Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Shopware

Medusa is an open-source, headless ecommerce backend built on Node.js and TypeScript. It provides a modular framework and commerce modules with REST and GraphQL APIs to enable custom storefronts, marketplaces, and B2B/DTC solutions.

Key Features

• Open-source backend with a modular architecture and built-in framework for customization
• API-first access via REST and GraphQL endpoints, with a data modeling approach and event-driven workflows
• Fully headless storefronts with multi-store, multi-region, and multi-currency support
• Pre-built commerce modules: Cart, Checkout, Payment, Customer; Product, Pricing, Promotion; Inventory, Fulfillment; Region, Sales Channel, Tax, Currency
• Admin UI customization and extensible workflows (Workflows SDK, UI widgets)
• Rich integrations and migration options (ERP/CRM connectors, pre-built integrations, migration tools)
• Support for subscriptions, returns/exchanges, and post-purchase workflows
• Starter kits, storefront starters (e.g., Next.js), preview environments, and Medusa Cloud
• Community-driven, MIT-licensed platform designed for developers

Use Cases

• Build a multi-vendor marketplace with vendor-specific pricing and order flows
• Integrate ERP/CRM and implement custom pricing rules with order syncing across systems
• Launch DTC or subscription-based stores with multi-region and multi-currency support

Conclusion

Medusa offers a flexible, open-source backend for building custom commerce solutions. Its modular framework and API-first approach enable tailor-made storefronts, marketplaces, and B2B/DTC use cases without vendor lock-in.

Saleor is an open source, headless ecommerce platform centered around a high-performance GraphQL API. It provides core commerce capabilities—catalog, checkout, payments, and order management—designed for composable architectures and custom storefronts.

Key Features

• GraphQL-native, API-only commerce backend
• Product catalog, variants, attributes, pricing, and inventory/warehouse management
• Checkout and order management with flexible order flows and returns support
• Promotion engine (discounts, vouchers, gift cards) and extensible payment integrations
• Multichannel support for currencies, pricing, and availability per channel
• Extensibility via webhooks, apps, metadata, and synchronous/asynchronous events

Use Cases

• Building a custom headless storefront (web or mobile) on top of a GraphQL commerce API
• Running multiregion/multicurrency stores with centralized catalog and operations
• Integrating ecommerce with external services (ERP, PIM, payment gateways) using webhooks

Saleor is a strong fit for teams that want a modern, API-first commerce core without being locked into a monolithic storefront or plugin system. Its GraphQL-first approach and extension model make it well-suited for composable commerce implementations.

Spree Commerce is an open-source eCommerce platform designed for teams that need deep customization and control over their online commerce stack. It is modular and API-first, making it suitable for both traditional storefronts and headless implementations.

Key Features

• Modular architecture with extensible components and a large ecosystem of extensions
• API-first approach with storefront/admin APIs and webhook support for integrations
• Core commerce capabilities: products, variants, promotions/discounts, cart, and checkout
• Order lifecycle tools: payments, refunds, shipments, returns, and post-purchase management
• Global commerce features such as multi-currency and multi-language support
• Multi-store capability to run multiple brands/catalogs from a single instance

Use Cases

• Headless commerce backend powering a custom web or mobile storefront
• Building B2B or wholesale ordering flows with customized checkout logic
• Running multiple storefronts/brands from a single commerce deployment

Spree Commerce is a solid choice for organizations that want a Rails-based commerce engine with strong customization options and integration-friendly APIs. Its modular approach helps teams tailor commerce functionality to fit a wide range of business models and architectures.

Magento Open Source is the community edition of Magento (Magento 2), an open-source PHP ecommerce platform for building customizable storefronts, catalogs, and commerce workflows. It provides an API-first, modular architecture designed for extensibility, integrations, and high-traffic storefronts. (business.adobe.com)

Key Features

• Modular PHP-based architecture with Composer-managed packages and extension points for themes and modules. (github.com)
• API-first platform (REST and GraphQL) enabling headless or PWA frontends and composable architectures. (business.adobe.com)
• Catalog, cart, checkout, promotions, pricing, taxes, and multi-store/multi-site support for B2C and B2B scenarios. (business.adobe.com)
• Search and indexing using Elasticsearch or OpenSearch, with support for Redis cache and Varnish full-page cache for performance. (courses.sebweo.com)
• Message queue support (RabbitMQ or DB-backed queues) and background workers for async tasks and bulk operations. (magefine.com)

Use Cases

• Multi-store ecommerce sites needing flexible catalogs, pricing, and extensive product data management.
• Headless or PWA storefronts where frontend teams use Magento as a backend commerce API.
• B2B portals requiring company accounts, custom catalogs, quotes, and buyer roles.

Limitations and Considerations

• Resource and operational demands: production deployments typically require tuning (PHP versions, dedicated search engine, caching layers, and queue brokers) and can be complex to operate at scale. (courses.sebweo.com)
• Platform upgrades and extension compatibility require Composer and dependency management expertise; some features (search, queues) mandate additional services (Elasticsearch/OpenSearch, RabbitMQ) in modern releases. (courses.sebweo.com)

Magento Open Source is a mature, extensible commerce platform well suited to developers and teams that need full control over storefront behavior and integrations. It scales from small stores to large multi-site deployments but requires infrastructure and platform maintenance expertise for production use. (business.adobe.com)

Vendure is an open-source, headless commerce platform that provides an API-first foundation for building complex e-commerce systems. It combines a customizable server framework with a modern admin dashboard and developer tooling to support B2B, multi-vendor, and D2C scenarios. (vendure.io)

Key Features

• Plugin-based extensible architecture for custom business logic and reusable modules.
• API-first design with GraphQL APIs for Shop and Admin, enabling any frontend or storefront integration.
• Built with TypeScript and NestJS for a developer-friendly, code-first configuration model.
• Customizable React admin dashboard styled with Tailwind CSS and developer CLI/Automation SDK for CI/CD workflows.
• Supports multiple relational databases (Postgres, MySQL/MariaDB, SQLite) via TypeORM and offers built-in sample/demo data for evaluation.

