Vendure
Open-source headless commerce framework built with TypeScript & Node.js
About Vendure
Vendure is an open-source, headless e-commerce platform built with TypeScript, Node.js, NestJS, and GraphQL. Designed for complex commerce challenges like B2B, multi-vendor marketplaces, and subscriptions, it offers a highly extensible plugin architecture and a modern React-based admin dashboard.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Fully open-source core with no vendor lock-in
- Excellent developer experience with TypeScript and well-documented APIs
- Highly extensible plugin system that doesn't require forking the core
- Strong B2B and complex commerce capabilities out of the box
- Modern tech stack (TypeScript, NestJS, GraphQL, React)
- Active community with responsive team on Discord and GitHub
Cons
- Out-of-the-box functionality is relatively basic — requires development effort to build a full storefront
- Enterprise pricing is opaque and requires contacting sales
- Smaller ecosystem of pre-built plugins compared to Shopify or WooCommerce
- Managed cloud hosting not yet available
- Steeper learning curve for teams unfamiliar with TypeScript or GraphQL
Key Features
GraphQL API
Dual GraphQL APIs — a Shop API for storefronts and an Admin API for back-office operations, enabling flexible headless architecture
Plugin Architecture
Highly extensible plugin system that lets you inject business logic, integrate third-party services, customize GraphQL types, and override services
Multi-Channel & Multi-Currency
Built-in support for multi-currency transactions, cross-border omnichannel commerce, and operations across multiple countries and languages
Advanced Permissions
Granular permission system allowing fine-grained control over user access, customizable for specific features across both API and admin
Flexible Pricing Engine
Supports customer-specific pricing, quantity breaks, contract pricing, promotional stacking, and dynamic pricing algorithms
React Admin Dashboard
Modern React-based admin UI built with TanStack and Shadcn, fully customizable and extensible to match operational workflows
TypeScript & Node.js Core
Built entirely in TypeScript on NestJS, providing type safety, excellent developer experience, and easy extensibility
B2B Commerce Features
Purpose-built for complex B2B scenarios including business hierarchies, custom catalogs, quote management, and organization-level purchasing
Pricing
- Full commerce platform
- GraphQL Shop & Admin APIs
- Plugin architecture
- Multi-channel support
- Community support via Discord
- GPLv3 license
- All Core features
- SSO with OIDC and SAML
- Audit Log for compliance
- Advanced Pricing Engine & CPQ
- Business Hierarchies
- AI tooling
- Long-term support (LTS)
- Priority support via Slack
- Commercial license
- Managed Vendure infrastructure
- EU-only infrastructure options
- Automated deployments & scaling
- Automated backups
- Built-in monitoring
Best For
B2B E-Commerce
Complex B2B scenarios with customer-specific pricing, business hierarchies, contract pricing, and organization-level purchasing workflows
Multi-Vendor Marketplaces
Build marketplace platforms with multiple sellers, each with their own catalogs, pricing, and order management
Subscription Commerce
Implement recurring billing and subscription-based business models with custom pricing logic and automated order workflows
International Commerce
Global storefronts with multi-currency, multi-language, and cross-border operations managed from a single instance
Custom Commerce Applications
Highly customized e-commerce experiences where off-the-shelf solutions fall short, leveraging the plugin system for bespoke logic
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Featured In
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Best for TypeScript/NestJS teams needing B2B-ready headless commerce — dual GraphQL APIs and the most extensible plugin architecture in the open-source space.
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Best for enterprise TypeScript/NestJS teams or B2B stores that need rich catalog, pricing, and customer-group primitives.
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Best for Node teams that want a more batteries-included alternative to Medusa.
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Best for TypeScript-first dev teams who value code quality and want to own their commerce stack end-to-end.