PrestaShop vs Spree 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 | PrestaShop | Spree Commerce |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | OSL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | PHP | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,217 | ★ 15,718 |
| First released | 2007 | 2008 |
| Replaces | Shopify, BigCommerce | Shopify, BigCommerce |
What are PrestaShop and Spree Commerce?
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
Spree Commerce
Spree Commerce is a complete open-source e-commerce platform built with Ruby on Rails. It supports multi-vendor marketplaces, multi-store, and headless API-driven storefronts.
- Modular Rails engine architecture
- Multi-store and multi-vendor
- Headless storefront API
- Admin dashboard included
PrestaShop vs Spree Commerce: key differences
PrestaShop is written in PHP, while Spree Commerce is built with Ruby. Licensing differs — OSL-3.0 for PrestaShop versus BSD-3-Clause for Spree Commerce. PrestaShop is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Spree Commerce.
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 Spree Commerce if…
- Mature and battle-tested
- Flexible Rails ecosystem
Watch out for
- Ruby expertise needed for customization
- Setup can be involved
Frequently asked questions
Is PrestaShop or Spree Commerce better?
Neither is universally better. Spree Commerce has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are PrestaShop and Spree Commerce free and open-source?
Yes. PrestaShop is licensed under OSL-3.0 and Spree Commerce under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run PrestaShop and Spree Commerce with Docker?
PrestaShop: yes. Spree Commerce: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, PrestaShop or Spree Commerce?
PrestaShop has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Spree Commerce. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.