Vendure is headless from the ground up: the TypeScript backend, with products, channels, orders, and checkout, is already decoupled from the frontend and accessed via the Vendure Shop API (GraphQL). Here, headless means you build the frontend, everything your customers see, freely on top of the GraphQL layer, without being tied to a predefined storefront stack and with full performance control.

Vendure continues to manage products, channels, customer groups, orders, taxes, and checkout. You use the Vendure dashboard, the plugin architecture, and the familiar business tools unchanged, with all your established workflows and extensions.

You have four options: adopt a storefront starter, a community storefront with a Vendure connection, a custom build (Next.js or Nuxt), or a Frontend Management Platform like Laioutr. Each option has its pros and cons.

No duplicated data, no sync conflicts. Laioutr talks directly to the Vendure Shop API (GraphQL), including support for multi-channel, customer groups, and B2B.

Vendure is headless-first and ships storefront starters and a documented Shop API (GraphQL) as building blocks, but not a finished frontend product that non-developers can operate. That puts the frontend question on the table for every Vendure project. Four options are established in the market.

The storefront examples and starters provided by Vendure, typically Remix- or React-based. An ideal starting point for learning and for proofs of concept, but as a production storefront you develop the design system, components, and page logic yourself. A good fit for small shops or as a transitional solution.

Open-source frontend frameworks with a community-maintained Vendure connection. An active community, but no official Vendure product and no direct enterprise support net. A good fit if you have a suitable frontend team and open source matters strategically to you.

Maximum control, highest effort. A six- to twelve-month build phase and permanent maintenance by an in-house Node and React or Vue team that orchestrates the Shop GraphQL API itself. A good fit when frontend engineering is your strategic core competency.

A Frontend Management Platform with a visual builder, 70+ components, EU hosting, and multi-backend support. Fastest time-to-launch, lowest learning curve, backend optionality for the future. It makes sense if you want to go live fast, without a custom-build investment.

Laioutr is built for Vendure setups that need to change fast and scale globally. From a multi-channel storefront for brand portfolios to a B2B configurator frontend with complex assortments.

Multiple Vendure channels (brands, markets, sales channels) on a single instance with standalone frontends, their own domains, and their own brand identity. One pool of components, many brand experiences.

Vendure delivers customer groups, group-specific prices, and B2B workflows via plugins. Laioutr calls the Shop API directly and renders customer-group-specific prices, assortments, and approval processes.

Industrial goods, customization workflows, B2B specifications. Complex state-management logic is solved at the Laioutr component level, while Shop API calls stay cleanly separated.

One Vendure instance, many channels. Languages, currencies, layouts, and assortments can be controlled per channel, compatible with the Vendure channels concept.

An existing Vendure frontend needs an overhaul without touching the backend configuration. Migration in phases, with a clear rollback plan.

A new Vendure project, a fresh start. With Laioutr themes and the UI library, you go live in weeks instead of investing months in a custom build.