Medusa 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.
Medusa
Composable commerce engine for developers
VS
Thelia
Open-source e-commerce CMS built with Symfony
| Feature | Medusa | Thelia |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 99 · Excellent | 82 · Excellent |
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | MIT | LGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 36,440 | ★ 879 |
| First released | 2021 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Shopify, commercetools | Shopify, PrestaShop |
What are Medusa and Thelia?
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
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
Medusa vs Thelia: key differences
Medusa is written in TypeScript, while Thelia is built with PHP. Licensing differs — MIT for Medusa versus LGPL-3.0 for Thelia. Thelia is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Medusa. Thelia is the more established project (first released 2013), while Medusa arrived in 2021. Medusa has the considerably larger community, at 36,440 GitHub stars versus 879. Medusa lists first-class Docker deployment; Thelia does not.
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 Thelia if…
- Good documentation in French
- Flexible theming
Watch out for
- Limited adoption outside France
- Smaller community
Frequently asked questions
Is Medusa or Thelia better?
Neither is universally better. Medusa has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Medusa and Thelia free and open-source?
Yes. Medusa is licensed under MIT and Thelia under LGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Medusa and Thelia with Docker?
Medusa: yes. Thelia: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Medusa or Thelia?
Thelia has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Medusa. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.