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11+ Best Open Source Ecommerce Platforms to Build an Online Store in 2024

Updated on January 9, 2025

16 Min Read

Opensource ecommerce platforms have completely revolutionized the online shopping industry.

Why? Because using most of these platforms makes starting an ecommerce store a piece of cake, while also offering immense customizability.

You may have next to no knowledge about coding, and you’ll still be able to start your own online store with most of these platforms. With some, however, you may need some technical knowledge.

But, nothing too complex that can stop you from getting into the ecommerce scene.

Down below, you will find a list of 12 of the best open source ecommerce platforms. Each of them has its pros and cons. Go through them, assess their ratings, and who they are best for to decide which platform is the best for you.

What Is An Open Source Ecommerce Platform

An open source ecommerce platform is software that is used to create and run an online store.

The thing that sets it apart, and makes it “open source” is that the code that makes up the software, or the instructions that operate the software, are available for anybody to access.

This means you can view how it functions, modify it if you wish or even pass it on to someone else.

Since it’s open-source, you aren’t tied to a specific company or service — there are no subscription fees or limitations on what you can do, but you’ll need to handle things like hosting and maintenance.

Open source platforms are usually available for free which is great for small business like startups and agencies. Plus, because there’s a large community of developers and users, you can get lots of help, resources, and support if you run into problems.

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How Does an Open Source Ecommerce Platform Work?

Open-source platforms for ecommerce work by giving you access to the underlying code of the ecommerce platform, with the liberty of modifying the code as per the business requirements.

This means that instead of having to pay for the software that runs your online store, you can download it at no cost and install it on your web server or with the help of a web hosting service of your choice.

Find insider ecommerce security tips to safeguard your online store
After installation, the platform assists in the creation of an online store, products catalog, payment options, stock control, and site design.

That is why open-source software is versatile. You can change the code or include features that are relevant to your business – if you know programming or can hire a programmer.

You also have the liberty of adding third-party apps such as marketing apps, or themes to suit your store’s appearance.

To get started with an open-source ecommerce solution, the first step is to download the platform’s source code. 

Many open-source platforms make this easy by providing direct download links on their websites, although some may ask you to sign up for a free account first (see example below).

Source: WooCommerce

After downloading the code it is relatively easy to set up an online store although the process is slightly complex.

Some of these open-source platforms are easy to use with little web development experience, but usually to fully leverage these systems, one needs some web development ability.

And that’s why many small businesses hire developers to help with the setup and customization to get things going.

12 Best Open Source Ecommerce Platforms in 2025

Based on their popularity/use, reviews, features as well as pros and cons, following are the 12 best open source ecommerce platforms that you should definitely consider if you are looking to build an online store.

1. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is one of the best free ecommerce platforms.

It’s an ecommerce plugin that works as an extension to WordPress CMS. According to webtribunal, 28.19% of all ecommerce stores globally are built using Woocommerce.

Additionally, 23% of the market share goes to WooCommerce, as per EcommerceBonsai.

Image source: ecommercebonsai

You can easily set up your website with Woocommerce in less than a few minutes. You can even optimize the store with top-notch Woocommerce plugins for the best results.

While WooCommerce is free to use, it does require powerful WordPress hosting. You can take advantage of Cloudways’ WooCommerce hosting, which offers features specifically designed for WooCommerce.

 

Usually, hosting a Woocommerce store can be challenging for beginners. But with Cloudways, you can take your store online in just a few clicks.

Although open-source ecommerce platforms usually demand technical knowledge, WooCommerce is surprisingly user-friendly and easy to optimize for speed as well as to scale.

Pros:

  • Highly scalable
  • Drag and drop store builder
  • Users don’t need to know HTML and CSS to build a successful store
  • Tons of free and paid themes and plugin options are available

Cons

  • You may need technical help as the store scales
  • You don’t get native hosting services,[but you can solve this issue by getting optimized Woocommerce hosting by Cloudways].

Best for: Small to medium-sized businesses, WordPress users, entrepreneurs, businesses looking for customization, retailers with small product catalogs, and users looking for budget-friendly solutions.

