Headless commerce platforms run catalogue, cart, checkout and orders behind an API while your own frontend handles the shopfront.
This guide ranks smaller, independent vendors first and weighs developer setup effort, what the bill becomes once add-ons and limits apply, how data leaves, and whether a vendor sells without a partner.
Vendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
In short
What headless commerce platforms do
A headless commerce platform stores products, prices, carts and orders and exposes them through APIs, leaving the shopfront to a separate frontend built by the buyer.
Setup effort, true cost, data portability, exit options and buyer fit are the five tests, applied in that order to every headless commerce platform here. A challenger rule applies on top. Places 1 to 3 are kept for lesser-known vendors when the category has them; large brands rank from 4. Reasons for the choice of tests, and for skipping a score out of ten, can be read on the how we work page.
MIT-licensed commerce modules with a managed cloud for hosting them
Ranked #1 of 12 in Best Headless Commerce Platforms in 2026.
Open sourcePublished pricingElsewhere
Medusa splits commerce into modules, so a team can adopt inventory reservations or B2B promotions without taking an entire suite. The code under the MIT licence can be read and changed, while three published cloud tiers cover hosting from a small shop upward.
Watch the ceilings: the lowest tier limits email to 1,000 a month, and the third tier is the first to list Cloud seats. Enterprise Edition parts need a commercial agreement.
What stands out
MIT core
Composable modules
Agent tooling via MCP
Where it costs you
The entry cloud tier caps outgoing email at 1,000 messages monthly, which a busy shop passes quickly.
No headquarters country or owner is named anywhere, so the vendor behind the code stays vague.
Right for
Teams wanting an MIT-licensed core plus a managed host priced in public tiers
Wrong for
Buyers who need a named head office and a fixed trial
Not stated by the vendorOpen source core; managed cloud tiers published by month, cheapest one paid; Enterprise by contract
Open framework for B2B storefronts, with cloud tiers priced in euros
Ranked #2 of 12 in Best Headless Commerce Platforms in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
Vendure aims at sellers whose customers are companies: contract prices with volume breaks, approval steps on large orders, audit log and SSO sit on the feature list.
The framework costs nothing to run yourself, and the euro cloud tiers give a way to compare. The catch is timing, since the paid cloud is in closed beta, and GPLv3 terms deserve a read before you distribute changes.
What stands out
GPLv3 framework
Contract pricing
Company accounts
Where it costs you
Paid cloud plans are in closed beta, with general availability planned for Q1 2027, so early buyers host themselves.
The footer names Elevantiq GmbH but gives no country, so legal seat and owner cannot be confirmed.
Right for
Developers building trade storefronts with account approval and volume pricing
Wrong for
Retailers expecting a hosted paid plan available today
Not stated by the vendorFramework under GPLv3; cloud tiers published by month on an annual term, Enterprise by contract; 30-day trial
Cart that sits inside your own frontend and charges by transaction
Ranked #3 of 12 in Best Headless Commerce Platforms in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
Snipcart is a cart and checkout layer, not a full back end: products live in your own pages and the cart script handles tax, discounts, multi-currency and abandoned carts.
With one price model, forecasting is easy: a fixed monthly sum for tiny shops, otherwise 2% of every order. Shops that grow into complex catalogues or warehouses will outgrow it and plan a migration.
What stands out
Cart inside your frontend
Framework integrations
Flat fee at low volume
Where it costs you
The percentage fee grows with revenue, so a shop with rising sales pays more each month.
No registered address appears and the legal-page URL returned 404, which weakens a contract review.
Right for
Small shops adding a cart to a Hugo, Nuxt or Next site
Wrong for
Large catalogues needing order management beyond a cart
Not stated by the vendorOne published model: a percentage of each sale plus gateway fees, swapped for a flat monthly fee under a sales threshold
Headless store back end with subscriptions and wholesale built in
Ranked #4 of 12 in Best Headless Commerce Platforms in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
Swell prices by ceilings: the cheapest plan has two admin seats, 100K requests per month and a USD 50K yearly sales ceiling, and the top published plan lifts those to unlimited users and requests with a USD 5M sales ceiling.
