Shopify Hydrogen Agency · USA
Shopify Hydrogen Agency — headless storefronts built by senior Hydrogen developers
Hire a senior Shopify Hydrogen agency to ship production headless storefronts on Hydrogen + Oxygen. Sub-1.5s LCP, multi-region routing, editorial CMS, B2B on Plus, and zero-loss Liquid migrations — by a US-based Shopify Plus Partner with 40+ Hydrogen builds shipped.
- Shopify Plus Partner · 40+ Hydrogen builds shipped
- 1.1s median LCP on Oxygen edge
- Sanity / Contentful / Builder.io integrated
- Zero ranking loss on Liquid → Hydrogen migrations
Conversion in numbers
40+
Hydrogen builds
1.1s
Median LCP
+28%
Avg conversion lift
Since 2022
Building Hydrogen
Key facts about Conversion's Shopify Hydrogen practice
Last updated · By Tarun Kapoor, Founder
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, USA
- Shopify Plus Partner since
- 2019
- Hydrogen builds shipped
- 40+ since 2022
- Liquid → Hydrogen migrations
- 30+ with zero ranking loss
- Median LCP on Oxygen
- 1.1s on mobile 4G
- Typical engagement
- $80K–$350K · 12–28 weeks
- Frameworks we ship
- Hydrogen 2024+, React Router 7, Oxygen
- CMS integrations
- Sanity, Contentful, Builder.io, Storyblok
- Markets served
- United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia
About Conversion
A US Shopify Plus Partner that ships Hydrogen storefronts that hold up
40+ Hydrogen Builds
Since 2022
Shopify Plus Partner
Since 2019
Oxygen Edge Native
Lowest TTFB
San Francisco, USA
Senior team in-house
Conversion is a Shopify Plus development agency headquartered in San Francisco, serving DTC and B2B brands across the US, Canada, UK, and Australia. We've shipped 40+ Shopify Hydrogen storefronts since 2022 — headless rebuilds, greenfield Hydrogen launches, and rescues of stalled Hydrogen projects from agencies that treated commerce like a marketing site.
We don't pitch Hydrogen to every client. We pitch it when the workload demands it — editorial-grade content, sub-second LCP at scale, multi-region routing, complex personalization, or frontend deploy independence from Liquid. When Hydrogen is the right call, we build it the way it was meant to be built: server-rendered, edge-deployed, CMS-integrated, and performance-budgeted from day one.
Why most Hydrogen builds fail
Hydrogen done wrong is slower than a Liquid theme
We've inherited 18 stalled Hydrogen projects in the last three years. The same three failure modes show up every time — and they cost brands months and six-figure budgets to recover from.
Built like a Next.js marketing site
Frontend-only thinking — client-rendered cart, no server-side product loaders, broken cache invalidation, hydration mismatches in the checkout handoff. Hydrogen is a commerce framework, not a brochure site. We build it with the right primitives: streaming SSR, server actions, Cart API, AnalyticsProvider, and route-level data loaders.
No caching or wrong caching strategy
Stale product data, broken cart sessions, customer accounts that flicker on load. Hydrogen's cache layer (CacheLong, CacheShort, CacheNone) is powerful when used deliberately, dangerous when ignored. We design the caching strategy on day one — per-route, per-component, per-query — and run a synthetic load test against it before launch.
CMS bolted on, not integrated
Sanity dropped on top with no content model, marketing locked out, every content change requires a developer. We co-design the content model with your editorial team, ship a real CMS with block-based pages, and give marketing the autonomy to launch campaigns without a deploy.
Considering Hydrogen? Let's pressure-test the decision first.
Book a 30-minute call. We'll review your current storefront, traffic profile, and content needs — and tell you honestly whether Hydrogen, a rebuilt Liquid theme, or Next.js + Storefront API is the right call.
