head to head · open source
WooCommerce vs Shopware
WooCommerce has 10,518 GitHub stars, 10,674 forks, 1,638 open issues and last shipped today. Shopware has 3,425 stars, 1,211 forks, 1,356 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. WooCommerce leads on adoption by 207% (10,518 vs 3,425 stars). WooCommerce is written in PHP under a custom or non-standard licence; Shopware is written in PHP under MIT. WooCommerce has attracted 101% as many forks as stars, Shopware 35%. WooCommerce was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (ecommerce, ecommerce-platform, hacktoberfest), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| WooCommerce | Shopware | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 11K | ★ 3.4K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | PHP | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick WooCommerce if
- You weight community size — 11K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Shopware if
- You want the Shopware feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and Shopware fits your workflow better
About WooCommerce
WooCommerce is an open source ecommerce platform built on WordPress. It lives in the WordPress ecosystem, where a website owner can add commerce functionality through a plugin. The project is described as customizable and positioned as an open alternative to Shopify.
read the full WooCommerce overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is WooCommerce or Shopware more popular?
WooCommerce has 10,518 GitHub stars and Shopware has 3,425. WooCommerce has the larger community by that measure.
Are WooCommerce and Shopware free?
Both are open source. WooCommerce has no licence declared in this registry, and Shopware is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between WooCommerce and Shopware?
WooCommerce is written in PHP and Shopware in PHP. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, WooCommerce or Shopware?
Choose WooCommerce if you want the larger community (10,518 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Shopware if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.