Medusa vs Solidus
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted e-commerce platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Medusa
Composable commerce engine for developers
VS
Solidus
Free open-source Rails commerce platform
| Feature | Medusa | Solidus |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 99 · Excellent | 90 · Excellent |
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | TypeScript | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 36,440 | ★ 5,333 |
| First released | 2021 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Shopify, commercetools | Shopify, Magento |
What are Medusa and Solidus?
Medusa
Medusa is a headless, open-source commerce platform written in JavaScript. It provides modular building blocks for building custom online stores, marketplaces, and B2B commerce experiences with a powerful admin and API.
- Headless commerce architecture
- Modular plugin system
- Built-in admin dashboard
- Multi-region and multi-currency
Solidus
Solidus is a free, open-source e-commerce platform built with Ruby on Rails. It is a community-maintained fork of Spree focused on stability, security, and customization for high-volume stores.
- Stable Rails engine architecture
- Strong upgrade path
- Highly customizable
- Active community governance
Medusa vs Solidus: key differences
Medusa is written in TypeScript, while Solidus is built with Ruby. Licensing differs — MIT for Medusa versus BSD-3-Clause for Solidus. Solidus is the more established project (first released 2015), while Medusa arrived in 2021. Medusa has the considerably larger community, at 36,440 GitHub stars versus 5,333.
Why pick each one
Choose Medusa if…
- Highly customizable for developers
- Modern TypeScript codebase
Watch out for
- Requires development effort for storefront
- Less turnkey than hosted platforms
Choose Solidus if…
- Reliable for high-volume stores
- Good security focus
Watch out for
- Rails knowledge required
- No managed hosting option
Frequently asked questions
Is Medusa or Solidus better?
Medusa is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Solidus if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Medusa and Solidus free and open-source?
Yes. Medusa is licensed under MIT and Solidus under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Medusa and Solidus with Docker?
Medusa: yes. Solidus: yes.