🩺 Vitals
- Version: 9.0.1 (Released 2025-10-13)
- Velocity: Active (Last commit 2025-12-08)
- Community: 8.9k Stars · 5.0k Forks
- Backlog: 2537 Open Issues
🏗️ Profile
- Official: prestashop.com
- Source: github.com/PrestaShop/PrestaShop
- License: OSL-3.0
- Deployment: LAMP Stack / Docker
- Data Model: SQL (MySQL/MariaDB)
- Complexity: Moderate (3/5) - Requires SysAdmin
- Maintenance: High (4/5) - Module Updates & Security
- Enterprise Ready: Excellent (5/5) - Built for Scale
1. The Executive Summary
What is it? PrestaShop is a mature, feature-rich e-commerce platform powering over 300,000 stores. Unlike Shopify (SaaS), where you rent your store, PrestaShop gives you the keys to the building. It is built on PHP (recently refactored onto the Symfony framework), making it highly extensible for custom business logic.
The Strategic Verdict:
- 🔴 For Small Teams (Side Hustles): Caution. The overhead of hosting, security patching, and configuring payment gateways is too high for a store making <$10k/month. Use a SaaS or a lighter tool.
- 🟢 For Enterprise (High Volume): Strong Buy. This is where PrestaShop shines. If you process $10M/year, Shopify Plus takes a 0.25% cut ($25,000). PrestaShop takes $0. The TCO flips heavily in your favor as you scale.
2. The "Hidden" Costs (TCO Analysis)
The "Free" Open Source label is misleading. You are trading License Fees for Operational Fees.
| Cost Component | Proprietary (Shopify Plus) | PrestaShop (Self-Hosted) |
|---|---|---|
| License Fee | ~$2,500/mo | $0 (OSL License) |
| Revenue Tax | 0.25% of GMV | 0% |
| Infrastructure | $0 (Included) | ~$200 - $500/mo (High Perf VPS) |
| Maintenance | $0 (Auto-Updates) | ~5 hrs/mo (Agency/Dev Retainer) |
| Modules | Recurring Subs ($10-$50/mo/app) | One-Time Purchase ($50-$200/mod) |
💡 The CFO Takeaway: For a brand generating $5M GMV/year:
- Shopify Cost: $30,000 (Base) + $12,500 (Rev Share) = $42,500/yr.
- PrestaShop Cost: $6,000 (Hosting) + $10,000 (Dev Retainer) = $16,000/yr.
- Net Savings: $26,500/year (plus full data ownership).
3. The "Day 2" Reality Check
🚀 Deployment & Operations
- Installation: It is not a single binary. You need a web server (Nginx/Apache), a Database (MySQL), and PHP configuration. Docker images exist, but production tuning requires expertise.
- Updates: PrestaShop 1.7 to 8.0 was a major shift. Upgrades can break older themes or modules. You must have a staging environment.
🛡️ Security & Governance
- Compliance: Excellent. Because you own the Database, you can achieve full GDPR/HIPAA compliance (unlike SaaS where data location is opaque).
- Identity: Supports extensive ACLs (Access Control Lists) for warehouse staff vs. marketing teams out of the box.
4. Alternatives & Ecosystem
- Alternative: Magento (Adobe Commerce) is the primary competitor, but it is significantly heavier (Java-like complexity in PHP) and harder to host. PrestaShop is the "Happy Medium" between WooCommerce and Magento.