Full-featured Laravel open-source e-commerce and multi-vendor marketplace
Medusa is the developer-first alternative to Shopify. Provides modular e-commerce building blocks: cart, promotions, payment providers, inventory management, and multi-currency orders.
Recommended VPS & Hardware Sizing
Estimated Hosting: $10 - $15/mo (e.g. Hetzner CPX21 or Linode)Medusa vs Shopify Comparison Matrix
| Evaluation Criteria | Medusa (Open Source) | Shopify (Proprietary) |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction Fees | 0% (Gate fee only) | 0.5% - 2.0% cut of revenue |
| Backend Flexibility | Full TypeScript code access | Shopify closed API walls |
| Custom Database Schemas | Total schema control | Restricted metafields |
Financial Impact: Migrating from Shopify to Self-Hosted Medusa
* Excludes enterprise SSO add-ons & usage overages
* Commodity Hetzner / DigitalOcean compute instance
Compare Medusa Head-to-Head
Core Capabilities & Features
Self-Host Medusa with Docker Compose
Tweak configuration ports, secrets, and volumes live. Download or copy your ready-to-run container file:
1-Click Docker Compose Generator
Generate production-ready container definitions with customizable ports and volumes.
The open-source headless commerce platform for developers
version: "3.8"
services:
medusa:
image: medusajs/medusa:latest
ports:
- "${PORT:-9000}:9000"
environment:
DATABASE_URL: postgres://postgres:${DB_PASSWORD:-medusa_pwd}@postgres:5432/medusa
JWT_SECRET: "${JWT_SECRET:-medusa_super_secret_jwt}"
depends_on:
- postgres
- redis
restart: unless-stopped
postgres:
image: postgres:15-alpine
environment:
POSTGRES_USER: postgres
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD:-medusa_pwd}
POSTGRES_DB: medusa
volumes:
- medusa_db:/var/lib/postgresql/data
redis:
image: redis:7-alpine
volumes:
medusa_db:Frequently Asked Questions: Self-Hosting Medusa
How do I self-host Medusa using Docker Compose?
You can deploy Medusa (medusajs/medusa) on any Linux server by copying the docker-compose.yml template on this page, configuring your desired host port and persistent volume directory, and running 'docker compose up -d'.
How does Medusa compare to Shopify?
Medusa is an open-source, self-hosted alternative to Shopify built with Node.js, TypeScript, Next.js. Unlike Shopify ($39 - $399 / month + 2% transaction fee), Medusa has zero per-user licensing fees and keeps 100% of your data on your own infrastructure.
What are the minimum VPS RAM and CPU requirements for Medusa?
For production self-hosting (Medium difficulty tier), we recommend at least 4 GB RAM (minimum 2 GB), 2 vCPU, and 25 GB SSD storage, which typically costs $10 - $15/mo (e.g. Hetzner CPX21 or Linode).
Is Medusa free for commercial business use under the MIT license?
Yes. Distributed under the MIT license, Medusa can be self-hosted internally by businesses and engineering teams of any size without per-seat royalties.
Embed Official Medusa Badge in GitHub README
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