Shopify or Frontbox: replatforming or a storefront on top of your backend
Shopify is the global SaaS platform: you move the whole store into it and pay for the plan, apps and transaction fees. Frontbox is a storefront, app and SEO on top of your own system (or Shopify itself as the backend) with an engineer on a subscription. Here is when to pick which.
Three key differences
Replatforming: catalog, orders and customers live in Shopify; the storefront is a Liquid theme or Hydrogen.
Overlay: your Bitrix, ERP or Shopify stays the backend; the storefront and app are Frontbox.
$29–$2,300/mo + 2.25–2.9% + 30¢ per sale + paid apps and a theme.
19,000–65,000 ₽/mo with no transaction fees. Source‑code buyout — 95,000 ₽/mo × 18.
You or an agency: Shopify is a platform, not a team.
A dedicated engineer in the subscription owns the site, app, SEO and content.
Point by point
Left — Shopify per shopify.com as of August 2026. Right — Frontbox per subscription terms.
- Shopify
- A SaaS e‑commerce platform
- Frontbox
- Storefront + app + service on top of your backend
- Shopify
- In Shopify. Liquid themes; headless via Hydrogen, built by your own team
- Frontbox
- Data in your system. The storefront code can be bought out
- Shopify
- Basic $29 → Plus from $2,300/mo; 2.25–2.9% + 30¢ fees; apps and theme extra
- Frontbox
- Light 19,000 · Standard 35,000 · Premium 65,000 ₽/mo; 0% of sales
- Shopify
- Shop App — a shared marketplace, not your brand; your own app means third‑party services
- Frontbox
- iOS + Android under your brand from the same code as the site
- Shopify
- Markets is a strength: 130+ currencies, local URLs without losing SEO
- Frontbox
- Locales, currencies and warehouses are properties of one catalog
- Shopify
- Restrictions for Russian legal entities since 2022; 1C, CDEK, YooKassa via third‑party apps
- Frontbox
- 1C‑Bitrix, 1C ERP, CRM, local payments and delivery — natively
- Shopify
- Good, but a fixed URL structure (/products/, /collections/)
- Frontbox
- Your own URL structure; technical SEO and AI content included
- Shopify
- Themes from the theme store; custom via Liquid or Hydrogen
- Frontbox
- Component storefront under your brand
- Shopify
- 24/7 platform chat; you run the store yourself
- Frontbox
- An engineer responsible for your store
- Shopify
- 21,000+ apps — you assemble them
- Frontbox
- Integrations via API; the engineer builds what you need within the subscription
Shopify prices per shopify.com/pricing, August 2026, yearly billing. Check the platform’s current rules for Russian legal entities. Frontbox prices are indicative and depend on the catalog.
When Shopify is the right call
- A store from scratch for the global market, with no ERP of your own
- You want the huge app ecosystem and are ready to assemble it yourself
- Selling in 20+ countries with local checkouts — Markets does this best
- Your team already knows Shopify and does not want to change anything
When Frontbox
- The backend already exists — Bitrix, ERP, CRM — and moving into SaaS means pain
- You need your own code and a branded app, not Shop App
- Local payments, delivery and ERP without third‑party workarounds
- You want a specific person running the store, not “the platform”
Frontbox and Shopify are not necessarily “either/or”
If the store is already on Shopify, Frontbox can become its storefront and app: catalog and orders stay in Shopify, shoppers get a fast branded site and an app. If you are moving from Shopify to Bitrix or an ERP, we migrate the catalog and orders with the storefront on Frontbox from day one.
- 01
Demo on your catalog
We connect the Shopify catalog via API and show search, product pages and the app on your products.
- 02
Storefront next to the current store
A new front on a staging domain; redirects from the /products/ and /collections/ structure prepared in advance.
- 03
Domain and traffic switch
In parts, with a one‑setting rollback. The Shopify store stays as the backend or as a fallback.
Questions about Shopify and Frontbox
The most frequent ones. Everything else — on a demo.
Does Frontbox work on top of Shopify?
Yes: the core connects via API, catalog and orders stay in Shopify, the storefront and app are Frontbox. We scope it on a demo for your catalog.
Why not just Shopify plus a good theme?
A theme is a site. Frontbox is a site, an app, SEO, content and an engineer on one invoice, with no transaction fees.
We sell internationally — can Frontbox handle it?
Languages, currencies and warehouses are built into the core; vostok‑watches24.com is a multilingual Frontbox store shipping worldwide.
Isn’t Shopify Hydrogen also headless?
It is, but it is a toolkit for developers: you provide the team, hosting and support. Frontbox is a finished storefront with an engineer inside the subscription.
See Frontbox on your own catalog
Send a link to your store — on Shopify, Bitrix or anywhere else. We connect a demo to your data and show the storefront, app and search on your products.
Related sections - Go deeper
Frontbox
What the subscription includes, plans and White Label.
GuideHow to pick a headless platform
Shopify Hydrogen, Medusa, Saleor, Frontbox — by criteria.
ComparisonFrontbox vs Aspro
A template inside Bitrix or a storefront on top of it.
ComparisonFrontbox vs Yandex Kit
A free builder versus a storefront you own.