GraphQL-first, enterprise-grade open-source commerce. Python-powered, Django-backed.
Starts at Free (open source) · Saleor Cloud from $400/mo · Best for enterprise brands, graphql-first teams, dev teams with python/django expertise.
Last reviewed November 2, 2026
Overview
Quick facts about Saleor.
- Launched
- 2018 (as open-source rewrite of a 2012 commerce project)
- Headquarters
- Wrocław, Poland
- Ownership
- Saleor Commerce — venture-backed
- Scale
- 20,000+ GitHub stars · 500+ enterprise deployments including Breitling, Lush, Rare Beauty
- Known for
- Enterprise-ready GraphQL-first open-source commerce with the strongest brand logos in the open-source category
Pros & cons
The honest breakdown.
What's great
- Fully open-source (BSD-3 license) — enterprise-friendly
- GraphQL-first API — modern, strongly typed, auto-documented
- Battle-tested on real enterprise brands (Breitling, Lush, Rare Beauty, many others)
- Clean, modular Python/Django backend
- Includes polished React admin dashboard out of the box
- Strong multi-channel, multi-warehouse support natively
What to watch for
- Smaller plugin ecosystem than Shopify
- Requires devops and Python expertise
- Lower community size than Shopify or WooCommerce
- Hosted Saleor Cloud is pricier than Medusa Cloud at entry
- Learning curve for teams new to GraphQL
- Smaller agency pool specialized in Saleor
Saleor is the mature pick for enterprise brands wanting open-source commerce with GraphQL-first architecture. It's the choice when your business shape would otherwise land on commercetools but you want open-source + lower cost.
Ideal for
Enterprise brands with Python/Django engineering teams. Mid-market and enterprise B2B/B2C doing $2M-$100M/year. Teams prioritizing GraphQL and architectural clarity.
Skip it if
You don't have an engineering team, you want to launch in under 10 weeks, your business is simple enough that Shopify Plus serves you well, or your team's expertise is Node.js (Medusa or Vendure fit better).
Pricing plans
What each plan gives you (and what it costs).
Self-hosted (Open Source)
Free · $100-$2,000/mo infrastructure
Transaction fee: 0% platform fee · gateway fees only
Best for
Enterprise teams with devops + Python capability
- Full source code (BSD-3)
- All features included
- Deploy anywhere (Kubernetes, AWS, GCP)
- React admin UI included
- GraphQL API out of the box
- Community support via Discord + GitHub
Saleor Cloud (Starter)
From $400/mo
Transaction fee: 0% platform fee
Best for
Mid-market brands wanting managed hosting
- Managed hosting + auto-scaling
- Automated backups
- 99.9% SLA
- Standard support
- Multi-region option
- Development + staging environments
Saleor Cloud (Pro)
From $1,500/mo
Transaction fee: 0% platform fee
Best for
Enterprise brands at $5M+ revenue
- Higher throughput + geo-redundancy
- 99.95% SLA
- Priority support
- Custom module support
- Advanced monitoring
- Launch engineering
Saleor Cloud (Enterprise)
Custom (typically $5,000-$30,000/mo)
Transaction fee: 0% platform fee
Best for
Enterprise brands at $20M+ revenue
- Dedicated infrastructure
- 99.99% SLA + custom SLA terms
- Dedicated success manager
- SOC 2 / PCI compliance support
- Custom integrations
- 24/7 enterprise support
💰 Costs the pricing page doesn't show
Budget for these on top of the subscription. They're normal — just not advertised.
Frontend / storefront development
$25,000-$150,000 one-time
Custom Next.js, Remix, or Nuxt storefront built against Saleor's GraphQL API
Engineering team
$8,000-$40,000/mo
Python/Django engineers for backend; frontend engineers for storefront
Hosting (self-hosted path)
$150-$2,000/mo
Backend + Postgres + Redis + search + frontend infrastructure
ERP / PIM integration
$15,000-$100,000 one-time
Common for enterprise — SAP, NetSuite, Akeneo PIM custom work
Compliance (PCI, SOC 2)
$10,000-$75,000/year
Audit, implementation, ongoing attestation (if required)
Payment gateway fees
1.5-2.9% + fixed fee
Standard gateway fees
Real-world cost
What Saleor actually costs at your scale.
Subscription is just the floor. Here's realistic monthly total including apps, payment fees, and day-to-day tools — based on real stores we've built and maintained.
Revenue
$50k – $500k/mo
$3,000 – $10,000/mo all-in
Saleor Cloud Starter + part-time engineer + frontend hosting + services
Revenue
$500k – $5M/mo
$10,000 – $40,000/mo all-in
Saleor Cloud Pro + full engineering team + ERP integration
Revenue
$5M – $50M/mo
$40,000 – $150,000/mo all-in
Saleor Cloud Enterprise + dedicated engineering team + compliance
Revenue
$50M+/mo
$150,000 – $500,000+/mo all-in
Enterprise contract + dedicated infrastructure + global ops team
Features
What's built-in, what's paid, what's missing.
Products + variants + attributes
Cart + checkout APIs
Discounts (complex rules supported)
Tax calculation (per channel)
Inventory + stock locations
Order management
Multiple sales channels
Multiple warehouses with routing logic
Per-channel pricing
Per-channel product catalog
Multi-region inventory
Customer groups
Customer-specific pricing
Net payment terms
Via custom integration
Quote management
Via custom plugin
Multi-currency
Multi-language
Multi-channel per region
Localized tax
GraphQL API
Admin dashboard (React, well-made)
App system (iframe-based)
Webhooks + events
REST API
GraphQL only; wrap your own if needed
Managed hosting (Saleor Cloud)
99.9%+ SLA (Cloud tiers)
Multi-region deployment
Pro+
SOC 2 compliance
Enterprise
Global readiness
Can you actually sell globally on Saleor?
