Best Self-Hosted Alternatives to Shopify
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Shopify is the hosted store builder: storefront, checkout, payments and inventory for a monthly plan plus transaction fees. What sends merchants looking elsewhere is platform fees on every sale and limits on how far checkout and data can be customised. The self-hosted commerce engines below give you the catalogue, cart and order back end on infrastructure you run.
Shopify is free — but your data lives on its servers, not yours. These researched, open-source alternatives give you the same workflow on hardware you own — here's what each needs to run.
The alternatives
BagistoMIT
CategoryE-commerceStackPHP · Vue.js · MySQLMin RAM1024 MBOfficial imageYesDifficulty1 / 5
Medusa
LicenseMIT core with proprietary enterprise modulesCategoryE-commerceStackTypeScript · Node.js · PostgreSQL · ReactMin RAM2048 MBOfficial imageNoDifficulty3 / 5
OdooLGPL-3.0
CategoryERPStackPython · PostgreSQL · JavaScriptMin RAM2048 MBOfficial imageYesDifficulty3 / 5
SaleorBSD-3-Clause
CategoryE-commerceStackPython · Django · GraphQL · PostgreSQL · CeleryMin RAM4096 MBOfficial imageYesDifficulty4 / 5
What you give up by leaving Shopify
Leaving Shopify means giving up its hosted checkout, built-in payments, app store and theme ecosystem, and PCI compliance handled for you. Medusa and Saleor are developer-oriented commerce back ends: you build or adapt the storefront, and payment providers are plugged in. Odoo Community Edition includes a website and e-commerce app inside a wider ERP, which suits a business that wants inventory and invoicing in one place but is not a drop-in store builder. Expect to own hosting, backups, security patching and payment compliance.
Where to host itaffiliate disclosure
Kamateratrial any of these on
The entry tier is a free trial — fine for a first look. Size it up (or run the 2 vCPU / 4 GB box the cost figures above assume) once you're keeping it.1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 20 GB SSD · $4.00/moDigitalOceanalso works on
From $6/mo · 1 vCPU / 1 GB / 25 GB · US + EU + AsiaPaid link — we earn a commission if you shop through it.
Head-to-head
E-commerceOct 2026
Medusa
vs
Saleor
A TypeScript commerce framework on Node.js vs. a GraphQL-first Python and Django platform.
Read the verdict →
ERPOct 2026
Dolibarr
vs
Odoo
A fully GPL PHP ERP with the books in the download, or a bigger Python suite whose accounting sits behind Enterprise.
Read the verdict →
ERPSep 2026
Odoo
vsERPNext
Open core with the books behind Enterprise vs. the whole ERP under GPL.
Read the verdict →
Common questions
Are these Shopify alternatives really free?
The software is open-source and free to run. Your only cost is the server it runs on — often a few dollars a month, less than most SaaS subscriptions.
How much server do I need to self-host one?
Most of these run comfortably on a small VPS — 1–2 GB of RAM is enough for a single-user or small-team setup. Each app's page lists its minimum RAM.
Will I lose features by leaving Shopify?
It depends on the app. The alternatives below cover the core workflow; polish and integrations vary, so check each one's stack and difficulty before you commit.