ChatGPT answers, unedited

If your primary requirement is a custom iOS/Android app frontend, I’d narrow the field to Shopify, Medusa, and Saleor. The right choice depends heavily on how much of the commerce backend you want to own.

My recommendation

For most teams building a custom mobile app, I'd start with Shopify.

Shopify's Storefront API is explicitly designed for custom experiences including native iOS, Android, and React Native apps. Its mobile architecture provides product/catalog/cart functionality through the Storefront API, while Checkout Kit can present Shopify's checkout inside the app. Shopify Shopify Shopify

That gives you an architecture roughly like:

┌───────────────────────────────┐
│       iOS / Android App       │
│                               │
│  React Native / Swift / Kotlin│
└───────────────┬───────────────┘
                │
                │ Storefront API
                ▼
┌───────────────────────────────┐
│           Shopify             │
│                               │
│ Products • Customers • Cart   │
│ Inventory • Orders • Checkout │
└───────────────────────────────┘

The major advantage is that you don't have to build and maintain things like inventory, order management, payments, admin tooling, and much of the commerce infrastructure yourself.

When I'd choose Medusa instead

I'd seriously consider Medusa if your mobile app is not merely a custom presentation layer but the product itself has unusual commerce behavior.

Medusa's Store API is explicitly intended for storefronts including commerce mobile apps, and its authentication supports JWTs specifically suited to mobile/client applications. Medusa Docs

It also lets you create custom API routes, workflows, and integrations, giving you substantially more control over the backend. Medusa Docs Medusa Docs

For example, if you're building:

• A marketplace
• Complex subscription/entitlement logic
• Highly customized checkout
• Unusual fulfillment rules
• Multiple external systems
• A commerce app with significant proprietary business logic

I'd lean toward Medusa.

The tradeoff is that you're taking on more engineering and infrastructure responsibility than with Shopify.

Where Saleor fits

Saleor is particularly interesting if your team likes GraphQL and wants an API-first, open-source commerce backend. Current comparisons characterize its architecture as Python/Django with GraphQL, versus Medusa's TypeScript/Node/REST approach. Eryx Innovations Lab OSSAlt

I'd put it on the shortlist if your backend team is already comfortable with Python/GraphQL or you have sophisticated multi-channel/B2B requirements.

A practical decision rule

I'd use this:

Choose Shopify if:

• You want to launch quickly.
• Your mobile app is primarily a custom shopping experience.
• You don't want to operate the commerce backend.
• You need mature payments, checkout, inventory, orders, and merchant tooling.
• Your business logic mostly fits standard ecommerce concepts.

Choose Medusa if:

• Your engineering team wants control of the backend.
• You expect substantial custom commerce logic.
• You want an open-source foundation.
• Your team is strong in TypeScript/Node.
• Your mobile app is going to have behavior that doesn't fit neatly into Shopify.

Choose Saleor if:

• GraphQL is a major architectural preference.
• Your team is comfortable with Python.
• You need sophisticated multi-channel/B2B capabilities.
• You want open-source and API-first architecture.

Choose commercetools if:

• This is a large enterprise project.
• You're building a genuinely composable commerce architecture.
• You have the engineering budget to support considerable complexity.

One important architectural point

For a serious mobile app, I wouldn't have the app directly call every third-party service.

I'd generally structure it as:

              iOS / Android
                    │
                    ▼
          ┌──────────────────┐
          │  Your API/BFF    │
          └────────┬─────────┘
                   │
       ┌───────────┼────────────┐
       ▼           ▼            ▼
    Commerce      CMS       Analytics
    Platform
       │
       ▼
   Payments

A BFF (backend-for-frontend) can give you a stable API specifically for your app, hide internal implementation details, combine multiple API calls, enforce authorization, and prevent your mobile client from becoming tightly coupled to the commerce platform.

If you're building a React Native app, Shopify becomes especially attractive because Shopify explicitly supports React Native mobile storefronts, while Medusa provides a JavaScript SDK plus direct REST APIs that can also fit naturally into that stack. Medusa Docs Shopify

Bottom line: for a conventional ecommerce mobile app, I'd start with Shopify; for a highly differentiated/custom commerce application, I'd start with Medusa. The distinction is less about whether either can power a mobile app—they both can—and more about how much of the commerce engine you want to control yourself. Medusa Docs Shopify

For a custom mobile app frontend (React Native, Flutter, native iOS/Android, etc.), the “best” headless commerce platform is usually the one with the strongest APIs, checkout flexibility, mobile SDK support, and operational fit—not necessarily the one with the best web storefront tools. Headless platforms separate the commerce backend (catalog, cart, orders, payments) from the customer experience layer, which lets a mobile app consume the same commerce APIs as a website or other channels. Naturaily

Here are the strongest options by scenario:

Naturaily Vendure## My typical recommendations

Choose Shopify headless if:

• You are building a consumer shopping app.
• You want to launch quickly.
• Your commerce requirements are fairly standard:

• products
• variants
• discounts
• subscriptions
• payments
• fulfillment

Your app talks to Shopify APIs while Shopify handles much of the commerce complexity. Pointerflow

Choose Medusa if:

• Your app is the product experience (not just a mobile storefront).
• You need unusual flows:

• marketplace logic
• custom checkout
• complex pricing
• custom fulfillment rules
• unique customer journeys

Medusa is attractive when developers want ownership of the commerce layer rather than adapting to a SaaS platform’s model. Vendure

Choose commercetools if:

• This is a large-scale platform.
• You have backend engineers.
• You need:

• multiple countries
• multiple brands
• complex catalogs
• B2B pricing
• ERP/PIM integration
• many sales channels

It is designed for composable commerce architectures where the mobile app is one of many frontends. Naturaily

For a mobile app specifically, evaluate these APIs

Before choosing, check:

• Cart API

• Can users keep carts across devices?
• Can anonymous carts become logged-in carts?
• Checkout API

• Can you build your own checkout screens?
• Or does it force a hosted checkout?
• Customer authentication

• OAuth/social login support
• customer profiles
• saved addresses/payment methods
• Inventory

• real-time stock
• multi-location inventory
• Payments

• native mobile payment support
• Apple Pay / Google Pay compatibility
• Webhooks

• order updates
• inventory changes
• fulfillment notifications
• SDK quality

• official mobile SDKs or good GraphQL/REST documentation

A practical shortlist

For most teams:

1. Startup / DTC mobile shopping app: Shopify headless
2. Custom marketplace or unusual commerce logic: Medusa
3. Enterprise omnichannel app: commercetools
4. Mid-market app with lower operational burden: BigCommerce
5. GraphQL-first engineering team: Saleor

If you tell me:

• your app stack (React Native, Flutter, Swift/Kotlin, etc.),
• expected scale (SKUs, orders/day),
• whether you need subscriptions, marketplace, B2B pricing, or custom checkout,

I can narrow this down to 1–2 platforms.

If your frontend is a custom iOS/Android app, I’d narrow the field to Shopify, Medusa, Saleor, and commercetools. The right choice depends mostly on how much commerce infrastructure you want to build yourself.

Quick comparison

My practical recommendation: Shopify

For a custom mobile app, Shopify is probably the strongest default choice unless you have unusual commerce requirements.

Shopify's Storefront API is explicitly designed for apps, including native iOS, Android, and React Native applications. It handles products, collections, search, carts, pricing, etc., while Shopify's Checkout Kit can present checkout inside the mobile app. Shopify Shopify

The architecture can look like:

┌─────────────────────────────┐
│     Custom Mobile App       │
│                             │
│  iOS / Android / React Native│
└──────────────┬──────────────┘
               │
        Storefront API
               │
               ▼
┌─────────────────────────────┐
│          Shopify            │
│                             │
│ Products                    │
│ Customers                   │
│ Cart                        │
│ Pricing                     │
│ Inventory                   │
│ Orders                      │
│ Checkout / Payments         │
└─────────────────────────────┘

Shopify also provides official mobile libraries and documentation for iOS, Android, and React Native. Shopify Shopify

shopify.dev

When I'd choose Medusa instead

I'd seriously consider Medusa if your app has commerce logic that doesn't fit naturally into Shopify—for example, highly customized checkout, marketplace/multi-vendor behavior, or unusual product/order workflows.

Medusa's Store API is explicitly intended for storefronts including commerce mobile apps, and its APIs are REST-based. Medusa Docs

The tradeoff is that you take on more responsibility for your commerce infrastructure.

When Saleor makes sense

Saleor is particularly interesting if your engineering team prefers GraphQL and a highly API-driven architecture. Saleor describes itself as GraphQL-native and technology-agnostic, with headless storefront and admin APIs. Saleor Commerce Saleor Commerce

I'd investigate it if your app is more of a custom commerce product than a conventional ecommerce storefront.

The key distinction

I'd use this rule:

• "I want to build a great mobile shopping experience without reinventing ecommerce." → Shopify
• "I want to own and heavily customize the commerce engine." → Medusa
• "I want a GraphQL-native, composable commerce backend." → Saleor
• "We're a large enterprise with complex composable commerce requirements." → commercetools

One particularly important point: don't choose based merely on whether a platform has an API. For a mobile app, evaluate the APIs for authentication, customer accounts, cart persistence, checkout, payments, inventory, webhooks, order management, discounts, and offline/poor-connectivity behavior. Checkout is often the part that determines whether an otherwise-good headless platform is actually pleasant to integrate.

If you tell me (1) iOS/Android/React Native, (2) B2C or B2B, (3) approximate catalog size, and (4) whether you need subscriptions/marketplace/multi-vendor, I can give you a much more specific architecture and platform comparison.

Shopify's Storefront API is explicitly designed for apps, including native iOS, Android, and React Native applications. It handles products, collections, search, carts, pricing, etc., while Shopify's Checkout Kit can present checkout inside the mobile app. Shopify Shopify

The architecture can look like:

┌─────────────────────────────┐
│     Custom Mobile App       │
│                             │
│  iOS / Android / React Native│
└──────────────┬──────────────┘
               │
        Storefront API
               │
               ▼
┌─────────────────────────────┐
│          Shopify            │
│                             │
│ Products                    │
│ Customers                   │
│ Cart                        │
│ Pricing                     │
│ Inventory                   │
│ Orders                      │
│ Checkout / Payments         │
└─────────────────────────────┘

Shopify also provides official mobile libraries and documentation for iOS, Android, and React Native. Shopify Shopify

shopify.dev

When I'd choose Medusa instead

I'd seriously consider Medusa if your app has commerce logic that doesn't fit naturally into Shopify—for example, highly customized checkout, marketplace/multi-vendor behavior, or unusual product/order workflows.

Medusa's Store API is explicitly intended for storefronts including commerce mobile apps, and its APIs are REST-based.

The tradeoff is that you take on more responsibility for your commerce infrastructure.

When Saleor makes sense

If the frontend is a custom mobile app—React Native, Flutter, Swift/Kotlin, etc.—I’d prioritize a commerce platform with a strong, stable API rather than one optimized around a particular web storefront.

My shortlist

🥇 I'd choose Medusa for a custom mobile app

Medusa is particularly attractive when the mobile app is the primary customer experience.

Your architecture can look roughly like:

React Native / Flutter / iOS / Android
                │
                ▼
        Your API / BFF layer
                │
                ▼
            Medusa
       ┌────────┼────────┐
       ▼        ▼        ▼
    Products   Cart    Orders
       │        │        │
       └────────┼────────┘
                ▼
     Payments / Tax / Shipping

The big advantage is that your app isn't tied to a commerce-specific frontend framework. Medusa is a backend commerce engine, so you can build the mobile UX however you want. Its TypeScript/Node architecture is also convenient if your app/backend team already lives in the JavaScript/TypeScript ecosystem. Eryx Innovations Lab OSSAlt

When I'd pick Saleor instead

Choose Saleor if your app needs things like:

• Complex B2B pricing
• Multiple markets/channels
• Multiple warehouses
• Sophisticated product attributes
• GraphQL as the primary API
• A Python/Django backend team

Saleor is particularly strong if you want the mobile app to consume a GraphQL-first commerce API. Vendure OSSAlt

When Shopify makes more sense

I'd pick Shopify if you care more about getting the business operational quickly than owning the commerce backend.

You can absolutely have:

Custom Mobile App
       │
       ▼
Shopify Storefront API
       │
       ▼
Shopify
       │
 ┌─────┼─────┐
 ▼     ▼     ▼
Pay  Orders Inventory

The tradeoff is that you're working within Shopify's commerce model rather than having complete control over the backend. That's often a very good trade for a smaller team because Shopify takes care of a lot of operational complexity. Current 2026 comparisons generally position Shopify as the fastest/lowest-operational-burden choice, while Medusa and Saleor provide considerably more backend ownership. Ribbsaeter Systems Naturaily

My recommendation by situation

• Startup / new product / highly customized app → Medusa
• B2B / complex pricing / multi-region → Saleor
• Large enterprise / composable architecture → commercetools
• Want to launch quickly and minimize backend operations → Shopify
• Mid-market + managed SaaS + API access → BigCommerce

One important architectural recommendation: even with Medusa/Saleor/etc., I'd consider putting a thin BFF (Backend-for-Frontend) between your mobile app and commerce platform. It lets you combine commerce, CMS, search, personalization, loyalty, analytics, etc. into mobile-optimized responses and prevents your app from becoming tightly coupled to the commerce vendor.

If you tell me React Native vs Flutter vs native, expected number of SKUs/orders, B2C vs B2B, and whether you need subscriptions/marketplace/multiple countries, I can narrow this down to the best 1–2 choices and give you a concrete architecture.

The big advantage is that your app isn't tied to a commerce-specific frontend framework. Medusa is a backend commerce engine, so you can build the mobile UX however you want. Its TypeScript/Node architecture is also convenient if your app/backend team already lives in the JavaScript/TypeScript ecosystem.

When I'd pick Saleor instead

For a custom mobile app frontend, I’d pick Medusa for most engineering-led teams. Its TypeScript/Node stack and API-first architecture make it especially convenient when your app and backend are custom-built. Eryx Innovations Lab OSSAlt

• Medusa — best overall for maximum customization.
• Shopify — best if you prioritize reliability, ecosystem, and fastest launch.
• Saleor — best for GraphQL-heavy, enterprise/B2B requirements.
• commercetools — best for large enterprises with complex composable commerce. naturaily.com

If you tell me iOS/Android stack, expected order volume, B2C vs B2B, and whether you need subscriptions, I can narrow it to one.

For a custom mobile app frontend (iOS/Android), the “best” headless commerce platform depends less on the app framework and more on how much commerce logic you want to own. A mobile app is usually a great fit for headless because the backend exposes products, carts, checkout, customers, and orders through APIs instead of controlling the UI. Naturaily

Here are the strongest options:

PowerGate Software Ribbsaeter Systems## My recommendations by scenario

1. You are building a serious custom shopping app

Pick: commercetools or Medusa

• commercetools is ideal if you need:

• multiple regions/currencies
• complex pricing rules
• marketplace-style workflows
• enterprise integrations
• a long-lived commerce platform
• Medusa is ideal if you need:

• custom checkout flows
• unusual product logic
• tight control over backend behavior
• a TypeScript stack shared with your app/backend team

Hunchbite Naturaily### 2. You want to launch quickly and let your business team manage commerce

Pick: Shopify

A custom mobile app can use Shopify APIs while your operations team manages:

• products
• inventory
• discounts
• orders
• fulfillment

This is often the lowest-risk choice for DTC brands. The tradeoff is that highly customized commerce rules may eventually hit Shopify’s boundaries. Hunchbite

3. You are building B2B commerce

Pick: commercetools or Saleor

Examples:

• customer-specific pricing
• wholesale accounts
• approval workflows
• multiple warehouses
• complex catalogs

Saleor is especially attractive if your team prefers GraphQL and Python. Designodin

For a mobile app specifically, I would evaluate these APIs/features

Prioritize:

• Native mobile SDK support or strong APIs

• REST and/or GraphQL
• good authentication flows
• customer accounts
• saved carts
• order history
• Checkout flexibility

• guest checkout
• payment provider integrations
• subscriptions
• promotions
• Performance

• CDN-friendly APIs
• caching strategy
• webhooks/events
• Operational tooling

• admin dashboard
• inventory management
• analytics integrations

My default shortlist

If I were choosing today:

1. Shopify → best default for most consumer shopping apps
2. Medusa → best for a highly custom app where developers want control
3. commercetools → best for enterprise-scale apps
4. Saleor → best for GraphQL-heavy/B2B applications

A few questions would change the recommendation:

• Is the app B2C, B2B, marketplace, or subscription-based?
• What stack is the mobile app using (React Native, Flutter, native Swift/Kotlin)?
• Do you need custom checkout/payment flows, or can you use standard commerce flows?
• Roughly how many products/SKUs and expected users/orders?

