Solidus vs Thelia
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted e-commerce platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Solidus | Thelia |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 90 · Excellent | 82 · Excellent |
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | LGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Ruby | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,333 | ★ 879 |
| First released | 2015 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Shopify, Magento | Shopify, PrestaShop |
What are Solidus and Thelia?
Solidus
Solidus is a free, open-source e-commerce platform built with Ruby on Rails. It is a community-maintained fork of Spree focused on stability, security, and customization for high-volume stores.
- Stable Rails engine architecture
- Strong upgrade path
- Highly customizable
- Active community governance
Thelia
Thelia is a free, open-source e-commerce and content management solution built on Symfony components. It is popular in France and offers a template-based theming system and module marketplace.
- Symfony-based core
- Smarty template engine
- Module marketplace
- Multi-domain support
Solidus vs Thelia: key differences
Solidus is written in Ruby, while Thelia is built with PHP. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for Solidus versus LGPL-3.0 for Thelia. Thelia is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Solidus. Thelia is the more established project (first released 2013), while Solidus arrived in 2015. Solidus has the considerably larger community, at 5,333 GitHub stars versus 879. Solidus lists first-class Docker deployment; Thelia does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Solidus if…
- Reliable for high-volume stores
- Good security focus
Watch out for
- Rails knowledge required
- No managed hosting option
Choose Thelia if…
- Good documentation in French
- Flexible theming
Watch out for
- Limited adoption outside France
- Smaller community
Frequently asked questions
Is Solidus or Thelia better?
Neither is universally better. Solidus has the larger community, while Thelia is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Solidus and Thelia free and open-source?
Yes. Solidus is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Thelia under LGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Solidus and Thelia with Docker?
Solidus: yes. Thelia: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Solidus or Thelia?
Thelia has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Solidus. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.