Open Sky Commerce vs Medusa
Both are self-hosted and developer-owned. The difference is cost model, complexity, and what comes pre-built. Medusa is a headless commerce framework. Open Sky Commerce is a complete, deployable storefront you own outright.
Cost over 3 years
Medusa Develop — 3 years
$1,044
$29/mo × 36 + usage overages
Medusa Launch — 3 years
$3,564
$99/mo × 36 + usage overages
Open Sky Commerce — 3 years
$149
One-time. Runs on your own infra.
Medusa's Develop tier bills monthly on top of your own hosting costs. Open Sky Commerce costs only your VPS (~$12/mo on DigitalOcean).
Side-by-side comparison
| Feature | Open Sky Commerce | Medusa Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | One-time $149–$599 | From $29/mo cloud (Develop tier) |
| Year 1 cost (solo dev) | $149 total | $348+ (Develop) or $1,188+ (Launch) |
| Year 3 cost | $149 total | $1,044–$3,564+ |
| Transaction fees | None | None (0% GMV fee) |
| Payment processors | Stripe, Authorize.net, Clover, Square | Any (headless — you integrate) |
| POS sync | Clover & Square (webhooks, built-in) | Not included — custom integration required |
| Self-hostable | Yes — full codebase included | Yes — open-source core |
| Admin panel | Included (Next.js, same repo) | Included (separate Medusa Admin app) |
| Code ownership | 100% | Yes — open-source, you own your fork |
| Setup complexity | Next.js + Postgres — single repo | Backend + storefront + admin = 3 separate apps |
| Tech stack | Next.js 15, TypeScript, Tailwind, Prisma | Node.js backend, React storefront, separate frontend |
| Target user | Devs & agencies building stores | Dev teams building custom commerce infrastructure |
The real difference
Choose Medusa when
- •You need a headless commerce API as the backend for a complex frontend
- •You want Medusa's module system for heavy customization at the commerce logic layer
- •You have a dev team comfortable managing Node.js + Redis + Postgres separately
- •Your project needs enterprise-scale modularity from day one
Choose Open Sky Commerce when
- ✓You want a complete, deployable storefront — not a framework to build one from
- ✓You need Clover or Square POS sync without wiring it from scratch
- ✓You're building client stores and want to own the code with no recurring bill
- ✓Next.js App Router is already your stack and you want everything in one repo
Worth noting: Medusa is an excellent open-source project. If you need a headless commerce API with deep module customization, it's a serious tool. Open Sky Commerce is a different product — a full-stack Next.js storefront you purchase and run. They solve overlapping but not identical problems.
A complete storefront for a one-time price
No monthly cloud bill. No framework to assemble. Just deploy and customize.