Medusa vs Shopware: which fits your store?

Last verified 2026-08-29

Medusa and Shopware are both ecommerce platform tools compared here on pricing verified 2026-08-29, published plans, App Store standing, and themes from recent merchant reviews. Shopware starts cheaper (≈ $14/mo vs $29/mo); Shopware has a free tier, Medusa does not. — auto-generated from tracked data; editorial verdict pending.

How do Medusa and Shopware compare?

	Medusa	Shopware
App Store rating	—	—
Price from	$29/mo	≈ $14/mo
Free tier	✗ no	✓ yes
Published plans	4	9
Data confidence	high	high

What would you actually pay?

Medusa plans

Plan	Monthly	Limits / notes
Develop	$29	Includes 1M edge requests/month, 1,000 emails/month (hard limit), 1 LLE, 1 preview environment, 600 compute hours/month capped, 10 GB data transfer, 10 GB-month object storage, 1 GB-month database storage, 300 build minutes, 1 GB logs, and 1 cloud seat. Overage/add-ons: edge requests $0.30/1M; additional LLE $60/month; preview environment $10/month; data transfer $0.125/GB; object storage $0.025/GB-month; database storage $0.50/GB-month; build time $0.014/minute; logs $0.50/GB; cloud seats $30/seat/month.
Launch	$99	Includes 5M edge requests/month, 10,000 emails/month then $0.70/1,000 emails, 1 LLE, 3 preview environments, 1,000 compute hours/month then $0.16/hour, 40 GB data transfer, 10 GB-month object storage, 5 GB-month database storage, 500 build minutes, 250 MB key-value storage, 10 GB logs, and 1 cloud seat. Overage/add-ons: edge requests $0.30/1M; LLE $60/month; preview environment $10/month; data transfer $0.125/GB; object storage $0.025/GB-month; database storage $0.50/GB-month; build time $0.014/minute; key-value storage $100/5 GB; logs $0.50/GB; cloud seats $30/seat/month.
Scale	$299	Includes 10M edge requests/month, 25,000 emails/month then $0.70/1,000 emails, 1 LLE, 5 preview environments, 2,800 compute hours/month then $0.16/hour, 100 GB data transfer, 10 GB-month object storage, 10 GB-month database storage, 1,000 build minutes, 250 MB key-value storage, 10 GB logs, and 3 cloud seats. Overage/add-ons: edge requests $0.30/1M; LLE $60/month; preview environment $10/month; data transfer $0.125/GB; object storage $0.025/GB-month; database storage $0.50/GB-month; build time $0.014/minute; key-value storage $100/5 GB; logs $0.50/GB; cloud seats $30/seat/month; log drains $50/month.
Enterprise	—	Custom limits and pricing for edge requests, emails, environments, compute, transfer, storage, build minutes, key-value storage, logs, and cloud seats.

Prices are shown in USD. No annual pricing is displayed; plans are billed monthly in advance, with usage overages from the prior month added to the next invoice.

Verified 2026-08-29 from vendor pricing page.

Shopware plans

Plan	Monthly	Limits / notes
Shopware Community Edition	—	Free open-source, MIT-licensed, self-hosted edition; setup and maintenance are the user's responsibility.
Shopware Rise	≈ $697	Price is based on GMV and other individual factors.
Shopware Evolve	≈ $2789	Price is based on GMV and other individual factors.
Shopware Beyond	—	Custom pricing based on GMV and other individual factors.
Shopware Intelligence+ for Community Edition	$29	Unlimited usage is subject to fair-use controls. Bookings by July 31, 2026 retain unlimited usage through the applicable subscription period up to and including September 2026; afterward the offering transitions to a non-unlimited model.
Shopware Intelligence+ for Rise, Evolve, and Beyond	$19	Unlimited usage is subject to fair-use controls. Bookings by July 31, 2026 retain unlimited usage through the applicable subscription period up to and including September 2026; afterward the offering transitions to a non-unlimited model.
Shopware Nexus Early Access	≈ $14	Free introductory phase planned until October 2026, with a non-binding review threshold of 10,000 requests per customer per calendar month. Future beta pricing includes a plan-dependent free monthly execution allowance, then €12 per 1,000 executions beyond the allowance.
Shopware PaaS	—	Individualized custom pricing; contact Shopware for details.
Consulting Services	—	Available on demand for a time-and-materials fee.

≈ prices converted from EUR at 1.1622 (ECB, 2026-09-07).

The page displays core plan prices in EUR and states that prices exclude statutory VAT. Shopware Intelligence+ is shown in both EUR in the pricing cards and USD in the comparison table; no currency conversion was performed. Nexus future overage pricing is €12 per 1,000 executions.

Verified 2026-08-29 from vendor pricing page.

FAQ

Which is cheaper, Medusa or Shopware?

Shopware starts lower at ≈ $14/mo, vs $29/mo for Medusa (verified 2026-08-29).

Does Medusa or Shopware have a free plan?

Shopware has a free tier; Medusa does not publish one.

Which is rated higher on the Shopify App Store?

App Store ratings are shown in the table above where available.

How we compare: pricing and plans are collected automatically from vendor pages on a schedule and shown with verification dates; ratings come from the Shopify App Store; merchant sentiment is synthesized from the most recent App Store reviews (paraphrased, never quoted). We currently have no affiliate relationship with either vendor. Found an error? The data snapshot behind this page is dated — check the vendor's page for same-day changes.

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