Shopify vs Medusa(2026)
Shopify is better for teams that need most popular platform. Medusa is the stronger choice if open source and self-hostable. Shopify is paid (from $39/month) and Medusa is free.
Full feature breakdown, pricing details, and pros & cons below.
By Bikram Nath
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Shopify
Shopify is the most popular ecommerce platform for building online stores with built-in payments, shipping, and analytics.
Starting at $39/month
Visit ShopifyMedusa
Medusa is an open-source headless commerce engine that gives developers full control over their ecommerce stack.
Visit MedusaHow Do Shopify and Medusa Compare on Features?
| Feature | Shopify | Medusa |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | paid | free |
| Starting price | $39/month | Free |
| Online store builder | ✓ | — |
| Shopify Payments | ✓ | — |
| App store (8,000+ apps) | ✓ | — |
| POS | ✓ | — |
| Inventory management | ✓ | — |
| Shipping integration | ✓ | — |
| Headless commerce | — | ✓ |
| REST + GraphQL APIs | — | ✓ |
| Multi-region | — | ✓ |
| Multi-currency | — | ✓ |
| Customizable workflows | — | ✓ |
| Plugin system | — | ✓ |
Shopify Pros and Cons vs Medusa
Shopify
Medusa
Should You Use Shopify or Medusa?
For most teams, Medusa is the better default: it offers open source and self-hostable and is free. Choose Shopify instead if most popular platform matters more than requires engineering resources. There is no universal winner — the right pick depends on your budget, team size, and whether you value most popular platform or open source and self-hostable more.
Choose Shopify if…
- •Most popular platform
- •Easy to set up
- •Largest app ecosystem
Choose Medusa if…
- •Open source and self-hostable
- •Full developer control
- •Node.js/TypeScript native