Shopware and Sylius are both open-source ecommerce platforms with free community editions, but they target different buyers: Shopware is a German-built…
| Shopware | Sylius | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary category | Ecommerce | Ecommerce |
| Rating | Not documented | Not documented |
| Pricing model | Freemium open-source core plus tiered cloud/enterprise subscriptions | open-source (free Community Edition) with a paid commercial edition, Sylius Plus |
| Starting price | Free (Community Edition) | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Not documented | Not documented |
| Platforms | Web | Not documented |
| Team collaboration | Not documented | Not documented |
| AI features | Not documented | Not documented |
| Public API | Yes | Yes |
Licensing and Base Cost
Shopware: Shopware offers a free, MIT-licensed Community Edition, with paid Rise (from €600/month), Evolve (from €2,400/month), and custom-priced Beyond tiers.
Sylius: Sylius offers a free, MIT-licensed Community Edition, with a commercial Sylius Plus tier whose price is not publicly disclosed.
Shopware's paid tiers have visible starting prices, letting buyers budget in advance, while Sylius Plus requires a sales conversation to learn cost.
AI Tooling
Shopware: Shopware includes a Shopware Intelligence Copilot for AI-assisted commerce management, with a fuller AI feature set (Shopware Intelligence+) available for an extra €19–€29/month.
Sylius: Sylius's documented feature set does not mention AI-assisted tooling.
Teams wanting built-in AI assistance for merchandising or admin tasks get that natively from Shopware, whereas Sylius would require custom integration.
Architecture Approach
Shopware: Shopware bundles CMS, SEO, analytics, Flow Builder, and Rule Builder into an integrated platform with flexible self-hosted, SaaS, or PaaS deployment.
Sylius: Sylius is built as a headless, API-first framework using REST APIs via API Platform, designed to be extended and customized rather than used as an all-in-one suite.
An integrated platform reduces implementation time for standard storefronts, while a headless framework gives more control for custom or omnichannel builds.
B2B Capabilities
Shopware: Shopware offers dedicated B2B components and digital sales rooms available on its higher (Evolve/Beyond) tiers.
Sylius: Sylius supports B2B and B2C commerce natively and offers a dedicated B2B setup product called Elesto, plus a multi-vendor marketplace product called Dafre.
Both platforms address B2B selling, but through different packaging — Shopware gates B2B behind paid tiers, while Sylius offers it as a separate dedicated product.
Ecosystem and Track Record
Shopware: Shopware has a partner ecosystem of 1,200+ certified agencies and was named a Visionary in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce.
Sylius: Sylius is used by major brands including Mytheresa, Carrefour, and Jägermeister, and has a community of 7,400+ Slack developers and 700+ contributors.
Agency availability (Shopware) versus developer community depth (Sylius) affects how easy it is to staff an implementation team.
| Feature | Shopware | Sylius |
|---|---|---|
| Free open-source edition | Available | Available |
| Published starting price for paid tier | Available | Unavailable |
| Self-hosted deployment | Available | Available |
| SaaS/PaaS managed deployment | Available | Not documented |
| Feature | Shopware | Sylius |
|---|---|---|
| Built-in AI copilot | Available | Unavailable |
| Integrated CMS, SEO, analytics | Available | Not documented |
| Visual automation (Flow Builder/Rule Builder) | Available | Not documented |
| Headless REST API | Not documented | Available |
| Feature | Shopware | Sylius |
|---|---|---|
| B2B selling components | Available | Available |
| Multi-vendor marketplace | Not documented | Available |
| Omnichannel/multi-channel sales | Available | Not documented |
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
Pros
Cons
Pros
Cons
Both offer free, MIT-licensed community editions. Shopware's paid tiers (Rise from €600/month, Evolve from €2,400/month, Beyond custom) add cloud hosting and features; Sylius's paid tier, Sylius Plus, has undisclosed pricing.
Shopware includes a Shopware Intelligence Copilot, with an enhanced AI suite available for an extra €19–€29/month. Sylius's documented features do not mention AI tooling.
Sylius is built as an API-first headless framework using REST APIs via API Platform. Shopware also supports headless use cases but is positioned more as an integrated commerce suite with built-in CMS, SEO, and analytics.
Both support B2B: Shopware gates B2B components and digital sales rooms behind its Evolve and Beyond tiers, while Sylius supports B2B/B2C natively and offers a dedicated B2B product called Elesto.
Sylius is built on PHP and the Symfony framework with API Platform for its REST APIs. Shopware's underlying stack is not detailed in the available data beyond its self-hosted/SaaS/PaaS deployment options.
Shopware has 1,200+ certified agencies and Gartner Visionary recognition. Sylius has a large open-source community (7,400+ Slack members, 700+ contributors) rather than a formal certified-agency program documented in the data.