Reaction Commerce vs Shopware
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted e-commerce platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Shopware
Flexible open-source commerce for growing brands
| Feature | Reaction Commerce | Shopware |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 58 · Fair | 88 · Excellent |
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 12,401 | ★ 3,430 |
| First released | 2013 | 2010 |
| Replaces | Shopify, commercetools | Shopify, Magento |
What are Reaction Commerce and Shopware?
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
Shopware
Shopware is an open-source e-commerce platform from Germany built with Symfony and Vue.js. The community edition offers a modern admin, headless API, and a rich extension ecosystem.
- Modern Vue.js admin
- Headless API capabilities
- Rule-based merchandising
- Strong extension store
Reaction Commerce vs Shopware: key differences
Reaction Commerce is written in JavaScript, while Shopware is built with PHP. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Reaction Commerce versus MIT for Shopware. Shopware is the more established project (first released 2010), while Reaction Commerce arrived in 2013. Reaction Commerce has the considerably larger community, at 12,401 GitHub stars versus 3,430.
Why pick each one
Choose Reaction Commerce if…
- Cloud-native design
- Highly scalable
Watch out for
- Complex to operate
- Development paused upstream
Choose Shopware if…
- Polished merchant experience
- Powerful B2B suite available
Watch out for
- Heavy resource needs
- Complex for small shops
Frequently asked questions
Is Reaction Commerce or Shopware 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 Reaction Commerce and Shopware free and open-source?
Yes. Reaction Commerce is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Shopware under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Reaction Commerce and Shopware with Docker?
Reaction Commerce: yes. Shopware: yes.