# KitCommerce vs Medusa: Go vs Node.js, Licences and Hosting

> Medusa vs GoCommerce and Svelte Commerce: Node.js, PostgreSQL and Redis against one Go binary and PostgreSQL, Medusa Cloud pricing — and where Medusa wins.

- Canonical: https://kitcommerce.store/compare/kitcommerce-vs-medusa/
- Last updated: 2026-09-25

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KitCommerce vs Medusa

## Medusa is the bigger engine. GoCommerce is the smaller one to run.

Medusa is a headless commerce engine in TypeScript: commerce modules, a framework for customising them, and an admin, run on Node.js with PostgreSQL and Redis — and sold as a managed service, Medusa Cloud. GoCommerce is a headless engine in Go: one binary with its admin compiled in and one PostgreSQL database, and Svelte Commerce is a separate SvelteKit storefront. Medusa is far more widely used. GoCommerce asks less of the server it runs on.

- **$29** a month, where Medusa Cloud’s plans start
- **36,000+** GitHub stars on Medusa — the far larger community
- **31/43** Svelte Commerce services wired for Medusa — not yet cart or sign-in

KitCommerce is an open-source ecommerce platform. Its packages are GoCommerce, the backend and admin, and Svelte Commerce, the storefront — MIT licensed, used together or either one on its own. On this page, each claim names the package it is about.

### Medusa and GoCommerce, side by side

Medusa’s side is checked against its own site, pricing page, documentation and repository, linked at the foot of this page; ours against the GoCommerce and Svelte Commerce pages on this site.

*Medusa compared with GoCommerce and Svelte Commerce, checked 25 September 2026*

| Aspect | Medusa | GoCommerce + Svelte Commerce |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What it is | A headless commerce engine: a Node.js application built from commerce modules, with a framework for customising them and an admin served by the same server. | A headless Go backend with its admin compiled into the same binary; Svelte Commerce is a separate SvelteKit storefront. |
| Licence | MIT, except the Enterprise Edition materials — role-based access control and single sign-on — which need a commercial agreement with MedusaJS, Inc. | MIT, the whole of both repositories. |
| Language | TypeScript on Node.js v20.19+ or v22.12+. | Go, compiled to one binary with one production dependency, the PostgreSQL driver. |
| What production needs | PostgreSQL and Redis, and two deployments of the application — one in server mode, one in worker mode — with Redis-backed caching, event bus, workflow engine and locking modules recommended. | One binary and one PostgreSQL database. No Node.js server, no Redis, no separate worker process, no message broker. |
| API | REST: a Store API and an Admin API, with OpenAPI specs to download and a JavaScript SDK. | REST: 342 documented operations, published as OpenAPI, the same API the admin uses. |
| Extending it | Custom modules, workflows with rollback and retry, API routes and subscribers, written in TypeScript inside your project. | 44 modules, each a directory under ext/ compiled in only when imported. Anything else is Go you write. |
| Admin | Medusa Admin, extended with your own widgets and UI routes. | 61 Svelte admin screens compiled into the binary. |
| Marketplace and B2B | Marketplace is a recipe you build: a vendor module, links to products and orders, order splitting. B2B uses customer groups, price lists and sales channels, with a B2B starter. | Vendors built in, with commission recorded but not settled. Customer groups, price lists and quantity breaks; no quotes or approvals. |
| Agent tooling | Agent skills as Claude Code plugins; a docs MCP server and a development agent for Medusa Cloud users, with agent-led migration guides for Shopify, WooCommerce and Magento. | An MCP module with 19 tools that act on a running store, with no account needed; an AGENTS.md of 18 rules and 16 task guides in the repository. |
| Hosting | Self-host anywhere Node.js runs, or Medusa Cloud from $29 a month with no fee on sales. | Self-host only. No hosted offering. |
| Storefront | A Next.js Starter Storefront, or any front end. | Svelte Commerce, whose Medusa connector wires 31 of 43 services — not yet cart or sign-in. |
| Track record | 36,000+ GitHub stars; Heineken, Mitsubishi Motors and Eight Sleep are among the users named on its home page. | Svelte Commerce runs arialshop.com in production. No store we know of runs GoCommerce yet. |

### What running each one costs

Both engines are free to self-host. Medusa also sells a managed runtime; GoCommerce has none, so its cost is always a server and whoever looks after it.

*Recurring costs, Medusa against GoCommerce and Svelte Commerce*

| Cost | Medusa | GoCommerce + Svelte Commerce |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Software | Nothing under MIT; RBAC and SSO need an Enterprise agreement | Nothing — MIT |
| Managed hosting | Medusa Cloud: Develop from $29, Launch from $99, Scale from $299 a month; Enterprise quoted | None offered |
| Fee on sales | None — Medusa Cloud lists a 0% GMV fee on every plan | None |
| Self-hosted infrastructure | A server instance, a worker instance, PostgreSQL and Redis | One binary and PostgreSQL |
| People | A TypeScript developer to deploy and extend it | A developer to deploy it, and Go to extend it |

Medusa Cloud prices are ‘from’ figures in US dollars. Each plan includes an allowance of storefront edge requests — 1, 5 or 10 million a month — and bills $0.30 per million beyond it.

### Which one fits

#### Choose Medusa when

- Your team writes TypeScript and wants the engine in the same language as the storefront.
- You want the makers to run it for you — Medusa Cloud starts at $29 a month with no fee on sales.
- You want a large community and named production users behind the engine you choose.
- You are building unusual commerce flows and want Medusa’s workflow framework, with rollback and retry, to build them in.

