# nopCommerce review (2026): is it any good? > Free open-source ASP.NET Core shopping cart Checked Nov 12, 2026 ยท graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA. nopCommerce is a free, open-source shopping cart built on ASP.NET Core. You host it yourself on Windows, Linux or Mac, with SQL Server, PostgreSQL or MySQL, and extend it with plugins and themes from its marketplace. The developing company also sells premium support and a Web API plugin. - **Category:** Online Store Builders - **Made by:** nopCommerce - **Website:** https://www.nopcommerce.com - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Not for you if you want a hosted store, as no hosted plan is listed. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 12, 2026, nopCommerce is free to use. - **Pricing model:** Free - **Free plan:** None. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | nopCommerce | $0 | Free, open-source software that you host and run yourself. Premium support, plugins and themes are priced separately. | Read from https://github.com/nopSolutions/nopCommerce on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with nopCommerce before buying. ## Key features - **Runs where you choose:** Runs on .NET 10 on Windows, Linux or Mac, with Docker support and a choice of Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL or MySQL databases. - **Web farm support:** The README says it works across web farms and Azure, with all methods asynchronous, for stores that need to scale across servers. - **Plugins and themes:** A pluggable architecture and a marketplace for themes, plugins and integrations. Developers can write their own and sell them there. - **Web API plugin:** A REST plugin from the nopCommerce team covers backend and frontend methods, for connecting third-party services or mobile apps. It comes with source code. - **Multi-factor sign-in:** Multi-factor authentication is built in, alongside a store demo with both the customer front end and the admin area to try before installing. ## Good for - Teams that work in .NET and want to customize the source - Merchants who want a free platform and can manage their own hosting - Agencies building custom stores with plugins and themes ## Worth knowing - There is no hosted plan on the pages read; you arrange hosting, installation, updates and security yourself. - Premium support and the Web API plugin are separate paid products whose prices were not readable. - The nopCommerce site and its documentation answered with a bot check, so facts here come from the project's GitHub README. - The README says the core team gives professional support within 24 hours and has developed the product since 2008. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. nopCommerce is a free, open-source .NET shopping cart you install on your own hosting, with plugins, themes and database options. There's no hosted plan on the pages we read, premium support and the Web API plugin are separate paid products, and you handle updates and security yourself. - **Value for money: C.** The software is free, but only if you host it yourself, which needs a server. Premium support and the Web API plugin are sold separately, with prices we couldn't read. - **Free plan and trial: B.** Free and open source with no sales or product caps. You pay for hosting, and there's no hosted trial. - **Features: C.** Runs on .NET with a choice of SQL Server, PostgreSQL or MySQL, web farm support, plugins, themes and multi-factor sign-in. The REST API is a separate plugin. - **Ease of use: D.** No store rating on record. You install, host, update and secure it yourself, which assumes technical skill. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, running on Windows, Linux or Mac with Docker. A plugin and theme marketplace and a REST plugin connect other services. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from nopCommerce's own pages on 12 November 2026, read from the project's GitHub page because its own site blocked the check. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among online store builders - nopCommerce's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 9 of the 26 other online store builders we grade, and level with 5. - It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 14 of 26) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0). - nopCommerce has no paid plan. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/online-stores ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** nopCommerce is free, so making your own would save you nothing. And it is not the kind of software a weekend replaces. - You could not: Checkout, card payments and sales tax handled for you. - You could not: It plugs into other products, Docker, Microsoft Azure and PostgreSQL among them, and has an API. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Docker, Microsoft Azure, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server **Tags:** Online store, Open source, Self-hostable, Public API ## Alternatives - [OpenCart](https://toolgpa.com/tools/opencart): Free open-source shopping cart you host yourself. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/nopcommerce-vs-opencart) - [Shopware](https://toolgpa.com/tools/shopware): Open-source commerce platform for B2B and B2C stores. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/nopcommerce-vs-shopware) - [PrestaShop](https://toolgpa.com/tools/prestashop): Open-source ecommerce software, free to self-host or sold hosted. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/nopcommerce-vs-prestashop) - [WooCommerce](https://toolgpa.com/tools/woocommerce): Free, open-source store plugin for WordPress that you host yourself. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/nopcommerce-vs-woocommerce) - [BigCommerce](https://toolgpa.com/tools/bigcommerce): Hosted ecommerce platform with plans set by yearly sales. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/bigcommerce-vs-nopcommerce) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026: - https://github.com/nopSolutions/nopCommerce Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/nopcommerce Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).