Multi-currency, multi-language, local payment methods, regional tax compliance — the four pillars of international commerce. Here's where Saleor lands on each.
Countries
Any country — hosting location your choice
Currencies
Unlimited; per-channel currency pricing
Languages
Unlimited; built-in translation on product data
Tax compliance
Avalara, TaxJar, custom per-channel tax configuration
Local payment methods supported
Strongest in
Weak in
How it compares
Saleor vs the main alternatives.
The head-to-head that actually matters — what each platform wins on, based on 19 years of delivering both.
Both open-source headless. Saleor is Python/Django/GraphQL + more enterprise-polished; Medusa is Node.js/TypeScript + faster-moving.
Saleor wins on
- Longer enterprise track record (Breitling, Lush, etc.)
- More polished admin UI out of the box
- Stronger multi-channel + multi-warehouse
- GraphQL-first (vs Medusa's REST-first)
- Enterprise-grade from day one
Medusa wins on
- Faster-moving ecosystem + bigger community
- Node.js familiarity (more devs available)
- More modular, flexible architecture
- Easier to onboard a dev team
- Lower entry cost (Medusa Cloud Starter < Saleor Cloud Starter)
Both GraphQL-first open-source. Saleor is Python/Django; Vendure is Node.js/TypeScript.
Saleor wins on
- Longer enterprise track record
- Multi-channel + multi-warehouse stronger natively
- More polished React admin UI
- Larger brand logo deck
Vendure wins on
- TypeScript end-to-end (more consistent for Node teams)
- Stronger native B2B features
- More opinionated plugin system
- Easier for TS-fluent teams to pick up
Migration
Moving in, and moving out.
What it actually takes to get onto Saleor — and how painful it is if you outgrow it later. No vendor lock-in surprises.
Moving to Saleor
Here's what it typically takes to migrate from common starting points.
Typical time
16-32 weeks
Typical cost
$50,000-$300,000
Natural migration for Magento shops wanting modern GraphQL stack. Common for enterprise B2B/B2C escaping Magento performance and maintenance pain.
Typical time
12-24 weeks
Typical cost
$30,000-$150,000
Full re-platform. Usually chosen when enterprise requirements outgrew Shopify Plus or data sovereignty required open-source.
Leaving Saleor later
How hard is it if this isn't the right platform for you in 2-3 years? (Honest vendor lock-in reality.)
Open-source, GraphQL API, direct database access. All data exportable. Moving to another headless platform is straightforward; moving to a SaaS requires accepting SaaS constraints.
Social proof
Brands that run on Saleor.
Breitling
Luxury watches
EnterpriseLush Cosmetics
Beauty / cosmetics
EnterpriseRare Beauty
Beauty / DTC
EnterpriseFC Internazionale Milano
Sports merchandise
EnterpriseMango
Fashion
EnterpriseFAQ
People ask us this a lot.
What's the difference between Saleor and Medusa / Vendure?+
All three are open-source headless commerce frameworks. Saleor is Python/Django-based with GraphQL-first API. Medusa is Node.js/TypeScript with REST-first API. Vendure is Node.js/TypeScript with GraphQL-first API. Saleor has the longest enterprise track record (brands like Breitling, Lush), the most polished admin UI, and the strongest multi-channel/multi-warehouse support. Medusa is faster-moving with a bigger community for DTC. Vendure is more opinionated and B2B-focused. Pick by your team's language expertise and your enterprise feature needs.
Is Saleor really free?+
The Saleor platform is free under BSD-3 license — commercial use allowed, no license fees ever. What you pay for: hosting ($100-$2,000/month self-hosted; $400-$10,000/month on Saleor Cloud), engineering team time ($5,000-$30,000/month typical), third-party services (search, email, monitoring), and payment gateway fees. Realistic year-one cost for a working Saleor enterprise store: $40,000-$250,000 depending on self-hosted vs cloud and in-house vs agency.
What brands use Saleor in production?+
Enterprise adopters include Breitling (luxury watches), Lush Cosmetics (multi-country), Rare Beauty (DTC beauty), FC Internazionale (football club merchandise), Mango (fashion), and dozens of less-public enterprise B2B deployments. Saleor has the strongest 'logo deck' of any open-source headless commerce platform — the enterprise credibility is real.
Why pick Saleor over commercetools?+
Four reasons. First, cost — Saleor Cloud starts at $400/month vs commercetools starting around $20,000-$50,000/year. Second, open-source transparency — you can audit, extend, and self-host Saleor; commercetools is closed. Third, simpler deployment — Saleor's Django/GraphQL stack is less complex than commercetools' microservices mesh. Fourth, modern API ergonomics — Saleor's GraphQL is cleaner and better documented. Commercetools wins on: longer enterprise track record, deeper MACH alliance integrations, more mature multi-tenant architecture.
Find what's slowing your Saleor store down.
We've audited 500+ stores. Saleor has predictable failure modes — get the prioritized fix list specific to your store.
- 12 dimensions audited (performance, SEO, security, conversion + more)
- Done by Dharmendra (20 yrs, 500+ stores)
- Razorpay USD/INR · NDA-protected · 24-hr refund
Still unsure if Saleor is right for you?
Book a 30-minute call. I'll tell you honestly — even if the answer is "pick something else."
Book a call · $29