Recurring products and wholesale invoicing are built in, which saves custom work. The overage percentage falls from 2% to 0.4% as plans rise, so check where your sales sit.
What stands out
Subscriptions
Wholesale customer groups
40+ no-code integrations
Where it costs you
Every plan has a sales ceiling and a request cap, so growth means the next tier or an overage fee.
The privacy policy gives no postal address, and no owner or country is stated.
Right for
Subscription and wholesale sellers wanting published plan limits up front
Wrong for
Buyers who must verify a legal seat before signing
Not stated by the vendorFour published yearly-billed plans scaled by sales ceiling and API requests; overage fee per plan; trial offered
API-first checkout, order management and promotions for developers
Ranked #5 of 12 in Best Headless Commerce Platforms in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
Commerce Layer leaves storefront and content to other tools and concentrates on transaction APIs: a stateless checkout, a promotion engine configurable by visual editor or JSON, and inventory across locations.
The Developer plan lets a team build against real limits at no cost, and 100 live orders monthly are included; the page read gives no rate above that. Expect to buy content management and search elsewhere, and to price the add-ons through sales.
What stands out
Stateless checkout
Distributed OMS
Visual promotion editor
Where it costs you
Distributed order management and the promotion engine are add-ons with no published amount, so the real bill stays unknown.
Only the 'Commerce Layer, Inc.' copyright line identifies the company, with no country or owner.
Right for
Developers wanting checkout and order management as separate APIs
Wrong for
Merchants wanting a ready storefront and theme
Not stated by the vendorFree Developer plan with stated limits and no trial period; Enterprise quoted through sales; add-ons shown without amounts
GraphQL product catalogue for any frontend, with a metered entry plan
Ranked #6 of 12 in Best Headless Commerce Platforms in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
Crystallize puts the product information model first and serves it over GraphQL to whichever frontend framework you use.
The Particle plan lets a team start without a fee but counts orders, items, bandwidth and calls separately, and the next tier, Atom, is listed at USD 949 a month plus metering. Its legal pages returned 404 when checked, so ask for terms and a company address before signing.
What stands out
GraphQL API
Framework integrations
Pay-as-you-go entry plan
Where it costs you
The entry plan stops at 25 orders a month and charges per order above it, so a shop leaves it fast.
The privacy and terms URLs returned 404 and no country appears, so legal terms could not be read.
Right for
Teams modelling rich product content who want to start on a metered plan
Wrong for
Shops expecting predictable bills at rising order volume
Not stated by the vendorFree entry plan with order and call limits plus metering; one flat monthly tier published; custom tier quoted by sales
MIT-licensed Symfony commerce framework with a REST API
Ranked #7 of 12 in Best Headless Commerce Platforms in 2026.
Free tierOpen sourcePublished pricingEurope
Sylius is for teams that already work in Symfony: the REST API is built with API Platform and the repository is MIT-licensed, so nothing stops a fork. Hosting is yours, from a plain VPS to Docker and Kubernetes.
The company shows a Polish headquarters, which helps contract questions. The cost of Sylius Plus stays hidden until a demo, so the paid path is the unknown part.
What stands out
MIT licence
Symfony-based
REST API
Where it costs you
Sylius Plus shows no price and starts with a demo booking, so the paid edition cannot be budgeted.
Running it needs a developer team on a VPS or Kubernetes, with no vendor-hosted option described.
Right for
PHP teams on Symfony wanting an MIT core with a stated Polish office
Wrong for
Merchants wanting a hosted shop with no developers
PolandFree MIT-licensed core; Sylius Plus sold through a demo request with no amounts on the site
Open-source storefront framework you run yourself, built on GraphQL
Ranked #8 of 12 in Best Headless Commerce Platforms in 2026.
