, especially around subscriptions or mixed digital-plus-physical catalogs.
[Swell](https://www.swell.is/) is managed headless commerce built for a gap Shopify's schema leaves open by design: native subscriptions and mixed digital-and-physical catalogs, not something you bolt on with an app. It's a fit for teams that would have stayed with Hydrogen if Shopify's product model matched what they actually sell.
The honest complication: Swell's own [plans](https://www.swell.is/pricing) carry revenue ceilings with overage fees, a different shape than Shopify's flat subscription plus transaction fee, but a ceiling nonetheless. Starter ($29/mo) is capped at $50K/year, Basic ($79/mo) at $250K, and each tier above raises the ceiling and lowers the overage rate.
**Standouts:** Native subscriptions and digital-plus-physical catalogs in one product model, no app required. Managed infrastructure, no servers to run. A flexible enough schema that it doesn't feel like a rigid SaaS box the way Shopify's product model can for edge-case catalogs.
**Tradeoffs, honestly:** Revenue-based plan ceilings and overage fees, so a fast-growing store's platform bill grows with it, similarly to Shopify's own transaction fee structure. Smaller app ecosystem than Shopify's. No GraphQL API, if that's specifically what you liked about the Storefront API.
**Pricing (annual):** Starter $29/mo ($50K ceiling), Basic $79/mo ($250K), Standard $299/mo ($1M), Unlimited $2,250/mo ($5M).
### 9. WooCommerce
**Best for:** Teams whose actual complaint about Hydrogen is that a full React rebuild is overkill for what's still, underneath, a content-and-catalog site.
If a non-technical stakeholder needs to manage content and products in the same place, [WooCommerce](https://woocommerce.com/) is worth a second look before committing to a full headless rebuild. It's free, runs on WordPress, and can go headless later through the Store API if performance becomes the actual bottleneck rather than the plugin model itself. See our deeper [WooCommerce vs Next.js](/blog/woocommerce-vs-next-js) comparison for what that headless path looks like in practice, and [WooCommerce alternatives for developers](/blog/woocommerce-alternatives-for-developers) if the plugin model itself is the problem.
**Standouts:** Free plugin, unmatched ecosystem of themes and extensions, content and commerce in one CMS your marketing team can already use without a developer.
**Tradeoffs, honestly:** PHP, server-rendered architecture is a different paradigm from Hydrogen's React Router stack, so this isn't a lateral move for a team that specifically wanted a modern JS frontend; it's a genuinely different kind of tradeoff. No native GraphQL API. Plugin sprawl and update overhead are real operational costs of their own.
**Pricing:** Plugin free. Real cost: $10-50/mo hosting plus extensions.
## Migrating from Shopify Hydrogen
The path splits into two very different projects, and the first question decides everything else: are you keeping Shopify's backend, or leaving it?
**If you're keeping Shopify and only swapping the frontend** (to Next.js Commerce, or a hand-rolled Next.js app against the Storefront API), the migration is comparatively small. The Storefront API, the products, the checkout, and the admin all stay put. You're rewriting loaders as Server Components and re-pointing your deploy from Oxygen to wherever the new framework runs. Budget for the frontend rebuild, not a data migration.
**If you're leaving Shopify's backend entirely**, treat it like the bigger project it is:
1. **Export products, customers and order history before you decommission anything.** Same rule as every commerce migration, and it applies whether you're moving to Medusa, Saleor, BigCommerce or anywhere else.
2. **Your GraphQL queries don't move with you unless the new platform is also GraphQL.** Hydrogen's Storefront API queries are Shopify-specific; only Saleor and Vendure on this list keep you in GraphQL. Everyone else means rewriting the data-fetching layer, not just re-pointing an endpoint.
3. **Checkout is the biggest hidden project.** Hydrogen doesn't make you rebuild Shopify's checkout, saved payment methods, fraud detection, or tax calculation. Leaving Shopify's backend means replicating or replacing all of it, and that's usually the single largest line item teams underestimate.
4. **Decide what happens to your React components.** UI (layout, product cards, cart drawer) is more portable than the data layer underneath it. Budget real time for the data-fetching rewrite, not the UI.
5. **URL redirects decide whether your SEO survives.** Your indexed `/products/handle` and `/collections/handle` URLs are ranking today. A complete 301 redirect map from your old sitemap is not optional.
6. **If you're EU or UK based**, confirm the new platform's VAT and returns handling before go-live. Shopify's Markets feature made region-specific pricing and tax comparatively simple; check the new platform handles it with the same clarity rather than assuming parity.
