The popular “as a service” approach to using software or digital technology can also be applied to software development. This is known as Frontend as a Service, and it holds the potential to simplify the process of custom frontend development.

Frontend as a Service offers all the cloud infrastructure and ready-made components needed to build and maintain scalable frontends. This modern web development concept holds several benefits for businesses looking to go to market faster or cut costs in frontend development.

In this guide, we will explain how Frontend as a Service works, the main features and benefits, and the key considerations for anyone looking to adopt this approach.

Frontend as a Service is a software development approach where users leverage the pre-designed components and pre-built modules hosted and maintained by a third party to build their frontend.
Frontend as a Service allows frontend developers to create scalable and flexible solutions quickly and at a lower cost.
Frontend as a Service offers developers a suite of powerful components so they can build modularly while leveraging Application Programming Interfaces for third-party integrations.

What Is Frontend as a Service?

Frontend as a Service is a modern software development approach where the frontend of an app or website (the part that users interact with) is provided as a ready-to-use, subscription-based solution maintained by a third-party service provider.

With FEaaS, you are provided all the pre-made components and cloud infrastructure needed to build and customize your frontend. This allows developers to develop and deploy fully optimized frontend experiences without building from scratch.

The primary purposes of Frontend as a Service are speed and efficiency. You get fully customizable UI capabilities, integrations, middleware, and hosting all served up as a paid service instead of building the infrastructure for all these yourself.

This approach to building frontends fits into other frontend development trends that are all part of the modern web development ecosystem, such as headless CMS architecture, micro frontends, and serverless computing. It is a key component of the broader trend known as Composable Architecture and is closely related to concepts like “Composable Frontends” and modern Digital Experience Platforms (DXP).

For more details about this ecosystem, you should read our comprehensive frontend development guide.

Key Benefits of Frontend as a Service

Frontend as a Service (FEaaS) is a relatively new approach to building fully functional frontends. While the traditional web development approach still remains widely popular, FEaaS is gaining traction very quickly as well, thanks to the numerous benefits it offers. Some of the main advantages of adopting FEaaS as a business or developer are highlighted below.

Accelerated Time-to-Market

Frontend as a Service provides all the core elements needed to build a fully functional frontend. More than just templates, developers get modular components and building blocks that they can assemble to build web interfaces instead of building everything from scratch. This cuts development time significantly, so you can reach the market in time.

Cost Efficiency

FEaaS service providers typically offer a comprehensive solution that covers the infrastructure and components needed to create a robust frontend with scalable pricing models. A third party providing pre-built components for your project means you don’t have to spend money on building your frontend infrastructure on your own. You also get to save money on ongoing maintenance costs. The reduced time, effort, and team strength needed to create a custom frontend also translates into cost savings in the long run.

Enhanced User Experience

The pre-made components offered by FEaaS solutions are typically optimized for optimal web performance. These components are also standardized, so they deliver a consistent and high-quality user experience across different platforms or devices. You get to build faster, more responsive, and more engaging interfaces without expending too much time and resources.

Scalability and Flexibility

FEaaS solutions allow you to assemble individual components to meet your specific needs. This is great because you can easily grow and adapt your platform to changing business requirements, without all the bottlenecks involved with building everything manually from scratch. These platforms offer a wide array of integrations that can be used to add new features or extend the functionality of your frontend as needed. All the features and components are available from the outset, and you get to pay for specific features that you might need as you scale your services.

Key Features of FEaaS

Frontend as a Service makes custom frontend development easier and faster by providing all the core components, frontend frameworks, and third-party plugins right out of the box. Here’s an overview of the key features of a standard Frontend as a Service solution.

Cloud Infrastructure

Frontend as a Service provides a fully-managed and production-ready cloud environment to facilitate hosting and provide all the pre-made components needed to build and customize your frontend.

Content Management

FEaaS typically includes or integrates with a headless architecture for seamless content management. This is a software development architecture where the frontend (presentation layer) is decoupled from the backend (business logic and data). Frontend as a Service solutions use an API orchestration layer to facilitate communication between the headless CMS backend and presentation layers in order to deliver data or content to the frontend for end users.

Technical Architecture of FEaaS

Frontend as a Service has a robust architecture that offers developers a suite of powerful components so they can build modularly. From its modular framework to its microfrontend architecture, this section goes into the details of the key architectural principles and technologies that power Frontend as a Service solutions.

Composable and Modular Design

A Frontend as a Service architecture is primarily based on a modular and composable technology stack. This means developers get to break up complex frontend projects into smaller and more manageable pieces or interchangeable components for efficiency and performance optimization. This modular approach to frontend development allows you to reuse components as required for your projects. This provides more flexibility in development while also simplifying code maintenance and the long-term scalability of your projects.

Microservices and API-First Approach

Frontend as a Service solutions have a backend architectural style that builds on a microservices concept. Here, app functions are split up into different parts instead of having them all in the same place. The wide array of plugins needed to deliver the functionalities that your app uses is structured to deliver their capabilities through APIs. This allows you to conveniently pull the capabilities of your distributed tech stack in one place.