Ratings & Reviews

WooCommerce has a rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars based on 1,162 reviews on G2.

2. Magento

Source: Adobe

Magento is one of the most trusted ecommerce platforms and shopping carts available for individuals and enterprises alike. As per builtwith, 0.95% of the top 1 million ecommerce websites worldwide are built on Magento.

Source: builtwith

Formerly known as Magento Community Edition, Magento Open Source is the free version of Adobe Commerce, an enterprise-level hosted platform.

It provides access to a variety of themes, support options, and additional resources. Adobe also offers ecommerce training courses and a certification program.

This ecommerce platform is based on a PHP-based framework that lets you easily build scalable online businesses.

It has multiple extensions (nearly 4000), allowing easy integration of relevant third-party apps with your ecommerce store.

It’s a little complex to use Magento, and you may need help from a professional Magento developer to set up a store. Or if you have a reliable Magento host with 24/7 expert support, that can be a great help too.

Confused between WooCommerce and Magento? Read Our Detailed Comparison

Pros

  • A highly customizable and scalable platform
  • Offers advanced SEO tools and solutions which can assist with store’s ranking
  • Open-source ecommerce platform with a large community of developers

Cons

  • Requires a high budget to set up the store
  • It’s a little time-consuming to set up a Magento store

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Best For: Medium to large businesses that need a highly customizable ecommerce platform with advanced features and scalability.

Ratings & Reviews

Magento has a rating of 4 out of 5 stars based on 241 reviews on G2.

3. OpenCart

Source: OpenCart

OpenCart is a very popular ecommerce shopping cart and platform.

It is pretty easy to set up a basic ecommerce store using OpenCart. It is used by over 400,000 website owners worldwide, including organizations like Red Cross UK.

OpenCart provides a variety of features, such as managing multiple stores from a single interface and access to a marketplace with a wide selection of themes and extensions.

However, the default features of the platform are limited.

For instance, you don’t get much freedom in customizing the store. Plus, the SEO options are limited.

It’s best for those looking to start a store without any assistance, but once the store grows, you may face some challenges.

Pros

  • Easy to use and manage for beginners
  • Several inventory management options are available
  • Best for Cash on Delivery online store

Cons

  • Limited payment gateway options
  • Optimizing the store for search engines can be challenging
  • Very few reliable SEO tools are compatible with OpenCart

Best For: Small to medium-sized businesses, entrepreneurs, and those seeking a customizable solution with a wide range of themes and extensions.

Ratings & Reviews

OpenCart has a rating of 4.3 out of 5 based on 104 reviews on G2.

4. Drupal

Source: Drupal

Drupal commerce is another popular opensource ecommerce solution used by more than 500K websites.

Drupal commerce keeps an organized track of orders, receipts, payments, and invoices, along with integrating different shipping and payment options.

This platform is based on a Drupal content management system and offers a complete administration system, including checkout forms and multi-currency.

It also offers third-party integrations for social networks, fulfillment, and accounting services.

Pros

  • Drupal has a huge active community which makes it easy to solve common store problems
  • Third-party integrations make Drupal a highly customizable platform
  • Users can access marketing and SEO tools that can help boost their online presence

Cons

  • It’s not suitable for absolute beginners
  • Managing a Drupal site can be challenging without a managed hosting platform.

Best For: Large businesses, developers needing advanced customization, content-heavy websites, and organizations requiring robust security and scalability.

Ratings & Reviews

Drupal has a rating of 4 stars out of 5 based on 23 reviews on G2.

5. Joomla

Source: Joomla

Joomla is another amazing PHP-based solution when it comes to creating an eCommerce store.  There are already nearly 2 million live websites on Joomla.

Its core framework supports integrated commerce, data reporting, custom product catalogs, reservation tools, and more. Joomla’s marketplace offers nearly 6,000 extensions.

The platform can handle several fronts for you, from SEO to inventory management tools that can assist you in growing the store.

Setting up the store is also pretty simple as Joomla has a strong and active community ready to help people facing inconveniences.