#### Choose GoCommerce + Svelte Commerce when

- You want fewer moving parts: one binary and PostgreSQL, with no Redis and no separate worker deployment.
- You want marketplace vendors in the core rather than a recipe to build.
- You want every line under MIT, with no enterprise materials reserved in the same repository.
- You want an MCP server in the source that lets an agent run the store — stock, prices, orders, refunds — without a cloud account.

#### What you take on

- You host it: a server, a PostgreSQL database, backups and upgrades are yours, or a developer’s you pay.
- No app store. What a module does not cover, somebody writes.
- GoCommerce has over 1,000 tests, but no store we know of runs it in production yet.
- Svelte Commerce reaches GoCommerce through an early connector, version 0.1.0: catalogue, cart, checkout and order lookup work; customer accounts and a search index do not.
- No importer from Medusa: GoCommerce imports from Shopify and Amazon only, so moving means a script against both APIs.
- Far fewer people have run GoCommerce than Medusa, so fewer answers already exist when something breaks.

### Keeping Medusa, or moving off it

Two paths, and neither is finished for you.

Keep Medusa and change only the storefront: Svelte Commerce’s Medusa connector wires 31 of its 43 services, but cart and sign-in are not among them, and product, category and search have gaps of their own. Until those are wired it cannot sell from a Medusa store, so this path starts with connector work, not a choice of theme.

Or move the backend: GoCommerce has no Medusa importer — its import modules cover Shopify and Amazon only — so a move is a script that reads Medusa’s Admin API and writes to GoCommerce’s REST API. Both are described in OpenAPI, which makes the mapping a documented job rather than guesswork.

FAQ

### Questions about Medusa and GoCommerce

**Is Medusa open source?**

Yes, with one carve-out. Medusa’s repository is MIT licensed except for its Enterprise Edition materials — role-based access control and single sign-on — which are proprietary and need a commercial agreement. GoCommerce and Svelte Commerce are MIT throughout.

**What does Medusa need to run in production?**

By Medusa’s deployment guide: PostgreSQL, Redis, and the application deployed twice, once in server mode for the API and admin and once in worker mode for background jobs. GoCommerce needs one binary and one PostgreSQL database.

**How much is Medusa Cloud?**

Medusa’s pricing page lists Develop from $29 a month, Launch from $99 and Scale from $299, with Enterprise quoted, and no GMV fee on any plan. GoCommerce has no hosted offering; you run it on your own server.

**Can Svelte Commerce run on Medusa?**

Not for selling yet. Its Medusa connector wires 31 of 43 services, but cart and sign-in are unwired and product, category and search have gaps. Coverage is traced by a script on the backends page, and no connector has been run against a live production store.

**Which API style does each use?**

Both use REST described by OpenAPI. Medusa splits it into a Store API and an Admin API and adds a JavaScript SDK; GoCommerce publishes 342 documented operations in one OpenAPI file, used by its admin and any storefront alike.

### Sources

Medusa’s prices and features were checked on 25 September 2026 against the pages below. Prices change; when one here disagrees with the source, the source is right and this page is out of date. Medusa is a trademark of its owner, named here only to compare; no endorsement or affiliation is implied — see [trademarks](https://kitcommerce.store/about/#trademarks).

- [Medusa — home page](https://medusajs.com/)
- [Medusa — pricing (Medusa Cloud)](https://medusajs.com/pricing)
- [Medusa docs — installation and prerequisites](https://docs.medusajs.com/learn/installation)
- [Medusa docs — general deployment guide](https://docs.medusajs.com/learn/deployment/general)
- [Medusa docs — Cloud overview](https://docs.medusajs.com/cloud)
- [Medusa docs — Store API reference](https://docs.medusajs.com/api/store)
- [Medusa docs — Admin API reference](https://docs.medusajs.com/api/admin)
- [Medusa docs — build with AI assistants and LLMs](https://docs.medusajs.com/learn/introduction/build-with-llms-ai)
- [Medusa docs — MCP server](https://docs.medusajs.com/learn/introduction/build-with-llms-ai/mcp-server)
- [Medusa docs — agentic skills](https://docs.medusajs.com/learn/introduction/build-with-llms-ai/agentic-skills)
- [Medusa docs — migrate from Shopify with the MCP server](https://docs.medusajs.com/learn/introduction/build-with-llms-ai/mcp-server/migrate-from-shopify)
- [Medusa docs — marketplace recipe](https://docs.medusajs.com/resources/recipes/marketplace)
- [Medusa docs — B2B recipe](https://docs.medusajs.com/resources/recipes/b2b)
- [Medusa on GitHub — LICENSE](https://github.com/medusajs/medusa/blob/develop/LICENSE)
- [Medusa on GitHub — ENTERPRISE-LICENSE.md](https://github.com/medusajs/medusa/blob/develop/ENTERPRISE-LICENSE.md)
- [Medusa on GitHub (stars, releases)](https://github.com/medusajs/medusa)

### Run it before you decide

The one-command stack gives you GoCommerce’s API and admin on your own machine in minutes. Load a catalogue and judge it against Medusa yourself.

[Deploy in minutes](https://kitcommerce.store/#one-command) · [Explore GoCommerce](https://kitcommerce.store/gocommerce/) · [All comparisons](https://kitcommerce.store/compare/)