What is Magento Open Source used for?

Magento Open Source is a PHP ecommerce platform for building online stores, with Adobe Commerce as its full-featured commercial counterpart. It is a good fit for building a custom online store, agencies delivering ecommerce projects and merchants wanting to self-manage their shop.

Is Magento Open Source open source?

Yes. Magento Open Source is open source under the OSL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at magento/magento2 and is written mainly in PHP.

Is Magento Open Source free?

Yes. Magento Open Source is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Magento Open Source?

Yes. Magento Open Source can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Magento Open Source an alternative to?

Magento Open Source is an open-source alternative to BigCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, commercetools and Shopify. Other open-source alternatives to BigCommerce include Shopware, Medusa and Bagisto.

Is Magento Open Source actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Magento Open Source was on 1 October 2026, and the latest release is 2.4.9, published on 12 May 2026. The project has 12k stars on GitHub.

Magento Open Source: open-source alternative to BigCommerce

About Magento Open Source

Magento Open Source is a PHP-based ecommerce platform used to build an online store from the ground up. The repository is magento/magento2, and the README presents it as software with the basic ecommerce capabilities, while directing merchants who need a more complete solution to Adobe Commerce.

Adobe Commerce adds an optimized cloud architecture with hosting, along with AI-powered merchandising and analytics, so the open-source edition is the self-managed starting point. The project has a large contributor community, with community maintainers who can review and merge pull requests, and the documentation covers system requirements, prerequisites and several installation options.

Magento is licensed under OSL-3.0, and contributors must sign the Adobe Contributor License Agreement. It runs on your own servers and fits developers, agencies and merchants who want control over the code of their store and are comfortable with the PHP ecosystem. Because it is a full platform, hosting, security updates and extensions are the store owner's responsibility.

Key features

Core ecommerce store functionality
PHP codebase for custom development
Quick-start and multiple installation options
Community maintainers reviewing contributions
Upgrade path to Adobe Commerce
Developer and end-user documentation

Good fit for

→Building a custom online store
→Agencies delivering ecommerce projects
→Merchants wanting to self-manage their shop

Built with: PHP
Tags: ecommerce; php; online-store; magento; adobe-commerce; self-hosted; retail; open-source

Magento Open Source: questions and answers

What is Magento Open Source used for?: Magento Open Source is a PHP ecommerce platform for building online stores, with Adobe Commerce as its full-featured commercial counterpart. It is a good fit for building a custom online store, agencies delivering ecommerce projects and merchants wanting to self-manage their shop.
Is Magento Open Source open source?: Yes. Magento Open Source is open source under the OSL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at magento/magento2 and is written mainly in PHP.
Is Magento Open Source free?: Yes. Magento Open Source is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Magento Open Source?: Yes. Magento Open Source can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Magento Open Source an alternative to?: Magento Open Source is an open-source alternative to BigCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, commercetools and Shopify. Other open-source alternatives to BigCommerce include Shopware, Medusa and Bagisto.
Is Magento Open Source actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Magento Open Source was on 1 October 2026, and the latest release is 2.4.9, published on 12 May 2026. The project has 12k stars on GitHub.