Shopify vs EShop
EShop is a self-hostable MIT-licensed .NET reference application, not a documented feature-for-feature replacement for Shopify’s managed commerce platform. Choose EShop when a development team wants an e-commerce codebase and services-based architecture it can modify and operate itself. Choose Shopify when the business needs a production commerce service with documented coverage for payments, inventory, shipping, POS
Decision guide
The practical reasons to choose either option, based on documented capabilities.
Choose EShop if
- .NET teams studying or adapting a services-based e-commerce reference architecture
- Developers who need source-level control over a C# storefront application
- Organizations prepared to host and maintain their own commerce application
Stay with Shopify if
- You require documented payment-processing and checkout operations
- You need documented product, order, and inventory administration
- You depend on documented shipping, international-market, POS, B2B, or multichannel workflows and automations, while the supplied EShop material does not establish equivalent coverage beyond an e-commerce website
Deployment and operations
EShop is self-hostable, written primarily in C#, and licensed under MIT. The current documented version uses .NET 9 and .NET Aspire. Local operation requires the repository, Docker Desktop, and either suitable Visual Studio tooling or the .NET 9 SDK; it runs through the eShop.AppHost project. Azure deployment is documented through Azure Developer CLI, including resource creation with `azd up`. The operating organization is responsible for deployment and maintenance; no Kubernetes support isest
Feature fit
What EShop covers
- Customer-facing e-commerce website
- Web storefront application
What’s different or missing
- No documented Shopify data importer
- No documented integrated payment processing
- No documented inventory administration
- No documented shipping or international markets
- No documented POS synchronization
- No documented B2B commerce
- No documented multichannel selling
- No documented marketing or analytics suite
- No documented app marketplace or workflow automation
Project snapshot
- GitHub stars
- 10,776
- Contributors
- 56
- Language
- C#
- Last commit
- Apr 21, 2026
- Latest release
- Oct 25, 2024
Categories: Workflow Automation, Inventory Management, E-commerce Platforms, Payments
Sources and editorial review11 linked sources
Public documentation supports this comparison. Automation assists collection and classification; editorial standards and corrections remain the responsibility of Kris.
A reference .NET application implementing an eCommerce site
repository description · github.comA reference .NET application implementing an e-commerce website using a services-based architecture using .NET Aspire.
readme · github.com
readme · github.comInstall & start Docker Desktop
readme · github.comdotnet run --project src/eShop.AppHost/eShop.AppHost.csproj
readme · github.comCreate Azure resources and deploy the sample by running: azd up
readme · github.comA reference .NET application implementing an eCommerce site
verdict · github.comA reference .NET application implementing an e-commerce website using a services-based architecture using [.NET Aspire](https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspire/).
shared feature · github.comThis version of eShop is based on .NET 9.
deployment · github.com- [Install & start Docker Desktop](https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/)
deployment · github.com- Create Azure resources and deploy the sample by running: ```sh azd up ```
deployment · github.com