If your primary goal is a custom native mobile app (iOS/Android/React Native) with a commerce backend exposed through APIs, my default recommendation is Shopify—specifically its Storefront API + Customer Account API + Checkout Kit.

Shopify explicitly supports native apps: its Storefront API handles products, search, carts, and other commerce primitives, while Checkout Kit can embed Shopify checkout into iOS, Android, or React Native apps. Shopify Shopify

My shortlist

1. Shopify — best overall

I'd pick this if you want your mobile team to focus on the app experience rather than building commerce infrastructure.

Your architecture could look roughly like:

iOS / Android / React Native
          │
          ├── Storefront API ──► Products / Collections / Cart
          │
          ├── Customer Account API ──► Login / Customer data
          │
          └── Checkout Kit ──► Shopify Checkout
                                  │
                                  ▼
                         Shopify Commerce Backend
                         ├── Inventory
                         ├── Orders
                         ├── Payments
                         ├── Discounts
                         └── Admin

The particularly nice part is that Shopify provides mobile-specific support rather than forcing you to treat the app as an afterthought. Its current docs specifically describe mobile storefronts and Checkout Kit for iOS, Android, and React Native. Shopify

The Storefront API is also platform/framework agnostic and Shopify provides official iOS and Android libraries. Shopify

Downside: you're buying into Shopify's ecosystem and business model. If your app needs radically different commerce logic, Shopify can eventually become constraining.

2. Medusa — best if you're an engineering-heavy startup

I'd seriously consider Medusa if the app is the product and you want the commerce backend to be highly customizable.

Medusa's Store API is explicitly designed for storefronts including commerce mobile apps, and its APIs are REST-based. Medusa Docs

It's particularly attractive if:

• Your team is strong in TypeScript/Node.
• You need unusual checkout/order/pricing logic.
• You want control over the backend.
• You don't want your commerce model dictated by Shopify.
• You expect to integrate several external services.

The tradeoff is that you own more of the infrastructure and engineering complexity.

3. Saleor — best GraphQL/open-source alternative

Saleor is worth considering if your team is comfortable with Python/GraphQL and you want an API-first, highly customizable platform.

I'd put it ahead of Medusa when your architecture strongly favors GraphQL and composable services, but I'd put Medusa ahead when your team is primarily TypeScript/Node.

4. commercetools — best for enterprise

If you're building something like a large retailer's app with:

• multiple countries
• multiple currencies
• B2B pricing
• complex product catalogs
• multiple brands/channels
• sophisticated promotions
• extensive ERP/PIM integration

then commercetools becomes much more interesting.

It's powerful, but I'd consider it overkill for a typical startup or DTC mobile app.

What I'd choose

For most custom mobile commerce apps:

Shopify + Storefront API + Customer Account API + Checkout Kit

For a technically sophisticated company wanting maximum backend control:

Medusa

For enterprise composable commerce:

commercetools

For a GraphQL/open-source architecture:

Saleor

One important distinction: don't choose based primarily on "headless" marketing. For a mobile app, I'd evaluate the platforms on checkout integration, customer authentication, cart persistence, promotions, inventory, webhooks/events, API rate limits, offline behavior, and how much business logic can live outside the platform.

If you tell me your mobile stack (React Native, Flutter, Swift/Kotlin), expected order volume, B2C vs B2B, and whether you need subscriptions, I can narrow this down to a specific architecture and platform.

One important distinction: don't choose based primarily on "headless" marketing. For a mobile app, I'd evaluate the platforms on checkout integration, customer authentication, cart persistence, promotions, inventory, webhooks/events, API rate limits, offline behavior, and how much business logic can live outside the platform.

If you tell me your mobile stack (React Native, Flutter, Swift/Kotlin), expected order volume, B2C vs B2B, and whether you need subscriptions, I can narrow this down to a specific architecture and platform.

If your goal is a fully custom iOS/Android app frontend, I’d rank the main headless commerce options this way:

My default recommendation: Shopify

For most teams, Shopify + Storefront API + Checkout Kit is the best combination.

Shopify explicitly supports native iOS, Android, and React Native storefronts. Its Storefront API handles products, search, carts, pricing, etc., while Checkout Kit lets the native app hand checkout/payment off to Shopify. Shopify Shopify

The architecture can look roughly like:

             ┌─────────────────────┐
             │   Custom Mobile App │
             │ iOS / Android / RN  │
             └──────────┬──────────┘
                        │
                 Storefront API
                        │
             ┌──────────▼──────────┐
             │       Shopify       │
             │ Products            │
             │ Inventory           │
             │ Pricing             │
             │ Customers           │
             │ Orders              │
             └──────────┬──────────┘
                        │
                 Checkout Kit
                        │
             ┌──────────▼──────────┐
             │ Shopify Checkout    │
             │ Payment / Order     │
             └─────────────────────┘

This is particularly attractive because you don't have to build the commerce backend yourself. Shopify's API is explicitly designed to support custom experiences across web, mobile, games, and other channels. Shopify Shopify

When I'd choose Medusa instead

Choose Medusa if your app isn't really a conventional Shopify-style storefront and you need substantial custom commerce logic.

For example:

• Marketplace / multi-vendor
• Highly customized checkout
• Complex product configuration
• Unusual fulfillment logic
• You want to own the backend
• Your team is strong in TypeScript/Node
• You want to avoid being constrained by Shopify's commerce model

Medusa's Store API is specifically intended for storefronts including commerce mobile apps, and its v2 API is REST-based. Medusa Docs

The tradeoff is that you take on considerably more responsibility for infrastructure, upgrades, security, payments, integrations, and operational reliability.

When I'd choose commercetools

If you're building something like a large enterprise commerce platform, I'd seriously consider commercetools.

It's particularly compelling when you have:

• Multiple countries/markets
• B2B + B2C
• Complex pricing
• Multiple brands
• Multiple sales channels
• ERP/PIM/CRM integrations
• A dedicated engineering/architecture team

commercetools is explicitly API-first and composable, meaning commerce capabilities can be assembled and scaled independently. Commercetools Commercetools

But I'd consider it overkill for a typical startup/mobile commerce app.

The decision I'd make

If you're building a normal consumer shopping app:
→ Shopify

If you're building a highly customized commerce product:
→ Medusa

If you're building enterprise-scale/B2B/composable commerce:
→ commercetools

If your team strongly prefers GraphQL/Python and wants open source:
→ Saleor

One important point: don't choose based primarily on whether the platform says "headless." For a mobile app, the critical questions are whether its APIs cleanly support catalog → search → cart → customer → checkout → orders → payments, and whether authentication, webhooks, inventory, and app-specific business logic are easy to implement.

For Shopify specifically, the current mobile architecture is unusually well documented: native apps can use the Storefront API for catalog/cart functionality and Checkout Kit for checkout. Shopify

If you tell me what your mobile app sells, your expected scale, whether you're using React Native/Flutter/native, and whether you need subscriptions or marketplace functionality, I can narrow this down to a specific platform and architecture.

If your primary frontend is a custom iOS/Android app, my default recommendation is Shopify—specifically Shopify's headless stack using the Storefront API + Customer Account API + Checkout Kit.

Shopify explicitly supports native iOS, Android, and React Native apps: the Storefront API handles product discovery/search/cart, while Checkout Kit presents Shopify checkout inside the app. Shopify Shopify

My ranking

🥇 Shopify — best overall

For a mobile app, Shopify's architecture is particularly attractive:

Your app
→ Storefront API
→ Shopify commerce backend
→ Checkout Kit
→ Shopify checkout/payment

You aren't forced to use Shopify's web storefront. Shopify describes its Storefront API as platform/device agnostic and specifically supports native mobile apps. Shopify Shopify

The newer mobile stack also gives you a dedicated Customer Account API with mobile-client support, which is useful for login, customer profiles, order history, etc. Shopify

I'd choose Shopify if:

• You're building a consumer/DTC app.
• You want to launch relatively quickly.
• You want Shopify's mature admin, inventory, promotions, orders, payments and ecosystem.
• You don't want your engineering team maintaining the commerce backend.
• Your checkout doesn't need radically unconventional business logic.

🥈 Medusa — best if the app is the product

Medusa is more interesting if you're building something where commerce logic itself needs to be highly customized.

Medusa's Store API is REST-based and explicitly designed to power storefronts including commerce mobile apps. Medusa Documentation

I'd lean Medusa if you need things like:

• Highly customized checkout
• Marketplace/multi-vendor functionality
• Unusual pricing or fulfillment logic
• Deep integration with your own backend systems
• Full control over the commerce data model
• An engineering team comfortable owning infrastructure

The tradeoff is that you give up some of Shopify's operational simplicity.

🥉 commercetools — enterprise choice

commercetools becomes compelling when you're talking about enterprise-scale composable commerce, multiple countries/brands/channels, sophisticated B2B pricing, or integrating commerce into a larger ecosystem.

It's extremely powerful, but I'd consider it overkill for a typical startup or consumer mobile app.

The key question

The biggest distinction isn't really mobile vs. web. It's:

Do you want to own the commerce backend, or do you want your app to consume a mature commerce backend?

If you want:

Custom mobile UI + mature commerce infrastructure → Shopify

Custom mobile UI + maximum backend control → Medusa

Custom mobile UI + complex enterprise architecture → commercetools

Custom mobile UI + open-source GraphQL architecture → Saleor

For most teams, I'd start with Shopify unless there's a concrete requirement that Shopify's commerce model can't accommodate. Shopify itself cautions that headless adds ongoing cost and complexity, so it's worth having a specific reason to go custom rather than doing it merely for architectural purity. Shopify

If you tell me (1) iOS/Android/React Native, (2) B2C or B2B, (3) approximate catalog size, and (4) whether checkout/payment also needs to be completely custom, I can give you a much more definitive recommendation and architecture.

If your primary goal is a custom native mobile app (iOS/Android/React Native) with a completely custom UI, my default recommendation in 2026 is Shopify, specifically its Storefront API + Checkout Kit.

Shopify explicitly supports native mobile storefronts: the Storefront API handles products, search, and carts, while Checkout Kit embeds checkout directly into iOS, Android, or React Native apps. Shopify Shopify

My ranking

🥇 Best overall: Shopify

Shopify is probably the best choice if you want to build something like:

Native mobile app
→ Storefront API
→ Shopify commerce backend
→ Shopify checkout/payment infrastructure
→ Shopify Admin for your operations team

The important part is that you don't have to use Shopify's storefront UI. Your app can be entirely custom. Shopify describes the Storefront API as platform/device agnostic and specifically supports native mobile apps. Shopify Shopify

For example:

                 YOUR APP
        ┌──────────────────────┐
        │ Swift / Kotlin       │
        │ React Native / Expo  │
        │ Flutter              │
        └──────────┬───────────┘
                   │
                   ▼
        ┌──────────────────────┐
        │ Shopify Storefront   │
        │ API (GraphQL)        │
        └──────────┬───────────┘
                   │
        ┌──────────▼───────────┐
        │ Shopify              │
        │ Products             │
        │ Inventory            │
        │ Pricing              │
        │ Customers            │
        │ Orders               │
        └──────────┬───────────┘
                   │
                   ▼
        ┌──────────────────────┐
        │ Shopify Checkout Kit │
        │ Payments / Checkout  │
        └──────────────────────┘

The particularly nice part for a mobile app is Checkout Kit. Rather than building and maintaining your own checkout/payment flow, your app can pass a checkout URL to Shopify's native checkout experience. Shopify

shopify.dev

🥈 Best if you want maximum control: Medusa

Medusa becomes more attractive if you're saying:

"I don't want Shopify's commerce model. I want the commerce backend itself to be highly customizable."

Medusa's Store API is explicitly designed for storefronts including commerce mobile apps, and it's REST-based. Medusa Docs

I'd consider Medusa if you need things like:

• Very custom checkout logic
• Unusual product/catalog models
• Marketplace/multi-vendor functionality
• Highly customized promotions
• Custom fulfillment logic
• Your own backend infrastructure
• Minimal dependence on a SaaS commerce platform

The tradeoff is that your engineering team owns considerably more of the system.

🥉 Best enterprise choice: commercetools

If you're talking about a large enterprise with multiple brands, countries, currencies, B2B pricing, complex catalogs, ERP/PIM integration, etc., I'd move commercetools toward the top.

It's much more of a composable commerce architecture than "Shopify but headless."

The downside is that it's substantially more infrastructure and architecture work than Shopify.

What I'd choose

I'd use this rule:

Choose Shopify if:

• You're building a consumer mobile shopping app
• You want to launch quickly
• You need reliable payments/checkout
• Your catalog isn't extraordinarily complicated
• You want non-engineers to manage products/orders
• You want access to Shopify's ecosystem

Choose Medusa if:

• Your commerce logic is itself a competitive differentiator
• You have a strong engineering team
• You need to own/customize the backend
• You're comfortable operating more infrastructure

Choose commercetools if:

• You're enterprise-scale
• You have complicated B2B/omnichannel requirements
• You're integrating ERP/PIM/CRM/etc.
• You expect a genuinely composable architecture

One important distinction

If by "custom mobile app frontend" you mean a normal shopping app, Shopify is my strong recommendation.

If you mean something more unusual—for example, a marketplace, subscription product, social-commerce app, food delivery app, multi-vendor platform, or app with highly customized pricing/fulfillment—I would evaluate Medusa/Saleor/commercetools much more seriously.

If you tell me what your app sells, approximate catalog size, whether it's B2C or B2B, and whether you're using React Native/Flutter/native iOS/Android, I can give you a much more specific architecture recommendation.

Medusa becomes more attractive if you're saying:

"I don't want Shopify's commerce model. I want the commerce backend itself to be highly customizable."

Medusa's Store API is explicitly designed for storefronts including commerce mobile apps, and it's REST-based.

I'd consider Medusa if you need things like:

If your primary requirement is a completely custom iOS/Android app frontend, I’d shortlist Shopify, Medusa, Saleor, and commercetools—but the “best” choice depends heavily on how much commerce logic you want to own.

My recommendation

For most teams: Shopify headless.
For maximum backend customization: Medusa.
For enterprise/composable commerce: commercetools.
For GraphQL-first/open-source: Saleor.

🥇 Shopify — best default

Shopify is surprisingly good for a native mobile app. Its Storefront API is framework-agnostic and explicitly supports native iOS, Android, and React Native apps. Shopify's current mobile architecture uses the Storefront API for products/search/cart and Checkout Kit for presenting checkout inside the app. Shopify Shopify

That gives you something like:

                Your Mobile App
        ┌─────────────────────────┐
        │ Swift / Kotlin / RN     │
        │                         │
        │ Product UI              │
        │ Search                  │
        │ Cart                    │
        │ Account                 │
        └───────────┬─────────────┘
                    │ GraphQL
                    ▼
        ┌─────────────────────────┐
        │       Shopify           │
        │                         │
        │ Catalog                 │
        │ Pricing                 │
        │ Inventory               │
        │ Customers               │
        │ Orders                  │
        │ Checkout                │
        └─────────────────────────┘

The major advantage is that you don't have to build the commerce engine yourself. Shopify handles the messy parts—catalog, inventory, orders, payments, tax integrations, promotions, merchant admin, etc.—while your app owns the customer experience.