30-minute call · No commitment · Custom quote in 48 hours
Shopify Hydrogen services
Every layer of the Hydrogen stack, production-ready
Full-service Shopify Hydrogen development — greenfield builds, Liquid-to-Hydrogen migrations, Hydrogen rescues, multi-region storefronts, B2B layers, CMS integration, and post-launch CRO. Senior React engineers in-house. We write the code your CTO would write.
Greenfield Hydrogen Storefronts
End-to-end Hydrogen + Oxygen storefront builds — homepage, PLP, PDP, search, cart, checkout handoff, and customer accounts. Server-rendered, edge-deployed, CMS-integrated, and performance-budgeted from the first commit.
- Hydrogen + React Router 7
- Oxygen edge deployment
- Streaming SSR + Suspense
- Customer Accounts API
Liquid → Hydrogen Migrations
Zero-loss migrations from Liquid themes to Hydrogen storefronts. URL mapping, 301 redirect chains, structured data preservation, sitemap parity, and 90-day SEO monitoring after launch. 30+ migrations shipped, zero ranking loss.
- One-to-one URL mapping
- 301 redirect chain QA
- Pre-launch SEO regression test
- 90-day post-launch monitoring
Hydrogen Rescue & Re-architecture
Inherited a stalled or broken Hydrogen build from another agency? We scope a recovery plan in 48 hours, fix the architecture, and ship a stable rebuild within 8–10 weeks. 18 Hydrogen rescues shipped to date.
- 48-hour recovery scoping
- Architecture audit + rewrite plan
- Cart, checkout, caching repair
- Stable launch in 8–10 weeks
CMS Integration (Sanity, Contentful, Builder)
Editorial-grade CMS sitting alongside Hydrogen — block-based content models, real-time editing, preview environments, and marketing autonomy. Sanity is our default; we also ship Contentful, Builder.io, and Storyblok.
- Sanity Studio + GROQ
- Contentful + GraphQL
- Builder.io visual editing
- Storyblok multi-region content
Multi-Region & International Hydrogen
Multi-region storefronts on Hydrogen + Markets — locale-aware routing, per-region pricing, currency switching, geo-IP redirects, hreflang, localized content, and region-specific payment methods. Shipped to 12+ countries from one codebase.
- Locale-aware routing (/en-us/, /en-gb/)
- Shopify Markets + Markets Pro
- Geo-IP + hreflang + canonicals
- Region-specific payment + tax
Hydrogen + B2B on Shopify Plus
DTC and B2B from a single Hydrogen codebase — company accounts, custom catalogs, volume pricing, net terms, draft orders, and quote-to-order flows. Role-based routing and personalized PDPs, PLPs, and checkout.
- Company accounts + B2B login
- Custom catalogs + volume pricing
- Net 30 / 60 / 90 + draft orders
- Quote-to-order automation
Performance & Core Web Vitals
Sub-1.5s LCP, INP under 200ms, CLS at zero — measured on real devices. Edge rendering on Oxygen, streaming SSR, route-level data loaders, image optimization via Shopify CDN, and aggressive component-level caching.
- LCP < 1.5s on mobile 4G
- INP < 200ms · CLS < 0.05
- Cache strategy per route + query
- Synthetic load test pre-launch
Hydrogen Personalization & A/B Testing
Server-side variant assignment, route-level flag systems, and component-level overrides without a theme republish. Plug-in support for GrowthBook, Optimizely, VWO, LaunchDarkly, and Convert.
- Server-side variant assignment
- Component-level flag system
- GrowthBook / Optimizely / VWO
- Segment + RudderStack analytics
Custom Apps + Storefront API Layer
Custom Shopify apps that extend Hydrogen — ERP/PIM/3PL connectors, custom subscription engines, advanced product configurators, and headless content APIs. Built on Remix + Polaris + GraphQL Admin + Storefront API.
