SHSelfHostIndex

Solidus vs Vendure

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?
SO Solidus Free open-source Rails commerce platform VS VE Vendure Headless commerce framework built on Node.js
FeatureSolidusVendure
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score90 · Excellent92 · Excellent
CategoryE-commerce PlatformsE-commerce Platforms
LicenseBSD-3-ClauseMIT
LanguageRubyTypeScript
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM1,024 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 5,333★ 8,468
First released20152019
ReplacesShopify, MagentoShopify, commercetools

What are Solidus and Vendure?

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

Read the full Solidus guide →

Vendure

Vendure is an open-source, headless commerce framework written in TypeScript on top of NestJS and GraphQL. It is designed to be highly extensible for building custom B2B and B2C storefronts.

  • GraphQL-based headless API
  • Plugin-driven extensibility
  • Admin UI included
  • Multi-vendor marketplace support

Read the full Vendure guide →

Solidus vs Vendure: key differences

Solidus is written in Ruby, while Vendure is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for Solidus versus MIT for Vendure. Solidus is the more established project (first released 2015), while Vendure arrived in 2019.

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
Solidus details

Choose Vendure if…

  • Strong TypeScript developer experience
  • Well-documented plugin system

Watch out for

  • Requires building your own storefront
  • Less out-of-the-box than hosted SaaS
Vendure details

Frequently asked questions

Is Solidus or Vendure better?

Vendure is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Solidus if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Solidus and Vendure free and open-source?

Yes. Solidus is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Vendure under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Solidus and Vendure with Docker?

Solidus: yes. Vendure: yes.

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