About Thelia
Thelia is an open-source e-commerce CMS and framework written in PHP on top of Symfony 7 and API Platform, with Twig templates and MySQL or MariaDB storage. It is aimed at developers and agencies building custom online shops, and its French publisher describes it as a sovereign, vendor-independent alternative to proprietary platforms.
Because it is built on API Platform, Thelia is designed to connect with ERP, PIM, CRM and DAM systems, and a large catalog of modules extends it. The homepage highlights use cases such as click and collect, drive-style ordering and picking interfaces. The project has been maintained for around twenty years, according to its site.
Thelia is licensed under GPL-3.0 and you host it wherever you choose, keeping your data and infrastructure under your own control. The website is available in French and English, and a community forum and GitHub contributors support the project's development.
Key features
- Symfony 7 and API Platform foundation
- Twig templating for storefronts
- MySQL and MariaDB support
- Module ecosystem for extending shops
- API connections to ERP, PIM and CRM
- Click-and-collect and picking interfaces
Good fit for
- →Custom e-commerce builds for agencies
- →Click and collect ordering sites
- Tags
- ecommerce
- cms
- symfony
- php
- api-platform
- twig
- french
- self-hosted
Thelia: questions and answers
- What is Thelia used for?
- Thelia is an open-source French e-commerce CMS and framework built on Symfony 7 and API Platform, designed for custom online stores. It is a good fit for custom e-commerce builds for agencies, and click and collect ordering sites.
- Is Thelia open source?
- Yes. Thelia is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at thelia/thelia and is written mainly in PHP.
- Is Thelia free?
- Yes. Thelia is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
- Can I self-host Thelia?
- Yes. Thelia can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
- What is Thelia an alternative to?
- Thelia is an open-source alternative to BigCommerce. Other open-source alternatives to BigCommerce include EC-CUBE, PrestaShop and Sylius.
- Is Thelia actively maintained?
- Yes. The most recent commit to Thelia was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 3.1.1, published on 1 October 2026. The project has 879 stars on GitHub.
Open-source alternatives to Thelia
See all
EC-CUBE
E-commerce
EC-CUBE is the most popular e-commerce solution in Japan
OSSvs BigCommerce★ 789
PrestaShop
E-commerce
PrestaShop is the universal open-source software platform to build your e-commerce solutio
OSSvs BigCommerce★ 9.2k
Sylius
E-commerce
Headless open-source eCommerce platform on top of PHP/Symfony/API Platform
MITvs commercetools★ 8.5k
Shopware
E-commerce
Shopware 6 is an open commerce platform based on Symfony Framework and Vue and supported b
MITvs BigCommerce★ 3.4k
Shopware 5
E-commerce
Shopware 5 core
OSSvs BigCommerce★ 1.3k
Bagisto
E-commerce
Open Source eCommerce & Multi-Vendor Marketplace Platform Built with Laravel for Enterpris
MITvs BigCommerce★ 28k
SaaS alternatives to Thelia
See all
BigCommerce
E-commerce
Hosted ecommerce platform with built-in B2B features and headless options
SaaS
Adobe Commerce
E-commerce
Ecommerce platform formerly Magento Commerce, with B2B and headless options
SaaS
Big Cartel
E-commerce
Store builder aimed at artists, makers and independent merchants
SaaS
Commerce Layer
E-commerce
Headless commerce API for carts, orders, pricing and inventory across markets
SaaS
commercetools
E-commerce
API-first headless commerce platform for enterprise retailers
SaaS
Ecwid
E-commerce
Embeddable online store that adds a shop to an existing website
SaaS