- Remix + Polaris + App Bridge
- GraphQL Admin + Storefront APIs
- ERP / PIM / 3PL connectors
- Subscription + configurator logic
Hydrogen tech stack
The exact stack we ship on every Hydrogen build
We don't hand-pick novel tooling per project — we standardize on a battle-tested Hydrogen stack so the codebase is legible to any senior engineer who joins later. Yours to keep, fork, and run with.
Hydrogen core
Hydrogen primitives
Shopify APIs
Commerce on Plus
CMS & content
Search & reviews
Edge & infra
Build & QA
Hydrogen capabilities
Every Hydrogen primitive — used in production
A reference of the Hydrogen framework primitives, Shopify APIs, and platform concepts we use on real builds. We don't just know the docs — we've shipped each of these to production storefronts running real traffic.
Cart & checkout primitives
Server-rendered cart on every route via the Cart API and <CartForm> action. Optimistic UI for instant add-to-cart feedback. <ShopPayButton>handoff to Shopify's native checkout, with full access to Checkout UI Extensions, Functions (discount, delivery, payment, cart), and the Branding API on Plus.
Product & merchandising
<VariantSelector> for option logic, <Money> for locale-aware pricing,<MediaFile> for adaptive image/video, and <Pagination> for collection routes. Powered by the Storefront API with route-level loaders and aggressive subrequest caching.
Customer Accounts API
Passwordless customer logins, account dashboards, order history, address book, and B2B company accounts — all via Shopify's new Customer Accounts API. We've shipped customer-account routes that handle 6-figure monthly logins without flicker or hydration mismatch.
Metaobjects & content
Metaobjects API for Shopify-native content models, paired with Sanity or Contentful for editorial-grade block content. Marketing publishes pages, hero modules, and campaigns without a deploy. <SEO> component for per-route metadata.
Search & Discovery
Native Search and Discovery API with predictive search, faceted filtering, and synonyms — or drop-in integrations with Algolia, Searchspring, Klevu, or Nosto when catalog scale demands it. Server-side rendered so SEO crawls every facet.
Analytics & pixels
AnalyticsProvider for first-party event tracking, Web Pixels API for Shopify-managed third-party pixels, server-side GA4/GTM via Segment or RudderStack, and integration with Shopify Analytics + Live View for real-time merchandising decisions.
Markets & multi-region
Hydrogen integrates natively with Shopify Markets and Markets Pro for multi-country selling. Locale-aware routing (subfolder / subdomain / domain), currency switching, per-region pricing, and tax compliance — no code changes when you add a country.
Performance primitives
Optimistic UI for zero-latency interactions, nested routes for smooth transitions, streaming SSR with React Suspense, and subrequest caching (CacheLong / CacheShort / CacheNone) tuned per-query. Server-side rendering reduces shipped JavaScript to a minimum.
Developer experience
Hydrogen CLI (h2 dev, h2 build), Mini-Oxygen for local edge testing, Skeleton template for greenfield starts, TypeScript-first APIs, and Vite-powered HMR. We ship Storybook + Playwright + Lighthouse CI on every build.
Hosting on Oxygen
Why we deploy Hydrogen to Oxygen by default
Oxygen is Shopify's built-in global edge runtime — V8 isolates on the Shopify CDN, included free on every Shopify plan above Starter. For most Hydrogen builds, it's the right call.
When a workload demands a feature Oxygen doesn't offer yet (Vercel ISR, custom edge middleware, regional compliance), we deploy Hydrogen to Cloudflare Workers, Vercel Edge, or Netlify Edge instead. We've shipped to all four — the choice is workload-specific.
- Global PoPs
- 300+
- Cost on Shopify Plus
- $0
- Preview deploys
- Per commit
- Observability
- Log drains
- Performance lever
- Cache rules
- Local dev
- Mini-Oxygen
Edge presence in 300+ locations worldwide — 95% of the internet reachable in under 50ms.
Included free with every Shopify plan above Starter. No infra bill, no surprise scaling charge.
Every push creates a unique preview URL. Stakeholders QA every change before merge.
Stream production logs into Datadog, New Relic, Honeycomb, or your SIEM of choice.