Shopify also provides explicit documentation for native mobile storefronts, including Android/Kotlin and iOS/Apollo approaches. Shopify Shopify

I'd choose Shopify if: you want to get the app live quickly and your commerce model is reasonably conventional.

🥈 Medusa — best if the app has unusual commerce logic

I'd look very closely at Medusa if your app isn't just “a Shopify store inside an app.”

Medusa is particularly attractive when you need things like:

• Custom checkout flows
• Marketplace/multi-vendor functionality
• Complex pricing
• Custom fulfillment logic
• Subscriptions or unusual purchasing models
• Deep integration with your own backend
• Full control over the commerce database/business logic

It's an API-first, open-source commerce backend, and its TypeScript/Node.js architecture is attractive if your engineering organization already lives in JavaScript/TypeScript. PowerGate Software Eryx Innovations Lab

The tradeoff is important: you become much more responsible for operating the commerce platform.

With Shopify:

“Here's my custom app; give me commerce.”

With Medusa:

“Here's my commerce backend; now I'll customize it into exactly what my business needs.”

That's powerful—but considerably more engineering work.

🥉 Saleor — excellent if you're GraphQL-first

Saleor is another strong choice for a custom mobile application.

It's particularly compelling if you want:

• GraphQL throughout
• Open-source/self-hosted options
• Multiple sales channels
• Complex product/catalog structures
• B2B capabilities
• Multi-region/multi-warehouse commerce

The biggest consideration is that Saleor is Python/Django-based, so your backend team needs to be comfortable with that ecosystem. Ribbsaeter Systems Designodin

If your team is primarily TypeScript, I'd generally lean Medusa over Saleor. If you're already strong in Python/GraphQL and need sophisticated B2B/multichannel functionality, Saleor becomes much more interesting.

🏢 commercetools — enterprise choice

If you're building something like:

“We're a multinational company with multiple brands, countries, currencies, catalogs, fulfillment systems and potentially several customer-facing apps.”

I'd investigate commercetools.

It's designed around composable/API-first commerce and is particularly strong when you want commerce to be one component in a much larger technology architecture. Commercetools

The downside is that it's generally overkill for a startup or straightforward DTC mobile app.

What I'd pick by scenario

Building a normal consumer shopping app

Shopify

You get the fastest route from:

Product catalog → app → cart → checkout → order

without having to build and maintain the underlying commerce engine.

Building an Airbnb/Uber-style marketplace

Medusa

You probably don't want your entire business model constrained by a traditional storefront abstraction.

Building sophisticated B2B commerce

Saleor or commercetools

I'd lean commercetools for large enterprise; Saleor if you want more control/open-source economics.

Building a very custom commerce platform

Medusa

This is where its flexibility becomes particularly valuable.

Building an app with 100% custom UI but conventional commerce

Shopify

This is actually Shopify's sweet spot. Your app doesn't need to look or behave like a Shopify storefront at all. Shopify explicitly supports using the Storefront API with whatever frontend technology you choose. Shopify Shopify

One important architectural recommendation

For a serious mobile app, I wouldn't have the mobile client directly own every interaction with the commerce backend.

I'd usually architect it as:

iOS / Android / React Native
             │
             ▼
      Your API / BFF layer
             │
       ┌─────┴──────┐
       ▼            ▼
   Commerce       Your
   Platform      Services
       │            │
       └─────┬──────┘
             ▼
        Payments /
        Analytics /
        Fulfillment

That gives you an abstraction layer between your mobile app and commerce provider. It makes a future migration from Shopify → Medusa, for example, substantially less painful.

If you tell me what you're building (DTC store vs marketplace vs subscription app), your mobile stack (React Native/Flutter/native), expected order volume, and whether you need B2B, I can give you a much more definitive recommendation—and a proposed architecture.

If your frontend is a custom mobile app—React Native, Flutter, native iOS/Android, etc.—I’d prioritize platforms with a strong API-first architecture, good authentication/customer APIs, flexible cart/checkout flows, and webhooks/events.

My ranking

🥇 My default choice: Medusa

For a custom mobile app, I'd lean toward Medusa.

It's designed as a commerce backend rather than a storefront, so your architecture can look like:

                 ┌─────────────────┐
                 │   Mobile App    │
                 │ React Native /  │
                 │ Flutter / Native│
                 └────────┬────────┘
                          │
                       API/SDK
                          │
                 ┌────────▼────────┐
                 │     Medusa      │
                 │ Commerce Engine │
                 └────┬────┬───────┘
                      │    │
          ┌───────────┘    └────────────┐
          ▼                             ▼
     PostgreSQL                    External Services
                                  ├─ Stripe
                                  ├─ Algolia
                                  ├─ Tax
                                  ├─ Shipping
                                  └─ CMS

The big advantage is that your mobile UI isn't constrained by the commerce platform's frontend framework. Medusa is TypeScript/Node-based and exposes commerce functionality through APIs, making it a particularly natural fit if your mobile/backend team is already in the JavaScript/TypeScript ecosystem. Eryx Innovations Lab OSSAlt

When I'd choose the others

Saleor is particularly attractive if you want GraphQL-first development. Its API is GraphQL-native and it has strong multi-channel, inventory, and B2B capabilities. I'd choose it over Medusa for a complicated international/B2B commerce operation where those capabilities matter more than having a TypeScript backend. Eryx Innovations Lab Ribbsaeter Systems

commercetools is the choice I'd investigate for a large enterprise with multiple channels, markets, complex pricing, and a dedicated commerce engineering team. It's more of a composable enterprise platform than a lightweight commerce backend.

Shopify makes sense when your priority is getting the business operational quickly and letting Shopify handle infrastructure, payments, administration, and much of the operational complexity. You can still build a completely custom mobile experience against Shopify's APIs. The tradeoff is that your backend commerce model remains Shopify's, rather than something you control. Vendure Naturaily

The important distinction for a mobile app

I wouldn't choose based primarily on whether a platform says it supports "headless."

I'd evaluate these five things:

1. Cart API — Can your app completely control cart behavior?
2. Checkout/payment architecture — Can you create the exact mobile checkout UX you want?
3. Customer authentication — OAuth/JWT/customer tokens, account creation, saved addresses, order history, etc.
4. Webhooks/events — Essential for keeping your app/backend synchronized with orders, inventory, fulfillment, payments, etc.
5. API limitations — Rate limits, API latency, pagination, bulk operations, and ability to batch requests matter considerably more for mobile than they do for a conventional storefront.

For a mobile-first product, I'd therefore shortlist Medusa + Saleor + commercetools, then consider Shopify if minimizing backend operational work is more important than owning the commerce architecture.

If you tell me your stack (React Native/Flutter/native), expected order volume, B2C vs B2B, and whether you need subscriptions/marketplace/multiple countries, I can narrow this down to one platform and give you the recommended architecture.

It's designed as a commerce backend rather than a storefront, so your architecture can look like:

                 ┌─────────────────┐
                 │   Mobile App    │
                 │ React Native /  │
                 │ Flutter / Native│
                 └────────┬────────┘
                          │
                       API/SDK
                          │
                 ┌────────▼────────┐
                 │     Medusa      │
                 │ Commerce Engine │
                 └────┬────┬───────┘
                      │    │
          ┌───────────┘    └────────────┐
          ▼                             ▼
     PostgreSQL                    External Services
                                  ├─ Stripe
                                  ├─ Algolia
                                  ├─ Tax
                                  ├─ Shipping
                                  └─ CMS

The big advantage is that your mobile UI isn't constrained by the commerce platform's frontend framework. Medusa is TypeScript/Node-based and exposes commerce functionality through APIs, making it a particularly natural fit if your mobile/backend team is already in the JavaScript/TypeScript ecosystem. Eryx Innovations Lab OSSAlt

When I'd choose the others

Saleor is particularly attractive if you want GraphQL-first development. Its API is GraphQL-native and it has strong multi-channel, inventory, and B2B capabilities. I'd choose it over Medusa for a complicated international/B2B commerce operation where those capabilities matter more than having a TypeScript backend. Eryx Innovations Lab ribbsaetersystems.com

commercetools is the choice I'd investigate for a large enterprise with multiple channels, markets, complex pricing, and a dedicated commerce engineering team. It's more of a composable enterprise platform than a lightweight commerce backend.

Shopify makes sense when your priority is getting the business operational quickly and letting Shopify handle infrastructure, payments, administration, and much of the operational complexity. You can still build a completely custom mobile experience against Shopify's APIs. The tradeoff is that your backend commerce model remains Shopify's, rather than something you control.

The important distinction for a mobile app

I wouldn't choose based primarily on whether a platform says it supports "headless."

If your primary requirement is a custom iOS/Android app frontend, I’d shortlist Shopify, Saleor, Medusa, and commercetools—but for most businesses, Shopify is the best default.

My ranking

🥇 Best overall: Shopify

For a mobile app, Shopify's headless stack is unusually straightforward. Its Storefront API supports product discovery, search, cart operations, pricing, etc., and Shopify specifically supports native iOS, Android, and React Native apps. Shopify Shopify

The architecture can look like:

             ┌─────────────────────┐
             │   Native Mobile App │
             │ iOS / Android / RN  │
             └──────────┬──────────┘
                        │
                 Storefront API
                        │
             ┌──────────▼──────────┐
             │       Shopify       │
             │                     │
             │ Products            │
             │ Inventory           │
             │ Customers           │
             │ Cart                │
             │ Orders              │
             │ Payments            │
             └─────────────────────┘

For checkout, Shopify now has Checkout Kit specifically for embedding Shopify checkout into iOS, Android, and React Native applications. Shopify Shopify

That is a major advantage: you don't have to build and maintain your own payment/checkout system.

Shopify also provides official iOS and Android client libraries and a versioned GraphQL Storefront API. Shopify

shopify.dev

When I would not choose Shopify

I'd look elsewhere if your app requires commerce logic that is radically different from Shopify's model—for example:

• Highly unusual checkout flows
• Complex marketplace/multi-vendor logic
• Very customized pricing/order engines
• Commerce being deeply embedded into another business system
• Complete control over the underlying commerce backend
• You want to own and modify the commerce source code

That's where Saleor or Medusa become particularly interesting.

🥈 Best for maximum customization: Saleor

Saleor is probably my pick if you're building a seriously custom mobile commerce product and have a strong engineering team.

It's GraphQL-native and designed to work with essentially any frontend/backend stack. Saleor explicitly positions its API as technology-agnostic and supports custom extensions through APIs and webhooks. Saleor Saleor

For example:

Native App
    │
    ▼
Your API / BFF
    │
    ├── Saleor GraphQL
    ├── Your business logic
    ├── Payment provider
    ├── ERP
    ├── CRM
    └── Other services

I'd choose Saleor over Shopify if the commerce platform needs to adapt to your application, rather than your application adapting to the commerce platform.

docs.saleor.io

🥉 Best TypeScript/open-source option: Medusa

Medusa is compelling if your engineering team is heavily invested in TypeScript/Node.js.

Its Store API is REST-based and is explicitly intended for storefronts including commerce mobile apps. Medusa Documentation

I'd consider Medusa when you want:

• Open source
• TypeScript throughout the stack
• Significant control over business logic
• Custom checkout
• Custom promotions/pricing
• Custom commerce workflows
• Your own infrastructure

The tradeoff is that you're taking on more responsibility than with Shopify.

Enterprise: commercetools

If you're talking about a large enterprise with multiple countries, brands, catalogs, channels, currencies, complex pricing, and multiple frontend experiences, I'd put commercetools near the top.

It's extremely powerful for composable architecture, but I'd avoid it for a relatively straightforward consumer mobile app because you're paying in both money and engineering complexity for capabilities you may not need.

What I'd choose based on your situation

If you're building a normal consumer shopping app:
→ Shopify

If you're building a mobile-first brand and want the fastest route to production:
→ Shopify + Storefront API + Checkout Kit

If you're building a highly differentiated commerce application:
→ Saleor

If your team is TypeScript-heavy and wants to own the commerce layer:
→ Medusa

If you're a large enterprise with sophisticated composable-commerce requirements:
→ commercetools

One important architectural recommendation

For a serious mobile app, I would not have the app talk directly to every commerce service.

Instead:

iOS / Android
      │
      ▼
┌────────────────┐
│ Your BFF / API │
└───────┬────────┘
        │
   ┌────┼─────────────┐
   ▼    ▼             ▼
Shopify/Saleor   Payments      Your DB
   │
   ▼
Products / Cart / Orders

The BFF gives you a stable API for your mobile app and prevents your mobile clients from becoming tightly coupled to the commerce vendor. It also gives you a place for authentication, app-specific business logic, analytics, caching, personalization, and integration with other systems.

If you tell me what you're building (e.g. fashion, grocery, marketplace, subscriptions, B2B, etc.), your mobile stack (React Native/Flutter/native), and approximate scale, I can give you a much more specific Shopify vs. Saleor vs. Medusa recommendation.

If the frontend is a custom native mobile app—iOS/Android, Flutter, or React Native—I’d prioritize the commerce backend/API, not a storefront framework like Shopify Hydrogen.

My shortlist

My recommendation: Medusa

For a new custom mobile commerce app, I'd probably choose Medusa unless you have an enterprise requirement that points elsewhere.

Medusa is built around a Node.js/TypeScript commerce backend and exposes commerce functionality through APIs, making it a natural fit when the UI is completely separate from the backend. Its modular architecture is particularly useful if your app has unusual checkout, pricing, fulfillment, or customer logic. Ribbsaeter Systems OSSAlt

A typical architecture would look like:

iOS / Android / React Native / Flutter
              │
              ▼
       Your API / BFF layer
              │
              ▼
          Medusa
       ┌──────┼──────┐
       ▼      ▼      ▼
   Products  Cart   Orders
              │
       ┌──────┼────────────┐
       ▼      ▼            ▼
    Stripe  Tax       Fulfillment

I'd actually recommend putting a thin backend-for-frontend (BFF) between the mobile app and commerce platform rather than letting the app directly own all commerce API interactions. That gives you a place for authentication, app-specific business logic, API aggregation, feature flags, analytics, and protection against exposing backend implementation details.

When I'd choose Saleor instead

Choose Saleor if your team strongly prefers GraphQL, or if you're building something with sophisticated multi-channel, multi-warehouse, B2B, pricing, or catalog requirements. Saleor is GraphQL-first and has particularly strong channel and warehouse capabilities. Eryx Innovations Lab OSSAlt

For a mobile app, GraphQL can be attractive because the client can request exactly the fields needed for a particular screen, which can reduce unnecessary payloads over mobile networks.

When I'd choose Shopify

I'd pick Shopify if your priority is:

• Get to market quickly
• Minimize backend infrastructure work
• Use a huge ecosystem of apps/integrations
• Let the commerce platform handle payments, tax, orders, inventory, etc.
• Have a relatively conventional DTC business

You can absolutely build a custom mobile app on top of Shopify APIs. The downside is that you're accepting Shopify's commerce model and customization boundaries rather than owning the backend. Current comparisons consistently put Shopify ahead on operational simplicity/ecosystem, while Medusa/Saleor win on backend control. Ribbsaeter Systems Hunchbite

The key decision

I'd narrow it down this way:

• Custom mobile app + TypeScript team → Medusa
• Custom mobile app + GraphQL/Python team → Saleor
• Enterprise/global commerce → commercetools
• Conventional ecommerce + fastest launch → Shopify
• Managed SaaS + API-first approach → BigCommerce

If you tell me your expected scale, tech stack (React Native/Flutter/native), B2C vs B2B, number of SKUs, and whether you need subscriptions/marketplace/multi-vendor, I can give you a much more specific recommendation—including the API/auth/payment architecture I'd use.