Pros

  • Tight-knit community of developers that’s ready to offer support when needed
  • Heavily customizable
  • Allows to even sell digital products
  • Very easy to use and make edits

Cons

  • Some crucial plugins are not beginner-friendly
  • Sometimes, you’ll need to use paid plugins

💡Again, another con is that your store will work best with web hosting for Joomla optimized for its platform.

Best For: Developers seeking customization, content-driven websites, SEO-focused businesses.

Ratings & Reviews

Joomla has a rating of 4 out of 5 stars based on 384 reviews on G2.

6. Ecwid

Source: Ecwid

Ecwid, which stands for ECommerce WIDget, was launched in 2009 to assist small and medium-sized firms in incorporating online shops into their current websites.

They offer their own free, and easily edited Ecwid Instant Site, which includes a store, or you can integrate Ecwid into your existing site.

The best thing is that you can operate your store in several sites, blogs, and pages, including Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon, in one control panel.

Additional features are available with the premium plans, which provide access to even more sales channels, thus getting to the customers on specific platforms.

They also have a one page Website Builder called the ‘Starter Site’ or ‘Instant Site’ but its quite basic and not a long term solution.

Although it is convenient to use for starting a store, for fast-growing businesses, it is not the most suitable solution as your store develops.

Pros

  • Free customizable website with a built-in store
  • Easy to integrate with any website or blog
  • Sell on multiple platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon
  • Simple to use for small businesses

Cons

  • Limited functionality in the free version
  • Not fully open-source
  • Free Instant Site is not suitable for long-term use

Best For: Small businesses, startups, and entrepreneurs

Ratings & Reviews

7. PrestaShop

Source: PrestaShop

Prestashop offers hundreds of features, including on page-checkout, downloadable products, features cross-selling and one-page checkout.

It is used in 160 countries and is accessible in 63 different languages. Prestashop also comes with customizable themes and feature add-ons.

PrestaShop offers over 600 features and more than 5,000 modules, although many of these add-ons come with an extra cost.

 

Additionally, PrestaShop provides a fully managed solution that includes hosting and maintenance alongside their open-source software, making it ideal for those without technical expertise.

Pros

  • It doesn’t pull much cash out of pockets to a Prestashop store
  • Very easy to install, which makes it a beginner-friendly platform
  • Comes wrapped with all the essential features required to run an ecommerce store

Cons:

  • Limited support available
  • Scaling the store can become an issue in the future

Best For: Small to medium-sized businesses, developers, entrepreneurs.

Ratings & Reviews

PrestaShop has a rating of 4.5 out of 5 based on 154 reviews based on G2.

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8. Zen Cart

Source: Zen Cart

Zen Cart is a free, PHP-based shopping cart solution, but, like Ecwid, it does require some technical know-how to integrate with an existing website.

Its built-in storefront isn’t as user-friendly as some other platforms, so it’s better suited for business owners who plan to work with a web developer for customization rather than those looking for a simple, out-of-the-box solution.

Zen Cart follows a core-plus-extensions model, offering over 2,000 free and paid add-ons.

Some of its built-in features include support for multiple languages and currencies, reporting and analytics, and customer group pricing.

Pros

  • Highly customizable
  • Extensive add-ons available
  • Multi-currency and multi-language support
  • Built-in SEO too

Cons

  • Outdated user interface
  • Relies on add-ons for advanced features
  • Steep learning curve

Best For: Developers and businesses with technical expertise

Ratings & Reviews

Zen Cart has 3.9 out of 5 stars based on 42 reviews on G2.

9. Shopware

Source: Shopware

Shopware is a modern and scalable open-source ecommerce solution with roots in the Symfony framework for the back end and Twig/Vue.js for the front end.

It supports GraphQL, Node.js, and Docker, so it is perfect for constructing headless stores.

Plus, it has a highly-visible and effective live-video-based recommendation system that helps customers find products they might be interested in. This feature could increase conversion and loyalty without external applications.