Pre-Built UI Components and Templates

Frontend as a Service platforms provide an extensive library of pre-built frontend components and templates for building consumer-centric interfaces such as navigation menus, buttons, forms, sliders, and so on. Most platforms come with their own built-in components but may also integrate with popular component libraries to deliver a wide range of possible functionalities.

The components are ready to use, which speeds up development. They can also be customized to match the specific design and functionality requirements you need to build your frontend. Some platforms even provide more flexibility by allowing you to pay only for the core components you use while maintaining the option to add more components later as you scale.

Hosting and Deployment Tools

Most FEaaS platforms provide a production-ready cloud infrastructure so you can easily host and deploy everything you have built in the cloud without worrying about creating the infrastructure from scratch. Some FEaaS providers may even automate these services and provide tools to allow developers to easily get their frontend applications up and running.

Integration with Headless CMS

Since many FEaaS platforms support API-first architecture, they make it easy to integrate with all kinds of backend (server-side) systems, especially headless CMS. So while you use a Frontend as a Service solution for the frontend, you can integrate with a headless CMS platform to provide the content for your frontend through an API.

Strategic Considerations When Choosing FEaaS

Building a frontend with the “as a service” model is a streamlined and typically efficient approach. However, there are a few concerns that may arise during the development phase of your project. The following are some of the strategic considerations for navigating these challenges.

Transitioning from Monolithic to Composable Architecture

Traditionally, websites and apps are constructed based on a monolithic architecture where the frontend and backend are tightly coupled. While it remains a fantastic approach to software development, transitioning to the composable architecture of a Frontend as a Service solution offers numerous benefits. Here, you get to combine several modules to get the precise appearance and function that you want for your application instead of building the site as a single large unit.

The biggest challenge in making this transition is figuring out how to break down your tightly coupled monolithic frontend into smaller composable units. This requires you to carefully plan your project and figure out how the new modules, communication APIs, and other dependencies will handle the present functions of your monolithic system. You also have to figure out how to manage integrating multiple services (probably from different vendors) effectively while getting them to work in tandem.

Avoiding Vendor Lock-In

One of the main benefits of a FEaaS architecture is that it frees your frontend from the backend systems. This makes it possible to use different headless CMS, eCommerce platforms, and any other backend service that you want.

The FEaaS acts as a universal client that can consume data from various sources. In this regard, you’re not tied down to a single vendor’s entire ecosystem. But while Frontend as a Service solutions are designed to be independent of, and compatible with, various other software vendors or technologies, they introduce a new form of potential vendor lock-in to the FEaaS provider.

To solve this problem, you have to carefully select your preferred Frontend as a Service solution provider, with emphasis on open standards and widely adopted frameworks. This will make it easier to make the switch to a new provider without disrupting your entire system. You should also understand the vendor’s policies on data export, application migration, and contract termination.

The modular nature of FEaaS also makes it easy to avoid vendor lock-in. Just make sure you build your frontend components as independently as possible. This will make it easier to extract and reuse these components if you ever need to switch FEaaS platforms.

Security, Maintenance, and Compliance

While using FEaaS enhances development speed and overall frontend performance, using external reusable components for app development requires careful consideration of the security risks and maintenance requirements. This is particularly true for situations where you’re dealing with sensitive data.

The FEaaS service provider bears some measure of responsibility as far as frontend testing, keeping the system secure, and regular maintenance are concerned. But while you don’t have to worry about security updates or infrastructure maintenance, you still get to share some of the responsibilities of keeping the system running.

As a customer, you are still responsible for the security of the frontend code and any data that you deploy on the FEaaS platform. The security of any third-party components, libraries, or APIs used to interact with backend services is also on you. Ultimately, you’re also responsible for keeping your app updated and in compliance with regulations relevant to your industry or geographic location.

Real-World Use Cases of Frontend as a Service

FEaaS has several benefits and potential applications. In theory, anyone who wants to build a frontend quickly or efficiently knows front end technologies, and is open to a modular approach to frontend development, may opt for a Frontend as a Service approach instead of traditional web development. The following are some of the most popular use cases of the “as a service” model in frontend development.

E-commerce Platforms

FEaaS is particularly popular in e-commerce platform development. eCommerce companies can benefit from the flexibility and speed to market that this technology offers. The pre-built components and ready-made integrations that FEaaS offers can be used to build vital frontend features to handle critical tasks for an online store, such as shopping carts, user authentication, product recommendation, and payment processing systems. The frontend components can then be connected to a headless CMS backend or database management system to serve up dynamic data such as product information and the eCommerce platform’s business logic.

Startups and Small Businesses

Startups and small businesses don’t have the luxury of splashing a fortune on building custom frontends from scratch. A modular solution that saves time and resources like FEaaS will allow them to build the apps and websites they need on a limited budget. Whether it’s a simple landing page, a booking website, or a product page, using the Frontend as a Service model will save them precious resources. This allows you to build the online solutions you need to grow without excessive spending on technology.

