Django Shop 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.
| Feature | Django Shop | Reaction Commerce |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 23 · At risk | 58 · Fair |
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, kubernetes, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,317 | ★ 12,401 |
| First released | 2011 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Shopify, WooCommerce | Shopify, commercetools |
What are Django Shop and Reaction Commerce?
Django Shop
django SHOP is an open-source e-commerce framework for building online stores on top of Django. It provides a flexible product model, cart, and checkout that developers extend for custom shops.
- Django e-commerce framework
- Flexible product model
- Cart and checkout
- Highly extensible
Reaction Commerce
Reaction Commerce (Open Commerce) is an API-first, headless commerce platform built with Node.js and GraphQL. It uses a microservices architecture suited to flexible, custom storefront builds.
- GraphQL-first API
- Microservices architecture
- Real-time inventory
- Plugin-based extensibility
Django Shop vs Reaction Commerce: key differences
Django Shop is written in Python, while Reaction Commerce is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for Django Shop versus Apache-2.0 for Reaction Commerce. Django Shop is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Reaction Commerce. Django Shop is the more established project (first released 2011), while Reaction Commerce arrived in 2013. Reaction Commerce has the considerably larger community, at 12,401 GitHub stars versus 3,317.
Why pick each one
Choose Django Shop if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Choose Reaction Commerce if…
- Cloud-native design
- Highly scalable
Watch out for
- Complex to operate
- Development paused upstream
Frequently asked questions
Is Django Shop or Reaction Commerce better?
Neither is universally better. Reaction Commerce has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Django Shop and Reaction Commerce free and open-source?
Yes. Django Shop is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Reaction Commerce under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Django Shop and Reaction Commerce with Docker?
Django Shop: yes. Reaction Commerce: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Django Shop or Reaction Commerce?
Django Shop has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Reaction Commerce. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.