Aimeos vs thirty bees
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted e-commerce platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Aimeos | thirty bees |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 81 · Excellent |
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | LGPL-3.0 | OSL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 8,703 | ★ 767 |
| First released | 2015 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Shopify, Magento | Shopify |
What are Aimeos and thirty bees?
Aimeos
Aimeos is an open-source e-commerce package that runs as a Laravel application or extension for TYPO3. It is known for handling very large catalogs and high request volumes efficiently.
- Handles millions of products
- Laravel and TYPO3 integration
- High-performance architecture
- Headless JSON:API
thirty bees
thirty bees is an open-source e-commerce platform forked from PrestaShop with a focus on stability, performance, and merchant-friendly features. It runs traditional online stores and is compatible with many PrestaShop modules.
- PrestaShop module compatibility
- Stability focus
- Multi-store support
- Theme system
Aimeos vs thirty bees: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Licensing differs — LGPL-3.0 for Aimeos versus OSL-3.0 for thirty bees. Aimeos is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for thirty bees. Aimeos is the more established project (first released 2015), while thirty bees arrived in 2017. Aimeos has the considerably larger community, at 8,703 GitHub stars versus 767.
Why pick each one
Choose Aimeos if…
- Excellent performance at scale
- Flexible deployment
Watch out for
- Documentation can be sparse
- Requires PHP expertise
Choose thirty bees if…
- Released under the OSL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in PHP
Watch out for
- Smaller community
- Slower release cadence
Frequently asked questions
Is Aimeos or thirty bees better?
Neither is universally better. Aimeos has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Aimeos and thirty bees free and open-source?
Yes. Aimeos is licensed under LGPL-3.0 and thirty bees under OSL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Aimeos and thirty bees with Docker?
Aimeos: yes. thirty bees: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Aimeos or thirty bees?
Aimeos has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for thirty bees. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.