Are you looking for a headless e-commerce platform for your business? Many professionals appreciate the headless architecture in which the front end of a site is separated from the back end of the site, allowing for greater innovation and versatility. Because of this high demand, many well-known brands have come out with their headless platforms.
But with so many options available, it can be overwhelming to choose the right one. Each platform has unique features and benefits, so it's important to consider your specific needs and goals.
Comparing your goals to the features of each platform is the best way to determine what solution is right for you. That's why we've compiled a list of the main top headless commerce platforms to help guide you in your decision-making process. Read on and explore our comparison table to discover the right headless e-commerce platform for your digital retail endeavor!
Magento / Adobe Commerce
If you’re looking for a headless e-commerce open-source solution, Magento may be your best choice. Magento 2 was an open-source e-commerce platform before Adobe acquired it in 2018. It has become part of the Adobe Commerce Cloud, an entire suite of tools and services for managing e-commerce websites. Unlike Magento e-commerce competitors, the platform is highly scalable and supports a headless architecture for more flexible front-end development.
There’s a reason some of the biggest name brands rely on Magento 2 as their platform of choice to provide reliable service to their customers. It ships with a rich feature set, including:
- Advanced search functionality.
- Product management tools.
- Marketing tools to optimize your online store.
- Promotional tools to help you and drive sales.
In addition, Magento 2 is highly customizable. It offers a range of customization options, such as custom extensions and modules that can help you tailor your online store to meet the unique needs of your business. This means that you can create a personalized shopping experience for your customers and differentiate yourself from your competitors.
Ultimately, Magento 2 represents one of the best combinations of ease of use and powerful headless functionality that you can find in an e-commerce platform. With Magento 2, you can create a seamless and personalized shopping experience for your customers.
Read More: Magento - The State of the Platform Today
Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus is a robust e-commerce platform that offers a headless architecture, giving businesses the flexibility to create a custom storefront and integrate with various backend systems. It is designed for high-volume merchants, making it easy to scale your business so you can handle unexpected spikes in traffic or demand.
Shopify is often praised for its user-friendly interface and ease of use. This simplicity extends to the setup of a headless architecture, making things simpler for developers. Another key advantage of Shopify is its strong app ecosystem. This includes a wide array of apps and extensions (such as AI e-commerce modules) that can be integrated with the headless setup of your e-commerce store.
| Feature | Magento | Shopify Plus | BigCommerce | Salesforce Commerce Cloud | SAP Commerce |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Open-source | SaaS | SaaS | SaaS | On-premises and SaaS |
| Hosting Options | Self-hosted or cloud | Hosted by Shopify | Hosted by BigCommerce | Hosted by Salesforce | On-premises and SaaS |
| Customization | Highly customizable | Limited | Highly customizable | Highly customizable | Highly customizable |
| Flexibility | Very flexible | Less flexible | Flexible | Flexible | Highly flexible |
| Scalability | Scalable | Scalable | Scalable | Scalable | Scalable |
| Multi-channel Support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Integration Options | Extensive | Extensive | Extensive | Best with CRM | Best with ERP |
| Content Management | Strong | Limited | Strong | Strong | Strong |
| Performance | Good | Generally good | Good | Good | Good |
| Security | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Excellent | Excellent |
| Mobile Responsiveness | Responsive | Mobile-friendly | Responsive | Responsive | Responsive |
| Marketing Tools | Excellent | Good | Good | Excellent | Excellent |
| SEO Capabilities | Strong | Strong | Strong | Strong | Strong |
| Community/Support | Active Community and Support | 24/7 support | 24/7 support | Strong support | Strong support |
| Pricing | Free (Community) and paid | Subscription-based | Subscription-based | Custom pricing | Custom pricing |
BigCommerce
Another headless commerce software among Magento competitors is BigCommerce. Like Shopify Plus, this platform enables you to build fully customizable storefronts that reflect your brand’s identity and help provide customers with a more seamless shopping experience. BigCommerce also enables businesses to sell their products on a variety of channels, including social media, marketplaces like Amazon, and even brick-and-mortar stores, thereby increasing your reach and creating new possibilities for growth.
Selling products and services online is not always simple. Sometimes, you might require advanced product options such as custom fields, variants, and SKUs to help manage your inventory and offer your customers a wide range of products. BigCommerce supports all this and more and is also designed with SEO in mind, making optimizing your storefront and product pages easy.
As with other major headless e-commerce solutions, BigCommerce supports a variety of payment gateways, including PayPal, Stripe, and Square, making it easy to accept payment. You can also get access to detailed analytics, reporting, and AI tools to track your sales, monitor your inventory, and make data-driven decisions.
SAP
SAP is a powerful headless solution that comes with a wide range of unique features that help businesses streamline their operations, enhance customer experience, and improve their overall bottom line. One of the key features that sets SAP apart from other e-commerce platforms is its ability to integrate with various enterprise systems, including ERP, CRM, and SCM. This means that you can easily synchronize your data and processes across different departments, reducing the chances of errors and improving efficiency.
SAP also offers with a headless CMS e-commerce solution. A CMS, or content management system, allows businesses to create and manage content across multiple channels, including web, mobile, and social media. This helps improve brand consistency and enables them to provide personalized content and offers to their customers, ultimately enhancing their shopping experience.
Salesforce
Of all the headless e-commerce solutions, Salesforce may be the most well-known CRM-related brand. Featuring all the flexibility that users have come to expect, the Salesforce platform provides easy integration with a wide range of third-party applications and services, allowing businesses to build custom e-commerce solutions that meet their specific needs. Additionally, Salesforce offers a robust set of APIs that make integrating the platform with other systems and applications easy.
Salesforce also offers a range of advanced marketing and analytics tools that can help businesses optimize their e-commerce operations and improve their bottom line. From advanced segmentation and targeting devices to powerful analytics and reporting capabilities, Salesforce is a powerful headless e-commerce solution.
With So Many Options, Focus On Your Core Needs
In our guide and Magento competitors list, we’ve looked at some of the best headless e-commerce platforms, and you may be wondering how to choose which one best fits your needs. The answer is going to be different for different businesses. However, the best way to compare these software solutions is to clearly define your business needs and then determine whether or not these platforms can meet those needs.
Because each online business is different, we recommend the platform that is arguably the most customizable and best headless CMS for e-commerce: Magento 2. Magento 2 ships with a wide range of features and is part of the Adobe suite, meaning you have access to even more apps and extensions. Plus, there are many Magento services available to take the functionality of the Magento platform even further!
