head to head · open source
Medusa vs Smartstore
Medusa has 36,356 GitHub stars, 5,260 forks, 194 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Smartstore has 1,520 stars, 588 forks, 530 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Medusa leads on adoption by 2,292% (36,356 vs 1,520 stars). Medusa is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Smartstore is written in C# under AGPL-3.0. Medusa has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, Smartstore 39%. Smartstore was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Medusa | Smartstore | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 36K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C# |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.3K | ⑂ 588 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Medusa if
- You weight community size — 36K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Smartstore if
- You want the Smartstore feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and Smartstore fits your workflow better
About Medusa
Medusa is an open source e commerce framework built with Node.js and TypeScript that enables developers to construct custom commerce applications without rebuilding core commerce logic. It provides modular, pluggable backend services for products, orders, inventory, payments, and customer management, all exposed via REST and GraphQL APIs. Medusa lives in the JavaScript/Node.js ecosystem and targets developers who need full control over their storefronts and business logic while relying on battle tested, open source primitives.
read the full Medusa overview →
About Smartstore
Smartstore is an open source, all in one eCommerce platform built on the ASP.NET Core ecosystem. It uses ASP.NET Core 10, Entity Framework Core 10, Vue.js, Sass, and Bootstrap to provide a modular storefront, product catalog, content tools, and shop management interface.
read the full Smartstore overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Medusa or Smartstore more popular?
Medusa has 36,356 GitHub stars and Smartstore has 1,520. Medusa has the larger community by that measure.
Are Medusa and Smartstore free?
Both are open source. Medusa has no licence declared in this registry, and Smartstore is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Medusa and Smartstore?
Medusa is written in TypeScript and Smartstore in C#. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Medusa or Smartstore?
Choose Medusa if you want the larger community (36,356 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Smartstore if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.