Gambio vs Shopware (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Gambio and Shopware share a 2.4 GPA, and only Shopware has a free plan.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Gambio grades higher on value for money. Shopware grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Gambio
Hosted German shop software with legal texts and fixed monthly plans
Shopware
Open-source commerce platform for B2B and B2C stores
Which one is for you
Pick Gambio if
- Fits if you sell in Germany and want legal texts handled
- Works for small shops that want fixed monthly plans
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you sell a lot on Starter, as it has a 1.5% transaction fee
- Tight if you need a team, as Starter has 1 admin account and 3 need Business
- Watch out: prices are in euros and the page does not say if they include VAT
- Skip it if you sell outside Germany, as its main selling point is German legal cover
Pick Shopware if
- Fits if you have developers or an agency and want to own the code for a B2B or B2C store
- Works for sellers who start on the free Community Edition and move to a paid plan later
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you want hosted support, because Rise starts at EUR 600 a month
- Skip it if you have no developer or partner, as self-hosted stores pay for hosting and implementation separately
- Watch out: plan prices depend on sales volume, so the listed euro figures are only a starting point
- Watch out: linked shops past EUR 1 million in gross sales over 365 days need a paid plan for the Shopware Account
- Watch out: SaaS and PaaS plans go through sales; instant booking is for self-hosted stores only
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAGambioFair | 2.4GPAShopwareFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C€29 a month billed annually ($33 monthly) matches the $29 middle of the category, plus a 1.5% transaction fee on Starter. | DRise, the first paid plan with support and AI content tools, starts at EUR 600 a month, against $29 in the middle of online-store builders. Evolve, with B2B quotes and approvals, is EUR 2,400. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 30-day free trial. The listing does not say whether a card is needed. | BThe Community Edition has no platform licence fee and includes the page builder and order management. You host it yourself, and Rise has a 30-day free trial. |
| Features | BLegal text safety, themes, payments, marketplaces and multichannel. Nothing in the listing is missing from the job. | BPage builder, B2B tools, an extensions marketplace, AI content tools, multi-language and SEO. Multi-location inventory sits on the custom Beyond plan. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. A hosted shop still means building products, themes and legal pages. | CNo store rating on record. Choosing hosting, partners and extensions is part of the work, and self-hosted stores need developers. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with four listed integrations and an API. | BWeb only, but with an extensions marketplace and integrations such as Nosto and Shopware Payments, and SaaS, PaaS or self-hosted options. |
| Best for | German-market hosted shops | B2B and B2C stores run on open-source Shopware |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Gambio and Shopware. How we grade
Price against what you get
Gambio starts at about $32.40 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Shopware starts at about $670.32 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Gambio starts $637.92 a month lower. Of the other online store builders on the chart, 4 score higher than Gambio for less, and 4 score higher than Shopware for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Shopware is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Gambio also covers templates and inventory.
At a glance
| Gambio | Shopware | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | €29 per month, billed annually (€33 billed monthly) | €600 per month, excl. VAT (Rise plan) |
| Free plan | None | Community Edition: no platform license fee, with a visual page builder, product and order management and community support. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial | Rise plan: first 30 days free. |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Gambio GmbH | Shopware |
| Price read from | gambio.com | shopware.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Gambio
- Prices are in euros, and the page does not say whether they include VAT.
- Each plan has a monthly free volume and a transaction fee, higher on cheaper plans (1.5% on Starter).
- The Starter plan has one admin account; three accounts need Business.
Shopware
- Plan prices are set by sales volume (GMV) and other factors; the listed euro prices are the starting point.
- Shopware Account and Store access needs a paid plan once linked shops pass €1 million in gross sales over 365 days.
- Self-hosted stores pay for hosting and implementation separately; PaaS pricing depends on infrastructure needs.
- Instant Rise booking in the account is for self-hosted stores only; SaaS and PaaS go through sales.
Key features
Gambio
- Legal safety
- Gambio says it has been audited and certified several times, and includes customized legal texts with liability assumed, aimed at avoiding warning letters.
- Free themes
- A range of free themes lets you change the shop's design without coding.
- Payments
- Payment processing runs through PayPal and similar providers; each plan lists a free monthly volume and a transaction fee.
- Marketplaces and multichannel
- The plan table lists marketplace and multichannel connections, a Google starter package and API access.
- Integrations and partners
- The vendor describes an ecosystem of over 200 integrations and partners.
Shopware
- Visual page builder
- Drag-and-drop Shopping Experiences let non-developers build and change store layouts. The page builder is included in the free Community Edition.
- Choice of hosting
- A store can run on Shopware SaaS (hosting and updates included), on Shopware PaaS with more room for custom code, or be self-hosted.
- B2B tools
- Quotes and purchasing approvals arrive with Evolve; customer-specific pricing from external systems and Digital Sales Rooms with Beyond.
- Extensions and Nexus
- Apps and plugins come from the Shopware Store. Nexus connects other systems and runs workflows, with a free monthly execution allowance per shop.
- AI tools
- Rise adds AI-assisted product content and translation. Shopware Intelligence+ includes a Copilot that carries out multi-step tasks in the store.
- Multi-language and SEO
- Storefronts can be offered in several languages, with built-in management of meta tags, canonical URLs, breadcrumbs and structured data.
Plans
Gambio
Starter€29
per month, billed annually (€33 billed monthly)
1 admin account, basic support, a €500 monthly free volume and a 1.5% transaction fee.
Business€79
per month, billed annually (€89 billed monthly)
3 admin accounts, basic support, a €2,000 monthly free volume and a 0.8% transaction fee.
Professional€149
per month, billed annually (€167 billed monthly)
10 admin accounts, basic support, a €10,000 monthly free volume and a 0.4% transaction fee.
Enterprise€219
per month, billed annually (€245 billed monthly)
Unlimited admin accounts, premium support, a €50,000 monthly free volume and a 0.1% transaction fee.
Shopware
Community Edition€0
Open-source core with source access. You choose hosting and implementation partners; community support only.
Rise€600
per month and up, excl. VAT
Adds AI-assisted content creation, product customization, returns management and direct Shopware support. First 30 days free.
Evolve€2,400
per month and up, excl. VAT
Adds B2B quotes and purchasing approvals, advanced product search, customer-group content and phone support.
BeyondCustom
Adds customer-specific pricing, multi-location inventory, Digital Sales Rooms and 24/7 priority support. Sold through sales.
Ways to pay less
Gambio
- Annual discount
Lower price with annual billing
The pricing table shows a lower monthly rate for yearly billing: Starter at 29 euros against 33 euros billed monthly.
Shopware
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Gambio or Shopware?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Gambio is cheaper to start with: about $32.40 a month, against about $670.32 a month for Shopware. Gambio starts at €29 per month, billed annually (€33 billed monthly), and Shopware starts at €600 per month, excl. VAT (Rise plan).
Which has a free plan, Gambio or Shopware?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Shopware has a free plan. Gambio does not, though it has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.