Nonprofits and NGOs

NGOs and nonprofits typically have basic needs like event landing pages, registration forms, or donation portals. They also tend to have a limited budget for execution. Using a FEaaS platform allows them to quickly build and deploy these narrow solutions without dealing with the complexities of monolithic full-stack development. This approach also comes with cost savings and flexibility, so they easily adapt the solutions they build to specific needs.

Top Tools and Platforms for FEaaS

In the past decade, there has been a meteoric rise in the number of Frontend as a Service (FEaaS) providers in the software development market. These platforms provide all the tools needed by developers to build cloud-hosted frontend solutions for their “headless” backend. Below is an overview of some of the leading Frontend as a Service platforms and tools available in the market.

Storyblok

Storyblok is one of the most popular headless CMS solutions on the market. It serves as an excellent example of a CMS-first system that has evolved to include powerful FEaaS capabilities. However, in addition to its headless CMS layer, this solution also offers a visual editing tool and highly flexible content blocks that can be used to build frontends on top of the headless architecture. Storyblok equips developers to build flexible frontends quickly and efficiently. Since it is a visual editing tool, non-programmers can also use the platform as a simple point-and-click solution for building graphical user interfaces.

Alokai

Alokai is a Frontend as a Service provider that is almost exclusively focused on the e-commerce sector. It allows users to build frontends for their e-commerce platform using pre-made components. Completed frontends can be deployed on the secure enterprise cloud infrastructure provided by the platform. Alokai also has a data orchestration layer with over 20 different integrations for fetching dynamic data and adding extra functionalities to your eCommerce platform.

Fastr

Fastr is a Frontend as a Service platform built specifically for business users, but can also be used by technical users. This solution makes it possible to design and implement full frontend experiences without writing code or depending on developers. The Fastr FEaaS solution is platform agnostic, meaning you can connect your custom frontend built with this solution to different backend platforms or add new tools based on your needs. It also offers an intuitive editor that allows you to import existing designs instead of building entirely from scratch.

Webflow

Webflow is a Frontend as a Service (FEaaS) that offers users an interface builder that they can use to create the visual components of their website without worrying about the underlying code. This solution can be used by developers, but it is also famous among designers and non-coders.

It is ideal for designers and projects where fine-grained visual control is paramount, though it may offer less flexibility for integrations with highly complex, custom backend systems when compared to more developer-first solutions. Webflow also offers a custom CMS platform that can be adopted as a backend for your platform.

Third-Party Service Integrations

Third-party integrations form an important part of any Frontend as a Service platform. In addition to FEaaS providers, developers also have to integrate other tools such as gateways, CRMs, CMS, and analytics. While some of these solutions are available as inbuilt features on some FEaaS solutions, most tools rely on third-party integrations for these features. These integrations are typically available in ready-to-use form out of the box. However, in some cases, they may require extra configurations using an SDK.

Industry Trends and the Future of FEaaS

FEaaS is still a relatively new phenomenon. While this makes it difficult to draw definite conclusions on the long-term potential of this evolving technology, one can make informed predictions based on the industry’s current trajectory and frontend development trends. Some of these predictions are highlighted below:

Growth of Cloud-Native Platforms

Cloud-native development is one of the major technology trends that paved the way for the emergence of Frontend as a Service. Instead of setting up your own server and other local infrastructure, this solution allows you to build and run applications entirely on the cloud. Cloud-native development is complementary to other key technology concepts such as microservices, serverless computing, and CI/CD.

Rise of Composable Commerce

This trend is not just parallel to FEaaS; in many ways, it is enabled by it. Frontend as a Service acts as the essential presentation layer that allows businesses to build flexible e-commerce experiences by picking best-of-breed components from various vendors.

While these components themselves are built on popular frameworks like JavaScript, Rails, React, and Ruby, they can still be deployed even without sufficient knowledge of their underlying code. This trend is equipping both developers and non-developers with the tools needed to build and deploy fully-functional sites without coding from scratch.

Empowering Developers Through Abstraction

The FEaaS trend holds the potential to make life considerably easier for developers who get to handle big real-world projects without drowning in complexity. FEaaS abstracts infrastructure concerns, taking the development process and tools for creating frontend systems out of the developer’s hands and transferring responsibility to a third party. This way, they get to focus on backend development, which is responsible for the logic of the solution you’re building.

Conclusion: Is Frontend as a Service Right for You?

FEaaS is an innovative approach to frontend development that offers a simplified way to build websites and apps. This architecture can be adopted by both small and large businesses, startups, and even large enterprises.

The traditional custom software development approach of coding everything from scratch is still quite popular, especially for those who prefer to have complete control over their frontend. However, FEaaS is rapidly gaining popularity, especially for businesses that prioritize cost reduction, convenience, and faster time to market.

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