SHSelfHostIndex

Catalyst Storefront vs Magento Open Source

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?
CA Catalyst Storefront Composable storefront starter for BigCommerce-style backends VS MA Magento Open Source Enterprise-grade open-source commerce platform
FeatureCatalyst StorefrontMagento Open Source
CategoryE-commerce PlatformsE-commerce Platforms
LicenseMITOSL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptPHP
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM512 MB4,096 MB
Deploymentdocker, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 243★ 12,164
First released20242008
ReplacesShopify Hydrogen, Vue StorefrontShopify Plus, BigCommerce

Why pick each one

Choose Catalyst Storefront if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in TypeScript
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Catalyst Storefront details

Choose Magento Open Source if…

  • Powerful for large catalogs
  • Robust enterprise features
Magento Open Source details

Frequently asked questions

Is Catalyst Storefront or Magento Open Source better?

Neither is universally better. Magento Open Source has the larger community, while Catalyst Storefront is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Catalyst Storefront and Magento Open Source free and open-source?

Yes. Catalyst Storefront is licensed under MIT and Magento Open Source under OSL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Catalyst Storefront and Magento Open Source with Docker?

Catalyst Storefront: yes. Magento Open Source: yes.

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