Saleor vs Shopware (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Shopware grades higher than Saleor: 2.4 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Shopware grades higher on the free plan, features and ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Saleor
Open-source headless commerce with managed Cloud hosting
Shopware
Open-source commerce platform for B2B and B2C stores
Which one is for you
Pick Saleor if
- Fits if you're a high-volume merchant with engineers and want a custom headless build
- Works for teams that want the option to self-host and keep their data
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're small: Cloud starts at $1,599 a month, and Volume is $3,999
- Not for you if you want to try it on a real shop free, since Sandboxes are non-commercial
- Watch out: Accelerator is $6,000 and Forward Deployed Engineering $12,000, credited back over 12 months after go-live
- Skip it if you want a finished store, as Saleor Engine is beta and the storefront is yours to build
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
| 1.6GPASaleorWeak | 2.4GPAShopwareFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DSelect is $1,599 a month for up to $200,000 in monthly sales, with 0.8% on orders above that. The category's dearest tenth starts at $89. Migration help and 24/7 support are included. | 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 | DSandboxes are free forever but for non-commercial use only, so you can't run a real shop on them. No trial is listed. | 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 | CGraphQL core, Saleor Apps, a dashboard and Cloud-only Essential Apps. Saleor Engine is labeled beta, and a storefront has to be built. | 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 | DNo store rating on record. Customising means building apps over GraphQL, so it needs developers. | 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 GraphQL, webhooks and pub/sub, and a Cloud or self-hosted option. No phone or desktop app. | BWeb only, but with an extensions marketplace and integrations such as Nosto and Shopware Payments, and SaaS, PaaS or self-hosted options. |
| Best for | API-first stores for high-volume sellers | 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: Saleor and Shopware. How we grade
Price against what you get
Saleor starts at $1,599 a month and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Shopware starts at about $670.32 a month and scores 2.7.
Shopware scores higher and starts $928.68 a month lower. Of the other online store builders on the chart, 13 score higher than Saleor 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
At a glance
| Saleor | Shopware | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $1599 per month (Cloud Select, up to $200,000 monthly GMV) | €600 per month, excl. VAT (Rise plan) |
| Free plan | Sandboxes: free forever for non-commercial use such as prototyping and trying new features. | Community Edition: no platform license fee, with a visual page builder, product and order management and community support. |
| Free trial | None listed | Rise plan: first 30 days free. |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Saleor Commerce | Shopware |
| Price read from | saleor.io | shopware.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Saleor
- Cloud pricing is tied to monthly GMV, and orders above the plan's limit add a percentage fee (0.8% on Select, 0.4% on Volume).
- The free Sandboxes plan is for non-commercial use only.
- Optional add-ons: the Accelerator Plan costs $6,000 and Forward Deployed Engineering $12,000, credited back over 12 months after go-live.
- Saleor Engine is labeled beta, and the Essential Apps run only on Saleor Cloud.
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
Saleor
- Headless GraphQL core
- Customization is done by building Saleor Apps that connect through GraphQL, webhooks and pub/sub, which keeps the core files untouched.
- Saleor Engine
- A beta feature that runs your storefront, apps and ERP sync alongside Saleor, with deployment, variables and logs managed from the Dashboard.
- Essential Apps
- Cloud-only apps cover multilingual customer emails, Adyen payments, Google Merchant Center feeds, MCP, ACP/UCP and Ink AI Search.
- Pulse dashboard
- Dashboard home shows revenue, orders, returns and low stock, and flags anything that looks unusual.
- Migration and engineering support
- Each Cloud plan includes migration from platforms such as Shopify Plus or Magento, a delivery lead, a Slack channel and 24/7 support with SLAs.
- Cloud and self-hosted
- Moving between Saleor Cloud and self-hosted open source is supported, though a data migration or version update may be needed.
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
Saleor
Sandboxes$0
Free forever, for non-commercial use only: prototyping, side projects and trying new features.
Select$1599
per month, up to $200,000 monthly GMV
For new projects and smaller companies; 0.8% charged on orders above the GMV limit, with a fair API usage policy.
Volume$3999
per month, up to $1,000,000 monthly GMV
For high-volume businesses; 0.4% charged on orders above the GMV limit, with a fair API usage policy.
EnterpriseCustom
Negotiated pricing with a fair API usage policy. Sold through sales.
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.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Saleor or Shopware?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Shopware is cheaper to start with: about $670.32 a month, against $1,599 a month for Saleor. Saleor starts at $1599 per month (Cloud Select, up to $200,000 monthly GMV), and Shopware starts at €600 per month, excl. VAT (Rise plan).
Which has a free plan, Saleor or Shopware?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Saleor and Shopware have a free plan.
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.