Medusa vs Saleor(2026)
Medusa is better for teams that need open source and self-hostable. Saleor is the stronger choice if fully headless graphql api. Medusa is free and Saleor is open-source (from $500/month (Saleor Cloud)).
Full feature breakdown, pricing details, and pros & cons below.
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Medusa
Medusa is an open-source headless commerce engine that gives developers full control over their ecommerce stack.
Visit MedusaSaleor
Saleor is a high-performance open source headless e-commerce platform built with Django and GraphQL for custom storefronts.
Starting at $500/month (Saleor Cloud)
Visit SaleorHow Do Medusa and Saleor Compare on Features?
| Feature | Medusa | Saleor |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | free | open-source |
| Starting price | Free | $500/month (Saleor Cloud) |
| Headless commerce | ✓ | — |
| REST + GraphQL APIs | ✓ | — |
| Multi-region | ✓ | — |
| Multi-currency | ✓ | ✓ |
| Customizable workflows | ✓ | — |
| Plugin system | ✓ | ✓ |
| GraphQL API | — | ✓ |
| Multi-channel | — | ✓ |
| Warehouse management | — | ✓ |
| Headless-first | — | ✓ |
Medusa Pros and Cons vs Saleor
M
Medusa
+Open source and self-hostable
+Full developer control
+Node.js/TypeScript native
+No vendor lock-in
−Requires engineering resources
−Smaller ecosystem than Shopify
−No hosted option for free
S
Saleor
+Fully headless GraphQL API
+Open source (self-host free)
+Multi-currency & channel
+Developer-first
−Complex self-hosting
−Requires developer to set up
−Cloud pricing is expensive
Should You Use Medusa or Saleor?
Choose Medusa if…
- •Open source and self-hostable
- •Full developer control
- •Node.js/TypeScript native
Choose Saleor if…
- •Fully headless GraphQL API
- •Open source (self-host free)
- •Multi-currency & channel