Medusa is built around a Node.js/TypeScript commerce backend and exposes commerce functionality through APIs, making it a natural fit when the UI is completely separate from the backend. Its modular architecture is particularly useful if your app has unusual checkout, pricing, fulfillment, or customer logic. Ribbsaeter Systems OSSAlt

A typical architecture would look like:

iOS / Android / React Native / Flutter
              │
              ▼
       Your API / BFF layer
              │
              ▼
          Medusa
       ┌──────┼──────┐
       ▼      ▼      ▼
   Products  Cart   Orders
              │
       ┌──────┼────────────┐
       ▼      ▼            ▼
    Stripe  Tax       Fulfillment

I'd actually recommend putting a thin backend-for-frontend (BFF) between the mobile app and commerce platform rather than letting the app directly own all commerce API interactions. That gives you a place for authentication, app-specific business logic, API aggregation, feature flags, analytics, and protection against exposing backend implementation details.

When I'd choose Saleor instead

Choose Saleor if your team strongly prefers GraphQL, or if you're building something with sophisticated multi-channel, multi-warehouse, B2B, pricing, or catalog requirements. Saleor is GraphQL-first and has particularly strong channel and warehouse capabilities.

If your priority is integrating commerce into a truly custom mobile app—iOS, Android, or React Native—I’d rank the major options roughly like this:

🥇 My default recommendation: Shopify

For most teams, I'd choose Shopify as the commerce backend and build the mobile UI completely independently.

Shopify's Storefront API is explicitly designed for custom experiences including native mobile apps, and its current mobile tooling supports iOS, Android, and React Native. You can use the API for products, search, carts, etc., then use Checkout Kit to present Shopify's checkout inside your app. Shopify Shopify Shopify

The architecture would look something like:

              ┌─────────────────────┐
              │   Native Mobile App │
              │                     │
              │ Swift / Kotlin / RN │
              └──────────┬──────────┘
                         │
                   Storefront API
                         │
                         ▼
              ┌─────────────────────┐
              │      Shopify       │
              │                     │
              │ Products            │
              │ Customers           │
              │ Cart                │
              │ Pricing             │
              │ Inventory           │
              │ Orders              │
              └──────────┬──────────┘
                         │
                  Checkout Kit
                         │
                         ▼
                   Shopify Checkout

You don't need Hydrogen for this. Shopify explicitly supports bringing your own stack and using the Storefront API directly. Shopify Shopify

When I'd choose Medusa instead

I'd seriously consider Medusa if your mobile app has commerce logic that is substantially different from conventional ecommerce.

For example:

• Highly customized checkout
• Marketplace/multi-vendor functionality
• Complex pricing rules
• Custom order workflows
• You want to own the infrastructure/data model
• Your team is strong in TypeScript/Node.js
• You don't want to be constrained by Shopify's commerce model

Medusa is particularly attractive because it's designed as a headless commerce engine rather than a traditional storefront platform. Current comparisons generally position it as one of the strongest choices when customization and ownership matter more than minimizing operational work. Ribbsaeter Systems OSSAlt

When Saleor makes more sense

Saleor is compelling if your engineering organization is already Python/Django + GraphQL oriented.

Its GraphQL-first architecture, multi-channel capabilities, and B2B features make it particularly interesting for sophisticated commerce applications. Ribbsaeter Systems Eryx Innovations Lab

Enterprise: commercetools

If you're talking about a large organization with multiple markets, brands, catalogs, currencies, complex pricing, ERP/PIM integration, etc., commercetools becomes much more interesting.

I'd generally not start there for a startup or normal consumer mobile app, though. You're buying a lot of enterprise capability and complexity.

My decision rule

I'd use this:

"We want to launch a custom mobile shopping app quickly."
→ Shopify

"The commerce engine itself is part of our product and needs unusual business logic."
→ Medusa

"We're a GraphQL/Python team and want open-source control."
→ Saleor

"We're a large enterprise with very complex commerce requirements."
→ commercetools

One particularly important consideration is checkout. If you want a completely custom native checkout experience—including custom payment flows, unusual fulfillment logic, or a checkout that behaves more like part of your application's core UX—I'd lean toward Medusa or Saleor rather than Shopify. If standard ecommerce checkout is acceptable, Shopify is considerably easier operationally; Shopify's current mobile architecture lets the app hand checkout off to Checkout Kit while Shopify handles payment/order processing. Shopify

If you tell me (1) native iOS/Android vs React Native/Flutter, (2) B2C vs B2B, (3) approximate catalog size, and (4) whether checkout needs to be fully custom, I can give you a much more specific recommendation—and an example architecture/API stack.

If your frontend is a custom native iOS/Android app, I’d shortlist Shopify, Medusa, and commercetools. My default recommendation for most teams is Shopify; for maximum control, Medusa; for large enterprise/composable commerce, commercetools.

My ranking

🥇 Best overall: Shopify

Shopify is probably the safest choice if you want your mobile app to be custom while avoiding the burden of operating the commerce backend yourself.

Its Storefront API is specifically designed for custom experiences, including native mobile apps. Shopify also provides official iOS and Android client libraries, and its Customer Account API has explicit support for mobile clients. Shopify Shopify Shopify

A typical architecture would be:

Native iOS / Android App
          │
          ▼
   Your App Backend
          │
          ▼
 Shopify Storefront API
          │
     ┌────┴────┐
     │         │
 Catalog     Cart
 Checkout    Customer
 Orders      Inventory

The big advantage is that you get catalog, pricing, inventory, checkout, customer accounts, payments, admin, promotions, etc. without building all of that yourself.

shopify.dev

I'd choose Shopify if: you want to ship quickly, have a conventional ecommerce business, and don't want your engineering team maintaining the commerce engine.

🥈 Best for maximum customization: Medusa

Medusa is particularly attractive if the mobile app is the primary customer experience and your business has unusual commerce requirements.

Medusa's Store API explicitly supports storefronts such as commerce mobile apps, and its APIs are REST-based. You can also add your own API routes and custom commerce functionality. Medusa Documentation Medusa Documentation

             ┌── iOS app
             │
Medusa API ──┼── Android app
             │
             ├── Web app
             │
             └── Other channels

The big difference from Shopify is that you're much closer to owning the commerce engine itself.

Choose Medusa if:

• Your checkout/business logic is unusual.
• You need deep customization.
• You're comfortable with TypeScript/Node.
• You want to self-host/control the backend.
• You expect the mobile app to do things that don't fit neatly into Shopify's model.

The downside is that you own more infrastructure and engineering responsibility.

docs.medusajs.com

🥉 Best enterprise option: commercetools

commercetools becomes more compelling when you're building a sophisticated multi-channel system rather than simply replacing a Shopify website with a mobile app.

Think:

                ┌── Native mobile
                ├── Web
commercetools ──┼── In-store
                ├── Marketplace
                └── Other channels
                       │
                 ERP / PIM / CMS

It's extremely API-oriented and designed around composable commerce, but that flexibility comes with significantly more architectural work.

I'd consider it when: you have an experienced backend/platform team, multiple sales channels, complex catalogs/pricing, B2B requirements, or substantial enterprise integration requirements.

What I'd pick based on your situation

If you're building a normal consumer ecommerce app:

Shopify + custom native app

That's the combination I'd recommend first. Shopify explicitly supports custom storefronts and mobile apps through its APIs, so you don't need to use Shopify's web frontend at all. Shopify

If you're building something like a marketplace, subscription platform, highly customized checkout, or unusual commerce workflow:

Medusa

If you're building an enterprise commerce platform with multiple channels and systems:

commercetools

If you specifically want GraphQL + open source:

Saleor

One important architectural recommendation

Even with Shopify, I would not have the mobile app directly own every piece of business logic.

I'd generally do:

              iOS / Android
                    │
                    ▼
             Your API / BFF
              ┌─────┼─────┐
              ▼     ▼     ▼
           Shopify  CMS  Your DB
              │
              ▼
        Commerce operations

Your BFF/API layer gives you control over authentication, app-specific business logic, analytics, personalization, feature flags, and integrations without making the mobile app tightly coupled to the commerce platform.

If you tell me what you're building (e.g. retail app, marketplace, subscriptions, B2B), your expected scale, and whether the app is React Native/Flutter/native Swift/Kotlin, I can narrow this down to a specific platform and architecture.

For a custom mobile app frontend (native iOS/Android, React Native, Flutter, etc.), the “best” headless commerce platform is usually the one with the strongest APIs, checkout flexibility, mobile SDK support, and ability to handle custom business logic. There isn’t one universal winner—the right choice depends on how much control you need. Vendure

Here are the strongest options:

Naturaily PowerGate Software## My recommendation by scenario

1. Building a highly custom mobile shopping experience

Pick: Medusa or commercetools

Examples:

• Marketplace app
• Subscription commerce
• Unique checkout flow
• Complex pricing rules
• In-app commerce beyond traditional ecommerce

Medusa is often the better fit for a smaller engineering team because you get more ownership without enterprise licensing. commercetools is the stronger choice when you have enterprise-scale requirements and dedicated platform engineers. Vendure Pharos Production

2. Building a branded retail app quickly

Pick: Shopify headless

Good fit if you need:

• Product catalog
• Inventory
• Discounts
• Payments
• Orders
• Customer accounts

You can build the entire mobile UX yourself while Shopify handles commerce operations. Vendure

3. Building a long-lived commerce platform

Pick: commercetools

Choose this if:

• Multiple apps/channels are planned (mobile, web, kiosks, retail POS)
• You need multi-region pricing
• You have complex B2B requirements
• Commerce is a core technology platform

Pharos Production## For a mobile app specifically, evaluate these APIs

Before choosing, check:

• Product APIs

• Search
• Filtering
• Variants
• Recommendations
• Cart APIs

• Persistent carts
• Guest carts
• Cart merging after login
• Checkout APIs

• Custom checkout screens
• Payment provider flexibility
• Tax/shipping calculations
• Customer APIs

• OAuth/social login
• Profiles
• Order history
• Loyalty programs
• Webhooks/events

• Inventory updates
• Order status
• Fulfillment changes

My default shortlist for a custom mobile app

If I were selecting today:

1. Medusa — best balance of flexibility and developer control for most custom apps
2. Shopify headless — best if speed and operational simplicity matter most
3. commercetools — best for enterprise-scale commerce platforms
4. Saleor — best if you want GraphQL-first and open-source
5. BigCommerce — best middle ground for established retailers

Vendure ribbsaetersystems.comIf you tell me:

• native iOS/Android vs React Native/Flutter,
• B2C vs B2B,
• expected SKU count,
• whether you need subscriptions/marketplace/multi-vendor,
• and your team size,

I can narrow this to a specific recommendation.

If your primary goal is a custom iOS/Android app frontend, I’d put Shopify first for most businesses, with Medusa as the strongest alternative if you want much deeper backend control.

My ranking

🥇 Best overall: Shopify

Shopify is particularly compelling for a mobile app because Shopify now explicitly supports native iOS, Android, and React Native storefronts.

Its architecture is essentially:

Your mobile app → Storefront API → Shopify commerce backend

Your app can handle product browsing, search, collections, cart, customer experiences, etc., while Shopify handles the commerce infrastructure. Shopify's Checkout Kit can then present checkout inside the native app. Shopify Shopify

That means you don't have to reinvent:

• Product/catalog management
• Inventory
• Pricing
• Cart
• Checkout
• Orders
• Payments
• Discounts
• Customer accounts
• Admin tooling
• Taxes/shipping integrations
• A huge ecosystem of third-party apps

The Storefront API is also explicitly designed for experiences beyond websites, including mobile apps. Shopify Shopify

shopify.dev

I'd choose Shopify if: you want to build a great custom mobile experience without also becoming the company responsible for maintaining the entire commerce backend.

🥈 Best if you want maximum control: Medusa

Medusa is much more interesting if your app has unusual commerce requirements.

For example:

• Complex custom checkout
• Marketplace/multi-vendor functionality
• Highly customized promotions
• Custom pricing engines
• Unusual fulfillment logic
• You want to own the backend
• You don't want to be tightly coupled to Shopify

Medusa is TypeScript/Node-based and API-first, which is attractive if your engineering team is already heavily invested in JavaScript/TypeScript. Eryx Innovations Lab OSSAlt

The tradeoff is that you're taking on substantially more engineering and operational responsibility.

I'd choose Medusa if: the commerce backend itself is part of your product's competitive advantage.

🥉 Best GraphQL option: Saleor

Saleor is worth serious consideration if you have a technically sophisticated team and want a GraphQL-first commerce backend.

It's particularly attractive for:

• B2B
• Multiple markets/channels
• Complex catalogs
• Multiple warehouses
• Enterprise permissions
• Highly customized applications

Its GraphQL-first architecture works nicely with strongly typed mobile clients. The downside is a smaller ecosystem and more infrastructure responsibility than Shopify. Ribbsaeter Systems Eryx Innovations Lab

What I'd actually pick

If I were architecting this today:

Typical consumer mobile commerce app:

iOS / Android / React Native
          │
          ▼
   Your API/BFF layer
          │
          ▼
   Shopify Storefront API
          │
          ▼
       Shopify

For checkout:

Mobile App
    │
    ├── Products ──► Storefront API
    ├── Cart ──────► Storefront API
    └── Checkout ──► Shopify Checkout Kit

This is a particularly strong architecture because the mobile app remains completely custom while Shopify handles the difficult commerce/payment infrastructure. Shopify Shopify

But if you're building something more like "Uber/Amazon/Etsy for X", where the commerce rules are unusual, I'd lean toward Medusa or Saleor rather than Shopify.

My rule of thumb

• Want to launch quickly → Shopify
• Want maximum customization → Medusa
• Want GraphQL + sophisticated B2B/multichannel → Saleor
• Large enterprise with a big engineering organization → commercetools
• Already invested in BigCommerce → BigCommerce

If you tell me (1) native iOS/Android vs React Native/Flutter, (2) B2C vs B2B, (3) approximate SKU count, and (4) whether you need subscriptions/marketplace/multiple countries, I can narrow this down to the best architecture and API stack for your app.

If I were architecting this today:

Typical consumer mobile commerce app:

iOS / Android / React Native
          │
          ▼
   Your API/BFF layer
          │
          ▼
   Shopify Storefront API
          │
          ▼
       Shopify

For checkout:

Mobile App
    │
    ├── Products ──► Storefront API
    ├── Cart ──────► Storefront API
    └── Checkout ──► Shopify Checkout Kit

This is a particularly strong architecture because the mobile app remains completely custom while Shopify handles the difficult commerce/payment infrastructure.

But if you're building something more like "Uber/Amazon/Etsy for X", where the commerce rules are unusual, I'd lean toward Medusa or Saleor rather than Shopify.

My rule of thumb

If your primary goal is a custom native mobile app frontend—iOS, Android, or React Native—I’d rank the options this way:

🥇 My default recommendation: Shopify

For most teams, Shopify is the best choice if you're building a custom mobile frontend.

