Next.js Headless
Shopify
WooCommerce
Performance (Core Web Vitals)
Lighthouse 95–100
Lighthouse 50–75
Lighthouse 30–60
Transaction fees
None
0.5–2% per transaction
None (Stripe fees)
Data control & GDPR
Full control
US servers, limited
Own server possible
Customizability
Unlimited
Limited by Liquid templates
PHP plugins, complex
Maintenance effort
Low (no plugin overhead)
Low (managed)
High (plugins, updates)
Scalability
Unlimited (Docker, CDN)
Good (on higher plans)
Limited (server-dependent)
Next.js Headless wins in 4 out of 6 categories
Vorteile
- Best performance on the market (Lighthouse 95+)
- No transaction fees
- Full GDPR compliance on your own servers
- Unlimited customizability and integrations
- No vendor lock-in — the code is yours
- Lower long-term maintenance costs
Nachteile
- Higher initial cost (from €8,900)
- Longer development time than a Shopify setup
- Requires a technically skilled developer or agency
Best for: Companies that want to grow, value performance and data privacy, and won't accept platform dependency.
Startup with 50–200 products and a first launch
ShopifyA fast launch matters more than optimization. As revenue grows, you can migrate to headless.
Growing business with 500+ products and high traffic
Next.js HeadlessPerformance, scalability and the absence of transaction fees pay off once revenue reaches a certain level.
B2B shop with customer groups, tiered pricing and ERP integration
Next.js HeadlessShopify and WooCommerce hit their limits quickly with B2B logic. A custom solution is necessary.
Existing WordPress blog with an attached shop
WooCommerceIf content matters more than the shop and the team already knows WordPress, WooCommerce makes sense.
Frequently Asked Questions
For companies with growth ambitions, yes. Headless commerce with Next.js offers better performance, no transaction fees and full customizability. For a quick launch on a small budget, however, Shopify is more pragmatic.
A Shopify setup costs little up front ($99–$299/month subscription), but between transaction fees, app subscriptions and agency fees it often ends up at €1,000–€3,000 per month. Headless costs more initially (from €8,900) but has barely any ongoing platform costs.
Yes, migration is possible and we offer it. We export products, order history and customer data from Shopify and import everything into the new system. The migration runs in parallel with your live shop — no downtime.
Yes, that's a legitimate hybrid strategy: Shopify as the commerce backend (order management, inventory), Next.js as the frontend. You keep the Shopify ecosystem while gaining performance and design freedom.
WooCommerce itself is solid, but the plugin stack around it is a security risk. Outdated plugins are the most common attack surface. With regular updates, WooCommerce is reasonably secure — but it takes more effort than Shopify or headless.
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