WooCommerce POS vs Reaction Commerce
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted e-commerce platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
WooCommerce POS
Self-hosted point of sale for WooCommerce stores
VS
Reaction Commerce
Headless GraphQL commerce microservices platform
| Feature | WooCommerce POS | Reaction Commerce |
|---|---|---|
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | PHP | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, kubernetes, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 47 | ★ 12,400 |
| First released | 2014 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Square POS, Shopify POS | Shopify, commercetools |
Why pick each one
Choose WooCommerce POS if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is WooCommerce POS or Reaction Commerce better?
Neither is universally better. Reaction Commerce has the larger community, while WooCommerce POS is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are WooCommerce POS and Reaction Commerce free and open-source?
Yes. WooCommerce POS is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Reaction Commerce under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run WooCommerce POS and Reaction Commerce with Docker?
WooCommerce POS: check the project docs for container support. Reaction Commerce: yes.