Vendure vs Shopware
Shopware is a complete German shop system with a deep local bench. This comparison is about the B2B that sits past what it packages.
The short answer
Choose Vendure when
- You need punchout or multi-level approval chains
- GMV-banded plans with no fixed overage rate are a problem
- You are going headless with React
- Your team writes TypeScript and React, not PHP and Vue
Choose Shopware when
- You need to staff a DACH project this quarter
- You want a complete shop out of the box
- Marketers change pricing rules without a developer
- Your B2B stops at threshold approvals and quotes
The biggest pain points on Shopware, and how Vendure solves them
The B2B depth past Components is product, not custom development
Shopware's B2B Components stop at single-step threshold approvals with no punchout, and the deeper B2B Suite is no longer supported from Shopware 6.8. Vendure ships contract pricing and single-level order approvals at Scale, and multi-level approvals with timeouts and delegation, negotiation, access policy, Configurator and PunchOut over cXML at Enterprise, each plan inheriting the one below.
Cost scales with complexity, not with GMV
Shopware's plans are GMV-banded and there is no fixed overage rate, so past the band the expectation is an upgrade. Vendure Core is free, the plans are a flat monthly fee and Enterprise a flat annual one.
One language, and plugins beside the core
Major releases (6.5, 6.6, 6.7) required plugin updates, per Shopware's upgrade guides, and going headless costs you the plugin ecosystem that was the reason to be there. Vendure customisations are TypeScript plugins beside the core, on a stack your existing developers already read.
How they compare
Six dimensions, the same six on every Vendure comparison page. Every claim about Shopware is sourced at the foot of this page.
| Dimension | Vendure | Shopware |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture and extensibility | VendureTypeScript end to end on NestJS, with GraphQL Shop and Admin APIs. Plugins sit beside the core. No forks, no extension cap. | ShopwarePHP and Symfony with a Vue admin and Twig storefront. MIT core plus the closed SwagCommercial plugin. Major releases (6.5, 6.6, 6.7) required plugin updates, per Shopware's upgrade guides. |
| Licensing and cost model | VendureFree open-source core under GPLv3. Four flat, cumulative plans from €199 a month on a 12-month term, with Enterprise from €60,000 a year. No GMV, per-order or per-user fees. | ShopwareGMV-banded: Community free under €1M, Rise from €600, Evolve from €2,400 a month, Beyond custom. No fixed overage rate. |
| B2B depth | VendureCompany accounts and quotes from Starter. Organization hierarchy at Growth. Contract pricing, single-level order approvals, the audit log and the Next.js B2B storefront at Scale. PunchOut (cXML), Configurator and multi-level approvals with timeouts and delegation at Enterprise. | ShopwareB2B Components from Evolve at €2,400 a month: employees and roles, single-step threshold approvals, quotes, org units, budgets. No punchout, no multi-level approvals. The deeper B2B Suite is no longer supported from Shopware 6.8. |
| Hosting and operations | VendureSelf-host on any cloud or on-premises, in any region. Managed Vendure Cloud is planned for Q1 2027, with a base set of Cloud resources in each paid plan. | ShopwareA real choice of self-hosted, managed SaaS or PaaS, with full SQL data ownership. For large catalogues and high order volumes, Shopware recommends Elasticsearch or OpenSearch and Redis. |
| Ecosystem and talent | VendureMainstream TypeScript, Node and GraphQL. No proprietary skill silo. | Shopware1,200+ certified DACH agencies and a deep local bench. Headless kit is Nuxt and Vue, with no official React path. |
| Migration effort | VendureCatalogue, customer and order history import out of MySQL. Twig themes and PHP plugins are rewritten as TypeScript plugins. | ShopwareNot applicable. |
Vendure pricing: a free open-source core, then four flat tiers
Vendure Core is free under GPLv3. Starter, Growth, Scale and Enterprise add B2B capabilities cumulatively, on a flat fee with no GMV, per-order or per-user charges.
Where Shopware is strong
Where Shopware is the better answer, we say so. Shopware fits most of the German mid-market. This comparison is about the part it does not.
A deep agency bench in DACH
More than 1,200 certified partners. A buyer in Germany can staff a Shopware project this quarter from a dozen local agencies, and our partner bench is smaller.
A complete shop out of the box
Storefront, admin and theme market, plus the Rule Builder and Flow Builder so marketers change pricing rules and workflows without a developer. For a team without engineering capacity that carries a long way.
