How to detect Shopify on any website
Hosted e-commerce platform — the largest Shopify-store dataset on the web.
Official siteWhat is Shopify?
Shopify runs a big slice of global DTC e-commerce. Its sites are server-rendered Liquid templates, often augmented with the Shopify Hydrogen framework (a React framework by Shopify) for headless storefronts.
Shopify's architecture is two-tier: a classic Liquid-templated storefront served from their infrastructure, with a JavaScript layer for interactivity, payment processing and cart management. That layer exposes a predictable `window.Shopify` global with shop, currency, checkout and cart utilities. For teams wanting a fully custom React-based frontend, Shopify offers Hydrogen — a React framework that talks to the Shopify Storefront API and handles SSR/streaming. Detecting 'Shopify' on a site is easy; telling classic Liquid from Hydrogen requires looking at whether the frontend is template-rendered (Liquid) or client-rendered React hitting a GraphQL API (Hydrogen).
Why it matters to identify
Detecting Shopify tells you the entire checkout flow, payment stack, and admin surface. 'Hydrogen' vs classic Liquid tells you whether the frontend is React-based or template-based. Detecting the apps installed (Klaviyo, Gorgias, ReCharge, Judge.me) paints the rest of the stack.
A brief history of Shopify
Shopify launched in 2006. Liquid templating language (2006). Shopify POS (2013). Shopify Plus (2014, for enterprise). Hydrogen + Oxygen (2022, React-based headless stack). Over time Shopify has added more JavaScript to its classic storefront layer while pushing React-minded teams toward Hydrogen.
Ecosystem and common pairings
Classic Shopify stack: Liquid + Shopify theme (Dawn, Refresh, many paid themes) + apps (Klaviyo for email, Gorgias for support, ReCharge for subscriptions, Judge.me for reviews, PageFly for page building). Hydrogen stack: React + Remix (Hydrogen 2 is built on Remix) + Shopify Storefront API + Oxygen hosting.
Detection signals we look at
Each signal alone is rarely conclusive; the detector cross-references all of them and weights by confidence. You can reproduce any of these checks yourself in Chrome DevTools.
window.Shopify
Every classic Shopify store exposes a `Shopify` global with shop, currency, cart utilities.
cdn.shopify.com
Shopify-hosted assets are served from `cdn.shopify.com`.
x-shopify-stage|x-shopid|powered-by: Shopify
Shopify-specific response headers.
class="shopify-"|data-shopify
Shopify theme classes / data attributes.
Versioning
Sites commonly running Shopify
- allbirds.com
- gymshark.com
- kyliecosmetics.com
Often confused with
Shopify vs Shopify Hydrogen
Hydrogen is a React-based headless framework by Shopify built on Remix. A Hydrogen storefront looks like a custom React app that hits the Shopify Storefront API — `cdn.shopify.com` images stay, the `Shopify` global doesn't.
Related
See Shopify — with the exact version — on every site you visit.
Sourcemap Explorer runs these checks passively in the background. When the target library is bundled, you get the precise package.json-level version.