What is the difference between Shopify and Medusa?

Shopify is best for Businesses wanting the most popular e-commerce platform, while Medusa is best for Developers wanting a headless, open-source Shopify alternative. Shopify starts at $29/mo and Medusa starts at Free.

Is Shopify or Medusa cheaper?

Shopify starts at $29/mo. Medusa starts at Free and is free.

Is there a free alternative to Shopify?

Yes, Medusa offers a free tier.

Shopify vs Medusa

Shopify is leading e-commerce platform for building online stores with themes, apps, and payments, while Medusa is open-source headless commerce platform built with Node.js for developer-first e-commerce. The biggest difference up front: Medusa is free, while Shopify starts at $29/mo. Shopify is built for businesses wanting the most popular e-commerce platform, whereas Medusa targets developers wanting a headless, open-source shopify alternative.

At a glance

	Shopify	Medusa
Best for	Businesses wanting the most popular e-commerce platform	Developers wanting a headless, open-source Shopify alternative
Starting price	$29/mo	Free
Free tier	—	✓
Open source	—	✓
Free tier available	—	✓
Open source	—	✓
App Store	✓	—
Headless	—	✓
Node.js	—	✓
Online Store	✓	—
Open Source	—	✓
Payments	✓	—
Plugins	—	✓
Themes	✓	—

Shopify

Strengths

Includes Online Store as a core feature, purpose-built for e-commerce workflows
Includes Themes as a core feature, purpose-built for e-commerce workflows
Pricing starts at $29/mo, which includes the full e-commerce feature set
Established product with 20+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

Starts at $29/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Ecosystem of third-party integrations is smaller than the market leaders in e-commerce
Per-user pricing at $29/mo makes it hard to justify for large teams

Try Shopify → Full review

Medusa

Strengths

Open source and transparent
Includes Headless as a core feature, purpose-built for e-commerce workflows
Fully open-source — you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in
The core product is free with no paywalled essentials

Weaknesses

May lack some advanced features
Self-hosting is free but requires server maintenance and DevOps knowledge
Developer-oriented tooling may not suit non-technical team members
Ecosystem of third-party integrations is smaller than the market leaders in e-commerce

Try Medusa → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Medusa is completely free, which makes it the obvious pick if budget is the top concern. Shopify starts at $29/mo. That cost buys you a more polished or feature-rich experience, so it comes down to whether the extras justify the spend.

Feature gaps: Shopify offers App Store, Online Store and Payments that Medusa lacks. Medusa brings Headless, Node.js and Open Source that Shopify does not have.

Team fit: Shopify is geared toward any size teams, while Medusa is aimed at small teams teams. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.

Open source: Medusa is open source, meaning you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in. Shopify is proprietary — you are trusting the vendor with your data and uptime.

Where each tool shines: Shopify's biggest strengths are: includes online store as a core feature, purpose-built for e-commerce workflows. includes themes as a core feature, purpose-built for e-commerce workflows. Medusa's biggest strengths are: open source and transparent. includes headless as a core feature, purpose-built for e-commerce workflows.

Watch out for: With Shopify, users commonly note that starts at $29/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users. With Medusa, the main complaint is that may lack some advanced features.

Choose Shopify if...

Your profile matches its sweet spot: businesses wanting the most popular e-commerce platform
You specifically need App Store and Online Store
You care about includes themes as a core feature, purpose-built for e-commerce workflows
Your team size fits the any size profile Shopify is designed for

Choose Medusa if...

Your profile matches its sweet spot: developers wanting a headless, open-source shopify alternative
Budget is a hard constraint — Medusa is free, Shopify is not
You need self-hosting, data sovereignty, or the ability to audit source code
You specifically need Headless and Node.js
You care about includes headless as a core feature, purpose-built for e-commerce workflows