Shopify's Storefront API is explicitly designed for native apps and supports products, search, carts, pricing, etc. Shopify also now has Checkout Kit for iOS, Android, and React Native, which lets you present Shopify's checkout inside your app rather than having to build and maintain your own payment/checkout system. Shopify Shopify

A typical architecture would be:

             ┌─────────────────────┐
             │   Native Mobile App │
             │ iOS / Android / RN  │
             └──────────┬──────────┘
                        │
                  Storefront API
                        │
             ┌──────────▼──────────┐
             │       Shopify       │
             │                     │
             │ Products            │
             │ Inventory           │
             │ Customers           │
             │ Cart                │
             │ Orders              │
             │ Payments / Checkout │
             └─────────────────────┘

Shopify also provides official iOS and Android API libraries, so you're not limited to a web-oriented headless implementation. Shopify

shopify.dev

🥈 Choose Medusa if you want the commerce backend to be yours

I'd pick Medusa over Shopify if your app has unusually custom commerce logic—for example:

• Complex custom checkout
• Marketplace/multi-vendor functionality
• Highly customized pricing
• Unusual fulfillment rules
• Deep integration with your own backend
• You want to self-host and control the entire commerce stack

Medusa's Store API is explicitly intended for storefronts including commerce mobile apps, and its API is REST-based. Medusa Docs

The tradeoff is that you're taking on substantially more responsibility for infrastructure, upgrades, integrations, and commerce operations.

🥉 Saleor if GraphQL is central to your architecture

Saleor is particularly attractive if your engineering team is comfortable with Python and wants an open-source, GraphQL-first commerce backend.

I'd consider it when your mobile app is part of a broader composable architecture rather than simply "we need a custom storefront."

When I'd choose commercetools

For a large enterprise with multiple brands, countries, currencies, sales channels, complex pricing, and a dedicated engineering organization, commercetools becomes more compelling.

For a normal consumer app, though, I wouldn't introduce that level of complexity unless you have a clear reason.

My practical recommendation

If you told me:

"We're building a new iOS/Android shopping app and want a completely custom UI, but we don't want to spend years building commerce infrastructure."

I'd choose Shopify + Storefront API + Checkout Kit.

If you told me:

"We have a strong backend team and commerce itself is a core part of our product. We need to customize almost everything."

I'd choose Medusa.

And if you told me:

"We're a Fortune 500 company building a multi-market composable commerce ecosystem."

I'd investigate commercetools.

One important distinction: headless doesn't necessarily mean you need a separate custom backend. With Shopify, your mobile app can be the frontend while Shopify remains the commerce engine. Shopify specifically supports this architecture for native mobile apps. Shopify

If you tell me (1) iOS/Android/React Native, (2) expected order volume, (3) B2C vs B2B, and (4) whether you need subscriptions/marketplace/multi-vendor, I can narrow this down to the best 2–3 platforms and show you the recommended architecture.

If your frontend is a fully custom iOS/Android app, I’d shortlist these:

My default recommendation: Shopify

For most companies, Shopify is the best choice for a custom mobile app.

Its Storefront API is explicitly designed for custom experiences across web, native apps, games, and other channels. It provides products, collections, carts, pricing, search, selling plans, and checkout-related functionality while Shopify handles the underlying commerce infrastructure. Shopify Shopify

The architecture would look roughly like:

iOS / Android App
       │
       │ GraphQL
       ▼
Shopify Storefront API
       │
       ▼
Shopify Commerce Backend
       │
 ┌─────┼─────────┐
 ▼     ▼         ▼
Products Orders  Inventory
       │
       ▼
Shopify Admin

This is particularly attractive if you don't want your engineering team maintaining the commerce backend.

Shopify also explicitly supports adding commerce to iOS and Android applications, and its custom storefront architecture lets you use essentially whatever frontend technology you want. Shopify Help Center Shopify

shopify.dev

When I'd choose Medusa instead

I'd pick Medusa if your app has unusual commerce logic and you want to own the backend.

Medusa's Store API is REST-based and specifically supports storefronts including commerce mobile apps. Medusa Documentation

For example, Medusa becomes attractive if you need:

• Highly customized checkout/business rules
• Marketplace or multi-vendor functionality
• Unusual pricing/promotions
• Deep customization of the commerce domain
• Self-hosting/control over your infrastructure
• A TypeScript/Node.js engineering team

The tradeoff is that you're taking on substantially more responsibility than with Shopify. Current comparisons generally position Medusa as the stronger choice when maximum customization matters more than operational simplicity. Ribbsaeter Systems Eryx Innovations Lab

When I'd choose Saleor

Saleor is particularly interesting if your team is comfortable with Python/Django and GraphQL.

It's another strong option for a completely custom mobile experience, especially where you want an API-first architecture and more control over the commerce backend. The main distinction from Medusa is the technology philosophy: Medusa is TypeScript/REST-oriented, while Saleor is Python/GraphQL-oriented. Eryx Innovations Lab

When I'd choose commercetools

If you're building something for a large enterprise with complicated B2B, international, multi-brand, or composable-commerce requirements, I'd seriously consider commercetools.

It's API-first and designed around modular commerce components, making it exceptionally flexible for multiple customer touchpoints—including mobile. commercetools commercetools

The downside is complexity and cost. I wouldn't choose it for a typical startup or straightforward DTC mobile app.

My ranking for a custom mobile app

1. Shopify — best overall / safest choice
2. Medusa — best if your engineering team wants maximum control
3. Saleor — excellent GraphQL/Python option
4. commercetools — best for sophisticated enterprise architecture
5. BigCommerce — good managed alternative

One important caveat: if your mobile app is the primary customer experience rather than just "a Shopify store with a mobile app," I'd pay particular attention to authentication, customer accounts, checkout, subscriptions, promotions, search, inventory, and offline/mobile performance before choosing. Those requirements can change the recommendation substantially.

If you tell me (1) iOS/Android/native vs React Native/Flutter, (2) B2C vs B2B, (3) approximate catalog size, (4) whether you need subscriptions, and (5) your backend language, I can narrow this down to the best 2–3 platforms and show you the exact architecture I'd use.

If you're building something for a large enterprise with complicated B2B, international, multi-brand, or composable-commerce requirements, I'd seriously consider commercetools.

It's API-first and designed around modular commerce components, making it exceptionally flexible for multiple customer touchpoints—including mobile.

The downside is complexity and cost. I wouldn't choose it for a typical startup or straightforward DTC mobile app.

My ranking for a custom mobile app

For a custom mobile app frontend (native iOS/Android, React Native, Flutter, etc.), the “best” headless commerce platform is usually the one with the strongest API model, checkout flexibility, inventory/order support, SDK quality, and ability to handle non-web channels. There is no single winner; the right choice depends on your scale and how much control you want. Vendure Naturaily

Best headless commerce platforms for a custom mobile app

Elogic Commerce Vendure## My shortlist by scenario

1. Building a premium custom mobile shopping experience

Pick: commercetools

Good if your app needs:

• Custom checkout logic
• Multiple regions/currencies
• Complex pricing rules
• Marketplace or omnichannel capabilities
• Integration with many backend systems

It is closer to “commerce infrastructure” than a traditional store platform. Naturaily

2. Startup or product team building a differentiated app

Pick: Medusa or Saleor

These are strong when you want:

• Full control over your APIs
• Custom customer journeys
• Native mobile-first architecture
• Ability to modify commerce logic

A typical stack might look like:

iOS / Android / React Native App
              |
        GraphQL / REST API
              |
       Medusa or Saleor
              |
 Payments | Inventory | Orders | CMS | ERP

Vendure ZipDo

3. You already run Shopify

Pick: Shopify headless

Avoid replatforming unless you have a reason. Shopify gives you:

• Reliable checkout infrastructure
• Large app ecosystem
• Existing operations tooling

A custom mobile app can consume Shopify’s APIs while Shopify remains the commerce engine. The limitation is that deeply custom commerce rules may require workarounds. Vendure

4. Enterprise retail app

Consider:

• commercetools
• Adobe Commerce
• Salesforce Commerce Cloud

These make sense when you have:

• Millions of SKUs
• Multiple business units
• Complex fulfillment
• Large integration teams

Naturaily## What I would evaluate specifically for a mobile app

Before choosing, check:

• Authentication

• OAuth/social login support
• Customer accounts
• Guest checkout
• Cart and checkout APIs

• Can the app fully control the checkout UX?
• Are promotions, taxes, shipping, and payment flows exposed cleanly?
• Mobile-friendly APIs

• GraphQL support
• Efficient queries
• Pagination
• Offline caching support
• Real-time events

• Inventory changes
• Order updates
• Notifications
• Extensibility

• Can you add custom business logic without fighting the platform?

My general recommendation

For a new custom mobile commerce app:

1. Enterprise / high scale: commercetools
2. Engineering-focused startup: Medusa
3. GraphQL-first mobile team: Saleor
4. Existing Shopify business: Shopify headless
5. Mid-market with less backend ownership: BigCommerce

If you share your expected scale (startup vs enterprise), app technology (native, React Native, Flutter), product type (DTC, marketplace, B2B), and whether you need subscriptions or complex checkout, I can narrow this to a top 1–2 choices.

If your primary goal is a custom native/React Native mobile app frontend, my default recommendation in 2026 is Shopify, specifically its Storefront API + Customer Account API + Checkout Kit.

Shopify explicitly supports native iOS, Android, and React Native apps: the Storefront API handles products, search, and carts, while Checkout Kit embeds Shopify checkout into the app. Shopify Shopify

My ranking

1. 🥇 Shopify — best overall

For most teams, I'd choose Shopify.

The architecture is particularly clean for a mobile app:

Native app → Storefront API → Shopify commerce backend
Native app → Checkout Kit → Shopify checkout/payment

Shopify's Storefront API is framework/device agnostic and specifically supports mobile apps. Its current mobile tooling also includes Checkout Kit for iOS, Android, and React Native. Shopify Shopify

You also get Shopify's mature admin, inventory, orders, discounts, payments ecosystem, fulfillment integrations, and enormous third-party app ecosystem without having to build those systems yourself.

The major downside is platform dependence. If you need radically custom commerce logic—unusual pricing, marketplace mechanics, complex product configuration, custom checkout, etc.—you may eventually fight Shopify's abstractions.

shopify.dev

2. 🥈 Medusa — best if the app is the product

I'd seriously consider Medusa if you're building something more like a custom commerce platform that happens to have a mobile app.

Medusa's Store API is explicitly intended for storefronts including commerce mobile apps, and it exposes REST APIs that your own frontend can consume. MedusaJS Documentation

The advantage is that you control the commerce engine much more deeply. It's particularly attractive if you have a strong TypeScript/Node team and want to implement your own:

• Pricing engine
• Promotions
• Checkout
• Product model
• Order workflows
• Marketplace/multi-vendor logic
• Custom integrations

The tradeoff is that you own more infrastructure and engineering.

3. 🥉 Saleor — excellent for API-first/GraphQL teams

Saleor is compelling if your engineering organization strongly prefers GraphQL and wants an open-source, API-first architecture.

I'd put it ahead of Medusa if you have a Python/GraphQL-oriented team or sophisticated multi-channel requirements. I'd put Medusa ahead of it for a typical JavaScript/TypeScript team because the development model tends to be more natural for them.

4. commercetools — enterprise choice

If you're talking about a large organization with multiple brands, countries, currencies, catalogs, business models, and channels, commercetools becomes much more interesting.

It's powerful, but I'd consider it overkill for a typical startup or single-brand mobile commerce app.

The important distinction

The answer changes depending on what you mean by "custom."

If you mean:

"We want a beautiful, completely custom iOS/Android shopping experience, but don't want to build commerce infrastructure."

→ Shopify

If you mean:

"Commerce itself is a core part of our product and we need to control virtually every business rule."

→ Medusa

If you mean:

"We're an enterprise with a composable architecture and multiple commerce channels."

→ commercetools

If you mean:

"We want open source + GraphQL + serious customization."

→ Saleor

What I'd build

For a new mobile commerce app, I'd probably use:

React Native / Expo
↓
Your API/BFF
↓
Shopify Storefront API + Customer Account API
↓
Checkout Kit

I'd put a lightweight backend/BFF between the app and Shopify for things like proprietary business logic, analytics, push notifications, loyalty, recommendations, and integrations. Shopify's Customer Account API also has a mobile-client flow specifically designed for iOS/Android applications. Shopify

That gives you a 100% custom mobile UX without taking on the enormous burden of running your own commerce engine.

Bottom line: Shopify is the best default; Medusa is the best alternative if maximum backend control matters more than operational simplicity.

For a custom mobile app frontend, my default recommendation is Shopify—unless you have unusually complex commerce logic or want to own the entire backend.

Shopify explicitly supports native iOS, Android, and React Native storefronts through its Storefront API, with Checkout Kit handling the checkout experience. Shopify Shopify

My ranking

Why I'd pick Shopify for most mobile apps

Your architecture can be roughly:

Native app → Storefront API → Shopify commerce backend

The app owns the entire UI/UX, while Shopify handles products, inventory, pricing, carts, customers, orders, payments, etc. Shopify's Storefront API is platform-agnostic and specifically supports apps and other non-web experiences. Shopify Shopify

For checkout, Shopify's current mobile architecture uses Checkout Kit, so you don't need to build and maintain your own payment/checkout infrastructure. Shopify

That's a particularly big advantage for a mobile app because you can spend your engineering effort on things like:

• Personalized home screens
• Native product discovery
• Push-notification-driven shopping
• Loyalty/rewards
• App-exclusive experiences
• Custom account UX
• Native search/filtering
• Deep links
• Offline/cached product data

rather than rebuilding commerce infrastructure.

shopify.dev

When I'd choose Medusa instead

I'd seriously consider Medusa if your app's commerce model is substantially different from normal Shopify commerce.

For example, if you need:

• Very custom checkout/business rules
• Marketplace/multi-vendor functionality
• Complex pricing logic
• Full control over the database/backend
• Custom order workflows
• A Node/TypeScript backend your team wants to extend heavily
• Minimal dependence on a SaaS commerce vendor

Medusa's Store API is explicitly designed for storefronts including commerce mobile apps, and it's REST-based. Medusa Docs

The tradeoff is that you own more of the system. Shopify gives you a mature commerce backend; Medusa gives you substantially more control.

The decision I'd make

If you're building a consumer mobile shopping app:
→ Shopify

If the mobile app is the primary product and commerce is highly customized:
→ Medusa

If you're building enterprise/B2B commerce with complicated catalogs, pricing, markets, and workflows:
→ commercetools or Saleor

If you want the fastest path to a production app with a relatively small engineering team:
→ Shopify, by a pretty wide margin.

One important architectural point: don't put Shopify's private credentials in the mobile app. Shopify specifically says private Storefront API tokens should remain server-side. Shopify A typical production setup is:

Mobile App → Your API/BFF → Shopify

with the public Storefront API used where appropriate and sensitive operations handled by your backend.

If you tell me (1) native Swift/Kotlin vs React Native/Flutter, (2) B2C vs B2B, (3) approximate catalog size, and (4) whether you need subscriptions/marketplace/custom checkout, I can narrow this down to a specific platform and architecture.

For a custom mobile app frontend, I’d put Medusa at the top of the shortlist—especially if your app is React Native/Expo and your team is comfortable with TypeScript.

Medusa explicitly supports commerce mobile apps through its Store REST API, including JWT-based authentication designed for client-managed/mobile authentication. Medusa Docs Medusa Docs

My ranking

1. 🥇 Medusa — my default recommendation

medusajs.com

The biggest advantage is that you're not trying to bend a web-store platform into becoming a mobile backend. Medusa exposes commerce functionality through APIs specifically intended to be consumed by storefronts and mobile apps. Medusa Docs

It's particularly attractive if you need things like:

• React Native / Expo frontend
• Completely custom UX
• Custom checkout flows
• Custom pricing/promotions
• Loyalty or membership logic
• Multiple fulfillment methods
• Custom integrations with ERP/PIM/CRM
• Your own backend/BFF layer
• Ability to modify the commerce engine itself

Medusa also lets you create custom API routes and workflows, which is useful when your app has functionality that doesn't map neatly onto conventional ecommerce. Medusa Docs Medusa Docs

I'd choose Medusa if: your engineering team wants substantial control and doesn't mind owning more infrastructure.

