# Best open-source e-commerce platforms for .NET in 2026 2026-10-03 If your team works in C# and ASP.NET Core, you do not have to move to PHP or a closed SaaS to run an online store. Five open-source e-commerce platforms run on .NET today. They look alike on a feature list, but they differ in the things that are hard to change later: the licence, the database, and the kind of business the platform was designed for. This comparison was checked on **3 October 2026** against each project's GitHub repository and documentation. It is written by the GrandNode team, so we say plainly where another platform is the better choice. ### The five platforms at a glance | Platform | Licence | Database | Latest release (Oct 2026) | GitHub stars | |---|---|---|---|---| | **nopCommerce** | nopCommerce Public License 4.0 (AGPL-3.0 + "powered by" link) | SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL | 4\.90 stable, 5.00 beta (Sep 2026) | 10\.1k | | **Smartstore** | AGPL-3.0 | SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite | 6\.4.0 (May 2026) | 1\.7k | | **GrandNode** | GPL-3.0 | MongoDB | 2\.4.0 beta (Sep 2026) | 1\.3k | | **Virto Commerce** | Virto Commerce Open Software License | SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL | 3\.1076 (Oct 2026) | 1\.3k | | **Orchard Core Commerce** | MIT | whatever Orchard Core runs on (SQL Server, SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL) | 4\.0.0 (Aug 2026) | 0\.2k | Stars measure attention, not quality, but they do tell you how many people you can ask when something breaks. ### Five questions that decide the choice #### 1\. What does the licence ask of you? All five let you run a commercial store for free. The difference is what you must share and show: - **AGPL-3.0** (Smartstore, and nopCommerce through its own licence) treats users reaching the store over the network as recipients: if you modify the platform, you must offer them your modified source. - **nopCommerce** also requires a visible "powered by nopCommerce" link on every page; removing it means buying a copyright removal key. - **GPL-3.0** (GrandNode) asks you to share source only when you distribute the software. Running your own modified store on your own servers is not distribution. - **MIT** (Orchard Core Commerce) asks for almost nothing beyond keeping the copyright notice. This is a summary, not legal advice. If you build a product on top of a platform and sell it, have a lawyer read the licence. #### 2\. Relational or document database? Four of the five sit on Entity Framework and a relational database. GrandNode is the only one built on **MongoDB**. A product with dozens of attributes, variants and translations is stored as one document instead of rows spread over many joined tables, which keeps catalog reads simple and lets you scale reads with replica sets or a managed cluster such as MongoDB Atlas. The trade-off is real: your team needs to know MongoDB, and reporting tools that expect SQL need an extra step. #### 3\. One shop, or many? Multi-store (several storefronts from one installation) is available in nopCommerce, Smartstore and GrandNode. If other sellers will list products in your shop, check how vendors work: nopCommerce and GrandNode both have vendors, and GrandNode gives vendors and store owners their own panels, so each party only sees its own products, orders and customers. #### 4\. Server-rendered storefront or headless? Virto Commerce is headless first: the platform is a set of API modules and the storefront is a separate application. nopCommerce, Smartstore and GrandNode ship a complete server-rendered storefront and also expose APIs (in GrandNode, a REST API is part of the core), so you can start with the built-in theme and go headless later. #### 5\. Who fixes security issues, and for how long? Open source is free to download, not free to run. Ask how long a release receives security fixes and how you will hear about vulnerabilities. Check whether the project publishes a security policy and advisories, and whether paid long-term support exists if your business cannot upgrade every few months. ### nopCommerce The oldest and most widely used .NET e-commerce platform, with the largest marketplace of plugins and themes and many agencies that know it. Version 5.00, which moves to .NET 10, is in beta since September 2026. **Choose it when** you want the biggest ecosystem and the largest pool of developers. **Keep in mind** the AGPL-based licence and the required "powered by" link. ### Smartstore A modern all-in-one platform on ASP.NET Core 10 and EF Core 10, with a built-in CMS, multi-store and AI text and image generation. It supports the widest choice of relational databases, including SQLite for small installations. **Choose it when** you want an all-in-one store on a relational database. **Keep in mind** the AGPL-3.0 licence if you plan to modify the core. ### GrandNode An ASP.NET Core platform on MongoDB for B2C and B2B: multi-store, multi-vendor, multi-tenant, multi-language and multi-currency in the free edition, with a REST API, Docker images and an admin panel split into main admin, store owner and vendor views. It runs on .NET 10, on Windows, Linux and macOS. **Choose it when** you need several stores or vendors on one installation, prefer a document database, or want the GPL-3.0 licence. **Keep in mind** that the plugin ecosystem is smaller than nopCommerce's and that 2.4 is still in beta. For companies that need security fixes on one version for longer, [GrandNode Official](https://grandnode.com/official) adds LTS releases with a 24-month lifecycle, private vulnerability notices and signed packages; the code stays the same. ### Virto Commerce A headless, API-first, modular platform aimed at enterprise B2B, released very frequently. The stack is larger: besides the database it uses Redis and Elasticsearch. **Choose it when** you are building complex B2B commerce with a separate frontend team. **Keep in mind** the infrastructure it needs and its own licence terms. ### Orchard Core Commerce A commerce module for the Orchard Core CMS rather than a complete store, under the permissive MIT licence. **Choose it when** you already run Orchard Core and want to add products, a cart and checkout to a content site. **Keep in mind** that it does not try to match the back-office features of a full e-commerce platform. ### Which one should you pick? - **Largest ecosystem:** nopCommerce. - **All-in-one on a relational database:** Smartstore. - **Multi-store or marketplace on MongoDB, GPL licence:** GrandNode. - **Headless enterprise B2B:** Virto Commerce. - **A shop inside an Orchard Core site:** Orchard Core Commerce. The fastest way to decide is to run two candidates with your own catalog for a day. GrandNode starts with two Docker commands; see [Download](https://grandnode.com/download) or the [Docker guide](https://grandnode.com/getting-started-docker-kubernetes). If you are moving an existing store, we can [quote the data migration](https://grandnode.com/migration). ### Frequently asked questions #### Is there a free .NET e-commerce platform for commercial use? Yes. All five platforms above can run a commercial store without a licence fee. Their licences differ in what you must share or display, as described above. #### Which .NET e-commerce platform uses NoSQL? GrandNode is built on MongoDB. The other platforms in this comparison use relational databases through Entity Framework. #### Can a .NET store run on Linux? Yes. All of these platforms run on ASP.NET Core, which runs on Linux, Windows and macOS, and most ship Docker images. #### Is nopCommerce free? The software is free under the nopCommerce Public License, which requires a "powered by nopCommerce" link on every page unless you buy a copyright removal key. - [Web page](https://grandnode.com/the-best-open-source-e-commerce-web-applications)