SHSelfHostIndex

Vendure vs Alokai

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?
VE Vendure Headless commerce framework built on Node.js VS AL Alokai Frontend platform for headless commerce stores
FeatureVendureAlokai
CategoryE-commerce PlatformsE-commerce Platforms
LicenseGPL-3.0MIT
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM1,024 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 8,302★ 10,937
First released20192017
ReplacesShopify, commercetoolsShopify Hydrogen, BigCommerce

Why pick each one

Choose Vendure if…

  • Strong TypeScript developer experience
  • Well-documented plugin system
Vendure details

Choose Alokai if…

  • Great storefront performance
  • Works with many backends
Alokai details

Frequently asked questions

Is Vendure or Alokai better?

Neither is universally better. Alokai has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Vendure and Alokai free and open-source?

Yes. Vendure is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Alokai under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Vendure and Alokai with Docker?

Vendure: yes. Alokai: yes.

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