5 Best Alternatives to commercetools in 2026
By Noahlast updated
From our data: Only one of the five listed alternatives (Medusa) reports a free tier; among the four alternatives with a published starting price (Medusa $0, Salesforce $25/user/month, BigCommerce $29/month, Shopify $39/month), the median starting price is $27/month, while commercetools and Adobe Commerce both publish no list price at all.
Adobe Commerce (Magento)
Medusa
Shopify
BigCommerceHow we picked
- Ranking draws on verified pricing dates: Medusa, Shopify, Salesforce, and BigCommerce all carry recorded pricing-verification dates from live pricing pages, while Adobe Commerce's published pricing carries no verification timestamp and commercetools itself has none either, since both are quote-based products.
- External review-platform ratings anchored the ordering: Shopify leads at 4.5/5 from 6,707 Capterra reviews, the largest review volume of any product compared here, ahead of Salesforce's 4.4/5 from 18,803 reviews, Adobe Commerce's 4.3/5 from 661 reviews, and BigCommerce's 4.4/5 from 340 reviews.
- Free-tier and self-hosting availability was weighted since commercetools itself has no permanently free tier, only a 60-day trial: Medusa is the only alternative here with a genuinely free, self-hostable open-source core (MIT-licensed), while Adobe Commerce, Shopify, Salesforce, and BigCommerce all require payment from day one beyond trial periods.
- Pricing transparency was tracked explicitly: commercetools and Adobe Commerce publish no list prices at all, while Medusa, Shopify, Salesforce, and BigCommerce all publish self-serve starting prices ($0, $39, $25, and $29/month respectively), a meaningful differentiator for buyers who want to estimate cost before a sales call.
Paid placement never alters editorial rank — read the full methodology.
commercetools alternatives at a glance
| Alternative | Best for | Standout | Biggest weakness | Learning curve | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| commercetoolsreference | large enterprise retailers running unified B2C and B2B commerce across web, mobile, in-store, and AI shopping channels who need a fully custom frontend | MosAIc and AI Hub extend the commerce API layer to agent-driven shopping channels like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot, alongside traditional headless storefront and POS integration | No public pricing at all — every deployment requires a sales conversation and typically a systems integrator, which makes commercetools impractical for small or mid-market merchants who want to evaluate cost before committing engineering time. | Steep | Custom pricing |
| Adobe Commerce (Magento) | large B2B and B2C retailers running multi-brand or multi-region storefronts who need custom catalogs, negotiated pricing, and dedicated infrastructure | Combines B2B and B2C selling in a single platform, with custom catalogs, account hierarchies, and negotiated pricing for wholesale buyers alongside a standard retail storefront. | No published pricing anywhere on Adobe's site; every deal requires a sales quote, and Capterra reviewers report slow project launches, high development and agency costs, and heavy reliance on specialized Magento developers, especially for teams without in-house commerce expertise. | Steep | Custom pricing |
| Medusa | developer teams building custom B2B, B2C, or marketplace commerce storefronts that need more control than templated platforms like Shopify allow | Charges no GMV-based fee or per-transaction commerce tax on any Cloud tier, unlike many hosted commerce platforms that take a cut of sales alongside infrastructure fees. | Medusa requires real developer investment to configure and extend — it is a toolkit rather than a ready-made storefront — and the Enterprise Edition's additional features sit behind a separate, non-public commercial license agreement rather than a fixed published price. | Steep | Free tier · paid from $29/mo |
| Shopify | solo entrepreneurs and growing merchants who want an all-in-one hosted platform for building an online store, accepting payments, and selling across multiple channels without managing their own hosting | A fully hosted, all-in-one platform combining storefront builder, high-converting checkout (Shop Pay), inventory, and multichannel selling (social, marketplaces, in-person POS), backed by a 21,000+ app ecosystem. | Card processing rates and third-party app costs stack on top of the base subscription, and reviewers say total cost climbs quickly once apps, themes, and higher-tier shipping discounts are added; using a payment processor other than Shopify Payments also adds extra transaction fees on top of the plan price. | Moderate | From $39/mo |
