Saleor 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.
Not the right match-up?
Saleor
GraphQL-first headless commerce platform
VS
Shopware
Flexible open-source commerce for growing brands
| Feature | Saleor | Shopware |
|---|---|---|
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | Python | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 23,190 | ★ 3,400 |
| First released | 2016 | 2010 |
| Replaces | Shopify, commercetools | Shopify, Magento |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Saleor or Shopware better?
Neither is universally better. Saleor has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Saleor and Shopware free and open-source?
Yes. Saleor is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Shopware under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Saleor and Shopware with Docker?
Saleor: yes. Shopware: yes.