Genuine self-hosting and data ownership
An MIT open core, self-hosted or PaaS deployment, and your data in your own SQL database. This is not a closed SaaS walled garden and it should not be described as one.
When teams move from Shopware to Vendure
These are the moments where staying costs about as much as moving, and the platform question is legitimately open.
A GMV plan band lands
with no fixed overage rate to plan around, so growth gets expensive on a schedule you do not set
B2B beyond Components
punchout and multi-level approvals are custom development on Shopware regardless of plan
B2B Suite end of life
support ends with Shopware 6.8, which forces a pricing-logic remodel and is a natural moment to re-evaluate rather than rebuild in place
The headless decision
where moving headless discards the plugin ecosystem that justified Shopware and the official kit is Nuxt and Vue with no React path
A major-version upgrade window
since major releases have required plugin updates and a rewrite is being funded anyway
Migration runs in three phases: catalogue and customer import, storefront rebuild, then integration cutover. We scope the effort against what is actually in production rather than quoting a band.
Moving off Shopware?
The catalogue moves through the Admin API, customers and orders move as finished records with their passwords, and rule prices and Rule Builder logic are rebuilt as code. The migration guide, from a reference migration checked value by value against Shopware, covers each part and the traps.
Teams building complex commerce with Vendure
Vendure and Shopware, answered
Yes, when the buying process runs past what Shopware packages, such as punchout or multi-level approval chains, or when GMV-banded pricing makes growth expensive on a schedule you do not set. Shopware fits a large part of the German mid-market, and with 1,200+ certified DACH agencies it is easier to staff locally than we are, so for a standard shop that needs a local bench this quarter it is the stronger fit.
Company accounts, quotes, lists, quick order and store credit from Starter. Organization hierarchy, managed lists, packaging, gift cards and global search at Growth. Contract pricing, order approvals, the audit log, single sign-on, search analytics and the Next.js B2B storefront at Scale. Negotiation, access policy, advanced approvals, audit governance, Configurator and PunchOut at Enterprise. They are licensed capabilities rather than services you commission.
Vendure Core is free under GPLv3. Four cumulative paid plans sit on top: Starter at €199, Growth at €599 and Scale at €2,499 a month on a 12-month term, with Enterprise from €60,000 a year. Each plan inherits the one below, and there is no GMV charge, per-order surcharge or per-user fee, so growing revenue does not reprice the platform.
Yes. Vendure Core is a complete open-source commerce framework under GPLv3, written in TypeScript on Node.js with GraphQL Shop and Admin APIs. It is free to run and self-host, and the licence cannot be revoked or discontinued for you. The commercial B2B capabilities are separately licensed plugins layered on top of that core. Every paid plan also includes a commercial licence for Vendure Core for your project, as an alternative to GPLv3.
Yes, on any cloud or on-premises, in any region, with your data in your own SQL database. That is what makes EU-mandated and otherwise regulated deployments possible today. Vendure Cloud, our managed hosting, opens as a closed beta for paid plans, with general availability planned for Q1 2027. Each paid plan will include a base set of Cloud resources, and usage above that is billed on top.
Yes. PunchOut over cXML ships with the Enterprise plan, alongside negotiation, access policy and the Configurator. It is a licensed capability rather than a custom integration project, which matters when a procurement system on the buyer's side is a condition of the deal.
Plugins live beside the core, so there is no fork to reconcile. Breaking changes come only in major versions and are listed in the changelog.
Sources (9) · claims last checked 2026
- Shopware pricing: the Community Fair Use limit, Rise, Evolve and Beyond plans, and the GMV basis · shopware.com/pricing
- Shopware documentation on B2B Components: employees and roles, order approvals, quotes, organisation units, budgets and quick order · docs.shopware.com
- Shopware B2B Components order approval: approval rules on order value, currency or role, each assigned to one reviewer role · developer.shopware.com
- Shopware B2B Suite migration: the B2B Suite is no longer supported from Shopware 6.8 and is replaced by B2B Components · developer.shopware.com/docs/products/extensions/b2b-suite-migration
- Shopware performance tweaks: Elasticsearch or OpenSearch for large assortments, and Redis for high-throughput number ranges and cache invalidation · developer.shopware.com/docs/guides/hosting/performance
- Shopware upgrade guides: breaking changes per major version and the plugin updates they require · developer.shopware.com
- Shopware Frontends: the official Nuxt and Vue headless kit · frontends.shopware.com
- Shopware partner directory: the certified DACH agency count · shopware.com/partner
- Vendure pricing and plans · vendure.io/pricing
