Medusa vs OpenCart
| Feature | Medusa | OpenCart |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Web & CMS | Web & CMS |
| Sub-category | E-Commerce | E-Commerce |
| Maturity | stable | mature |
| Complexity | intermediate | beginner |
| Performance tier | medium | medium |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| License type | permissive | copyleft |
| Pricing | fully free | fully free |
| GitHub stars | 28.0K | 7.0K |
| Contributors | 0 | 0 |
| Commit frequency | weekly | weekly |
| Plugin ecosystem | none | none |
| Docs quality | good | good |
| Backing org | Medusa | OpenCart |
| Funding model | vc_backed | community |
| Min RAM | 1 GB | 256 MB |
| Min CPU cores | 1 | 1 |
| Scaling pattern | single_node | single_node |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| K8s native | No | No |
| Offline capable | No | No |
| Vendor lock-in | none | none |
| Languages | TypeScript | PHP |
| API type | REST | REST |
| Protocols | HTTP | HTTP |
| Deployment | docker, npm | docker |
| SDK languages | — | — |
| Team size fit | solo, small, medium, enterprise | solo, small |
| First release | 2020 | 2020 |
| Latest version | — | — |
When to use Medusa
- ✓ Primary: headless-e-commerce
- ✓ Primary: multi-region-commerce
- ✓ Primary: marketplace-building
When to use OpenCart
- ✓ Small business online store
- ✓ Multi-store retail management
- ✓ Simple e-commerce with extensions
Medusa anti-patterns
OpenCart anti-patterns
- ✕ Code quality concerns
- ✕ Security updates can lag
- ✕ Less modern than headless options
- ✕ Extension quality varies