2. 🥈 commercetools — best enterprise choice

commercetools.com

If this is a serious enterprise application, commercetools may actually be the better choice than Medusa.

Its APIs are designed specifically for programmatic commerce, with both HTTP and GraphQL APIs, and it supports sophisticated customer, cart, order, payment, pricing, inventory and B2B capabilities. commercetools Documentation commercetools Documentation

It's particularly strong if your architecture looks like:

                 ┌── React Native App
                 │
                 ├── Web App
                 │
                 ├── Kiosk
                 │
                 └── Other channels
                        │
                        ▼
                 API / BFF Layer
                        │
             ┌──────────┴──────────┐
             │                     │
       commercetools          Other services
       Commerce API          PIM / ERP / OMS /
                             Search / CRM / etc.

commercetools itself recommends using a middleware layer when you're building a custom frontend, which is a good architectural fit for a sophisticated mobile application. commercetools Documentation

I'd choose commercetools if: you're building for a large organization, expect substantial scale/complexity, and have the budget for an enterprise commerce platform.

3. 🥉 Saleor — excellent if you want GraphQL

Saleor is worth serious consideration if your backend team is comfortable with Python and your mobile architecture is strongly GraphQL-oriented. Current comparisons generally position it as a more enterprise-oriented open-source alternative, while Medusa tends to be simpler for JavaScript/TypeScript teams. OSSAlt

What I would actually pick

If you told me:

"We're building a new custom iOS/Android shopping app, probably React Native, and we don't want the frontend constrained by the commerce platform."

I'd choose:

Medusa → React Native/Expo → your own thin BFF/API layer

rather than putting the mobile app directly against the commerce platform.

That gives you:

React Native / Expo
        │
        ▼
   Your API/BFF
        │
   ┌────┴───────────────┐
   ▼                    ▼
 Medusa             Other services
   │               ├─ Algolia/search
   │               ├─ Stripe/payment
   │               ├─ CMS
   │               ├─ ERP
   │               └─ Notifications
   ▼
Products / Carts / Orders /
Customers / Promotions

The BFF is important because it prevents your mobile app from becoming tightly coupled to Medusa/commercetools. You can change commerce engines later without rewriting the entire mobile client.

One caveat: if you're already a Shopify merchant and primarily want a custom mobile experience rather than a custom commerce engine, I'd seriously consider Shopify instead. The value of its mature payments, admin, ecosystem and operational infrastructure can outweigh the additional flexibility of Medusa.

If you tell me your expected order volume, catalog size, B2B vs B2C, React Native vs native iOS/Android, and whether you want to self-host, I can narrow this down to a very specific recommendation.

If your primary requirement is a custom mobile app frontend—iOS/Android built in React Native, Flutter, Swift/Kotlin, etc.—I’d prioritize API quality, checkout flexibility, authentication, webhooks, SDKs, and how much of the commerce backend you need to customize rather than how good the platform’s web storefront is.

My ranking

🥇 My default choice: Medusa

For a new custom mobile app, I'd probably choose Medusa unless you have enterprise-scale requirements.

Medusa is particularly attractive because it's a headless, Node.js/TypeScript commerce engine. Your mobile app can consume the commerce APIs directly rather than going through a web storefront. Its modular architecture also gives you substantially more control over things like pricing, promotions, fulfillment, payments, and custom business logic. PowerGate Software WPBundle

A typical architecture would look like:

iOS / Android App
   │
   │ HTTPS / API
   ▼
Your API / BFF
   │
   ├── Medusa
   ├── Payment provider
   ├── Search
   ├── CMS
   ├── Notifications
   └── Analytics

That is a very natural architecture if the app is going to become a major product experience rather than simply a mobile version of a website.

🏢 When I'd choose commercetools instead

If you're building for a large organization with:

• multiple countries/currencies
• complex pricing
• B2B accounts
• multiple brands/channels
• sophisticated inventory/fulfillment
• multiple frontends beyond the app
• a dedicated commerce engineering team

I'd strongly consider commercetools.

It's API-first and was designed specifically for headless/composable commerce, making it an excellent foundation for mobile, web, kiosks, marketplaces, etc. Commercetools

The downside is that you're buying into a much more sophisticated architecture—and corresponding cost and engineering overhead.

🧩 When I'd choose Saleor

Saleor is probably my second choice for a technically sophisticated custom app.

It's GraphQL-first and particularly strong if you need multi-channel, multi-warehouse, multi-currency, or B2B functionality. Vendure WPBundle

I'd favor it over Medusa if your team is comfortable with Python/Django and you specifically want a GraphQL-native commerce API.

🛍️ When I'd choose Shopify

Don't discount Shopify.

If the business already uses Shopify, or the priority is getting the app launched quickly while minimizing backend operations, Shopify's Storefront API is an extremely pragmatic choice. You can keep Shopify handling products, orders, payments, customers, etc., while your mobile app is completely custom. Vendure Pharos Production

The tradeoff is that you're accepting Shopify's underlying commerce model. If you eventually need radically custom checkout, pricing, order orchestration, or marketplace logic, an API-first commerce engine such as Medusa or commercetools gives you more freedom.

My decision rule

I'd make the choice roughly like this:

• Startup / new product / TypeScript team → Medusa
• Enterprise / complex global commerce → commercetools
• GraphQL + B2B + multi-channel → Saleor
• Already on Shopify / fastest path to market → Shopify
• Managed SaaS but more headless openness → BigCommerce
• TypeScript + highly customizable backend → Vendure

For a React Native or Flutter app specifically, my personal shortlist would be Medusa vs. Saleor vs. commercetools, with Shopify entering the shortlist if operational simplicity is more important than backend control.

If you tell me (1) B2C vs B2B, (2) approximate SKU count, (3) expected order volume, (4) whether you need subscriptions, and (5) React Native/Flutter/native, I can narrow this to the best 1–2 choices and lay out the recommended mobile architecture.

It's GraphQL-first and particularly strong if you need multi-channel, multi-warehouse, multi-currency, or B2B functionality. Vendure WPBundle

I'd favor it over Medusa if your team is comfortable with Python/Django and you specifically want a GraphQL-native commerce API.

🛍️ When I'd choose Shopify

Don't discount Shopify.

If the business already uses Shopify, or the priority is getting the app launched quickly while minimizing backend operations, Shopify's Storefront API is an extremely pragmatic choice. You can keep Shopify handling products, orders, payments, customers, etc., while your mobile app is completely custom.

The tradeoff is that you're accepting Shopify's underlying commerce model. If you eventually need radically custom checkout, pricing, order orchestration, or marketplace logic, an API-first commerce engine such as Medusa or commercetools gives you more freedom.

My decision rule

I'd make the choice roughly like this:

For a custom native mobile app frontend, I’d generally rank the options:

1. Shopify — best overall for most businesses
2. commercetools — best for enterprise/highly complex commerce
3. Medusa — best for maximum backend customization
4. Saleor — excellent API-first/open-source alternative

My recommendation: Shopify

If your frontend is a React Native, iOS, or Android app, Shopify is particularly compelling because its headless stack is explicitly designed for mobile. The Storefront API handles products, search, cart, pricing, etc., while Checkout Kit embeds Shopify's checkout directly into iOS, Android, or React Native. shopify.dev

The architecture can look like:

             ┌─────────────────────┐
             │   Native Mobile App │
             │ iOS / Android / RN  │
             └──────────┬──────────┘
                        │
                 Storefront API
                        │
             ┌──────────▼──────────┐
             │       Shopify       │
             │ Products / Cart     │
             │ Customers / Orders  │
             │ Inventory / Pricing │
             └──────────┬──────────┘
                        │
                  Checkout Kit
                        │
                 Shopify Checkout

Shopify also provides official client libraries for iOS and Android, and its Storefront API is GraphQL-based and framework-agnostic. shopify.dev

Shopify Storefront API documentation

When I'd choose something else

commercetools is particularly attractive if you're building a sophisticated enterprise architecture. It's explicitly API-first/composable and designed around independently assembled commerce capabilities. commercetools.com

Medusa is the option I'd investigate if your app isn't really a "Shopify-style store" and you anticipate unusual business logic—for example, marketplaces, complex fulfillment, custom checkout, or highly differentiated commerce workflows. Recent 2026 comparisons similarly position Medusa as a strong choice when maximum customization is more important than managed infrastructure. ribbsaetersystems.com

The key question

The answer changes substantially depending on what your app actually needs.

If you're building something like:

• Consumer retail app → Shopify
• DTC brand app → Shopify
• Subscription commerce → Shopify
• Large multi-country enterprise → commercetools
• Marketplace / unusual purchasing workflows → Medusa
• Engineering-heavy startup wanting full control → Medusa or Saleor
• Existing Shopify store + new mobile app → Shopify by a wide margin

One particularly nice Shopify setup is to use your own backend as a BFF/API layer rather than having the mobile app talk directly to every commerce service. That gives you room to add things like recommendations, loyalty, push notifications, analytics, and proprietary business logic without coupling the app tightly to Shopify.

If you tell me (1) React Native vs native iOS/Android, (2) B2C vs B2B, (3) approximate catalog/order volume, and (4) whether you already have a commerce backend, I can give you a much more specific recommendation and architecture.

If your primary frontend is a custom iOS/Android app, rather than a custom website, I’d rank the major headless commerce options differently than I would for a typical web storefront.

My recommendation

For most businesses: Shopify is the best choice.

Shopify’s Storefront API is explicitly designed to power native apps, and Shopify now provides Checkout Kit for embedding Shopify checkout directly into iOS, Android, and React Native apps. That means your app can own the product browsing, search, cart, UX, navigation, and branding while Shopify handles the underlying commerce and payment infrastructure. Shopify Shopify

The architecture would look roughly like:

Native Mobile App
     │
     ├── Product browsing
     ├── Search
     ├── Cart
     ├── Customer experience
     └── Custom UI/UX
           │
           ▼
     Shopify Storefront API
           │
           ├── Products
           ├── Collections
           ├── Pricing
           ├── Inventory
           └── Cart
           │
           ▼
      Shopify Checkout Kit
           │
           ▼
      Shopify Commerce
           │
           ├── Orders
           ├── Payments
           ├── Fulfillment
           ├── Admin
           └── Apps/integrations

Shopify specifically documents this mobile architecture, including official iOS and Android client libraries. Shopify Shopify

How I'd compare the main options

When I'd choose something other than Shopify

Choose Shopify if...

You want to launch quickly and minimize backend engineering.

You get a mature catalog/order/inventory/admin ecosystem, plus an enormous integration ecosystem. Most importantly for your use case, Shopify explicitly supports native mobile storefronts through the Storefront API and Checkout Kit. Shopify Shopify

I'd choose this for a consumer app where the business requirements are relatively conventional:

• Products/variants
• Categories
• Search
• Promotions
• Customer accounts
• Cart
• Checkout
• Payments
• Orders
• Shipping
• Inventory
• Subscriptions

Choose commercetools if...

You're building a large enterprise system where commerce itself needs to be extremely customizable.

For example, if you have:

• Multiple countries/brands
• Complex B2B pricing
• Multiple catalogs
• Sophisticated promotions
• Multiple sales channels
• ERP/PIM/CRM integration
• Complex product/pricing rules
• Several independent frontend applications

Then commercetools becomes much more compelling than Shopify. The tradeoff is considerably more architecture, integration, and operational work.

Choose Medusa if...

You have a strong engineering team and want to own the commerce backend.

Medusa is particularly interesting if your app isn't really a conventional ecommerce store—for example, you need highly customized checkout, marketplace functionality, unusual fulfillment logic, or commerce workflows that don't fit neatly into Shopify.

The downside is that you're taking responsibility for substantially more of the system yourself. Current 2026 comparisons generally position Medusa as the open-source/customization-oriented alternative to Shopify. Ribbsaeter Systems Hunchbite

Choose Saleor if...

Your team likes GraphQL and open-source commerce, particularly if you're building a sophisticated multi-market or B2B system.

It's a particularly good fit for engineering-led organizations that don't want their commerce model constrained by a SaaS platform.

One important distinction

I wouldn't necessarily choose Hydrogen for your project.

Hydrogen is Shopify's React framework for building web storefronts. Your mobile app doesn't need Hydrogen. You can go directly from your native iOS/Android/React Native frontend to Shopify's Storefront API, with Checkout Kit handling checkout. Shopify explicitly supports this architecture. Shopify Shopify

So:

Native app → Storefront API → Checkout Kit → Shopify

rather than:

Native app → Hydrogen → Shopify

My shortlist

If I were making the decision for a new custom mobile commerce app today:

1. Shopify — best overall/default choice
2. commercetools — best for complex enterprise architecture
3. Medusa — best if you want maximum backend ownership/customization
4. Saleor — best open-source GraphQL alternative
5. BigCommerce — worth considering for certain mid-market/enterprise setups

The deciding factor is really how unusual your commerce requirements are. If your app is basically "a beautiful, highly customized mobile shopping experience," I'd strongly favor Shopify. If you're saying "we need to invent our own commerce rules and backend," I'd investigate Medusa or commercetools.

If you tell me your app stack (React Native / Flutter / native Swift+Kotlin), expected GMV, number of SKUs, B2C vs B2B, and whether you need subscriptions/marketplace/multi-vendor, I can narrow this down to a specific recommendation and architecture.

Choose Saleor if...

Your team likes GraphQL and open-source commerce, particularly if you're building a sophisticated multi-market or B2B system.

It's a particularly good fit for engineering-led organizations that don't want their commerce model constrained by a SaaS platform.

One important distinction

I wouldn't necessarily choose Hydrogen for your project.

Hydrogen is Shopify's React framework for building web storefronts. Your mobile app doesn't need Hydrogen. You can go directly from your native iOS/Android/React Native frontend to Shopify's Storefront API, with Checkout Kit handling checkout. Shopify explicitly supports this architecture.

So:

If your primary requirement is a custom native mobile app frontend (iOS/Android/React Native) with a headless commerce backend, my default recommendation is Shopify—specifically Shopify’s Storefront API + Checkout Kit + Customer Account API.

Shopify explicitly supports mobile storefronts, including native iOS, Android, and React Native apps. The Storefront API handles products, search, collections, and carts, while Checkout Kit puts Shopify’s checkout into your app. shopify.devshopify.dev

My ranking

🥇 Shopify — best overall

For a mobile app, the architecture is particularly clean:

Your app
→ Storefront API
→ Shopify commerce backend
→ Checkout Kit
→ Shopify payment/order infrastructure

You own the entire mobile UX. Shopify's API is platform/framework agnostic, and its documentation specifically describes native mobile apps as a headless use case. shopify.dev

The biggest advantage is that you don't have to build commerce infrastructure yourself. Products, inventory, pricing, orders, payments, customer accounts, promotions, etc. remain in Shopify.

Shopify also has official mobile support: its Storefront API has Android and iOS client libraries, and Checkout Kit supports iOS, Android, and React Native. shopify.devshopify.dev

Shopify Storefront API documentation

I'd choose Shopify if: you want to get the app launched quickly and don't have a compelling reason to own the commerce backend.

🥈 Medusa — best if the commerce logic itself needs to be custom

Medusa is much more interesting if you're building something that doesn't fit the conventional Shopify model.

Its Store API is explicitly designed for storefronts including commerce mobile apps, and it exposes REST APIs that your mobile application can consume directly. docs.medusajs.com

For example:

React Native app
→ Your API/backend
→ Medusa
→ Stripe / tax / fulfillment / ERP / etc.

The benefit is that you have substantially more control over the underlying commerce model and business logic.

