# Zen Cart review (2026): is it any good? > Free open-source PHP shopping cart you host yourself Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Zen Cart is a free, open-source ecommerce application written in PHP that store owners upload to their own web server. Its project says it was the first open-source ecommerce application to be fully PA-DSS certified. Support comes from a community forum, and the code lives in a public GitHub repository. - **Category:** Online Store Builders - **Made by:** Zen Cart - **Website:** https://www.zen-cart.com - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you want a hosted store that someone else keeps patched. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Zen Cart is free to use. - **Pricing model:** Free - **Free plan:** None. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Zen Cart | $0 | Free and open-source software that you download and install on your own server; hosting is your own cost. | Read from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zencart/zencart/master/README.md on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Zen Cart before buying. ## Key features - **Full-function shopping cart:** The project describes Zen Cart as a full-function ecommerce application for a website, with storefront and admin back end. - **PA-DSS certified version:** The project says version 1.5.4 was PA-DSS certified, and later releases build on it with PHP 8 updates. - **Self-installed from a zip:** The install is a download, an upload to a web server and a browser-based setup that asks a few questions. - **Community support:** Free community-driven support runs on the project's forums, with an implementation guide and online documentation. - **Open code on GitHub:** Source code, issues and pull requests are public, and developers can fork the repository to contribute. ## Good for - Store owners comfortable with PHP hosting who want a no-license-fee cart - Developers who want to modify an open-source shopping cart - Existing Zen Cart shops staying on a familiar platform ## Worth knowing - You provide the web server, and the project's own guide tells owners to secure the site for PCI compliance themselves. - Support is community-driven through forums, with no paid plan listed in the pages we read. - The project's own site was behind a bot check when we read it, so details here come from its GitHub readme. - Version 3.0 is in development, so the current release and upgrade path may differ from the pages we read. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.0 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Zen Cart is a free, open-source PHP shopping cart that you install on your own server. It does the basic cart job, but you secure it for PCI yourself, support is forums only, and the project site was behind a bot check when we looked. - **Value for money: C.** Free to download, but only free if you host it, which means paying for a server. That puts it in the middle. - **Free plan and trial: B.** No cap on the software and no ads, but hosting is on you and there's no hosted trial. - **Features: C.** A full-function cart with a PCI-certified version on offer. No built-in marketplace, subscriptions or headless side is listed. - **Ease of use: D.** No rating on record. You install it from a zip on your own server and look after it. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** Web only, with open code on GitHub. No apps and no integration list. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Zen Cart's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among online store builders - Zen Cart's GPA of 2.0 is higher than 29 of the 80 other online store builders we grade, and level with 13. - It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 55 of 80) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0). - Zen Cart has no paid plan. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 1.7 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.** Zen Cart 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. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. **Tags:** Online store, Open source, Self-hostable ## Alternatives - [OpenCart](https://toolgpa.com/tools/opencart): Free open-source shopping cart you host yourself. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/opencart-vs-zen-cart) - [PrestaShop](https://toolgpa.com/tools/prestashop): Open-source ecommerce software, free to self-host or sold hosted. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/prestashop-vs-zen-cart) - [WooCommerce](https://toolgpa.com/tools/woocommerce): Free, open-source store plugin for WordPress that you host yourself. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/woocommerce-vs-zen-cart) - [nopCommerce](https://toolgpa.com/tools/nopcommerce): Free open-source ASP.NET Core shopping cart. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/nopcommerce-vs-zen-cart) - [CS-Cart](https://toolgpa.com/tools/cs-cart): Self-hosted store and multi-vendor marketplace software. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cs-cart-vs-zen-cart) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zencart/zencart/master/README.md - https://github.com/zencart/zencart Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/zen-cart Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).