Custom cache rules per route, per query, per region. The biggest LCP lever Hydrogen offers.
Test edge behavior locally before deploy — caching, regions, headers, all simulated.
Our Hydrogen process
From decision to launch in 12–28 weeks
Decision audit
Before any code, we pressure-test whether Hydrogen is the right call. Traffic profile, content workflow, performance baseline, integration map, and TCO analysis. If a Liquid rebuild is the better answer, we say so — and quote that instead.
Architecture & CMS design
We design the Hydrogen architecture, CMS content model, caching strategy, integration map, and performance budget. Output: a written technical spec your CTO can review, with explicit decisions on every fork in the road.
Build, integrate, test
Senior React engineers build the storefront on Hydrogen, CMS, and Storefront API. Continuous Lighthouse CI, Playwright E2E tests, accessibility audits, and weekly demos with your team. No surprises at launch.
Launch & optimize
Phased launch with pre-launch SEO regression test, 301 redirect QA, and 90-day Search Console monitoring. Then we wire up experimentation and start the CRO sprint cycle. Typical post-launch lift: +12–28% conversion in 90 days.
Hydrogen vs the alternatives
Hydrogen, Liquid, or Next.js — which fits your workload?
We build all three. Here's an honest, side-by-side comparison so you can make the right architectural call before you spend a dollar.
Hydrogen case studies
Real Hydrogen builds. Real performance.
Hydrogen — Skincare DTC
1.1s
LCP on mobile 4G
Liquid → Hydrogen migration with zero ranking loss
“We were on a bloated Liquid theme at 4.2s LCP. Conversion migrated us to Hydrogen + Sanity in 14 weeks. LCP dropped to 1.1s, organic traffic went up 22% in 60 days, and our editorial team finally publishes without a developer.”
Hydrogen — Apparel DTC
+28%
Conversion lift
Hydrogen rescue: stalled build relaunched in 9 weeks
“We'd spent six months and $180K with another agency on a Hydrogen build that wouldn't deploy. Conversion scoped the recovery in 48 hours, rebuilt the architecture, and shipped a stable storefront nine weeks later. Conversion lifted +28%.”
Hydrogen — Beauty Plus
12
Regions, one codebase
Multi-region Hydrogen serving 12 countries
“We needed one Hydrogen codebase serving 12 country storefronts with localized content, currency, and payment methods. Conversion shipped it on Markets Pro + Sanity with hreflang and geo-routing. International revenue up 64% in 6 months.”
What founders say
Trusted by DTC, B2B, and Shopify Plus brands
We interviewed five Hydrogen agencies. Conversion was the only one that pushed back on whether we actually needed Hydrogen. They built the case for it on real data — and then shipped a storefront that hit 1.1s LCP on mobile.
Lauren K.
CTO · DTC Skincare Brand
Our previous Hydrogen build wouldn't even deploy. Conversion took it over, rewrote the architecture, and had us live nine weeks later. The conversion rate jump in week two paid for the rescue.
Daniel R.
Head of Ecommerce · Apparel DTC
Twelve country storefronts, one Hydrogen codebase, localized content, regional payments. Honestly didn't think it was possible without two agencies. International revenue is up 64% six months in.
Priya M.
VP Digital · Beauty Plus Brand
The thing that sold me: they don't pitch Hydrogen to everyone. On our prior brand they talked us into a Liquid rebuild instead. When they did recommend Hydrogen for this one, I trusted the call.
Marcus T.
Founder · Lifestyle DTC
Sanity CMS integrated cleanly, marketing ships campaigns without a deploy, and our DevOps team didn't have to learn a new infra stack — Oxygen handled it. Cleanest Hydrogen build I've seen.
Sara J.
VP Engineering · B2B Industrial
We were burned by a Hydrogen build that treated us like a marketing site project. Conversion built it like a commerce frontend — Cart API, caching strategy, server-side everything. Night and day.
Jordan W.
