head to head · open source
Shopware vs Smartstore
Shopware has 3,425 GitHub stars, 1,211 forks, 1,356 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Smartstore has 1,521 stars, 587 forks, 530 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Shopware leads on adoption by 125% (3,425 vs 1,521 stars). Shopware is written in PHP under MIT; Smartstore is written in C# under AGPL-3.0. Shopware has attracted 35% 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
| Shopware | Smartstore | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.4K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | PHP | C# |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.2K | ⑂ 587 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Shopware if
- You weight community size — 3.4K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- 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 Shopware
Shopware 6 is an open source ecommerce platform for modern businesses. It lives in the PHP ecosystem, is based on Symfony 7 and Vue.js 3, and is described as an open headless commerce platform used by thousands of shops. The project is not only a ready to use shop application; it is also presented as an ecommerce framework that teams can extend or reuse.
read the full Shopware 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 Shopware or Smartstore more popular?
Shopware has 3,425 GitHub stars and Smartstore has 1,521. Shopware has the larger community by that measure.
Are Shopware and Smartstore free?
Both are open source. Shopware is licensed under MIT and Smartstore under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Shopware and Smartstore?
Shopware is written in PHP 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, Shopware or Smartstore?
Choose Shopware if you want the larger community (3,425 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Smartstore if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.