Saleor
E-commerceA GraphQL-only, API-first commerce platform written in Python and Django for building headless online stores.
Open-source alternative to:
What the free edition leaves out
Scroll sideways to view all columns →The official pages do not say enough about the free edition to give a verdict. “Not confirmed” means the official pages we read did not say, so we do not guess.
| Feature | Free edition | Details | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSO / SAML | Not confirmed | The permissions docs mention SSO only in passing; no setup or edition information was found. | Source ↗ |
| Role-based access control | Free | The docs describe permission groups with data permissions and channel restrictions, managed in the dashboard or via GraphQL. The docs do not say it is limited to a paid edition. | Source ↗ |
| Audit logs | Not confirmed | Not mentioned in the permissions docs. | Source ↗ |
| Multi-user / teams | Free | The docs describe staff users who can be placed in permission groups. | Source ↗ |
| Backups and restore | Not confirmed | The pricing page does not mention backups. | Source ↗ |
| API access | Free | The README describes Saleor as a GraphQL-only, API-only platform. | Source ↗ |
| Support SLA | Paid | Cloud pricing lists direct support and a dedicated Slack channel; the open-source page lists a 99.99% uptime SLA under managed hosting. SLA terms were not found. | Source ↗ |
Best for
Teams with developers who want a headless, GraphQL-first commerce backend they can host themselves and pair with a custom storefront.
Why choose it over Shopify
The core is BSD-3-Clause licensed, the whole API is GraphQL, and you can run it on your own infrastructure or move between self-hosting and Saleor Cloud. Staff accounts and permission groups with channel restrictions are documented.
Where it falls short
It is a backend, not a ready-to-use store: you need to build or adapt a storefront and run the dashboard and API yourself. Saleor Cloud pricing is based on sales volume, and the pricing page gives no price for smaller shops. The pages read do not say which features differ between self-hosted and Cloud. A feature comparison with Shopify has not been done.
Open-source alternative to
- Shopify — Saleor is a headless commerce backend with a dashboard that you can host yourself or run on Saleor Cloud, so it can replace Shopify for teams that want to build their own storefront.
Python
HTML
Docker
Node.js
GraphQL
jsonwebtoken
OpenID Connect
Stripe
Sentry
OpenTelemetry
Google Cloud
Django
Celery
Pydantic
uv
Pytest
PostgreSQL
Redis
Dependabot
GitHub Actions
Make
npm
