Medusa 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?
Medusa
Composable commerce engine for developers
VS
Reaction Commerce
Headless GraphQL commerce microservices platform
| Feature | Medusa | Reaction Commerce |
|---|---|---|
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, kubernetes, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 35,640 | ★ 12,400 |
| First released | 2021 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Shopify, commercetools | Shopify, commercetools |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Medusa or Reaction Commerce better?
Medusa is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Reaction Commerce if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Medusa and Reaction Commerce free and open-source?
Yes. Medusa is licensed under MIT and Reaction Commerce under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Medusa and Reaction Commerce with Docker?
Medusa: yes. Reaction Commerce: yes.