| BigCommerce | mid-market and enterprise merchants who want headless API access and payment-processor choice built into every tier instead of paying per-app to unlock them | Open SaaS architecture bundles headless commerce APIs, multi-currency checkout, and payment-processor choice into every plan, and waives its platform fee entirely when merchants use an approved payment partner. | Plans are capped by trailing-twelve-month GMV and auto-upgrade as a store grows, and routing payments through a non-approved processor adds a 2.0% (Core) to 0.6% (Scale) fee on top of the processor's own rate. | Moderate | From $29/mo |
| Salesforce | mid-market to enterprise sales teams that need a highly customizable CRM with pipeline management, forecasting, and AI-driven automation, and can dedicate admin resources to configuring it | Deep customization of objects, workflows, and reporting combined with Agentforce AI automation and the largest CRM integration ecosystem (Slack, Tableau, thousands of AppExchange apps). | Pricing climbs steeply across tiers, from $25/user/month at Starter Suite to $550/user/month for the fully AI-enabled Agentforce 1 plan, and Pro Suite and above require annual billing commitments; reviewers consistently describe onboarding and admin training as extensive and time-consuming, and the platform's customization depth often requires a dedicated Salesforce admin to maintain properly. | Steep | From $25/mo |
commercetools
Salesforce1.Adobe Commerce (Magento) — best commercetools alternative for large B2B and B2C retailers running multi-brand or multi-region storefronts who need custom catalogs, negotiated pricing, and dedicated infrastructure
Adobe Commerce (Magento) is the best commercetools alternative for large B2B and B2C retailers who want an established, ecosystem-backed commerce platform rather than a purely API-first system. Like commercetools, Adobe Commerce publishes no list prices at all — every deployment requires a custom sales quote — but Adobe Commerce has a decade-plus ecosystem of developers, agencies, and Magento-specific extensions behind it, and it holds a 4.3/5 rating from 661 Capterra reviews, far more review volume than commercetools' 4.6/5 from just 17 reviews. Adobe Commerce supports both B2C and B2B selling in one platform, including custom catalogs and negotiated pricing for wholesale buyers, matching commercetools' own unified B2C/B2B pitch, and it offers deployment flexibility between multi-tenant SaaS and single-tenant PaaS. commercetools is still the better choice for retailers who specifically need a purely headless, API-first architecture across web, mobile, in-store, and AI shopping channels: Adobe Commerce ships with a more monolithic default storefront, and reviewers report expensive, slow implementations that typically require specialized Magento developers, while commercetools' MosAIc and AI Hub extend its API layer to conversational and agent-driven shopping channels in a way Adobe Commerce doesn't specifically address.
Compared to commercetools: much larger developer and agency ecosystem built up over more than a decade, 4.3/5 rating from 661 Capterra reviews vs commercetools' 4.6/5 from just 17, combines B2B and B2C selling with negotiated wholesale pricing in one platform
Wins:A decade-plus ecosystem of Magento developers, agencies, extensions, and themes, larger than commercetools' comparatively newer ecosystem · 4.3/5 rating from 661 Capterra reviews, far more review volume than commercetools' 4.6/5 from just 17 reviews · Deployment flexibility between multi-tenant SaaS and single-tenant PaaS depending on infrastructure needs
Loses:More monolithic default storefront rather than commercetools' purely headless, API-first architecture · Reviewers report expensive, slow implementations that typically require specialized Magento developers or an agency · No dedicated equivalent to commercetools' MosAIc and AI Hub for agent-driven, conversational shopping channels
Pros
- Handles B2B and B2C selling models in one platform, including custom catalogs and negotiated pricing for wholesale accounts.
- Large ecosystem of Magento developers, agencies, extensions, and themes built up over more than a decade.
- Scales to high order volumes with multi-site and multi-brand storefront support.
- Deployment flexibility between multi-tenant SaaS and single-tenant PaaS depending on infrastructure needs.
Cons
- No published pricing; every deployment requires a custom sales quote from Adobe.
- Reviewers report expensive, slow implementations that typically require specialized developers or an agency.
- Resource-intensive platform that can suffer performance and SEO issues without ongoing optimization work.
- Steep learning curve and heavy IT dependency make it a poor fit for businesses without dedicated technical staff.
