Headless WordPress with Astro or Next.js
Your team keeps editing in WordPress. The visitor gets a front end built with Astro or Next.js and served from a CDN. We tell you what you gain, what it costs and when it is not worth it.
Headless WordPress separates the content manager from the public website. WordPress stores and edits the content and exposes it through the REST API or WPGraphQL; an Astro or Next.js front end consumes it and generates the pages, which are served from a CDN. Soamee builds these architectures while keeping the editor the team already knows. The cost is real: SEO, forms and preview stop coming from plugins and have to be built in the front end. That is why we recommend it when front-end performance or control is a requirement, and not as a trend.
Three ways to set it up
The choice depends on how often content changes and whether there are dynamic parts.
Static generation with Astro
Every publish triggers a site build and the resulting HTML goes to the CDN. It is the fastest and cheapest to serve, and fits corporate sites, blogs and catalogues that change infrequently.
Hybrid rendering with Next.js or Astro
Content pages are served from cache and revalidated when they go stale; dynamic parts request data from WordPress on the server. Useful when there is a lot of content or personalised areas.
Headless WooCommerce
The front end queries catalogue and cart through the API and payment is handled by the gateway. It is the variant with the most moving parts: it makes sense for stores where front-end speed drives conversion.
What changes compared with classic WordPress
Headless is not better by default. Here is what you gain and what has to be built by hand.
Not sure headless makes sense for your site?
Let's assess it together →Changing front end without losing rankings
To Google, a front-end change is a platform change. Before touching anything we inventory the URLs and cross them with Search Console to see which ones receive traffic. Those URLs are kept as they are or redirected with a 301 to their equivalent.
The titles, descriptions, canonicals, hreflang and structured data that a plugin used to output are reproduced in the new front end and compared with the original site before launch. After the switch, crawling is monitored in Search Console for the following weeks.
Frequently asked questions about headless WordPress
What is headless WordPress?
What do you gain and what do you lose?
Can the current search rankings be kept?
What about draft previews?
Does it work with WooCommerce?
Same editor, different front end
We review your current WordPress and tell you whether headless solves your problem or whether a cheaper fix exists.
Tell us your challenge. We'll propose a solution.
No commitment. Within 24 hours, you'll receive a proposal with scope, timeline and budget. No fine print.