Our full [migrating from Shopify to headless commerce](/blog/migrating-from-shopify-to-headless-commerce) guide covers both paths (staying on Shopify with a new frontend, or leaving entirely) in more depth, including a phase-by-phase timeline.
## For Developers: The Same Query, Three Platforms
If you're not evaluating this technically, skip to the [FAQ](#faq).
Here's "get the first 12 products in the t-shirts category" against Hydrogen, Your Next Store, and Medusa, side by side:
**Shopify Hydrogen** (Storefront API GraphQL inside a React Router loader):
```ts
import type { LoaderFunctionArgs } from "react-router";
export async function loader({ context }: LoaderFunctionArgs) {
const { products } = await context.storefront.query(PRODUCTS_QUERY, {
variables: { first: 12, query: "tag:t-shirts" },
});
return { products };
}
```
**Your Next Store** (typed REST SDK):
```ts
import { Commerce } from "commerce-kit";
const commerce = Commerce({ apiKey: process.env.YNS_API_KEY });
const { data: products } = await commerce.productBrowse({
limit: 12,
category: "t-shirts",
});
```
**Medusa** (typed JS SDK on top of REST):
```ts
import Medusa from "@medusajs/js-sdk";
const sdk = new Medusa({
baseUrl: process.env.MEDUSA_BACKEND_URL!,
publishableKey: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_MEDUSA_PUBLISHABLE_KEY,
});
const { products } = await sdk.store.product.list({
limit: 12,
category_id: ["cat_tshirts"],
});
```
All three are typed. The gotcha Hydrogen's snippet doesn't show: `PRODUCTS_QUERY` is a separate GraphQL document you write and maintain elsewhere in the file, string-typed unless you add codegen yourself, whereas YNS and Medusa's SDKs give you autocomplete on the call itself with no query string to keep in sync. **What nobody tells you about Hydrogen at month six:** the loader model is genuinely pleasant for routing and streaming, but every new data need is a new GraphQL query to hand-write against Shopify's schema, and the Storefront API's rate limits start to matter once your homepage is stitching together a dozen of them. None of that is a flaw in React Router; it's the standing cost of GraphQL without codegen, which is a choice Hydrogen makes for you by default.
## FAQ
### What is the best alternative to Shopify Hydrogen?
It depends on what's actually pushing you away from it. To stay on Shopify's backend and just change frameworks: **Next.js Commerce**. For a managed backend with an AI store builder and no separate Shopify subscription underneath: **Your Next Store**. For leaving Shopify entirely and owning a TypeScript backend: **Medusa**. For keeping GraphQL as the whole API surface on an open-source schema: **Saleor**.
### Can I use Next.js instead of Hydrogen with Shopify?
Yes. Shopify's Storefront API is a public GraphQL API, and Hydrogen isn't the only way to call it. [Next.js Commerce](https://github.com/vercel/commerce) is Vercel's official template wired to that same API, or you can hand-roll a fetch layer in any framework. You keep Shopify's backend and checkout either way; only the frontend framework changes.
### Is Shopify Hydrogen actually free?
The framework and Oxygen hosting (on every plan except Starter) are free. Running a store with it isn't: you still pay for a [Shopify plan](https://www.shopify.com/pricing) starting at $39/mo ($29/mo billed yearly), plus card processing fees, plus the actual cost of building the storefront, which [Weaverse's 2026 breakdown](https://weaverse.io/blogs/shopify-headless-pricing) puts at $10K-$150K+ depending on scope.
## Related Blog Posts
- [Next.js Commerce vs Your Next Store: Which to Choose?](/blog/nextjs-commerce-vs-your-next-store)
- [14 Best Headless Ecommerce Platforms (2026), Compared](/blog/best-headless-commerce-platforms)
- [Migrating from Shopify to Headless Commerce](/blog/migrating-from-shopify-to-headless-commerce)
- [Next.js vs Shopify: An Honest Take from a Developer](/blog/nextjs-vs-shopify)
- [Shopify Transaction Fees: The Real Cost of Selling on Shopify in 2026](/blog/shopify-transaction-fees)
Hydrogen earns its place honestly: it's a well-documented, actively maintained way to put a real React codebase in front of Shopify's checkout and admin, and for a team staying on Shopify, it's still the path of least resistance. The question this guide actually answers isn't "is Hydrogen good," it's "which part of Hydrogen is actually bothering you: the framework, the Shopify subscription under it, or the data model that subscription buys," and that answer decides whether you need a new frontend, a new backend, or both.
Want the modern-storefront idea Hydrogen popularized, without a second subscription underneath it? [Try Your Next Store](https://yournextstore.com/). AI-built storefront, managed backend, 0% platform fees.