Shopware 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.
Shopware
Flexible open-source commerce for growing brands
VS
Smartstore
Modern open-source .NET commerce platform
| Feature | Shopware | Smartstore |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 88 · Excellent | 83 · Excellent |
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | C# |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,430 | ★ 1,521 |
| First released | 2010 | 2010 |
| Replaces | Shopify, Magento | Shopify, Magento |
What are Shopware and Smartstore?
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
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
Shopware vs Smartstore: key differences
Shopware is written in PHP, while Smartstore is built with C#. Licensing differs — MIT for Shopware versus AGPL-3.0 for Smartstore. Smartstore is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Shopware. Shopware has the considerably larger community, at 3,430 GitHub stars versus 1,521.
Why pick each one
Choose Shopware if…
- Polished merchant experience
- Powerful B2B suite available
Watch out for
- Heavy resource needs
- Complex for small shops
Choose Smartstore if…
- Polished modern UI
- Good plugin model
Watch out for
- Requires .NET hosting
- Smaller community than competitors
Frequently asked questions
Is Shopware or Smartstore better?
Neither is universally better. Shopware 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 Shopware and Smartstore free and open-source?
Yes. Shopware is licensed under MIT and Smartstore under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Shopware and Smartstore with Docker?
Shopware: yes. Smartstore: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Shopware or Smartstore?
Smartstore has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Shopware. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.