PWA Studio vs. Vue Storefront vs. Front-Commerce: Headless front-end solution comparison chart
The world of e-commerce is evolving rapidly, and so are the technologies that enable modern, fast, and personalized user experiences. The headless approach, which decouples the front end from the back end, is now widely adopted for its flexibility and its ability to support complex or multi-channel architectures.
However, this approach requires making critical technological choices, particularly when it comes to the front end. Among the most popular solutions for building high-performing user interfaces in a headless context are PWA Studio (by Adobe/Magento), Vue Storefront, and Front-Commerce. Each of these tools offers a different vision, architecture, and set of features.
Every online store has unique needs, shaped by its size, business model, technical team, and of course, customer expectations. Choosing a front-end solution therefore involves weighing a wide range of factors:
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Underlying technologies (React, Vue.js, GraphQL, etc.)
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Integration with e-commerce platforms (Magento, Shopify, commercetools, etc.)
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Ease of development and customization
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Performance (speed, SEO, mobile compatibility, etc.)
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Developer ecosystem and community
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Commercial support and documentation
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Business model (open-source, licensed, SaaS, etc.)
That’s why we’ve created the comparative table below to highlight the key technical, functional, and organizational differences between these three headless front-end solutions. The goal is to help you make an informed decision that fits your specific context—whether you’re a fast-growing SME or a large international retailer.
Download the PDF version of the comparison (it’s prettier 😉)
Headless Front-End Comparison
as of 01/05/2025
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| Category |
Sub-category |
PWA Studio |
Vue Storefront |
Front-Commerce |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General |
Created |
June 2018 |
November 2017 |
2015 |
| Last Version |
13.3.0 |
2.8.0 |
3.1 |
|
| Software Development Mode |
Open Source |
Open Source (Storefront Ul & some Vue Storefront integrations) Proprietary (Vue Storefront Connect & some Vue Storefront integrations) |
Proprietary |
|
| Provider |
Adobe |
Vue Storefront |
Front-Commerce |
|
| Agnostic |
❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ | |
| HQ |
USA |
USA & Poland |
France |
|
| Frontend Demo |
veniapwa |
demo.vuestorefront.io |
Demo |
|
| Link to |
GitHub |
GitHub |
GitHub |
|
| Pricing |
Included in Magento |
Free version and Enterprise version |
Pricing |
|
| Developer Chat |
Slack |
Discord |
Slack |
|
| Regular updates & long-term and backward compatibility for clients |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
| Integrations |
Ecommerce connector |
Magento 2.4+ |
Open Source Magento 2 OS Spree Sylius Odoo PrestaShop Vendure Shopware With Enterprise offer BigCommerce Commercetools SAP CC Shopify |
Magento 1 (CE, EE) Magento 2 (OS) Adobe Commerce B2B BigCommerce |
| CMS |
M2 CMS API / Page Builder |
Open Source LexasCMS Storyblok With Enterprise offer Amplience Bloomreach Content Contentful Contentstack LexasCMS Sanity |
Magento CMS API WordPress Prismic Contentful |
|
| Search |
ElasticSearch Algolia |
With Enterprise offer Algolia Bloomreach Discovery Constructor.io |
Algolia ElasticSearch Attraqt Magento 2 Native search (ElasticSuite) |
|
| Payments |
Paypal (Braintree), Stripe, Check MO, MultiSafepay |
Open Source Checkout.com With Enterprise offer PayPal, Stripe, Klarna, Mollie, Adyen, Braintree, G Pay. Apple Pay |
Adyen, Paypal, Stripe, LYRA / Payzen, Ogone, Affirm, BuyBox, Monext Online (Payline), Payment on account B2B, HiPay |
|
| Tracking |
Google Tag Manager |
Vue Analytics Google Tag Manager |
Compatible with all tracking solutions within Get analytics (Google Analytics, Intercom, Hubspot, Amplitude, Amazon, Pinpoint...) |
|
| Tech |
Release pace |
Minor version every 6 to 10 weeks |
Releases undated |
Minor version every 6 weeks |
| Frontend CodeBase |
React.js |
Storefront UI (Vuejs, React.js, Qwik) |
React.js |
|
| Backend codebase |
PHP |
Historically Nuxt but as of late, have adopted a hands-off DIY approach. See more here. |
Remix (NodeJS) |
|
| Data layer |
GraphQL |
Storefront Connect |
GraphQL |
|
| Cloud hosting solution |
In-house Cloud hosting solution |
Adobe Commerce Cloud |
✔️ |
✔️ |
| CDN |
❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ | |
| 24/7 Monitoring |
❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ | |
| Continuous deployment |
❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ | |
| Hosted in |
❌ | Unknown |
France |
|
| Autoscaling |
❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ | |
| Problem Source Identification |
❌ |
✔️ | ✔️ (For all Front-Commerce and connected third-party issues) |
|
| Other |
Coverage of features |
All Magento OS Adobe Commerce |
Covers all Magento features, but varies for other integrations |
Covers 100% of Magento/ Adobe features and other backend solutions (eComm, CMS, search...) even B2B |
| i18n |
✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | |
| Multi-Websites |
✔️ | ✔️ (beta) |
✔️ | |
| Checkout |
✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | |
| Support |
No support |
Only with enterprise offering |
Unlimited support during build |
|
| Offline Support |
✔️ via Workbox |
✔️ Full |
✔️ Basic |
|
| Al |
Not in use |
In Beta |
In use |
|
Additional information |
Singular focus on Adobe/ Magento. No possible compatibility with other e-commerce connectors. | Fragmented offer, Storefront Ul, VueStorefront Connect and VueStorefront 2. It can be hard to understand the differences; not all features/ integrations are available across all offers. Some integrations are maintained by the community, not by Vue Storefront themselves |
All integrations and features are available to clients, with constant support and continuous improvements by our in-house team. We also always ensure that new updates and integrations are compatible with previous versions. For example, moving from Front-Commerce 2.X to 3X is possible in a matter of days. |