Is Cartwright headless like Medusa?

Not by default — Cartwright is full-stack: it ships its own Next.js storefront and admin. It does expose APIs (MCP, ACP, a public tool registry) so you can drive it headlessly too, but you do not need a separate frontend to go live.

Which is faster to launch?

Cartwright is faster to a live storefront because the frontend is included. Medusa gets you a backend quickly, but the storefront is a separate build.

Do both support AI agents?

Cartwright ships agent-commerce (MCP, ACP, A2A) by default. Medusa is extensible and you can add such surfaces, but they are not built in.

Cartwright vs Medusa

Both are open-source and TypeScript, but they sit at different layers. Medusa is a headless commerce backend (APIs + admin) you connect to a separate storefront you build and host. Cartwright is the whole shop — storefront, admin, checkout, and an AI/agent layer — in one Next.js app you own. Choose Medusa if you want a modular, API-first backend and full control of a bespoke frontend stack; choose Cartwright if you want a complete, opinionated, AI-native shop running end-to-end on day one.

Dimension	Cartwright	Medusa
Scope	Full-stack: storefront + admin + checkout + AI in one app.	Headless backend + admin; you build and host the storefront separately.
Time to a live shop	One command scaffolds a complete, deployable shop.	Backend is quick; a production storefront is your project.
AI / agents	MCP server + ACP/A2A endpoints + AI admin built in.	Extensible modules; AI/agent surfaces are bring-your-own.
Architecture	Opinionated Next.js monolith — fewer moving parts.	Modular service architecture — more flexible, more to wire.
Hosting	Vercel + Turso (serverless-friendly) out of the box.	Node server + Postgres + Redis you operate.
Best for	Teams wanting a complete AI-first shop they own.	Teams wanting a headless backend behind a custom frontend.

Frequently asked

Is Cartwright headless like Medusa?: Not by default — Cartwright is full-stack: it ships its own Next.js storefront and admin. It does expose APIs (MCP, ACP, a public tool registry) so you can drive it headlessly too, but you do not need a separate frontend to go live.
Which is faster to launch?: Cartwright is faster to a live storefront because the frontend is included. Medusa gets you a backend quickly, but the storefront is a separate build.
Do both support AI agents?: Cartwright ships agent-commerce (MCP, ACP, A2A) by default. Medusa is extensible and you can add such surfaces, but they are not built in.

Try it in one command

npx create-cartwright@latest my-shop

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