PrestaShop vs Saleor
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted e-commerce platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | PrestaShop | Saleor |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 97 · Excellent |
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | OSL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, kubernetes, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,217 | ★ 23,369 |
| First released | 2007 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Shopify, BigCommerce | Shopify, commercetools |
What are PrestaShop and Saleor?
PrestaShop
PrestaShop is a free, open-source e-commerce solution written in PHP. It offers a feature-rich back office, themes, and a marketplace of modules for building and managing online stores of any size.
- Full-featured admin back office
- Large module marketplace
- Multi-store support
- Multilingual catalog
Saleor
Saleor is a high-performance, GraphQL-first e-commerce platform built with Python and Django. It is designed for headless storefronts and offers a comprehensive dashboard, multichannel support, and a powerful API.
- GraphQL API throughout
- Multichannel commerce
- React-based dashboard
- Strong B2B and B2C support
PrestaShop vs Saleor: key differences
PrestaShop is written in PHP, while Saleor is built with Python. Licensing differs — OSL-3.0 for PrestaShop versus BSD-3-Clause for Saleor. PrestaShop is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Saleor. PrestaShop is the more established project (first released 2007), while Saleor arrived in 2016. Saleor has the considerably larger community, at 23,369 GitHub stars versus 9,217.
Why pick each one
Choose PrestaShop if…
- Mature and well-documented
- No license fees for core
Watch out for
- Paid modules can be expensive
- Upgrades can be tricky
Choose Saleor if…
- Modern API-driven architecture
- Scalable for large catalogs
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Requires significant infrastructure
Frequently asked questions
Is PrestaShop or Saleor better?
Neither is universally better. Saleor has the larger community, while PrestaShop is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are PrestaShop and Saleor free and open-source?
Yes. PrestaShop is licensed under OSL-3.0 and Saleor under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run PrestaShop and Saleor with Docker?
PrestaShop: yes. Saleor: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, PrestaShop or Saleor?
PrestaShop has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Saleor. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.