6 jobs · 19 apps

Best open source software for e-commerce and retail

Q: Is self-hosted e-commerce cheaper than Shopify?

Often, at scale: the software has no per-order or monthly platform fee. You pay for hosting, a payment processor, and the time to run updates and security patches, which a hosted platform otherwise does for you.

Q: Which of these is headless?

Medusa describes itself as a headless commerce engine and Saleor as an API-only GraphQL platform, so you build or pick a separate storefront. Bagisto, WooCommerce and PrestaShop include a storefront.

Q: Is MedusaJs free?

Yes. MedusaJs is open-source software released under the MIT license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.

Q: Can I run this stack with Docker?

9 of the 19 apps here publish Docker images, including Saleor, Odoo and Open Source POS, so most of the stack can run side by side with Docker Compose on one server. Size the server for the heaviest app and add off-site backups.

For an online store or retailer, a self-hosted stack starts with MedusaJs for the online store, Odoo for in-store sales and ERPNext for inventory.

A self-hosted retail stack avoids per-order platform fees and keeps customer data in your own database. It covers the storefront, in-store point of sale, inventory, support, email and analytics.

Updated Oct 28, 2026 · data from GitHub, refreshed daily

Rank 1:
MedusaJs
medusajs/medusa
Headless commerce engine that enables developers to create amazing digital commerce experiences.
Active · last commit Oct 28, 2026
E-commerceTypeScript
AI-nativeStands out for the most GitHub stars. MedusaJs has 36,976 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license and had 1,957 commits in the last year; it replaces Shopify.
Rank 2:
Bagisto
bagisto/bagisto
Leading Laravel open source e-commerce framework with multi-inventory sources, taxation, localization, dropshipping and more exciting features.
Active · last commit Oct 28, 2026
E-commercePHP
Stands out for a permissive MIT license. Bagisto has 28,284 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license and had 1,952 commits in the last year; it replaces Shopify.
Rank 3:
Saleor
saleor/saleor
GraphQL native, API-only platform for scalable composable e-commerce storefront.
Active · last commit Oct 27, 2026
E-commercePythonDocker
Stands out for a permissive BSD-3-Clause license. Saleor has 23,485 GitHub stars, uses the BSD-3-Clause license, ships a Docker image and had 508 commits in the last year; it replaces Shopify.

At a glance

Open source software for e-commerce and retail compared

Picked by hand for each job from apps whose own description or topics match it, in curated order inside each section, with GitHub data from October 2026; an app appears only once.

Top 10 picks compared, data as of Oct 28, 2026
App	Stands out for	License	GitHub stars	Commits (12 mo)	Last commit	Docker image
MedusaJs	the most GitHub stars	MIT	36,976	1,957	Oct 28, 2026	No
Bagisto	a permissive MIT license	MIT	28,284	1,952	Oct 28, 2026	No
Saleor	a permissive BSD-3-Clause license	BSD-3-Clause	23,485	508	Oct 27, 2026	Yes
WooCommerce	the most commits in the last 12 months (4,327)	GPL-2.0	10,570	4,327	Oct 28, 2026	No
PrestaShop	–	OSL-3.0	9,237	3,672	Oct 28, 2026	No
Odoo	–	LGPL-3.0	55,380	17,454	Oct 28, 2026	Yes
Open Source POS	–	MIT	4,466	373	Oct 27, 2026	Yes
NexoPOS	–	GPL-3.0	1,295	421	Oct 27, 2026	No
ERPNext	–	GPL-3.0	40,687	10,424	Oct 28, 2026	Yes
Inventree	–	MIT	7,768	1,294	Oct 28, 2026	No

1 of 6 · 5 picks

Online store

1
MedusaJs
Headless commerce engine that enables developers to create amazing digital commerce experiences.
E-commerce
AI-nativeStands out for the most GitHub stars. MedusaJs has 36,976 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license and had 1,957 commits in the last year; it replaces Shopify.
2
Bagisto
Leading Laravel open source e-commerce framework with multi-inventory sources, taxation, localization, dropshipping and more exciting features.
E-commerce
Stands out for a permissive MIT license. Bagisto has 28,284 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license and had 1,952 commits in the last year; it replaces Shopify.
3
Saleor
GraphQL native, API-only platform for scalable composable e-commerce storefront.
E-commerceDocker
Stands out for a permissive BSD-3-Clause license. Saleor has 23,485 GitHub stars, uses the BSD-3-Clause license, ships a Docker image and had 508 commits in the last year; it replaces Shopify.
4
WooCommerce
WordPress based e-commerce solution.
E-commerce
Stands out for the most commits in the last 12 months (4,327). WooCommerce has 10,570 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-2.0 license and had 4,327 commits in the last year; it replaces Shopify.
5
PrestaShop
Fully scalable e-commerce solution.
E-commerce
PrestaShop has 9,237 GitHub stars, uses the OSL-3.0 license and had 3,672 commits in the last year; it replaces Shopify.

