PrestaShop vs Shuup
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 | Shuup |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 18 · At risk |
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | OSL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,217 | ★ 2,401 |
| First released | 2007 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Shopify, BigCommerce | Shopify, Magento |
What are PrestaShop and Shuup?
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
Shuup
Shuup is an open-source e-commerce platform built with Python and Django. It supports single and multi-vendor marketplaces with a modular addon system.
- Single and multi-vendor modes
- Django-based architecture
- Addon system
- Theming support
PrestaShop vs Shuup: key differences
PrestaShop is written in PHP, while Shuup is built with Python. Licensing differs — OSL-3.0 for PrestaShop versus AGPL-3.0 for Shuup. PrestaShop is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Shuup. PrestaShop is the more established project (first released 2007), while Shuup arrived in 2016. PrestaShop has the considerably larger community, at 9,217 GitHub stars versus 2,401.
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 Shuup if…
- Good for marketplace builds
- Pythonic codebase
Watch out for
- Smaller community
- Less active development
Frequently asked questions
Is PrestaShop or Shuup better?
Neither is universally better. PrestaShop has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are PrestaShop and Shuup free and open-source?
Yes. PrestaShop is licensed under OSL-3.0 and Shuup under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run PrestaShop and Shuup with Docker?
PrestaShop: yes. Shuup: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, PrestaShop or Shuup?
PrestaShop has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Shuup. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.