Is Cartwright a Shopify alternative?

Yes — for teams that want to own their stack. Cartwright is an open-source Next.js commerce engine with cart, Stripe checkout, an admin, and AI/agent surfaces built in. Shopify remains simpler if you want zero ops.

How much does Cartwright cost vs Shopify?

Cartwright is MIT-licensed and free — you pay only your own infrastructure. Shopify charges a monthly subscription plus transaction fees unless you use Shopify Payments.

Can I migrate from Shopify to Cartwright?

Partly. Under --profile full — the Hoptify module is pruned from the default profile — the parody-named “Hoptify” onboarding lifts your palette and brings products across from the product URLs you list (a Firecrawl key and an AI key required); pages, variants and SKUs are by hand. Product CSV import (simple products) works in every database-backed profile. Orders and customers never move. You then own the resulting codebase.

Is Cartwright better for AI shopping and agents?

For agent-commerce, yes: Cartwright ships an MCP server, agent-to-agent and Agentic Commerce Protocol endpoints, and AI-search-ready structured data by default, so AI assistants can both cite and transact with your shop.

Cartwright vs Shopify

Cartwright is an open-source (MIT) Next.js commerce engine you scaffold with one command and host yourself; Shopify is a hosted SaaS you rent monthly. With Cartwright you own the code, the database, and the AI layer (an MCP server, agent-commerce endpoints, and an AI-native admin ship in the box) — no per-transaction fees, no platform lock-in. Shopify wins on zero-ops convenience and a mature app marketplace; Cartwright wins when you want to own the stack, customise without an app tax, and be citable by AI answer engines out of the box.

Dimension	Cartwright	Shopify
Ownership	MIT-licensed source you host and fully own.	Hosted SaaS — you rent; no self-hosting.
Pricing	Free forever; you pay only your own infra (Vercel, Turso, Stripe).	From ~$39/mo + transaction fees unless you use Shopify Payments.
AI / agents	MCP server, agent-commerce (ACP/A2A) endpoints, AI-native admin by default.	AI features are apps/add-ons; no first-class MCP or agent-commerce surface.
AI-search (GEO)	JSON-LD everywhere, llms.txt, answer-first product fields — built to be cited.	Basic structured data; GEO tuning is manual or app-driven.
Customisation	It is your Next.js codebase — change anything; no app tax.	Themes + Liquid + apps; deep changes need Plus or workarounds.
Multi-currency	Charge in the customer’s currency with an order-time FX snapshot (built in).	Markets handles multi-currency (Shopify Payments-gated).
Lock-in	None — you already hold the data and the code.	Data export exists; theme/app logic does not leave with you.

Frequently asked

Is Cartwright a Shopify alternative?: Yes — for teams that want to own their stack. Cartwright is an open-source Next.js commerce engine with cart, Stripe checkout, an admin, and AI/agent surfaces built in. Shopify remains simpler if you want zero ops.
How much does Cartwright cost vs Shopify?: Cartwright is MIT-licensed and free — you pay only your own infrastructure. Shopify charges a monthly subscription plus transaction fees unless you use Shopify Payments.
Can I migrate from Shopify to Cartwright?: Partly. Under --profile full — the Hoptify module is pruned from the default profile — the parody-named “Hoptify” onboarding lifts your palette and brings products across from the product URLs you list (a Firecrawl key and an AI key required); pages, variants and SKUs are by hand. Product CSV import (simple products) works in every database-backed profile. Orders and customers never move. You then own the resulting codebase.
Is Cartwright better for AI shopping and agents?: For agent-commerce, yes: Cartwright ships an MCP server, agent-to-agent and Agentic Commerce Protocol endpoints, and AI-search-ready structured data by default, so AI assistants can both cite and transact with your shop.

Try it in one command

npx create-cartwright@latest my-shop

MIT-licensed. Read the docs or see the full comparison hub.