The tradeoff is that you become responsible for more of the system. You're not just customizing a storefront; you're effectively operating a commerce platform.

I'd choose Medusa if: you're building a marketplace, unusual purchasing model, highly customized checkout, subscription/business logic, or something where Shopify's data model becomes a constraint.

Medusa API documentation

🥉 Saleor — excellent if you're API/GraphQL oriented

Saleor is another strong choice for a completely custom application. It's particularly attractive if your engineering organization is comfortable with Python/GraphQL and you want the commerce engine to be highly programmable.

I'd put it ahead of Medusa for some enterprise-grade, GraphQL-heavy architectures, but I'd generally choose Medusa for a smaller team wanting a simpler JavaScript/TypeScript ecosystem.

When I'd pick commercetools

If you're talking about a large enterprise with multiple brands, countries, currencies, channels, ERP/PIM integrations, complex pricing, and a broader composable-commerce strategy, I'd seriously evaluate commercetools.

It's less attractive if your goal is simply:

"We have a mobile app and need ecommerce behind it."

For that, Shopify is generally much easier to justify.

The decision I'd make

If this is a normal ecommerce app:
→ Shopify

If this is a highly customized commerce product:
→ Medusa

If this is a large enterprise composable-commerce project:
→ commercetools

If your team strongly prefers GraphQL/Python and wants open-source:
→ Saleor

One particularly important consideration: don't choose a platform based solely on whether it has a "headless API." For a mobile app, I'd evaluate the entire flow:

Authentication → product/catalog API → pricing → cart → customer account → checkout → payment → order → refunds → fulfillment → webhooks → push notifications

Shopify is unusually strong here because it gives you a managed solution for most of that rather than merely exposing product APIs. Its current mobile architecture explicitly separates the app UI, Storefront API, and Checkout Kit. shopify.devshopify.dev

If you tell me (1) native Swift/Kotlin vs React Native/Flutter, (2) B2C vs B2B, (3) approximate order volume, and (4) whether you need subscriptions/marketplace/multiple vendors, I can narrow this down to a specific architecture and platform.

If your frontend is a fully custom iOS/Android app, I’d rank the major headless commerce options like this:

My default recommendation: Shopify

For a custom mobile app, Shopify is probably the best overall choice unless you have a strong reason not to use it.

Shopify's Storefront API is explicitly designed for custom experiences on native apps, and Shopify provides iOS and Android libraries. Its current mobile architecture lets your app use the Storefront API for products, search and carts, while Checkout Kit handles the actual Shopify checkout. shopify.dev

That gives you a fairly clean architecture:

Native app → Storefront API → Shopify commerce backend → Checkout

while your operations team still gets Shopify's mature admin, inventory, orders, payments ecosystem, etc.

Shopify developer documentation

When I'd choose Medusa instead

Medusa is particularly attractive if your mobile app is really the product, rather than simply a mobile storefront.

Its Store API is REST-based and explicitly intended for storefronts including commerce mobile apps. docs.medusajs.com

I'd choose it when you want:

• Complete control over the commerce backend
• Custom pricing/business logic
• Your own checkout experience
• A TypeScript/Node.js stack
• Less dependence on Shopify's opinionated commerce model
• Ability to modify the underlying commerce engine

The tradeoff is that you're taking on significantly more engineering and operational responsibility.

When commercetools wins

If you're building something enterprise-scale and unusually complex, I'd look seriously at commercetools.

It's API-first and composable, meaning you can assemble commerce capabilities rather than adopting one monolithic commerce platform. commercetools.com It also has specific guidance for mobile/browser applications and APIs for customer carts, orders, profiles, etc. docs.commercetools.com

It's excellent for things like:

• Multiple brands/markets
• Complex B2B pricing
• Multiple currencies and catalogs
• Sophisticated promotions
• ERP/PIM integration
• Very custom checkout/order flows
• Large engineering organizations

But it's usually overkill for a typical consumer app.

The key distinction

I'd make the decision based on this question:

Do you want to build a custom mobile experience, or do you want to build a custom commerce system?

If it's:

"We want a beautiful/custom mobile shopping app, but don't want to reinvent commerce."
→ Shopify

"Commerce itself is a core differentiator and we need to control everything."
→ Medusa

"We're an enterprise with complex B2B/multi-market/composable requirements."
→ commercetools

"We're an engineering-heavy organization that wants open source and GraphQL."
→ Saleor

One important Shopify caveat: for a mobile app, you should generally not put private Shopify credentials in the app. Shopify distinguishes public client-side access from private server-side access, with private tokens intended to remain server-side. shopify.dev

If you tell me (1) iOS/Android/native vs React Native/Flutter, (2) B2C vs B2B, (3) approximate catalog size, and (4) whether you need a completely custom checkout, I can narrow this down to a specific architecture and recommend the best 2–3 platforms for your case.

If the frontend is a fully custom native mobile app—React Native, Flutter, Swift, Kotlin, etc.—my shortlist in 2026 would be:

My pick: Medusa

For a custom mobile app, I'd lean toward Medusa if you have a capable engineering team.

Its Store API is explicitly designed for storefronts and commerce mobile apps, uses REST, supports JWT authentication appropriate for mobile clients, and lets you extend the backend with your own API routes, workflows, modules, and integrations. docs.medusajs.com

That makes an architecture like this straightforward:

iOS / Android app → API/BFF → Medusa → payments / search / CMS / ERP

The big advantage is that you're not trying to make your mobile UX conform to a prebuilt storefront model. You can design the app around your actual product experience.

When I'd choose something else

commercetools — probably the strongest choice for a large enterprise. It is genuinely API-first/headless, and its documentation specifically covers mobile/browser applications, OAuth, products, customers and carts. docs.commercetools.com

I'd choose it when you have things like:

• Multiple countries/regions
• Complex pricing
• B2B + B2C
• Multiple brands/channels
• Complicated promotions
• Large catalogs
• ERP/PIM/OMS integrations
• A dedicated platform engineering team

Saleor — excellent if your team likes GraphQL and Python. Saleor is GraphQL-native and exposes its commerce functionality through APIs rather than forcing a particular frontend architecture. It also has strong multi-channel and multi-region capabilities. saleor.io

Shopify — I'd pick this when speed and operational simplicity matter more than maximum backend control. You can use Shopify as the commerce engine while building the entire mobile experience yourself. The tradeoff is that you're still fundamentally working within Shopify's commerce model rather than owning the commerce engine.

One important architectural point

For a serious mobile app, I wouldn't necessarily have the app talk directly to the commerce platform for everything.

I'd generally prefer:

             iOS / Android
                   │
                   ▼
            Mobile API / BFF
                   │
        ┌──────────┼──────────┐
        ▼          ▼          ▼
     Commerce    Search     CMS
     platform
        │
        ├── Payments
        ├── Inventory
        ├── Orders
        └── Customer data

The BFF (backend-for-frontend) gives you control over authentication, response shapes, caching, aggregation, business rules, and protecting backend credentials. commercetools itself recommends a middleware layer for custom frontends for precisely this kind of control. docs.commercetools.com

Bottom line

If you told me only "we're building a custom mobile commerce app", I'd rank them:

1. Medusa — best overall for a technical team wanting maximum control
2. commercetools — best for enterprise-scale/complex commerce
3. Saleor — best if you're strongly GraphQL/Python oriented
4. Shopify — best if minimizing engineering/operations is the priority
5. BigCommerce — good middle ground

If you tell me your app type (DTC, marketplace, grocery, fashion, B2B, subscriptions, etc.), expected order volume, tech stack, and whether you need an admin/catalog system, I can narrow this down to one platform and a recommended mobile/backend architecture.

For a custom mobile app frontend, my default recommendation is Shopify—specifically Shopify’s Storefront API + Checkout Kit. It gives you a mature commerce backend while letting your iOS/Android/React Native app be completely custom.

Shopify explicitly supports native mobile storefronts: the Storefront API handles products, search, carts, and checkout initiation, while Checkout Kit can present Shopify checkout inside the app. It also provides official iOS, Android, and JavaScript tooling. shopify.dev

My ranking

1. 🥇 Shopify — best overall

For an app like:

React Native / Swift / Kotlin → your app UI → Shopify Storefront API → Shopify commerce backend

you get products, variants, inventory, pricing, carts, customers, and orders without having to build the commerce engine yourself. Shopify's API is explicitly designed to work with native apps, and Shopify provides a mobile-specific architecture using Storefront API + Checkout Kit. shopify.devshopify.dev

The particularly nice part is that your mobile frontend can be 100% custom. You're not building a Shopify-themed mobile website; you're building your own app and consuming Shopify's commerce APIs. shopify.dev

I'd choose Shopify if:

• You're a DTC/ecommerce brand.
• You want to launch relatively quickly.
• You need robust payments/checkout.
• Nontechnical staff need a good admin.
• You want Shopify's ecosystem of apps/integrations.
• The app is primarily a custom shopping experience.

2. 🥈 Medusa — best if you're engineering-led

Medusa is more interesting if you want the commerce backend itself to be highly customizable.

Its Store API is REST-based and explicitly intended for storefronts including commerce mobile apps, and it supports JWT authentication that's appropriate for mobile applications. docs.medusajs.com

The architecture is closer to:

React Native / Swift / Kotlin → Medusa API → your infrastructure/database/services

rather than having a SaaS platform dictate as much of the underlying commerce behavior.

I'd seriously consider Medusa if your app has unusual requirements such as:

• complicated pricing
• unusual product/configuration logic
• custom promotions
• marketplace-like behavior
• deep integration with your own backend
• significant custom business logic
• desire to own/control the commerce infrastructure

The tradeoff is that you are taking on substantially more engineering responsibility.

3. 🏢 commercetools — best for enterprise

If you're building something like a large retailer's mobile ecosystem, with multiple countries, catalogs, currencies, B2B pricing, ERP/PIM integrations, and multiple sales channels, commercetools becomes much more compelling.

It's less attractive if you're a startup or ordinary DTC brand because you're paying for enterprise-grade composability that you may not need.

4. Saleor — interesting middle ground

Saleor is worth considering if your engineering team likes Python/GraphQL and wants an open-source/headless architecture.

I'd put it ahead of Medusa if your team is particularly strong in Python and GraphQL; otherwise I'd generally favor Medusa for a JavaScript/TypeScript-heavy organization.

What I'd pick based on your situation

If you're building a normal consumer shopping app:
→ Shopify

If you're building a highly differentiated commerce product where the backend needs to be customized:
→ Medusa

If you're building enterprise-scale composable commerce:
→ commercetools

If your team is Python/GraphQL-centric and wants open source:
→ Saleor

One important architectural recommendation: don't have the mobile app directly contain privileged commerce credentials or business logic. Use public/client-safe APIs from the app and put privileged Shopify/commerce operations behind your own backend where appropriate. Shopify specifically warns that private Storefront API tokens should remain server-side. shopify.devshopify.dev

If you tell me (1) React Native vs native iOS/Android, (2) approximate catalog size, (3) DTC vs marketplace, and (4) whether you need subscriptions/B2B/multi-vendor, I can narrow this down to the best 1–2 options and show you the recommended mobile-app architecture.

For a custom mobile app frontend (iOS/Android, React Native, Flutter, or native), the “best” headless commerce platform is usually the one with the strongest API model, checkout flexibility, mobile SDK support, and ability to handle custom business logic—not necessarily the one with the best website storefront tools. Headless platforms vary a lot: some are truly API-first commerce engines, while others are traditional ecommerce platforms that expose APIs. vendure.io

My shortlist:

vendure.ionaturaily.com

My recommendations by scenario

1. You are building a unique mobile shopping experience (marketplace, subscriptions, unusual checkout, loyalty, custom workflows)
→ Medusa or Saleor

These give your engineering team control over the backend instead of forcing your app to work around ecommerce assumptions. Medusa is particularly attractive if your team is already using TypeScript. vendure.io

2. You are a consumer brand selling standard products and need to launch quickly
→ Shopify Plus

You get payments, taxes, inventory, promotions, fraud tooling, and merchant workflows without rebuilding them. The mobile app can consume Shopify’s APIs while your frontend remains fully custom. vendure.ionaturaily.com

3. You are building a large-scale commerce ecosystem (multiple countries, brands, B2B + B2C, complex pricing)
→ commercetools or Elastic Path

These are designed for organizations where commerce is a core platform rather than just an online store. vendure.io

4. You want the fastest path with a reasonable engineering burden
→ BigCommerce

It provides a hosted commerce engine with APIs, avoiding much of the operational overhead of running your own backend. vendure.io

For a mobile app specifically, I would evaluate these features:

• GraphQL support (important for reducing mobile payload sizes)
• Native SDKs or strong API tooling
• Offline-friendly patterns
• Checkout API flexibility
• Authentication/customer account APIs
• Inventory and pricing APIs
• Webhook/event support
• Ability to customize promotions, bundles, subscriptions, and loyalty

My default picks:

• Startup / small engineering team: Shopify Plus or Medusa
• Engineering-heavy startup: Medusa or Saleor
• Enterprise app ecosystem: commercetools
• Mobile-first commerce product: Saleor (GraphQL) or Medusa (TypeScript)

If you share your app type (retail, marketplace, subscriptions, B2B, food delivery, etc.), expected scale, and tech stack (native/Flutter/React Native), I can narrow this to 2–3 choices.

If your frontend is a custom native mobile app (iOS/Android or React Native), I’d shortlist these:

My default recommendation: Shopify

For most teams, Shopify is the best choice even when the customer-facing experience is entirely custom.

Shopify's Storefront API is explicitly designed for custom experiences including native mobile apps, and its current mobile tooling supports iOS, Android, and React Native. You can use the Storefront API for products, search, pricing and carts, then use Checkout Kit to present Shopify checkout inside the app. shopify.devhunchbite.com

That gives you an architecture like:

Native app → your API/backend → Shopify APIs → Shopify commerce backend

or, for simpler cases:

Native app → Shopify Storefront API → Shopify Checkout Kit

Shopify also has a Customer Account API with a specific mobile client configuration, which is useful for authentication and customer account functionality. shopify.dev

The big advantage is that your team doesn't have to build/operate inventory, pricing, promotions, orders, payments, tax integrations, admin tooling, etc. from scratch.

When I'd choose something else

Choose commercetools if you're building a sophisticated enterprise commerce system—multiple brands, markets, currencies, complex pricing, B2B, multiple sales channels, or lots of external systems. It's more "composable commerce" than "online store with APIs," but consequently requires a stronger engineering organization.

Choose Medusa if commerce itself is something you want to deeply customize. It's particularly attractive if your team is strong in TypeScript/Node and wants to own the backend architecture rather than adapt your business to Shopify's model. Current comparisons characterize it as an open-source, highly customizable commerce engine. hunchbite.com

Choose Saleor if you like the open-source/API-first approach and your team is comfortable with Python/GraphQL. It's a particularly interesting option when you want more control than Shopify without building a commerce engine completely yourself. vendure.io

The decision I'd make

If I were choosing for a new custom mobile commerce app:

• Startup / mid-market: Shopify
• Enterprise with complex commerce requirements: commercetools
• Engineering-heavy company wanting maximum control: Medusa
• Open-source + GraphQL preference: Saleor

One important distinction: don't choose based primarily on whether the platform supports "headless." Almost all serious platforms do now. For a mobile app, I'd evaluate customer authentication, cart semantics, checkout/payment flow, webhooks, inventory consistency, promotions, subscriptions, API rate limits, and SDK quality much more heavily.

If you tell me (1) iOS/Android vs React Native, (2) approximate catalog size, (3) B2C vs B2B, (4) subscriptions or one-time purchases, and (5) whether you need Shopify-like merchant tooling, I can give you a much more definitive recommendation and architecture.