Director of Ecommerce · Beverage Plus Brand
Why Conversion for Hydrogen
Hydrogen specialists, not React generalists doing commerce
Shopify Plus Partner since 2019
Direct access to Shopify's Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Storefront API engineers. Early access to Customer Accounts API, Functions, and Hydrogen RC releases. Your build benefits from the platform's roadmap before it ships publicly.
40+ Hydrogen storefronts shipped
We've built greenfield Hydrogen storefronts, migrated 30+ stores from Liquid, and rescued 18 stalled Hydrogen projects. Pattern recognition only comes from volume — and we have it.
Honest architecture recommendations
We build Liquid, Next.js, and Hydrogen — so we have no incentive to over-sell Hydrogen. If a Liquid theme is the right call for your workload, that's what we'll quote. The recommendation follows the data, not our preference.
Senior US engineers, in-house
Hydrogen is unforgiving of junior engineers — caching, hydration, streaming, and Customer Accounts API all have sharp edges. Our Hydrogen team is senior, US-based, and in San Francisco. No offshore subcontracting on commerce code.
Migration without losing rankings
30+ Liquid-to-Hydrogen migrations, zero ranking loss. URL mapping, 301 redirect chains, structured data preservation, server-rendered HTML, sitemap parity, and 90-day GSC monitoring built into every plan.
Pay on results — for growth work
After launch, you move into our pay-on-results growth retainer. We earn fees only when revenue grows. No flat retainers. No upfront. The incentive structure that aligns us with your P&L.
What you walk away with
A complete Hydrogen storefront — yours to keep, fork, and run
Every Conversion Hydrogen engagement ships with these artifacts. Code, docs, and infra ownership are yours from day one.
Strategy
- Hydrogen-fit decision audit
- Architecture spec + ADRs
- CMS content model
- Performance budget
- Migration & SEO plan
Design
- Figma design system + tokens
- Component library (Storybook)
- All template designs (mobile + desktop)
- Brand-extensible theming
- Editorial content guidelines
Build
- Hydrogen storefront codebase
- CMS instance + content seed
- Custom apps / integrations
- GA4 + GTM + server-side tracking
- Playwright + Lighthouse CI
Launch
- Oxygen / edge deployment
- 301 redirect map + SEO QA
- Performance baseline + SLA
- Runbook + on-call docs
- 30 / 60 / 90-day CRO plan
Frequently asked
Shopify Hydrogen questions
What is Shopify Hydrogen?
When does a Shopify store actually need Hydrogen?
How much does a Shopify Hydrogen build cost?
How long does a Shopify Hydrogen build take?
Hydrogen vs Next.js — which is better for a Shopify headless build?
Will my SEO survive a migration from Liquid to Hydrogen?
What's Oxygen and do I have to use it?
Can Hydrogen handle B2B and wholesale on Shopify Plus?
Which CMS works best with Shopify Hydrogen?
Does Hydrogen work with Shopify checkout extensibility?
What about Hydrogen for international, multi-region storefronts?
Will Hydrogen actually be faster than my Liquid theme?
Can you take over a stalled or broken Hydrogen project?
Do you offer post-launch retainer and CRO for Hydrogen storefronts?
Are you a Shopify Plus Partner with verified Hydrogen experience?
Related services
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ExploreShopify SEO Agency
Technical SEO, collection page optimization, schema, content, and AI search (GEO) — built for Shopify storefronts.
ExploreShopify Marketing Agency
Meta + TikTok ads, Google, Klaviyo email/SMS, and CRO sprints engineered to scale Shopify and Shopify Plus brands profitably.
ExploreReady to build?
Build a Hydrogen storefront that actually holds up
Book a free 30-minute call. We'll review your current store, traffic profile, and content needs — and tell you honestly whether Hydrogen, a Liquid rebuild, or Next.js + Storefront API is the right call. Fixed-scope quote in 48 hours.
No credit card · No commitment · Pay only on results