thirty bees vs WooCommerce
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted e-commerce platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
WooCommerce
Open-source e-commerce plugin for WordPress
| Feature | thirty bees | WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 81 · Excellent | 93 · Excellent |
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | OSL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, docker | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 767 | ★ 10,533 |
| First released | 2017 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Shopify | Shopify, BigCommerce |
What are thirty bees and WooCommerce?
thirty bees
thirty bees is an open-source e-commerce platform forked from PrestaShop with a focus on stability, performance, and merchant-friendly features. It runs traditional online stores and is compatible with many PrestaShop modules.
- PrestaShop module compatibility
- Stability focus
- Multi-store support
- Theme system
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a customizable, open-source e-commerce platform built on WordPress. It powers millions of online stores worldwide with support for physical products, digital downloads, subscriptions, and extensive third-party extensions.
- Built on WordPress
- Huge extension ecosystem
- Supports digital and physical goods
- REST API for integrations
thirty bees vs WooCommerce: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Licensing differs — OSL-3.0 for thirty bees versus GPL-3.0 for WooCommerce. WooCommerce is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for thirty bees. WooCommerce is the more established project (first released 2011), while thirty bees arrived in 2017. WooCommerce has the considerably larger community, at 10,533 GitHub stars versus 767.
Why pick each one
Choose thirty bees if…
- Released under the OSL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in PHP
Watch out for
- Smaller community
- Slower release cadence
Choose WooCommerce if…
- Massive plugin and theme library
- Large community and documentation
Watch out for
- Requires WordPress maintenance
- Can get costly with paid extensions
Frequently asked questions
Is thirty bees or WooCommerce better?
Neither is universally better. WooCommerce has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are thirty bees and WooCommerce free and open-source?
Yes. thirty bees is licensed under OSL-3.0 and WooCommerce under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run thirty bees and WooCommerce with Docker?
thirty bees: yes. WooCommerce: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, thirty bees or WooCommerce?
WooCommerce has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for thirty bees. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.