For a custom mobile app frontend, I’d put Shopify first for most businesses, but Medusa or commercetools can be better if your commerce model is unusually custom.

My ranking

🥇 Shopify — best default

Shopify is particularly compelling because it now explicitly supports native iOS, Android, and React Native storefronts. The Storefront API handles products, search and carts, while Checkout Kit lets you present Shopify's checkout inside the app. shopify.dev

A typical architecture would be:

Native app → Storefront API → Shopify → Checkout Kit → Shopify payments/orders

You aren't required to use Hydrogen—the Storefront API is framework-agnostic and can be consumed from essentially any frontend. shopify.dev

I'd choose Shopify if you want:

• Fastest path to production
• Excellent product/catalog/order management
• Reliable hosted infrastructure
• Large ecosystem of integrations
• Native-feeling checkout without building payment infrastructure yourself
• Your app to coexist with a conventional web storefront
• Nontechnical operators to manage commerce through an admin UI

Big caveat: Shopify is still Shopify. If your app requires radically different pricing, checkout, order orchestration, fulfillment, or product models, you'll eventually encounter platform constraints.

🥈 Medusa — best if the app is the product

I'd seriously consider Medusa if you're building something where the commerce experience is highly differentiated.

It's a headless-first, Node.js/TypeScript commerce engine with APIs and a modular architecture, making it attractive when your engineering team wants to own the business logic rather than adapt the business to Shopify. hunchbite.com

For example, if you're building:

Mobile app → custom recommendation engine → custom pricing → custom subscription logic → custom checkout → multiple fulfillment providers

I'd lean toward Medusa over Shopify.

The tradeoff is that you own more of the system—hosting, upgrades, integrations, operational reliability, and more of the commerce infrastructure.

🥉 commercetools — best for enterprise

If you're talking about a large organization with multiple brands, countries, currencies, catalogs, B2B pricing rules, channels, or complex order workflows, I'd put commercetools near the top.

It's designed around composable/API-first commerce rather than treating the storefront as the center of the system. Current comparisons generally position it toward enterprise composable commerce and complex B2B/multi-market implementations. naturaily.com

The downside is cost and architectural complexity. It's probably overkill for a startup or ordinary DTC app.

What I'd choose

If you gave me no other requirements:

Shopify + Storefront API + Checkout Kit

That's the combination I'd recommend for a custom mobile commerce app in 2026. Shopify specifically documents the mobile architecture, including native iOS/Android/React Native support, Storefront API cart management, and embedded checkout. shopify.dev

But if you tell me (1) what you're selling, (2) iOS/Android/React Native, (3) whether you need subscriptions, (4) approximate SKU/order volume, and (5) how custom the checkout/pricing logic needs to be, I can narrow it down to a Shopify vs Medusa vs commercetools recommendation and show you the architecture I'd use.

If your primary requirement is a custom iOS/Android app frontend, I’d shortlist Shopify, Medusa, and Saleor. My default recommendation is Shopify unless you specifically need deep control over the commerce backend.

My ranking

🥇 Shopify — best overall

For a custom mobile app, Shopify is surprisingly strong. Its Storefront API is explicitly designed for native apps, and Shopify now provides Checkout Kit for iOS, Android, and React Native. You can build product browsing, search, cart, and essentially your entire app UI yourself while Shopify handles commerce and checkout. shopify.dev

A typical architecture would be:

React Native / Swift / Kotlin app → Storefront API → Shopify

and:

App cart → Checkout Kit → Shopify checkout → order

The big advantage is that you don't have to build things like payments, order management, promotions, inventory administration, merchant tooling, etc. from scratch.

I'd choose Shopify if you want to ship quickly and minimize backend maintenance.

Shopify Storefront API documentation

🥈 Medusa — best if the backend itself needs to be custom

Medusa is more attractive if your app has unusual commerce logic—for example:

• complex product configuration
• unusual pricing rules
• marketplace-like behavior
• custom fulfillment
• sophisticated subscriptions
• multiple external services
• highly customized checkout
• wanting to own the commerce infrastructure

Its Store API is REST-based and specifically supports storefronts including commerce mobile apps. You can also create your own API routes and custom functionality. docs.medusajs.com

The tradeoff is that you're taking on substantially more engineering and infrastructure responsibility than with Shopify.

Medusa documentation

🥉 Saleor — excellent for a GraphQL-heavy architecture

I'd seriously consider Saleor if your engineering team likes GraphQL + TypeScript/React + Python and wants an open-source/API-first system.

Saleor is GraphQL-native, frontend-agnostic, and exposes commerce functionality through APIs rather than forcing you into a particular storefront technology. saleor.io

It's particularly compelling if you want your mobile app, web app, and other channels to consume the same commerce API.

Saleor documentation

When I'd choose commercetools

For a large enterprise, especially one already using an ERP, PIM, CMS, multiple regions, multiple brands, or multiple commerce channels, commercetools becomes much more interesting.

It's designed around composable/headless commerce, but I'd consider it overkill for a typical consumer mobile app.

What I'd pick

If you're building a normal consumer shopping app:

Shopify + React Native + Storefront API + Checkout Kit

That's probably the best balance of developer experience, mobile support, reliability, and time-to-market. Shopify explicitly supports native mobile storefronts and has dedicated mobile checkout tooling. shopify.dev

If commerce is a core differentiator of your product and you need to invent your own commerce logic:

Medusa

If you want open-source + GraphQL + maximum frontend freedom:

Saleor

If you're building a very large enterprise/composable architecture:

commercetools

One important architectural point: I would not have the mobile app directly own sensitive backend logic. For a serious production app, I'd generally put a BFF/API layer between the app and commerce platform, particularly for authentication, customer data, custom business rules, integrations, and secrets.

If you tell me (1) iOS/Android/React Native/Flutter, (2) approximate catalog size, (3) subscriptions or one-time purchases, and (4) whether you need Shopify-level merchant tooling, I can narrow this down to the best 1–2 choices and show you the recommended architecture.

For a custom mobile app frontend (iOS/Android built with Swift, Kotlin, React Native, Flutter, etc.), the “best” headless commerce platform is usually the one with the strongest APIs, checkout flexibility, customer management, and operational tooling—not necessarily the one with the nicest web storefront tools. Headless platforms are designed to expose commerce capabilities through APIs so your app can own the UX. naturaily.com

My shortlist:

naturaily.compowergatesoftware.com

My recommendation by scenario

1. You are building a premium consumer mobile app (fashion, beauty, retail, subscriptions):
→ Shopify Plus headless is often the pragmatic choice. You get reliable commerce operations while your app team focuses on the customer experience. Shopify supports headless builds through APIs while keeping products, orders, payments, and merchant workflows managed. vendure.io

2. Your app is the business (marketplace, complex workflows, multiple sellers, unusual checkout):
→ commercetools is usually the strongest long-term architecture. It is built around composable commerce and API-first services rather than adapting a storefront platform. naturaily.com

3. You have a strong engineering team and want maximum ownership:
→ Medusa or Saleor. You can shape the backend around your app instead of fitting your app into a SaaS platform. naturaily.compowergatesoftware.com

4. You need to launch quickly with a smaller team:
→ Shopify or BigCommerce.

For a mobile app specifically, evaluate these APIs/features:

• Product/catalog API — supports filtering, variants, bundles, recommendations
• Cart API — persistent carts across devices
• Checkout API — ideally supports native app checkout flows
• Customer identity — OAuth, social login, account management
• Payments — tokenized payments, Apple Pay/Google Pay support
• Inventory APIs — especially if you have stores or fulfillment centers
• Webhooks/events — order updates, inventory changes, customer events
• SDK quality — official mobile SDKs or clean REST/GraphQL APIs

A common architecture looks like:

iOS / Android App
        |
        | API layer (optional BFF)
        |
Headless Commerce Platform
        |
Payments | Inventory | OMS | CRM | CMS

If you tell me:

1. your app type (DTC store, marketplace, subscription, B2B, etc.),
2. expected scale (orders/day or users), and
3. your stack (React Native, Flutter, native iOS/Android),

I can narrow this to a top 1–2 choices.

For a custom mobile app frontend (native iOS/Android, React Native, Flutter, etc.), the “best” headless commerce platform is usually the one with the strongest API design, checkout flexibility, SDK support, scalability, and ability to support app-specific experiences. A website-first headless platform is not always the best mobile backend. elogic.covendure.io

My shortlist:

vendure.io

My recommendations by scenario

1. Building a serious mobile-first commerce app from scratch

• Pick commercetools if you have enterprise requirements:
  • multiple regions/currencies
  • complex pricing
  • B2B workflows
  • multiple apps/channels
  • long-term composable architecture

• Pick Medusa if you have a strong engineering team and want control:
  • custom checkout logic
  • unusual product models
  • marketplace-style features
  • lower platform lock-in

2. Building a consumer shopping app quickly

• Pick Shopify Plus if:
  • your business already runs on Shopify
  • you need reliable catalog/order/payment management
  • your app is mostly a custom shopping experience layer

3. Building a React Native / Flutter app
I would prioritize:

1. API quality
2. authentication/customer management
3. cart persistence
4. checkout APIs
5. webhooks/events
6. SDK availability

A mobile app usually benefits more from a clean commerce API than from a fancy storefront framework.

A typical architecture I would choose

iOS / Android App
        |
        |
API Gateway / Backend-for-Frontend
        |
        |
Headless Commerce Platform
        |
 ┌───────────────┐
 | Products      |
 | Cart          |
 | Checkout      |
 | Orders        |
 | Customers     |
 └───────────────┘

For many mobile apps, I would avoid having the app talk directly to commerce APIs. A thin backend layer often handles:

• app authentication
• personalization
• analytics
• feature flags
• combining commerce + loyalty + CRM data

My default picks

• Startup / custom mobile commerce: Medusa
• Mid-market brand: BigCommerce or Shopify Plus
• Enterprise app ecosystem: commercetools
• Developer-first GraphQL stack: Saleor

If you tell me your situation (B2C vs B2B, expected order volume, native vs React Native/Flutter, marketplace vs single brand, and whether you already use Shopify/Magento/etc.), I can narrow it to one or two choices.

For a custom mobile app frontend, my default recommendation is Shopify—specifically Shopify’s Storefront API + Customer Account API + Checkout Kit.

Shopify is unusually well suited to mobile because its APIs are explicitly designed for native iOS, Android, and React Native apps. You can keep the entire customer-facing UI native while Shopify handles products, inventory, carts, customers, checkout, payments, orders, and much of the commerce infrastructure. shopify.devshopify.devdocs.medusajs.com

My ranking

🥇 Shopify — best overall

For a mobile app, the architecture is particularly clean:

Your app
→ Storefront API
→ Shopify commerce backend
→ Checkout Kit
→ Shopify payment processing

Shopify's Storefront API provides products, collections, search, cart operations, pricing, etc., while Checkout Kit can present Shopify checkout directly inside an iOS, Android, or React Native app. shopify.dev

It also has a mobile-specific Customer Account API client type, which is useful for authentication and customer accounts in native apps. shopify.dev

The biggest advantage isn't just the API—it's that you get Shopify's mature admin, inventory, promotions, payments, fulfillment, analytics, and ecosystem without having to build all of that yourself.

Choose Shopify if: you want to launch relatively quickly and your commerce requirements are fairly conventional.

🥈 Medusa — best if the app is really custom

Medusa becomes more attractive if your app isn't really a traditional ecommerce storefront.

Its Store API is explicitly intended for things like commerce mobile apps, and because the platform is open-source and extensible, you can implement substantially more custom commerce logic yourself. docs.medusajs.com

For example, I'd lean toward Medusa if you need:

• Highly unusual product/configuration logic
• Custom pricing engines
• Marketplace-like behavior
• Nonstandard checkout flows
• Deep control over your backend
• Your own infrastructure/database
• A TypeScript/Node engineering team

The tradeoff is that you become much more responsible for the commerce platform. Shopify buys you a lot of infrastructure; Medusa gives you a lot more control.

🥉 commercetools — enterprise choice

I'd consider commercetools if you're building a large enterprise mobile commerce ecosystem, particularly if the app is one of many channels.

It's more of a composable commerce infrastructure play than a straightforward "put ecommerce in my app" solution. The flexibility is excellent, but the architecture and implementation effort are correspondingly greater.

The decision I'd make

If you told me only:

"We have a custom iOS/Android app and need a commerce backend."

I'd pick Shopify.

If you told me:

"Commerce is a core part of our product and we need to fundamentally customize how commerce works."

I'd pick Medusa or commercetools, depending on company size and engineering resources.

One important distinction: headless doesn't mean you need to build your own checkout. With Shopify, your app can have a completely custom native shopping experience while handing the actual checkout/payment flow to Shopify through Checkout Kit. shopify.devshopify.devdocs.medusajs.com

If you tell me your app type (e.g. fashion, grocery, marketplace, subscriptions, B2B), expected scale, and whether you're using React Native, Flutter, Swift/Kotlin, etc., I can narrow this down to the best 2–3 options and show you the recommended architecture.

For a custom native mobile app frontend, I’d pick Shopify for most businesses—specifically Shopify’s Storefront API + Checkout Kit.

Shopify explicitly supports native iOS, Android, and React Native storefronts: the Storefront API handles products, search, and carts, while Checkout Kit presents Shopify checkout inside the app. shopify.dev

My ranking

🥇 Shopify — best overall

The architecture is particularly good for a mobile app:

Your iOS/Android/React Native app
→ Shopify Storefront API
→ Shopify commerce backend
→ Shopify Checkout Kit
→ payment/order

You don't have to use Shopify's frontend at all. The Storefront API is explicitly designed to power custom experiences on native apps and other platforms. shopify.dev

Shopify also provides official iOS and Android client libraries, and its Customer Account API has a mobile-client configuration. shopify.dev

Big advantage: you get the mature Shopify admin, inventory, orders, payments, discounts, subscriptions, apps, etc., while your app can be completely custom.

Potential downside: you're still operating within Shopify's commerce model. If your app has highly unconventional pricing, checkout, fulfillment, marketplace, or order logic, you'll eventually run into platform constraints.

Shopify Storefront API documentation

🥈 Medusa — best if your commerce logic is highly custom

I'd seriously consider Medusa if you're building something that is more than a conventional ecommerce app.

Medusa's Store API is specifically intended to power storefronts including commerce mobile apps, and it gives you substantially more control over the commerce backend. docs.medusajs.com

The tradeoff is that you're taking on considerably more engineering responsibility than with Shopify: infrastructure, integrations, payments, operational tooling, upgrades, etc.

Choose Medusa if: your engineering team wants the commerce backend to behave like a product you've built, rather than a SaaS service you're configuring.

🥉 commercetools — enterprise choice

If you're talking about a large organization with multiple brands, countries, B2B/B2C channels, ERP/PIM integrations, complex pricing, or multiple customer experiences, commercetools becomes very compelling.

It's API-first and composable, with 500+ commerce APIs according to the company. commercetools.com

But I wouldn't choose it simply because you're building a mobile app. It's generally more architecture than you need for a straightforward ecommerce app.

What I'd choose based on the app

Typical ecommerce app:
→ Shopify

Highly customized marketplace / unusual business model:
→ Medusa

Large enterprise with complex systems:
→ commercetools

Engineering team strongly prefers open source/Python:
→ Saleor

Already heavily invested in BigCommerce:
→ BigCommerce

One important architectural recommendation: don't put your private commerce credentials directly in the mobile app. Public/mobile-safe credentials can be used where appropriate, but secrets should live behind your backend/BFF. Shopify specifically warns that private access tokens should not be exposed client-side. shopify.dev

If you tell me what the app sells, expected scale, iOS/Android/React Native, and whether you need subscriptions/marketplace/multi-vendor, I can narrow this down to the best 1–2 platforms and sketch the recommended mobile architecture.