Pricing: Custom pricing — Custom quote only (Adobe Commerce) vs custom quote only (commercetools) — neither publishes list prices
2.Medusa — best commercetools alternative for developer teams building custom B2B, B2C, or marketplace commerce storefronts that need more control than templated platforms like Shopify allow
Medusa is the best commercetools alternative for developer teams who want an open-source, self-hostable commerce toolkit instead of a fully custom-quoted enterprise contract. Medusa's core is MIT-licensed and free to self-host, with Medusa Cloud starting at just $29/month for zero-config managed infrastructure, a published, self-serve price point commercetools doesn't offer at all — commercetools publishes no pricing and requires a sales conversation for every deployment. Medusa has 35,900+ GitHub stars and charges no GMV-based fee or per-transaction commerce tax on any Cloud tier, and it ships AI-enabled development tooling, including an MCP server and agentic skills, for teams building agentic commerce storefronts, a similar direction to commercetools' own MosAIc and AI Hub. commercetools is still the better choice for the largest enterprise retailers: it reports over 550 customers processing more than $110 billion in annualized GMV, a scale of proven enterprise deployment Medusa's newer ecosystem hasn't matched, and commercetools' vendor-managed infrastructure and support contracts fit organizations that don't want to operate or extend commerce logic themselves the way Medusa's toolkit requires.
Compared to commercetools: MIT-licensed core free to self-host, published self-serve Cloud pricing starting at $29/month vs commercetools' quote-only model, no GMV-based fee or commerce tax on any Cloud tier
Wins:MIT-licensed core is free to self-host, with no equivalent free option from commercetools · Medusa Cloud publishes self-serve pricing starting at $29/month, vs commercetools' fully custom, quote-only pricing · No GMV-based fee or per-transaction commerce tax on any Cloud tier
Loses:Requires real developer investment to configure and extend — a toolkit, not a ready-made enterprise deployment · Has not matched commercetools' proven scale: commercetools reports 550+ enterprise customers and over $110B in annualized GMV · Enterprise Edition features require a separate, non-public commercial license agreement, similar to commercetools' own opacity at that tier
Pros
- MIT-licensed core is free to self-host with no feature gating on the open-source codebase itself.
- No GMV-based fee or commerce tax on any Medusa Cloud plan, unlike hosted platforms that take a percentage of sales.
- Deep customization for complex commerce needs: multi-warehouse inventory, multi-region pricing, B2B and marketplace support.
- 35,900+ GitHub stars and an active open-source community, plus AI-agent tooling (MCP server, agentic skills) for teams building agentic commerce.
Cons
- Requires real developer resources to configure; it's a commerce toolkit, not a point-and-click store builder like Shopify.
- Enterprise Edition features require a separate, non-public commercial license agreement rather than transparent published pricing.
- Cloud Develop's entry tier caps compute hours and edge requests, so active stores may need to move to Launch or Scale quickly.
- Smaller third-party app/theme marketplace than Shopify, meaning more custom development for integrations.
Pricing: Free tier · paid from $29/mo — $0 self-hosted or $29/month (Medusa Cloud Develop) vs custom quote only (commercetools) (verified undefined NaN, NaN)
3.Shopify — best commercetools alternative for solo entrepreneurs and growing merchants who want an all-in-one hosted platform for building an online store, accepting payments, and selling across multiple channels without managing their own hosting
Shopify is the best commercetools alternative for solo entrepreneurs and growing merchants who want to launch a store today, at a published price, without months of implementation or a systems integrator. Shopify's Basic plan starts at $39/month ($29/month billed annually) with self-serve signup, a stark contrast to commercetools, which publishes no pricing at all and requires a sales conversation for every deployment. Shopify holds a 4.5/5 rating from 6,707 Capterra reviews, by far the largest review volume of any product compared here, and its 21,000+ app ecosystem lets merchants extend functionality without custom development, unlike commercetools' fully custom-built frontend requirement. Even Shopify's most complex tier, Plus, has a published starting price of $2,300/month, still more transparent than commercetools' unpublished enterprise contracts. commercetools is still the better choice for large enterprise retailers that need a purely headless, API-first architecture spanning web, mobile, in-store POS, and AI shopping channels with full custom control: Shopify's storefront customization runs through its proprietary Liquid templating language and app marketplace rather than commercetools' unrestricted API layer, and non-Shopify-Payments transactions incur extra processing fees on every plan.
Compared to commercetools: published self-serve pricing starting at $39/month vs commercetools' quote-only model, 4.5/5 rating from 6,707 Capterra reviews, 21,000+ app ecosystem for extending functionality without custom development
Wins:Published, self-serve pricing starting at $39/month, no sales call required, vs commercetools' fully custom quote-only model · 4.5/5 rating from 6,707 Capterra reviews, the largest review volume of any product compared here · 21,000+ app ecosystem lets merchants extend functionality without custom development
Loses:Storefront customization runs through Shopify's proprietary Liquid templating language rather than commercetools' unrestricted API layer · Non-Shopify-Payments transactions incur extra processing fees on every plan · Less suited to large, multi-region B2B/B2C retailers needing fully custom frontends across AI shopping channels, commercetools' specific focus
Pros
- Quick to launch an online store without managing hosting or server infrastructure.