2 of 6 · 3 picks

Point of sale

1
Odoo
Free open source ERP system.
ERP & InventoryDocker
Odoo has 55,380 GitHub stars, uses the LGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 17,454 commits in the last year; it replaces NetSuite and SAP Business One.
2
Open Source POS
Open Source Point of Sale is a web based point of sale system.
Point of SaleDocker
Open Source POS has 4,466 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 373 commits in the last year; it replaces Square POS and Shopify POS.
3
NexoPOS
Laravel and Vue point-of-sale system with registers, receipts, inventory, procurement, customers and reports, extensible with modules.
Point of Sale
NexoPOS has 1,295 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license and had 421 commits in the last year; it replaces Square POS and Shopify POS.

3 of 6 · 3 picks

Inventory and ERP

1
ERPNext
ERP system to help you run your business.
ERP & InventoryDocker
ERPNext has 40,687 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 10,424 commits in the last year; it replaces NetSuite and SAP Business One.
2
Inventree
Inventory management system which provides intuitive parts management and stock control.
ERP & Inventory
Inventree has 7,768 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license and had 1,294 commits in the last year.
3
Dolibarr
Modern CRM software package to manage your company or foundation activity (contacts, suppliers, invoices, orders, stocks, agenda, accounting, ...).
ERP & InventoryDocker
Dolibarr has 7,794 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 9,011 commits in the last year; it replaces NetSuite and SAP Business One.

4 of 6 · 3 picks

Customer support

1
Chatwoot
Customer communication platform (alternative to Intercom and Zendesk).
Team ChatDocker
Chatwoot has 38,467 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,509 commits in the last year.
2
FreeScout
Email-based customer support application, help desk and shared mailbox (alternative to Zendesk and Help Scout).
Helpdesk & TicketingDocker
FreeScout has 4,619 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 810 commits in the last year; it replaces Zendesk and Intercom.
3
Zammad
Easy to use but powerful support and ticketing system.
Helpdesk & Ticketing
Zammad has 6,041 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license and had 2,712 commits in the last year; it replaces Zendesk and Intercom.

5 of 6 · 2 picks

Email marketing

1
Listmonk
High performance, self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager with a modern dashboard.
Newsletters & Mailing ListsDocker
Listmonk has 24,011 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 463 commits in the last year; it replaces Mailchimp and Substack.
2
Mautic
Marketing automation software (email, social and more).
Newsletters & Mailing Lists
Mautic has 10,856 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license and had 6,380 commits in the last year; it replaces Mailchimp and Substack.

6 of 6 · 3 picks

Analytics

1
Umami
Simple, fast, privacy-focused alternative to Google Analytics.
AnalyticsDocker
Umami has 39,742 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,417 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Analytics.
2
Plausible Analytics
Simple, lightweight (< 1 KB) and privacy-friendly web analytics.
Analytics
Plausible Analytics has 29,700 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license and had 618 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Analytics.
3
Matomo
Web analytics that protects your data and your customers' privacy (alternative to Google Analytics).
Analytics
Matomo has 21,984 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license and had 1,034 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Analytics.

FAQ

Questions and answers

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

Is self-hosted e-commerce cheaper than Shopify?

Often, at scale: the software has no per-order or monthly platform fee. You pay for hosting, a payment processor, and the time to run updates and security patches, which a hosted platform otherwise does for you.

Which of these is headless?

Medusa describes itself as a headless commerce engine and Saleor as an API-only GraphQL platform, so you build or pick a separate storefront. Bagisto, WooCommerce and PrestaShop include a storefront.

Is MedusaJs free?

Yes. MedusaJs is open-source software released under the MIT license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.

Can I run this stack with Docker?

9 of the 19 apps here publish Docker images, including Saleor, Odoo and Open Source POS, so most of the stack can run side by side with Docker Compose on one server. Size the server for the heaviest app and add off-site backups.

How is this list ranked?

Picked by hand for each job from apps whose own description or topics match it, in curated order inside each section, with GitHub data from October 2026; an app appears only once.

The weekly digest

Fresh releases, rising projects and one deploy guide a week. Join home labbers and engineers who self-host.