Reaction Commerce vs Smartstore
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted e-commerce platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Reaction Commerce | Smartstore |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 58 · Fair | 83 · Excellent |
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | C# |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 12,401 | ★ 1,521 |
| First released | 2013 | 2010 |
| Replaces | Shopify, commercetools | Shopify, Magento |
What are Reaction Commerce and Smartstore?
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
Smartstore
Smartstore is a free, open-source e-commerce platform built on ASP.NET Core. It provides a modern responsive storefront, modular plugin system, and a powerful admin for managing stores.
- Modern ASP.NET Core stack
- Modular architecture
- Responsive Bootstrap theme
- Built-in CMS pages
Reaction Commerce vs Smartstore: key differences
Reaction Commerce is written in JavaScript, while Smartstore is built with C#. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Reaction Commerce versus AGPL-3.0 for Smartstore. Smartstore is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Reaction Commerce. Smartstore 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 1,521.
Why pick each one
Choose Reaction Commerce if…
- Cloud-native design
- Highly scalable
Watch out for
- Complex to operate
- Development paused upstream
Choose Smartstore if…
- Polished modern UI
- Good plugin model
Watch out for
- Requires .NET hosting
- Smaller community than competitors
Frequently asked questions
Is Reaction Commerce or Smartstore better?
Neither is universally better. Reaction Commerce has the larger community, while Smartstore is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Reaction Commerce and Smartstore free and open-source?
Yes. Reaction Commerce is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Smartstore under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Reaction Commerce and Smartstore with Docker?
Reaction Commerce: yes. Smartstore: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Reaction Commerce or Smartstore?
Smartstore has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Reaction Commerce. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.