SHSelfHostIndex

OpenCart 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?
OP OpenCart Free PHP-based shopping cart system VS AL Alokai Frontend platform for headless commerce stores
FeatureOpenCartAlokai
CategoryE-commerce PlatformsE-commerce Platforms
LicenseGPL-3.0MIT
LanguagePHPTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 8,174★ 10,937
First released20092017
ReplacesShopify, Wix StoresShopify Hydrogen, BigCommerce

Why pick each one

Choose OpenCart if…

  • Low resource requirements
  • Beginner-friendly setup
OpenCart details

Choose Alokai if…

  • Great storefront performance
  • Works with many backends
Alokai details

Frequently asked questions

Is OpenCart or Alokai better?

Neither is universally better. Alokai has the larger community, while OpenCart is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are OpenCart and Alokai free and open-source?

Yes. OpenCart is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Alokai under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run OpenCart and Alokai with Docker?

OpenCart: yes. Alokai: yes.

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