# Shopware review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Open-source commerce platform for B2B and B2C stores Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA. Shopware is an open-source commerce platform for B2B and B2C stores. The free Community Edition has a visual page builder and product and order management, and paid plans add AI content tools, B2B features, support and multi-location inventory. Stores can run on Shopware's SaaS or PaaS hosting, or be self-hosted. - **Category:** Online Store Builders - **Made by:** Shopware - **Website:** https://www.shopware.com/en/ - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Pricey if you want hosted support, because Rise starts at EUR 600 a month. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 12, 2026, Shopware has a free plan, and paid plans start at €600 per month, excl. VAT (Rise plan). - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** Community Edition: no platform license fee, with a visual page builder, product and order management and community support. - **Free trial:** Rise plan: first 30 days free. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | 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. | | Beyond | Custom | Adds customer-specific pricing, multi-location inventory, Digital Sales Rooms and 24/7 priority support. Sold through sales. | Read from https://www.shopware.com/en/pricing/ on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Shopware before buying. ## Key features - **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. ## Good for - Agencies and developers who want the source code and their own hosting - B2B merchants who need quotes, approvals and customer-specific prices - Stores that want a free start with a paid support path later ## Worth knowing - 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. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.4 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. Shopware is an open-source commerce platform with a free Community Edition and hosted plans from EUR 600 a month. The free edition leaves hosting and developers to you, and the hosted plans cost many times what the typical store builder charges. - **Value for money: D.** Rise, 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: B.** The 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: B.** Page 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: C.** No store rating on record. Choosing hosting, partners and extensions is part of the work, and self-hosted stores need developers. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web only, but with an extensions marketplace and integrations such as Nosto and Shopware Payments, and SaaS, PaaS or self-hosted options. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Shopware's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among online store builders - Shopware's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 15 of the 26 other online store builders we grade, and level with 5. - It stands best on features (B, above 18 of 26) and worst on value for money (D, above 0). - Its paid plans start at about $670.32 a month, against a middle price of $29 for the category: 17 of the 18 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 4 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/online-stores ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace Shopware you would be making checkout, card payments and sales tax handled for you. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. It costs $8,043.84 a year. Shopware is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself. - You could not: Checkout, card payments and sales tax handled for you. - You could not: It plugs into other products, Nosto and Shopware Payments among them, and has an API. - You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself. - You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Nosto, Shopware Payments **Tags:** Online store, Open source, Self-hostable, AI features, Public API ## Alternatives - [commercetools](https://toolgpa.com/tools/commercetools): API-first headless commerce platform for large retailers. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/commercetools-vs-shopware) - [PrestaShop](https://toolgpa.com/tools/prestashop): Open-source ecommerce software, free to self-host or sold hosted. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/prestashop-vs-shopware) - [WooCommerce](https://toolgpa.com/tools/woocommerce): Free, open-source store plugin for WordPress that you host yourself. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/shopware-vs-woocommerce) - [BigCommerce](https://toolgpa.com/tools/bigcommerce): Hosted ecommerce platform with plans set by yearly sales. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/bigcommerce-vs-shopware) - [OpenCart](https://toolgpa.com/tools/opencart): Free open-source shopping cart you host yourself. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/opencart-vs-shopware) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026: - https://www.shopware.com/en/pricing/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/shopware Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).