Glossary

    Hydrogen

    Hydrogen is Shopify's React-based framework for headless storefronts, hosted on its companion platform Oxygen.

    Hydrogen is Shopify's official way to build headless frontends: a framework based on React and React Router, with ready-made components and utilities for cart, product data, search and checkout handover via the Storefront API. Oxygen is the accompanying hosting environment that serves Hydrogen storefronts globally at the network edge and is included in Shopify plans.

    Compared with a fully self-assembled headless stack, Hydrogen removes a lot of groundwork: data fetching, caching strategies and deployment are pre-solved. It remains a development project nonetheless: design, sections, SEO structure and many features that themes ship out of the box have to be built in code.

    Hydrogen is the right choice when a brand has deliberately committed to headless and wants to stay inside the Shopify ecosystem. If design freedom is the main goal, a custom theme usually gets you there, without the ongoing cost of a headless architecture.

    Shopify development
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    Related terms

    • Headless Commerce

      Headless commerce separates the frontend (the visible storefront) from the commerce backend. The frontend is custom-built and fed with store functionality via APIs.

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    • Storefront API

      The Storefront API is Shopify's GraphQL interface for custom frontends: it delivers products, collections, cart and checkout functionality to any application.

      View term

    • Theme

      A theme is the design and frontend framework of a Shopify store: it defines the layout, sections and user experience of the storefront.

      View term
    Niclas Eckert - Founder of NICCOS & technical Shopify consultant

    Niclas Eckert

    Founder of NICCOS & technical Shopify consultant

    Niclas Eckert has worked with Shopify for eight years, built his first online store at 16 and advises from a deeply technical founder perspective.

    8 years Shopify600 projects total150 with NICCOS
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