# Building a storefront

Source: https://developers.swell.is/frontend-api/storefront-theme

There are three ways to build a storefront on Swell: as a [storefront app](https://developers.swell.is/storefronts/storefront-app-guide), as a theme for a storefront app that supports them, or as a headless storefront you host yourself. For most new projects, a storefront app is the recommended starting point.

### Storefront apps

A storefront app is built with the Swell Apps framework and implements the pages, data interactions, and features of a storefront. Its [frontend](https://developers.swell.is/apps/frontend) runs on Cloudflare Workers and is deployed with the Swell CLI, and it receives your store's public key and access token directly — so it can call the Frontend API, the Backend API, or both. A storefront app can also support themes, which lets merchants change how a store looks without touching your code.

[Proxima](https://developers.swell.is/storefronts/proxima-app) is Swell's first official storefront app, built with Astro. It supports themes and emulates the structure of Shopify Online Store 2.0 themes, and its [Sunrise](https://developers.swell.is/storefronts/sunrise-theme) theme is installed by default with a new Swell account. It's open source, so it also serves as a working reference for building your own.

**Create a storefront app**

```bash
# Frameworks: nextjs, astro, nuxt, react, hono, angular
swell create app my_storefront -t storefront --frontend astro

# Preview it locally
swell app frontend dev

# Deploy it
swell app frontend deploy
```

### Themes

A [theme](https://developers.swell.is/apps/themes) is its own kind of app, and always belongs to a storefront app that supports themes. If you want to change how a store looks rather than how it works, build a theme for an existing storefront app instead of a storefront app of your own. The [theme guide](https://developers.swell.is/storefronts/theme-guide) covers the folder structure, the editor configuration, and the Liquid templates a theme is made of.

**Create a theme**

```bash
# The storefront app you're theming must be installed
# in your test environment first
swell create app my_theme -t theme --storefront-app proxima
```

### Headless storefronts

A [headless storefront](https://developers.swell.is/storefronts/headless-storefront-guide) is a frontend you host yourself that talks to Swell over the Frontend API — the methods documented in this section — or the Backend API. Choose it when you want full control of the stack and are prepared to own hosting and deployment yourself.

[Origin](https://developers.swell.is/storefronts/origin-headless) and [Horizon](https://developers.swell.is/storefronts/horizon-headless) are earlier headless examples built on Swell.js, released in 2020 and 2022. Origin is a Nuxt project; Horizon is built with Next.js and includes native subscription support. Both are complete working implementations you can read through as reference for your own.

> **Tip:** The [Storefronts](https://developers.swell.is/storefronts/overview) section covers all three approaches in depth. If you're running an older Swell-hosted storefront, see the [V1 hosting migration guide](https://developers.swell.is/storefronts/storefront-migration-guide).