Commerce Layer vs Medusa

Detailed comparison across 10 dimensions

Winner: Commerce Layer

Commerce Layer clearly comes out ahead of Medusa on Staquest's weighted six-dimension score. Commerce Layer has a free tier; Medusa does not. Medusa's paid plans start at $29/mo.

Quick Overview

Overview	Commerce LayerHeadless commerce API for global shopping experiences.	MedusaOpen-source headless commerce engine for developers.
Type	saas tool	hybrid
Company	Commerce Layer, Inc.	Medusa
Free Tier
Has API
Open Source
Trending	Stable	Stable
Industries	E-CommerceMarketing	E-CommerceMarketing
Categories	storefronte-commerce	storefronte-commerce
Website	Visit	Visit

Dimension Scores

Winners by Dimension

Overall Winner

Commerce Layer

Commerce Layer: 7.3Medusa: 7.0(+0.3 pts)

Pricing Value

Medusa15% weight

Commerce Layer

8.0

Medusa

9.0

Free Tier

Commerce Layer10% weight

Commerce Layer

8.5

Medusa

2.0

Scalability

Medusa10% weight

Commerce Layer

9.4

Medusa

10.0

Integrations

Tie10% weight

Commerce Layer

8.0

Medusa

8.0

Community

Tie5% weight

Commerce Layer

3.1

Medusa

3.1

Open Source

Medusa5% weight

Commerce Layer

2.0

Medusa

7.0

Pricing Comparison

Commerce Layer

Developer

Free

freemium

100 free orders per month
1 organization
2 users
1,000 SKUs
2 markets

Growth–

usage based

1,000 orders included
2 organizations
5 users
10,000 SKUs
5 markets

Enterprise

Contact sales

custom

White-glove service
Dedicated customer success managers
Dedicated Slack channel

Medusa

Develop

~$29/mo

View pricing

flat

Zero-config infrastructure
GitHub integration
Deploy storefront & backend
Instant previews on PRs
Medusa Cache
Medusa Emails
+1 more

Launch

~$99/mo

View pricing

flat

Everything in Develop
Autoscaling infra
Custom storefront domains
Automatic backups
Zero downtime deployment
Redis-backed KV store
+1 more

Scale

~$299/mo

View pricing

flat

Everything in Launch
Higher server capacity
Background workers
Priority Cloud support
3 Cloud seats
Longer backup retention

Enterprise

Contact sales

View pricing

custom

Everything in Scale
Implementation support
Core team access
Custom features (e.g. RBAC)
SLA-backed response times
Architectural guidance

Feature Comparison

Feature	commerce-layer	medusa
1 Organization
3 Cloud Seats
1,000 Orders Included
50 Bloom Credits
1,000 Skus
Architectural Guidance
10,000 Skus
Automatic Backups
100 Free Orders Per Month
Autoscaling Infra
2 Markets
Background Workers
2 Organizations
Concurrent Previews
2 Users
Core Team Access
5 Markets
Custom Features (E.G. Rbac)
5 Users
Custom Storefront Domains
Dedicated Customer Success Managers
Deploy Storefront & Backend
Dedicated Slack Channel
Everything In Develop
White-Glove Service
Everything In Launch
Everything In Scale
Github Integration
Higher Server Capacity
Implementation Support

Showing 30 of 30 features

Dashes mean the feature isn't listed in our data. The tool may still support it.

Frequently asked questions

Is Commerce Layer or Medusa better?

On Staquest's weighted six-dimension scoring, Commerce Layer comes out ahead overall, though Medusa can be the better fit depending on your priorities — see the dimension-by-dimension breakdown above.

Does Commerce Layer or Medusa have a free tier?

Commerce Layer offers a free tier; Medusa does not currently list one.

Which is better for pricing value, Commerce Layer or Medusa?

Medusa scores higher on pricing value in Staquest's analysis. It is the highest-weighted dimension in this comparison.

What are the main differences between Commerce Layer and Medusa?

Medusa is open source. The feature comparison and dimension scores above cover the full breakdown.

View Commerce Layer View Medusa