SHSelfHostIndex

Magento Open Source vs Shopware

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?
MA Magento Open Source Enterprise-grade open-source commerce platform VS SH Shopware Flexible open-source commerce for growing brands
FeatureMagento Open SourceShopware
CategoryE-commerce PlatformsE-commerce Platforms
LicenseOSL-3.0MIT
LanguagePHPPHP
Setup difficultyHardHard
Min. RAM4,096 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 12,164★ 3,400
First released20082010
ReplacesShopify Plus, BigCommerceShopify, Magento

Why pick each one

Choose Magento Open Source if…

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

Choose Shopware if…

  • Polished merchant experience
  • Powerful B2B suite available
Shopware details

Frequently asked questions

Is Magento Open Source or Shopware better?

Neither is universally better. Magento Open Source has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Magento Open Source and Shopware free and open-source?

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

Can I run Magento Open Source and Shopware with Docker?

Magento Open Source: yes. Shopware: yes.

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