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E-commercedocker-readypermissive-licenseOpen-Core🟡 Standard · ~1GB

Sylius: Open-Core alternative to Shopify in 2026

Sylius is an ecommerce framework built on Symfony, aimed at developers who need maximum flexibility for complex B2B or B2C stores.

Core is open source, but advanced features or enterprise support may be behind a paid tier — check the license.

ℹ️ There's no official all-in-one "sylius:latest" image: Sylius is a framework to build your store on top of (like Symfony), and its real artifact is the ghcr.io/sylius/sylius-php base image, which needs your own application code and a web server in front of it. This docker-compose isn't deployable as-is — follow Sylius's official installation guide to generate your own project.

Alternative to Shopify
License MIT8.6k starsWebsite GitHub Repository

Audit Snapshot

View notes →

  • License — Matches GitHub

  • GitHub — Active

  • Latest release — v2.3.0 · 15 days ago

  • Docker Compose — Not verified

  • Production — Not production-tested by AltFreeStack

Sylius vs. Shopify

Pros

  • Maximum flexibility for complex business logic

Things to consider

  • Requires solid Symfony experience to get the most out of it
  • No official all-in-one image (see note above) — you need to generate the project following the install guide

Quick Docker installation guide

Copy this docker-compose.yml, adjust the example passwords and run docker compose up -d on your server. See the full step-by-step guide →

💡 Official SaaS or self-hosted with AltFreeStack?

  • On the official cloud: a recurring monthly fee and usage limits on Shopify.
  • On your own VPS: the core is free to self-host on your own server — no more monthly SaaS fee, though some advanced features stay behind a paid plan.
docker-compose.yml
version: "3.9"
services:
  sylius:
    image: ghcr.io/sylius/sylius:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=mysql://sylius:change-me-mysql-password@sylius-db:3306/sylius # password must match the canonical db password below
    depends_on:
      - sylius-db
  sylius-db:
    image: mariadb:11
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=change-me-mysql-root-password # REQUIRED: generate a random secret before first run
      - MYSQL_DATABASE=sylius
      - MYSQL_USER=sylius
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=change-me-mysql-password # REQUIRED: generate a random secret before first run
    volumes:
      - sylius_db_data:/var/lib/mysql
volumes:
  sylius_db_data:

🚀 Deploy in 1 command

Recommended for beginners

Copy this single command and paste it into your freshly created VPS's console (Vultr, DigitalOcean...). It downloads the script, prints it to your screen so you can see exactly what it's about to do (never a blind direct pipe), and only then installs Docker if needed, writes the files with secrets already generated, and starts everything — no nano, no pasting code blocks.

curl -sSL ".../api/deploy?stack=sylius" -o deploy.sh && cat deploy.sh && bash deploy.sh
See what this script does →

This docker-compose corresponds to an actively maintained project — last commit today.

This docker-compose not working for you? Report it on GitHub →

Technical profile

License
MIT
Category
E-commerce
Replaces
Shopify
Tech stack
PHPSymfonyMySQL

Under the hood

Database

MySQL

Language

PHP (Symfony)

Platforms

Web

Key features

  • Extensible Symfony architecture
  • Supports B2B and B2C stores
  • Complete REST API

Preview

Sylius interface preview

Public image provided by Sylius on its own website.

💾 Backups in 3 steps (Day 2)

As long as the ./data folder (the "volume" mapped into the container) exists on your server, your data survives any restart or container update — that's the only thing you need to back up.

1. Create a compressed backup on the server

tar -czvf backup-$(date +%F).tar.gz ./data

2. Download it to your computer

From your computer's terminal (not your server's):

scp root@YOUR_IP:~/app/backup-*.tar.gz ./

3. Restore in case of emergency

tar -xzvf backup-file.tar.gz
🌐 Connect your domain with free SSL

Step 1 — Set up the DNS

In your domain registrar's dashboard (Cloudflare, Namecheap, GoDaddy...), create a record:

Type
A
Name/Host
@ (root domain) or a subdomain, e.g. app
Content/Value
Your server's public IP

Wait 5 to 15 minutes for the record to propagate across the internet.

Step 2 — Automatic reverse proxy with Caddy

One single file, no Nginx config or manual certificates — Caddy issues and renews Let's Encrypt HTTPS on its own.

Create a file called Caddyfile:

yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:8080
}

Start Caddy with this command (pulls the image and runs it in the background):

docker run -d -p 80:80 -p 443:443 --name caddy --restart always -v $PWD/Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile -v caddy_data:/data caddy