- Reliable, high-converting built-in checkout (Shop Pay) and payment processing.
- Large app ecosystem (21,000+ apps) for extending functionality without custom development.
- Multichannel selling built in across social platforms, marketplaces, and in-person POS.
Cons
- Third-party apps and premium themes add up quickly beyond the base subscription price.
- Non-Shopify Payments processors incur extra transaction fees on every plan.
- Customizing beyond templates requires learning Shopify's proprietary Liquid templating language.
- Plus tier jumps to $2,300+/month, a large gap from Advanced's $399/month.
Pricing: From $39/mo — $39/month (Shopify Basic) vs custom quote only (commercetools) (verified undefined NaN, NaN)
4.BigCommerce — best commercetools alternative for mid-market and enterprise merchants who want headless API access and payment-processor choice built into every tier instead of paying per-app to unlock them
BigCommerce is the best commercetools alternative for mid-market merchants who want headless commerce APIs built into every plan without negotiating a custom enterprise contract first. BigCommerce's Core plan starts at $29/month billed annually with headless API access, multi-currency support, and payment-processor choice included at every tier rather than gated behind add-ons, a published starting price commercetools doesn't offer at all. BigCommerce holds a 4.4/5 rating from 340 Capterra reviews, and it waives its platform fee entirely when merchants use an approved payment partner, unlike Shopify's extra fee for non-Shopify Payments processors. Plans auto-upgrade automatically as trailing-twelve-month sales grow, from Core through Growth and Scale, without requiring a new sales conversation the way commercetools does at every stage. commercetools is still the better choice for the largest enterprise retailers: BigCommerce's plans are capped by GMV thresholds (Scale tops out around $1M TTM sales with overage fees above that), while commercetools reports customers processing over $110 billion in annualized GMV with unified B2C and B2B selling and no GMV-based ceiling on its custom enterprise architecture.
Compared to commercetools: published self-serve pricing starting at $29/month vs commercetools' quote-only model, headless API access and payment-processor choice included at every tier, waives its platform fee entirely with an approved payment partner
Wins:Published, self-serve pricing starting at $29/month, no sales conversation required, unlike commercetools' quote-only model · Headless API access, multi-currency support, and payment-processor choice included at every tier rather than sold separately · Waives its platform fee entirely when merchants use an approved payment partner
Loses:Plans are capped by trailing-twelve-month GMV and auto-upgrade as a store grows, unlike commercetools' uncapped custom architecture · Has not published proven scale comparable to commercetools' reported $110B+ in annualized customer GMV · Smaller third-party app and theme ecosystem than Shopify's marketplace
Pros
- Headless commerce APIs, multi-currency support, and single-page checkout are included at every tier rather than sold as separate apps.
- Payment-processor choice avoids the extra fee Shopify charges for using a non-Shopify Payments processor.
- Built-in Feedonomics integration pushes listings to Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Google, Meta, and TikTok from one dashboard.
- No long-term contract required on Core, Growth, or Scale; cancel month-to-month.
Cons
- GMV-based tier ceilings force automatic upgrades as sales grow, regardless of how many features a merchant actually needs.
- Scale plan adds a 0.9% overage fee on GMV above $33,333/month even for merchants who stay on approved payment partners.
- Smaller third-party app and theme ecosystem than Shopify's marketplace.
- Performance-tier custom pricing requires a sales conversation rather than transparent self-service checkout.
Pricing: From $29/mo — $29/month (BigCommerce Core) vs custom quote only (commercetools) (verified undefined NaN, NaN)
5.Salesforce — best commercetools alternative for mid-market to enterprise sales teams that need a highly customizable CRM with pipeline management, forecasting, and AI-driven automation, and can dedicate admin resources to configuring it
Salesforce is listed here because Salesforce is the company behind Salesforce Commerce Cloud, one of the platforms commercetools names as a direct competitor — but the pricing and features documented in this listing describe Salesforce's Sales Cloud CRM product specifically, not Commerce Cloud, so a head-to-head commerce-platform comparison isn't possible from this data. What Salesforce Sales Cloud does offer is a highly customizable CRM for managing leads, accounts, opportunities, and forecasting, with Agentforce AI automation layered on top; pricing runs from $25/user/month at Starter Suite up to $550/user/month for the fully AI-enabled Agentforce 1 plan, a published, self-serve starting price commercetools doesn't offer at any tier. Salesforce Sales Cloud holds a 4.4/5 rating from 18,803 Capterra reviews, the largest review volume of any product on this list. For an actual commerce platform — product catalog, cart, checkout, and order management for a storefront — commercetools remains the relevant choice, or Salesforce's own Commerce Cloud product specifically, which isn't the one documented here; Salesforce Sales Cloud alone has no storefront, catalog, or checkout functionality of its own.
