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?

Yes. Cartwright includes import tooling (a parody-named “Hoptify” onboarding) that can pull your palette and products across, plus product CSV import. 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?: Yes. Cartwright includes import tooling (a parody-named “Hoptify” onboarding) that can pull your palette and products across, plus product CSV import. 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.