Medusa
Saleor
| Feature | Medusa | Saleor |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free only | Free / from $300/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.4 / 5 | 4.2 / 5 |
| Best For | developer-teams, custom-commerce, headless-commerce, multi-region-stores | developer-teams, enterprise-ecommerce, multi-channel-retailers, graphql-enthusiasts |
| Founded | 2021 | 2018 |
| Headless Api | ✓ | ✗ |
| Multi Region | ✓ | ✗ |
| Plugins | ✓ | ✗ |
| Admin Dashboard | ✓ | ✗ |
| Payment Providers | ✓ | ✗ |
| Fulfillment | ✓ | ✗ |
| Tax Engine | ✓ | ✗ |
| Graphql Api | ✗ | ✓ |
| Multi Channel | ✗ | ✓ |
| Dashboard | ✗ | ✓ |
| Webhooks | ✗ | ✓ |
| Apps System | ✗ | ✓ |
| Warehouse Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Promotions Engine | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Medusa Pros
- Fully open-source and developer-friendly
- Headless architecture for any frontend framework
- Built-in multi-region and multi-currency support
- Modular design allows replacing any component
✗ Medusa Cons
- Requires development resources to set up
- Newer platform with smaller ecosystem
- No visual store builder for non-developers
✓ Saleor Pros
- GraphQL API-first architecture for modern frontends
- Enterprise features in free open-source edition
- Strong multi-channel commerce capabilities
- Built-in dashboard with excellent UX
✗ Saleor Cons
- Cloud hosting is expensive for startups
- Smaller community than Shopify/WooCommerce
- Self-hosting requires Python/Django expertise
The Verdict
Medusa is built for developer teams and custom commerce, with a focus on headless-api and multi-region. Saleor targets developer teams and enterprise ecommerce and leads with graphql-api and multi-channel.
Medusa uses custom enterprise pricing, while Saleor starts at $300/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Both tools are a solid fit for developer teams — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.