TL;DR
A complete headless Shopify storefront typically costs a fixed ₹40,000 (about $1,000) and takes 3–4 weeks, with optional add-ons like bots, attribution, and custom emails priced separately. It runs on your existing Shopify plan — far cheaper than Shopify Plus at ~$2,300/month.
A headless Shopify rebuild replaces your Shopify theme with a custom storefront (usually built in Next.js) while Shopify keeps running products, checkout, and orders behind the scenes. The cost depends on scope, but the table below covers the common shapes in 2026.
What a headless Shopify rebuild costs in 2026
At tilde, a complete headless Shopify storefront is ₹40,000 (about $1,000) as a fixed, one-time price, delivered in 3–4 weeks. That is the base build — design, development, migration of your existing catalogue, analytics wiring, and full code handover. Add-ons are priced separately and run in parallel without extending the core timeline.
| Item | Typical price | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Headless storefront (base build) | ₹40,000 / ~$1,000 fixed | 3–4 weeks |
| WhatsApp + Telegram bot | from ₹25,000 / ~$500 | runs in parallel |
| Unified attribution dashboard | from ₹35,000 / ~$700 | runs in parallel |
| Custom transactional emails | from ₹15,000 / ~$300 | runs in parallel |
| Ongoing maintenance retainer | from ₹15,000 / ~$300 per month | optional, after launch |
What is included in the base price
A fixed-price headless rebuild should leave you with a faster, fully on-brand store and no vendor lock-in. The tilde base build includes:
- A custom Next.js storefront on your existing Shopify backend
- Mobile-first responsive design, with the Figma file handed over
- Shopify or Razorpay checkout, switchable per region
- Meta Pixel, GA4, and Clarity wired server-side so the numbers match across platforms
- Migration of products, customers, and orders, plus 301 redirects
- Hosting on Vercel with a guaranteed Lighthouse mobile score of 95+
- Full code handover to a GitHub repository you own
- 30 days of post-launch support
Headless rebuild vs Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus starts around $2,300 per month (roughly ₹1.9 lakh per month). A headless rebuild is a one-time cost that runs on your existing Shopify plan and gives you more design control than Plus does. Plus earns its price for very high-volume merchants who need its wholesale, scripting, and launch features — but most brands chasing a better-looking, faster storefront do not need it.
What changes the price
The base figure moves with scope. Bespoke integrations, subscriptions, B2B pricing, multi-currency, or a multi-vendor marketplace add to it. The honest way to get an exact number is a short scoping call where the deliverable is written down and quoted fixed — no surprise invoices.
Is a headless rebuild worth it?
If your theme caps your design, your store feels slow on mobile, or your attribution never adds up, a headless rebuild usually pays for itself in conversion and speed. If you are early and a good theme still fits, wait.
Published 29 May 2026 · the tilde team
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