Shopware has a steeper learning curve than platforms like WooCommerce and OpenCart but comes packed with features like an ecommerce automation builder.

Pros

  • Advanced features like AI product descriptions and ecommerce automation
  • Built-in live video events for customer engagement
  • B2B features, including user role management and customer-specific pricing

Cons

  • Steep learning curve
  • Primarily suited for medium to large businesses
  • Best suited for EU-based businesses

Best For: Medium to large businesses, particularly those based in the EU.

Ratings & Reviews

Shopware has a rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars based on 152 reviews on G2.

10. Symfony 3

Source: Symfony

Around 22,841 websites are live on the Symfony 3 platform, according to BuiltWith.

It’s a great platform to build your ecommerce store. The security is good, the community is active and helpful, and the customization options are endless.

Pros

  • Websites are fast and secure
  • Reliable platform that doesn’t crash easily
  • Stores on Symfony 3 are as safe as Magento or Drupal

Cons

  • You will need technical assistance to build a Symfony 3 store
  • Beginners can feel a little lost when managing a Symfony 3 store

Best For: Developers and businesses with technical expertise

Ratings & Reviews

Symfony has a rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars based on 28 reviews on G2.

11. Spree Commerce

Source: Spree

Spree Commerce was launched back in 2008 and is a flexible and modern ecommerce platform that enjoys a great deal of popularity due to the fact that it has a headless architecture.

After several years of its development, spree has evolved into an opulent framework that has managed to attract more than 850 contributors and more than 50,000 businesses including giants like Blue Apron and Everlane.

The open-source version is free but lacks many functions so if you require more control and capabilities, Spree as a Service offers cloud hosting and extended features.

Whether you are a B2B or B2C business, you will benefit from the multiple languages, currencies, and payment types available in Spree if you are a globally inclined brand.

Pros

  • Multi-vendor marketplace capabilities
  • Advanced analytics and SEO tools
  • Integrates with 200+ third-party apps (e.g., automation, CRM, live chat)
  • Supports multiple languages, currencies, and payment options

Cons

  • Requires technical expertise
  • Open-source version lacks advanced features
  • Steep learning curve
  • Not beginner-friendly

Best For: Global brands

Ratings & Reviews

Spree Commerce has a rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars based on 17 reviews on G2.

12. CubeCart

Source: Cubecart

CubeCart is an open-source ecommerce platform with a solid developer community.

It offers a range of features, including easy setup, support for unlimited products, categories, and users, as well as sales reporting, analytics, and multiple currency support.

CubeCart also provides marketing tools, inventory management, and stock control options, making it a well-rounded choice for building an online store.

Pros

  • Easy to set up and use
  • Supports unlimited products, categories, and users
  • Offers sales reporting and analytics
  • Multi-currency support

Cons

  • Limited free theme selection
  • Not as feature-rich (compared to other platforms)
  • You will need tech support but the support package is very expensive ($40/month or more)

Best For: SMBs such as local retailers, boutique stores, and online shops that sell physical products and have a huge catalog

Ratings & Reviews

CubeCart has a rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars based on 8 reviews on Trust Pilot.

Open Source Ecommerce VS SaaS Ecommerce

Open-source ecommerce and SaaS ecommerce are two different ways to build and manage an online store.

Open-source ecommerce gives you full control over your store but that means there is a ton of responsibility on your shoulder.

SaaS ecommerce platforms, such as Shopify and BigCommerce, are easier to use, as they handle hosting, security, and updates for you. But that means there is less customization.

Here’s a quick comparison:

Feature Open Source Ecommerce SaaS Ecommerce
Control & Flexibility High: Full control over customization Low: Limited customization options
Cost Free, but costs for hosting & maintenance Subscription-based (monthly fee)
Setup & Maintenance Requires technical knowledge Easy setup, handled by the provider
Hosting You need to arrange your own hosting Hosting is included in the subscription
Customization Highly customizable (themes, plugins) Limited to available templates & apps
Security & Updates You are responsible for updates & security Automatically managed by the provider
Examples WooCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop Shopify, BigCommerce, Wix

How to Choose the Right Open Source Ecommerce Platform

Choosing the right open-source ecommerce platform can make or break your online store, so it’s important to pick one that fits your needs. Here’s how to approach it:

Consider Business Needs

The first step for any business decision is to know your business needs.

