What it does
Shopware manages products, orders and storefront content for B2C and B2B shops. Its free Community Edition can be self-hosted; commercial plans add capabilities and support. The Shopping Experiences editor lets merchants build layouts and assign them to store pages.
A Shopware project can begin with the free Community Edition or a commercial package. The choice of licence and the choice of hosting are related decisions: SaaS includes managed application updates, PaaS leaves application development and upgrades with your team, and self-hosting leaves the infrastructure with you too.
Build and assign a storefront layout
In Shopware 6, open Content > Shopping Experiences and choose Create new layout. Select the page type, choose a full-width or sidebar layout and give it a name. A category-page layout includes the product listing area.
Add blocks and fill them with images or text, then check the device previews. To use the design on category pages, open Layout assignment > Assign layout, select the categories and confirm the assignment. Replacing an existing assignment requires confirmation. Product pages use the product's Layout tab instead.
Administrator accounts have a username and password. Create separate users with roles suited to their work; full administrator access gives broader control than a content editor needs.
Edition and operating costs
Published starting prices exclude VAT and depend on sales volume and other project factors.
| Edition | Published software price | Selected distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Community Edition | Free | Community support and core store management |
| Rise | From EUR 600 per month | Vendor support, returns and custom products |
| Evolve | From EUR 2,400 per month | B2B quotes, approvals and advanced search |
| Beyond | Custom quote | Multi-location stock and Digital Sales Rooms |
Rise offers its first 30 days free. Nexus automation has a monthly execution allowance per plan; extra blocks of 1,000 executions cost EUR 10.
The Community Edition's MIT licence remains free. A separate fair-usage rule affects Shopware Account and Store services: linked shops exceeding EUR 1 million in gross merchandise value over the preceding 365 days need a paid plan to keep using those services. That requirement does not change the core software licence.
Include implementation, extensions, integrations and operating responsibility when comparing the editions. A managed subscription does not remove the work of designing and maintaining the store's business processes.
Strengths
- Visual layouts can be reused across selected category pages
- SaaS, PaaS and self-hosting offer different levels of operating responsibility
Watch out for
- Community Edition users above the sales threshold need a paid plan for Account and Store services
- Extensions, implementation and infrastructure can add to the software cost
Best for
- Merchants and development teams combining visual store editing with custom commerce
Sources
- The ecommerce platform to power your online business | Shopware (Oct 25, 2026)
- Shopware editions and pricing (Oct 27, 2026)
- shopware/LICENSE at trunk · shopware/shopware · GitHub (Oct 25, 2026)
- Shopware 6 Shopping Experiences (Oct 27, 2026)
- Shopware users and permissions (Oct 27, 2026)
- Community Edition fair usage policy (Oct 27, 2026)
- Shopware hosting responsibilities (Oct 27, 2026)