Shopware
✓ Verified by EU AltsOpen-source e-commerce platform for ambitious brands — a German alternative to Shopify.
Overview
Shopware is a Schöppingen, Germany-based European company building e-commerce and open source software since 2000. Despite its EU base, EU Alts has verified that Shopware owned by PayPal Holdings (United States) - ~41% shareholder as of Oct 2025 (Germany), so it may still fall under the reach of the US CLOUD Act — worth weighing against Shopify on this specific point.
Why European teams pick Shopware
Teams in Europe still consider Shopware for its e-commerce product and Germany presence, operating since 2000, but unlike a fully EU-owned provider, Shopware owned by PayPal Holdings (United States) - ~41% shareholder as of Oct 2025 (Germany) — so it does not fully avoid US CLOUD Act exposure the way some other alternatives to Shopify do.
See more EU e-commerce tools or browse other startups from Germany.
About
Shopware is a German open-source e-commerce platform founded in Schöppingen in 2000, used by over 100,000 merchants across Europe including many mid-market and enterprise retailers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It offers a headless commerce architecture with a powerful rule-based promotion engine, Flow Builder for no-code automation, and a rich extension ecosystem. Shopware 6 (current version) is built on PHP/Symfony with a Vue.js storefront and supports PWA and headless deployment patterns. It can be self-hosted on any EU server (Community Edition is free and open-source) or used as Shopware Cloud hosted in Germany. It is the reference EU e-commerce platform for mid-market German-speaking merchants.
Details
- Founded
- 2000
- Headquarters
- Schöppingen, Germany
- Ownership
- Owned by PayPal Holdings (United States) - ~41% shareholder as of Oct 2025 (Germany)
- CLOUD Act
- Exposed
- Company size
- 200+ employees
Categories
Other EU startups like Shopware
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- Ploq The Netherlands — Ploq is EU-built webhook infrastructure: retries, event filtering, and health monitoring, GDPR-compliant end to end. SDKs for Node.js and Java, a WordPress plugin, and a forkable Mac/Windows app for sending and receiving events.
- Pocketbase ✓ Verified by EU AltsBulgaria — Open-source backend in a single file — a European alternative to Firebase.
- NocoDB ✓ Verified by EU AltsGermany — Open-source Airtable alternative that turns databases into smart spreadsheets.
- Baserow Netherlands — Open-source no-code database and Airtable alternative — built in the Netherlands.
- Portainer ✓ Verified by EU AltsNew Zealand — Container management UI for Docker and Kubernetes — a New Zealand/European alternative to Rancher.
Frequently asked questions
What is Shopware?
Shopware is a German open-source e-commerce platform founded in Schöppingen in 2000, used by over 100,000 merchants across Europe including many mid-market and enterprise retailers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It offers a headless commerce architecture with a powerful rule-based promotion engine, Flow Builder for no-code automation, and a rich extension ecosystem. Shopware 6 (current version) is built on PHP/Symfony with a Vue.js storefront and supports PWA and headless deployment patterns. It can be self-hosted on any EU server (Community Edition is free and open-source) or used as Shopware Cloud hosted in Germany. It is the reference EU e-commerce platform for mid-market German-speaking merchants.
What does Shopware do?
Shopware is open-source e-commerce platform for ambitious brands — a german alternative to shopify. It is listed under e-commerce and open source on EU Alts because its core functionality serves teams looking for a European e-commerce tool with EU data residency, typically as a switch away from Shopify.
Is Shopware a good European e-commerce alternative?
Shopware is a fit for European businesses evaluating e-commerce options where data residency and GDPR alignment matter — typical buyers include EU-based SaaS teams, public-sector projects, regulated industries (healthcare, finance, legal), and any organisation that needs to demonstrate that customer data does not leave the EU. It also overlaps with open source use cases.
Is Shopware GDPR compliant?
Shopware is headquartered in Schöppingen, Germany and processes user data under the GDPR by default. Customer data processing is supervised by Germany's data protection authority, the Bundesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit (BfDI). However, EU Alts has verified that Shopware owned by PayPal Holdings (United States) - ~41% shareholder as of Oct 2025 (Germany), which means — unlike a fully EU-owned provider — it may still be reachable under the US CLOUD Act, similar to Shopify in that respect.
How do teams switch from Shopify to Shopware?
Teams evaluating a move from Shopify to Shopware should note: Shopware owned by PayPal Holdings (United States) - ~41% shareholder as of Oct 2025 (Germany), so this switch narrows but may not fully close the US CLOUD Act gap. Weigh that against the e-commerce workflow fit before treating it as a complete Schrems II fix.
Where is Shopware based?
Shopware is headquartered in Schöppingen, Germany. The company was founded in 2000. Its main website is https://www.shopware.com.