(vendure.io)

Use Cases

• Multi-vendor marketplaces or B2B platforms that require per-vendor control, custom pricing, and complex workflows.
• Brand D2C storefronts needing bespoke checkout, subscription, or product-configurator logic beyond SaaS constraints.
• Teams that want a self-hosted, extensible commerce backend with a ready-made admin UI and GraphQL API for custom frontends.

(vendure.io)

Limitations and Considerations

• Vendure is released under GPLv3 by default; commercial licensing (VCL) is offered for projects that require a permissive/commercial license model. This licensing model may affect redistribution and commercial use choices. (github.com)

Vendure is focused on providing a flexible, developer-centric commerce framework rather than an out-of-the-box hosted storefront; teams should plan for development investment to implement custom storefronts and integrations.

Vendure has an active community and an official public demo and documentation to help evaluate the platform. (vendure.io)

Vendure combines a modern backend stack, a configurable admin UI, and multi-database support to deliver a production-ready foundation for complex commerce projects.

Lunar is a set of open-source Laravel packages that provide modern headless e-commerce functionality. It offers the core building blocks for catalogs, carts, and order processing while letting you build fully custom storefront experiences on top of Laravel.

Key Features

• Headless architecture that supports custom storefronts and multiple frontends
• Core e-commerce domain models and utilities built around Laravel Eloquent
• Admin hub for managing products, orders, and staff via a modern interface
• Extensible and customizable package-based architecture designed for bespoke store requirements

Use Cases

• Building a custom e-commerce storefront with a fully tailored UX on Laravel
• Implementing a backend commerce system for multiple channels (web, POS, apps)
• Creating client-specific e-commerce solutions where data models and workflows need customization

Lunar is a strong fit for teams that want Shopify-like backend capabilities while retaining full control over implementation details in Laravel. It provides a structured foundation for commerce features while remaining flexible for custom development.

Vvveb CMS is an open-source content management system featuring a built-in drag-and-drop page builder. It supports traditional CMS workflows as well as a hybrid headless mode via GraphQL and REST APIs, with multi-site, localization, and ecommerce capabilities.

Key Features

• Drag-and-drop page builder with real WYSIWYG rendering
• Hybrid headless CMS with GraphQL and REST APIs
• Multi-site management in a single installation
• Localization and multi-currency support
• Full ecommerce platform with subscriptions, discounts, and product variants
• One-click installer with SQLite, MySQL and PostgreSQL support
• Theme and plugin marketplace with one-click installs
• Role-based access control and permissions
• SEO tools including sitemaps and Open Graph meta tags
• High performance with caching and security hardening
• Demo content import to bootstrap new sites

Use Cases

• Build blogs, ecommerce stores, or portfolios from a single installation
• Run multiple websites or subdomains with shared admin and content
• Expose content to frontend frameworks via GraphQL/REST for a headless architecture

Limitations and Considerations

• Known vulnerability CVE-2025-44022 affected older versions; ensure upgrade to the latest released version to mitigate risk and follow security updates.

Conclusion Vvveb CMS blends traditional content management with modern headless capabilities, offering a fast, extensible platform for developers and content teams. It is suitable for websites, blogs, and ecommerce with a configurable, plugin-based ecosystem.

CoreShop is an e-commerce solution implemented as a bundle for the Pimcore platform. It extends Pimcore with commerce-specific data models, storefront components and workflows, enabling fully customizable online stores that leverage Pimcore's PIM/MDM and DAM capabilities.

Key Features

• Native integration with Pimcore data objects, assets and Pimcore's admin UI for unified PIM/MDM-driven commerce
• Product, variant and catalog management with support for large catalogs and complex product models
• Shopping cart, checkout, orders, pricing rules and promotions framework
• Multi-site, multi-currency and multi-language support for B2B and B2C use cases
• Extensible architecture built on Symfony bundles and Twig templating for custom business logic and themes
• APIs and headless-friendly endpoints to build custom frontends or integrate external services
• Deployment-friendly: works with common PHP tooling, Docker and Composer-based workflows

Use Cases

• Launching customizable B2B or B2C e-commerce storefronts that reuse Pimcore product and asset data
• Building a unified product catalog and order management system for multi-site or multi-brand operations
• Headless commerce setups where Pimcore/CoreShop provide PIM-backed APIs for custom frontends or marketplaces

Limitations and Considerations

• CoreShop is a Pimcore bundle and requires a compatible Pimcore installation (requires Pimcore 12.x or newer as indicated by project requirements)
• Some advanced or enterprise features may be offered via commercial extensions under an open-core model
• Performance and scalability depend on underlying Pimcore, PHP/Symfony configuration and chosen database; planning required for very large catalogs

CoreShop is suited for organizations that need deep PIM/MDM integration with commerce capabilities and want an extensible, developer-friendly stack based on Pimcore and Symfony. It is designed to be extended and integrated into larger digital experience architectures.