Shuup vs Spree Commerce
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted e-commerce platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Shuup | Spree Commerce |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 18 · At risk | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Python | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,401 | ★ 15,718 |
| First released | 2016 | 2008 |
| Replaces | Shopify, Magento | Shopify, BigCommerce |
What are Shuup and Spree Commerce?
Shuup
Shuup is an open-source e-commerce platform built with Python and Django. It supports single and multi-vendor marketplaces with a modular addon system.
- Single and multi-vendor modes
- Django-based architecture
- Addon system
- Theming support
Spree Commerce
Spree Commerce is a complete open-source e-commerce platform built with Ruby on Rails. It supports multi-vendor marketplaces, multi-store, and headless API-driven storefronts.
- Modular Rails engine architecture
- Multi-store and multi-vendor
- Headless storefront API
- Admin dashboard included
Shuup vs Spree Commerce: key differences
Shuup is written in Python, while Spree Commerce is built with Ruby. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Shuup versus BSD-3-Clause for Spree Commerce. Spree Commerce is the more established project (first released 2008), while Shuup arrived in 2016. Spree Commerce has the considerably larger community, at 15,718 GitHub stars versus 2,401.
Why pick each one
Choose Shuup if…
- Good for marketplace builds
- Pythonic codebase
Watch out for
- Smaller community
- Less active development
Choose Spree Commerce if…
- Mature and battle-tested
- Flexible Rails ecosystem
Watch out for
- Ruby expertise needed for customization
- Setup can be involved
Frequently asked questions
Is Shuup or Spree Commerce better?
Neither is universally better. Spree Commerce has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Shuup and Spree Commerce free and open-source?
Yes. Shuup is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Spree Commerce under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Shuup and Spree Commerce with Docker?
Shuup: yes. Spree Commerce: yes.