Medusa vs Alokai
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
Alokai
Frontend platform for headless commerce stores
| Feature | Medusa | Alokai |
|---|---|---|
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 35,640 | ★ 10,937 |
| First released | 2021 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Shopify, commercetools | Shopify Hydrogen, BigCommerce |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Medusa or Alokai 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 Alokai free and open-source?
Yes. Medusa is licensed under MIT and Alokai under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Medusa and Alokai with Docker?
Medusa: yes. Alokai: yes.