Bagisto vs Thelia
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted e-commerce platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Bagisto
Laravel-based open-source e-commerce platform
VS
Thelia
Open-source e-commerce CMS built with Symfony
| Feature | Bagisto | Thelia |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 97 · Excellent | 82 · Excellent |
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | MIT | LGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 28,163 | ★ 879 |
| First released | 2018 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Shopify, WooCommerce | Shopify, PrestaShop |
What are Bagisto and Thelia?
Bagisto
Bagisto is a free, open-source e-commerce framework built on Laravel and Vue.js. It offers multi-warehouse inventory, a modular admin, and headless capabilities for building modern online stores.
- Built on Laravel framework
- Multi-warehouse inventory
- Headless GraphQL API
- Multi-channel and multi-locale
Thelia
Thelia is a free, open-source e-commerce and content management solution built on Symfony components. It is popular in France and offers a template-based theming system and module marketplace.
- Symfony-based core
- Smarty template engine
- Module marketplace
- Multi-domain support
Bagisto vs Thelia: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Licensing differs — MIT for Bagisto versus LGPL-3.0 for Thelia. Thelia is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Bagisto. Thelia is the more established project (first released 2013), while Bagisto arrived in 2018. Bagisto has the considerably larger community, at 28,163 GitHub stars versus 879. Bagisto lists first-class Docker deployment; Thelia does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Bagisto if…
- Modern Laravel stack
- Active development
Watch out for
- Smaller extension ecosystem
- Documentation gaps in places
Choose Thelia if…
- Good documentation in French
- Flexible theming
Watch out for
- Limited adoption outside France
- Smaller community
Frequently asked questions
Is Bagisto or Thelia better?
Neither is universally better. Bagisto has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Bagisto and Thelia free and open-source?
Yes. Bagisto is licensed under MIT and Thelia under LGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Bagisto and Thelia with Docker?
Bagisto: yes. Thelia: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Bagisto or Thelia?
Thelia has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Bagisto. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.