Compared to commercetools: Salesforce Sales Cloud is a CRM product, not a commerce/storefront engine, published self-serve pricing from $25/user/month vs commercetools' quote-only model, 4.4/5 rating from 18,803 Capterra reviews
Wins:Published, self-serve pricing starting at $25/user/month, unlike commercetools' fully custom quote-only model · 4.4/5 rating from 18,803 Capterra reviews, the largest review volume of any product compared here · Agentforce AI automation for lead qualification and case routing built into higher tiers
Loses:No product catalog, cart, checkout, or order-management functionality of its own — it is a CRM, not a commerce engine · Pricing climbs steeply to $550/user/month at the top Agentforce 1 tier · Reviewers describe onboarding and admin training as extensive and time-consuming
Pros
- Highly customizable objects, workflows, and reporting for complex sales processes.
- Deep integration ecosystem, including native Slack and Tableau integration plus thousands of AppExchange apps.
- AI-powered forecasting, deal insights, and Agentforce automation on higher tiers.
- Scales from small-team Starter Suite up through enterprise-grade Unlimited and Agentforce 1 plans.
Cons
- Pricing rises sharply across tiers, reaching $550/user/month for the top AI-enabled plan.
- Pro Suite and above require annual billing, reducing flexibility for growing teams.
- Steep learning curve; reviewers describe admin training as extensive and time-consuming.
- Deep customization often requires a dedicated Salesforce admin to configure and maintain.
Pricing: From $25/mo — $25/user/month (Salesforce Starter Suite) vs custom quote only (commercetools) — though Salesforce Sales Cloud is a CRM, not a comparable commerce platform (verified undefined NaN, NaN)
Which one is right for you?
- You're a large B2B/B2C retailer running multi-brand or multi-region storefronts and want an established ecosystem.Adobe Commerce (Magento)
- You want an open-source commerce toolkit you can self-host for free before paying for managed infrastructure.Medusa
- You're a solo entrepreneur or small merchant who wants to launch a store today at a published price.Shopify
- You need CRM, sales pipeline, and AI-driven automation, not a storefront engine.Salesforce
- You're a mid-market merchant who wants headless APIs and payment-processor choice without a custom contract.BigCommerce
- You want to avoid any GMV-based fee or commerce tax on your hosting plan.Medusa
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free alternative to commercetools?
- Medusa is the closest: its core is MIT-licensed and free to self-host, though its managed Medusa Cloud starts at $29/month. commercetools itself has no permanent free tier, only a 60-day free trial.
What is the closest alternative to commercetools?
- Adobe Commerce (Magento) is the closest match architecturally, combining B2C and B2B selling in one platform for large enterprise retailers and, like commercetools, publishing no list prices at all. Both require a custom sales quote for every deployment.
Can Shopify replace commercetools?
- Shopify can replace commercetools for merchants who don't need a fully custom, headless architecture, offering a published starting price of $39/month and a 21,000+ app ecosystem. commercetools remains the better fit for large enterprises that need unrestricted API access across web, mobile, in-store, and AI shopping channels.
Why is Salesforce listed as a commercetools alternative?
- Salesforce is the company behind Salesforce Commerce Cloud, a product commercetools names as a direct competitor, but the pricing and features documented in this listing describe Salesforce's Sales Cloud CRM product specifically. Sales Cloud has no product catalog, cart, or checkout functionality of its own.
Is Medusa a good alternative to commercetools for developers?
- Yes — Medusa's core is MIT-licensed and free to self-host, with 35,900+ GitHub stars and no GMV-based fee on any Cloud tier, making it a lower-cost entry point for developer teams than commercetools' quote-only pricing.
Does BigCommerce publish pricing the way commercetools doesn't?
- Yes — BigCommerce publishes self-serve starting prices from $29/month at every tier, while commercetools requires a sales conversation for every deployment and publishes no list prices at all.