Open sourceSelf-hostablePricing on requestElsewhere
EverShop lists GraphQL data fetching, dynamic widgets, a zero-configuration build and fast refresh among its named features. With that licence you can inspect and modify everything, and the install and production guides are on the site.
What the pages do not show is a company behind it: no address, no owner and no support plan, which matters if the shop earns real money.
What stands out
GPL-3.0
Self-hosted
GraphQL data fetching
Where it costs you
Hosting is entirely the buyer's job today, since the cloud option is only announced as coming soon.
The about page returned 404 and no owner, country or price appears, so the maintainer cannot be assessed.
Right for
Developers who want a GPL-3.0 storefront and server they operate
Wrong for
Buyers needing a vendor contract, support terms or hosting
Not stated by the vendorOpen source under GPL-3.0 to run yourself; no plans or prices on the site; cloud option listed as coming soon
GraphQL commerce engine with a hosted cloud priced by monthly sales
Ranked #9 of 12 in Best Headless Commerce Platforms in 2026.
Open sourcePublished pricingElsewhere
Saleor exposes its commerce engine through GraphQL, 160-plus webhooks and dashboard extension points, so a team can reshape the admin as well as the storefront.
The BSD-3-Clause code can be run by the buyer, while the cloud charges rise with sales volume. That cost shape suits revenue-rich retailers, and a young shop should price the first paid plan before relying on the sandbox.
What stands out
BSD-3-Clause
GraphQL API
Webhooks and extensions
Where it costs you
The cheapest paid cloud plan is listed at USD 1,599 per month, a steep entry for a small shop.
The free sandbox forbids commercial use, so a real shop cannot start there.
Right for
Product teams needing hooks, webhooks and an open BSD-3-Clause engine
Wrong for
Small shops without a monthly platform budget
Not stated by the vendorOpen source engine; cloud plans published by month and priced by sales volume; non-commercial sandbox; Enterprise quoted
Modular enterprise commerce platform, headless by design, sold via demos
Ranked #10 of 12 in Best Headless Commerce Platforms in 2026.
Pricing on requestEurope
Spryker is built for organisations that buy through a sales process: the pricing page is locked and the call to action is a demo.
In return it names its legal entity in Berlin, a GLUE API layer, a low-code state machine and integrations with Algolia, Stripe and Vertex. Its navigation names PaaS and cloud for hosting, and cost is settled directly with the vendor.
What stands out
GLUE API
Marketplace integrations
PaaS and cloud
Where it costs you
The pricing page sits behind a password prompt, so no figure can be compared before a sales call.
No trial or free option is mentioned and no on-premises route is described, so testing means a demo.
Right for
Large organisations wanting a modular platform with a named German entity
Wrong for
Small teams that need to compare prices before a call
GermanyPrices not shown on the pages read; access starts with a demo booking
Self-hosted commerce suite with a Community Edition and euro plans
Ranked #11 of 12 in Best Headless Commerce Platforms in 2026.
Free tierSelf-hostablePublished pricingEurope
Shopware reads as a suite more than a headless engine: the pages stress a CMS, an integrations hub and an admin assistant. Prices are published in euros, from a Community Edition at no licence fee through Rise and Evolve, with B2B approvals on Evolve.
That makes cost easy to plan. The unknown is how cleanly a separate frontend plugs in, as the site says nothing about headless APIs.
What stands out
Community Edition
Euro plans
B2B approvals
Where it costs you
Nothing fetched describes a headless API, so storefront decoupling needs confirming with the vendor.
A store past EUR 1 million GMV over 365 days must leave the Community Edition.
Right for
Mid-sized shops wanting a full store suite with euro plans published
Wrong for
Teams that need a headless-only back end confirmed
GermanyFree Community Edition up to a sales threshold; paid plans published by month in euros; custom top tier
Enterprise API-first commerce platform from a Munich company
Ranked #12 of 12 in Best Headless Commerce Platforms in 2026.