Start by thinking about the size of your product range. Are you selling a few items or managing a large inventory?

Some platforms handle small catalogs well, while others are better for larger stores. In the guide above, you must have seen the “Best For” section where some platforms are good for SMBs while others are better suited for large businesses.

Also, consider whether you’re selling to other businesses (B2B) or directly to consumers (B2C), as B2B stores need features like bulk ordering and customer-specific pricing.

If you plan to sell internationally, make sure the platform supports multiple currencies and languages.

Consider Technical Skills and Support

Some open-source platforms for ecommerce are easy to set up, but others require a solid understanding of web development.

If you’re not really tech-savvy, look for one that has a user-friendly setup or offers plenty of pre-built themes and plugins.

However, if you need something more customized, you might need a developer. Remember, that’s the thing about open source platforms. They are highly customizable but you would probably need programming knowledge.

Also, check if the platform has a strong support community or paid support options, just in case you need help down the line – if you chose to not hire a developer.

Think About Scalability

Scalability refers to the platform’s ability to grow and handle traffic surges without affecting performance or user experience. This means your store should be able to manage an increasing number of products, visitors, and transactions smoothly

Also remember that some platforms require more robust hosting as your store expands. Be sure to pick one that can scale without causing headaches.

Look for a Strong Developer Ecosystem

Open-source platforms thrive on their communities.

A big, active community means more support and resources when you need them. Check out the platform’s marketplace for plugins and integrations — the more options available, the easier it is to add new features like payment gateways or CRM tools.

Here you can ask questions, and get people to help you for literally free.

Security and Maintenance

Security is of course a top priority, so make sure the platform has features like SSL support and compliance with standards like PCI-DSS.

You’ll also want a platform that’s regularly updated to keep up with security patches and performance improvements. This will help your store stay safe and run smoothly.

Consider Costs

Well, nothing is entirely free in the world.

Even though open-source platforms are free to download, there are some costs involved.

You will need hosting, possibly premium (i.e. expensive) plugins or themes, and might need to hire a developer (also expensive).

Factor these costs in when making your decision. Ongoing maintenance and support services are also things to keep in mind as your store grows.

Final Thoughts

The above-mentioned open source ecommerce platforms are some of the best options available today.

Remember, all of them offer a different set of benefits. You must choose the one that fits your business needs the best. Most of them are beginner-friendly, but some of them can require professional help.

Also, not all of them offer the tightest security, but with managed secure hosting by Cloudways, you can get an additional layer of security  as well as scalability for your online stores. Use our web hosting pricing calculator to check hosting savings.

Q. Is Shopify open source?

No, Shopify is not open source. It is a proprietary, subscription-based ecommerce platform.

Q. Which ecommerce platform is open source?

Examples of open-source ecommerce platforms include WooCommerce, Magento Open Source, PrestaShop, OpenCart, and Drupal Commerce.

Q. What is the best open source search engine for e-commerce?

Elasticsearch is one of the best open-source search engines for ecommerce, known for its speed, scalability, and advanced search features. It integrates well with platforms like Magento and PrestaShop.

Q. Is OpenCart better than WooCommerce?

Whether OpenCart is better than WooCommerce depends on your needs:
OpenCart: Better for users who need a straightforward, low-maintenance ecommerce platform with a lot of built-in features.
WooCommerce: Better for users already using WordPress, offering greater flexibility and a wide range of plugins and themes.

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Sarim Javaid

Sarim Javaid is a Sr. Content Marketing Manager at Cloudways, where his role involves shaping compelling narratives and strategic content. Skilled at crafting cohesive stories from a flurry of ideas, Sarim's writing is driven by curiosity and a deep fascination with Google's evolving algorithms. Beyond the professional sphere, he's a music and art admirer and an overly-excited person.

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