Vendure

Vendure is a headless commerce framework for teams that want to build their own storefront and don't want to pay Shopify's percentage of every transaction. Node.js, TypeScript, NestJS, GraphQL. The architecture is API-first, which means you can wire it to any frontend (Next.js, Astro, Nuxt, mobile apps) and the admin dashboard runs separately on top of the same API.

Self-hosting is a Node service, a Postgres or MySQL database, and a storage layer for assets. The plugin system is the killer feature: extending the platform doesn't mean forking it. B2B, marketplace, and direct-to-consumer use cases are all supported, with patches released monthly and minors quarterly. Production deployments at scale exist.

Solo and small teams shipping custom storefronts: this gives you the flexibility Shopify can't, and the cost structure is much friendlier at higher volume. Large teams with enterprise needs: Vendure offers an enterprise tier with cloud services, SLA support, and platform extras worth evaluating against Shopify Plus and Commercetools.

The catch: it's a framework, not a turnkey store. You're building the frontend, hooking up payment processors yourself, and owning the infrastructure. If you'd rather click-deploy a store and start selling tomorrow, Shopify is still the answer. If you'd rather build commerce that fits your business instead of bending your business to fit Shopify, this is the path.