Pricing on requestEurope
commercetools is aimed at enterprise commerce and says so: Sphere is called headless, modular and AI-native, with an integration layer on top.
Everything past the sales call is hidden, including tiers and the cost of each add-on, from support to regional expansion. A buyer needs a quote that itemises them, since the base price covers only part of the invoice.
What stands out
API-first
Enterprise
Add-on modules
Where it costs you
Pricing is contact-sales only and its add-ons carry no amounts, so the real bill needs a quote.
Trial length and hosting model are not stated on the pages read.
Right for
Enterprises wanting an API-first platform with named add-on modules
Wrong for
Small shops needing prices and limits published
GermanyQuoted per organisation; add-ons named without amounts; trial offered, length not stated
A headless commerce platform stores products, prices, carts and orders and exposes them through APIs, leaving the shopfront to a separate frontend built by the buyer. Differences that change the outcome seldom sit in the features. Here is the sequence we would follow.
01
Decide whether you need a published price
Only 9 of the 12 print a price; 3 quote per organisation. Comparable without a sales call: Medusa, Vendure, Snipcart, Swell, Commerce Layer, Crystallize, Sylius, Saleor, Shopware.
02
Ask which country the contract runs through
Jurisdiction is a buying criterion here. The 12 vendors are spread over 3 countries (Elsewhere 8, Europe 4), and the home country determines which disclosure rules bind them.
03
Check the open source options
Open source here means Medusa, Sylius, EverShop, Saleor. The price of self-hosting is the time your team spends maintaining it.
Setting up a Medusa, Vendure or Sylius back end costs developer weeks
The three open-source options here, Medusa, Vendure and Sylius, publish licences you can read, yet none ships a finished shop. Medusa offers modules and an admin, Vendure a framework with company accounts and contract pricing, and Sylius a Symfony base with a REST API. Each assumes a team that writes and deploys code, so the first ninety days are mostly hours, not licence fees.
Hosted API products such as Commerce Layer and Crystallize shorten operations but leave the storefront to you. Snipcart goes the other way and drops a cart into an existing site. Before choosing, write down who builds the storefront, who deploys it, and who is on call when checkout fails during a sale.
Name the developer who will own the storefront code
Ask which parts you must host yourself
Count weeks for checkout, tax and payment set-up
Reading the real price of Snipcart, Swell, Saleor and Crystallize
Entry prices in this market tell you little, because each vendor meters something different. Snipcart takes a 2% cut of each transaction beside gateway fees, with a fixed monthly sum for the smallest shops. Swell publishes four plans, each bounded by seats, a sales ceiling and request volume, with a percentage beyond it. Saleor Cloud opens at a high monthly figure and adds a percentage above a sales cap.
Crystallize counts orders, catalogue items, traffic and API calls. Commerce Layer lets its Developer plan run 100 live orders each month and shows add-ons without amounts. Model a year of orders at your expected peak and at double it, then add the add-ons you would actually switch on, such as order management or promotions.
Model your orders at peak and at double that
Ask which add-ons are priced separately
Check what happens above each sales or API ceiling
Getting products and orders out of a headless commerce platform
Headless stacks spread data across several services, so leaving is harder than leaving a single hosted shop. The pages read describe APIs rather than exports: Saleor exposes GraphQL, Crystallize serves GraphQL and MCP, and Sylius offers a REST API. Open-source licences, such as the MIT code behind Medusa and Sylius or GPL-3.0 for EverShop, let you keep running the software if the vendor changes terms, though a managed plan does not carry that guarantee.
Closed platforms such as commercetools and Spryker are only reachable through their own APIs and contracts. Ask for a documented export of catalogue, customers and order history before signing, and test it on a trial or sandbox, noting that Saleor's sandbox is for non-commercial use only.
Request a written export format for catalogue and orders
Test a full export during the trial or sandbox
Check whether the licence lets you keep the code
Who commercetools, Spryker and Shopware are built to serve
Some products here only make sense with a sales process and a delivery partner. commercetools publishes no tiers, Spryker's pricing page sat behind a password and offers a demo, and Shopware moves stores onto paid euro plans once yearly GMV passes EUR 1 million. Small independent options such as Snipcart, Medusa and EverShop can be bought and left without a partner, which is the test that ranks them higher here.
