Medusa vs WooCommerce
Self-host pick — both replace Shopify (Ecommerce platform).
Both Medusa and WooCommerce self-host as a replacement for Shopify (Ecommerce platform). Pick Medusa if you want a MIT-licensed codebase (MIT); pick WooCommerce for GPL (GPL-3.0). Both run in roughly the same cost bracket — $10-20 vps for early-stage stores; pricing scales with payment-provider fees, not platform vs $5-10 vps for low-volume stores; litespeed or nginx + php-fpm is fine to mid-traffic.
| Medusaopen-source | WooCommerceopen-source | |
|---|---|---|
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Setup time | 20min (Node.js + Postgres + Redis) | 20min (WordPress install + plugin) |
| Monthly cost | $10-20 VPS for early-stage stores; pricing scales with payment-provider fees, not platform. | $5-10 VPS for low-volume stores; LiteSpeed or NGINX + PHP-FPM is fine to mid-traffic. |
| GitHub | medusajs/medusa | woocommerce/woocommerce |
| Replaces | Shopify | Shopify |
Good fit for
Medusa
Devs building custom storefronts who want headless commerce with a JS/TS stack.
Weak at:App ecosystem is much smaller than Shopify; you build / glue features Shopify gives free.
WooCommerce
Stores already on the WordPress stack or that need a content-marketing site + storefront in one CMS.
Weak at:Plugin sprawl; checkout performance and security depend on which payment + tax plugins you stack.
In a terminal? npx -y github:SolvoHQ/os-alt-cli shopify prints Shopify's self-host options including both —
how the CLI works →
FAQ
Which is easier to self-host, Medusa or WooCommerce?
Medusa: 20min (Node.js + Postgres + Redis). WooCommerce: 20min (WordPress install + plugin).
What does each cost to run?
Medusa: $10-20 VPS for early-stage stores; pricing scales with payment-provider fees, not platform.. WooCommerce: $5-10 VPS for low-volume stores; LiteSpeed or NGINX + PHP-FPM is fine to mid-traffic.. Both projects are free and open source.
Do Medusa and WooCommerce replace the same SaaS?
Yes — both are open-source alternatives to Shopify.