AltFreeStack
ESEN
E-commercedocker-ready1-click-deployOpen-Core🟡 Standard · ~1GB

Vendure: Open-Core alternative to Shopify in 2026

Vendure is a headless commerce framework in TypeScript with a very flexible plugin system, built for developers who want to extend every part of their store as code.

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

ℹ️ Vendure doesn't publish any official Docker image — vendureio/server doesn't exist on Docker Hub. The documented path is generating your project with @vendure/create and building your own Dockerfile following the official Docker deployment guide.

Alternative to Shopify
License GPL-3.08.5k starsWebsite GitHub Repository

Audit Snapshot

View notes →

  • License — Not verifiable on GitHub

  • GitHub — Active

  • Latest release — v3.8.0 · today

  • Docker Compose — Not verified

  • Production — Not production-tested by AltFreeStack

Vendure vs. Shopify

Pros

  • Carefully crafted developer experience (TypeScript end-to-end)

Things to consider

  • Smaller plugin ecosystem than the Shopify App Store
  • No official Docker image (see note above) — generate the project via @vendure/create

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:
  vendure:
    image: vendureio/server:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - DB_HOST=vendure-db
      - DB_NAME=vendure
      - DB_USERNAME=vendure
      - DB_PASSWORD=change-me-postgres-password # must match POSTGRES_PASSWORD below
      - COOKIE_SECRET=change-me-super-secret
    depends_on:
      - vendure-db
  vendure-db:
    image: postgres:15-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=vendure
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=change-me-postgres-password # REQUIRED: generate a random secret before first run
      - POSTGRES_DB=vendure
    volumes:
      - vendure_pg_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
volumes:
  vendure_pg_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=vendure" -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
GPL-3.0
Category
E-commerce
Replaces
Shopify
Tech stack
TypeScriptNestJSPostgreSQL

Under the hood

Database

PostgreSQL

Language

TypeScript (NestJS)

Platforms

Web

Key features

  • TypeScript plugin system
  • Auto-generated GraphQL API
  • Multi-store and multi-channel selling

Frequently asked questions

Is Vendure open source?

Yes, the core is GPL-3.0 (Open-Core) — it moved from MIT to GPLv3 at v3.0, with an optional commercial license (VCL) only for teams that need different terms than GPL. Self-hosting it requires no paid license.

Does Vendure ship an official Docker image?

No. Vendure doesn't publish a ready-to-use Docker image — the documented path from the project itself is generating your project with @vendure/create and building your own Dockerfile following its official Docker deployment guide.

Who is Vendure for, compared to Shopify?

Teams with development capacity who want to control every part of their store as code (auto-generated GraphQL API, TypeScript plugin system). The plugin ecosystem is smaller than Shopify's App Store, so something that's a one-click plugin there may mean writing your own plugin here.

Preview

Vendure interface preview

Public image provided by Vendure 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:3000
}

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