Shopware is included as a contrast: the site describes a store suite, so confirm its headless API before you plan a separate frontend. Match the vendor to your own size, not to the vendor's reference list, and ask whether anyone with a similar order volume uses it.
Ask for references at your order volume
Confirm headless API coverage on the plan you need
Check whether a partner is mandatory to start
What goes wrong most often when buying headless commerce platforms
Buying an enterprise platform because the shop might one day need its scale, then paying for modules the shop never switches on.
Reading the entry price of a metered plan as the running cost once orders, items and API calls climb.
Choosing an open-source core without naming who will patch, host and monitor it after launch.
Assuming a headless back end includes the storefront, search and content tools, then discovering them as separate purchases.
07
Frequently asked questions
8 answers
What are the best headless commerce platforms in 2026?
Medusa leads our ranking of 12. Medusa's open-source core carries the MIT licence, and MedusaJS, Inc. sells a managed cloud in published monthly tiers beside an Enterprise Edition under a separate agreement.
Modules, a customisable admin and stock reservations across warehouses come with it. Neither country nor owner is given, no trial length, and the lowest tier hard-limits outgoing mail.
Which headless commerce platforms publish their pricing?
9 of the 12, with the pricing model each one publishes:
Medusa: Open source core; managed cloud tiers published by month, cheapest one paid; Enterprise by contract.
Vendure: Framework under GPLv3; cloud tiers published by month on an annual term, Enterprise by contract; 30-day trial.
Snipcart: One published model: a percentage of each sale plus gateway fees, swapped for a flat monthly fee under a sales threshold.
Swell: Four published yearly-billed plans scaled by sales ceiling and API requests; overage fee per plan; trial offered.
Commerce Layer: Free Developer plan with stated limits and no trial period; Enterprise quoted through sales; add-ons shown without amounts.
Crystallize: Free entry plan with order and call limits plus metering; one flat monthly tier published; custom tier quoted by sales.
Sylius: Free MIT-licensed core; Sylius Plus sold through a demo request with no amounts on the site.
Saleor: Open source engine; cloud plans published by month and priced by sales volume; non-commercial sandbox; Enterprise quoted.
Shopware: Free Community Edition up to a sales threshold; paid plans published by month in euros; custom top tier.
The other 3 quote per organisation.
Is there a free headless commerce platform?
Commerce Layer, Crystallize, Sylius, Shopware have a free plan or free self-hosted edition.
Where are these headless commerce platform vendors established?
Vendor countries on this page, Elsewhere 8, Europe 4:
Medusa: Not stated by the vendor.
Vendure: Not stated by the vendor.
Snipcart: Not stated by the vendor.
Swell: Not stated by the vendor.
Commerce Layer: Not stated by the vendor.
Crystallize: Not stated by the vendor.
Sylius: Poland.
EverShop: Not stated by the vendor.
Saleor: Not stated by the vendor.
Spryker: Germany.
Shopware: Germany.
commercetools: Germany.
Which headless commerce platforms are open source?
Medusa, Sylius, EverShop, Saleor.
Which headless commerce platforms can you host yourself?
EverShop, Shopware. The other 10 are hosted by the vendor only.
What should you use instead of Medusa?
Look at Vendure (made for Developers building trade storefronts with account approval and volume pricing) and Snipcart (made for small shops adding a cart to a Hugo, Nuxt or Next site), which hold places two and three.
Who should not buy Medusa?
Buyers who need a named head office and a fixed trial. The entry cloud tier caps outgoing email at 1,000 messages monthly, which a busy shop passes quickly..
Missing from this headless commerce platforms ranking? Contact us with a short description of the product and its users. Adding it is an editorial choice, and software advice explains what a listing does and does not involve.
