Shopizer vs Sylius
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted e-commerce platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Shopizer | Sylius |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 20 · At risk | 92 · Excellent |
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Java | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,941 | ★ 8,542 |
| First released | 2010 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Magento, Broadleaf Commerce | Magento, Shopify Plus |
What are Shopizer and Sylius?
Shopizer
Shopizer is an open-source e-commerce platform written in Java that provides a REST API for catalogs, orders, payments, and shipping. It can power both headless storefronts and a bundled reference shop.
- REST-first architecture
- Multi-store support
- Pluggable payment modules
- Headless or bundled UI
Sylius
Sylius is an open-source e-commerce platform built on the Symfony framework. It targets mid-market and enterprise stores that need a fully customizable, API-first commerce solution.
- Built on Symfony components
- API-first architecture
- Behavior-driven testing baked in
- Highly customizable codebase
Shopizer vs Sylius: key differences
Shopizer is written in Java, while Sylius is built with PHP. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Shopizer versus MIT for Sylius. Shopizer is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Sylius. Sylius has the considerably larger community, at 8,542 GitHub stars versus 3,941.
Why pick each one
Choose Shopizer if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in Java
Choose Sylius if…
- Clean, modern PHP codebase
- Strong testing culture
Watch out for
- Requires Symfony knowledge
- Steeper learning curve
Frequently asked questions
Is Shopizer or Sylius better?
Neither is universally better. Sylius has the larger community, while Shopizer is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Shopizer and Sylius free and open-source?
Yes. Shopizer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Sylius under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Shopizer and Sylius with Docker?
Shopizer: yes. Sylius: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Shopizer or Sylius?
Shopizer has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Sylius. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.