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E-Commerce · head to head

Depop vs Medusa

Depop logo

Depop

E-Commerce

Fashion resale marketplace popular with younger sellers, owned by Etsy, with a per-item plus percentage fee

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Medusa logo

Medusa

E-Commerce

Open source Shopify alternative

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Depop has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Depop the 2024 shift away from a flat 10 percent fee increased the effective cost per sale for sellers moving high volumes of low-priced items, a group that was previously well served by the app.; Medusa the managed cloud meters four separate resources: edge requests, emails, compute hours and database storage
  • They diverge on capability: Depop covers Curated seller shops, Medusa covers Open source.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Depop and Medusa actually diverge.

Attributes where Depop and Medusa differ
AttributeDepopMedusa
Starting priceFree$29/month
Pricing modelFree to list; percentage plus per-order seller fee, separate payment processing feesubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsiOS, Android, WebWeb
FoundedUnknown2020

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (E-Commerce).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Depop

  • Curated seller shops
  • Social discovery feed
  • Per-order seller fee
  • Depop Payments
  • Offers and bundles
  • Boost and promoted listings

Only in Medusa

  • Open source
  • Modular architecture
  • Multi-region support
  • Plugin system
  • Admin dashboard
  • Order management
  • Inventory tracking
  • Payment integrations

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Depop

  • A younger seller building a curated vintage or streetwear shop with a distinct aesthetic identitynot Medusa
  • A buyer who discovers items through a social-style feed rather than direct searchnot Medusa
  • A seller moving higher-priced individual pieces where the current fee structure is more favourable than the old flat ratenot Medusa
  • Someone who wants social features like likes and follows as part of the buying and selling experiencenot Medusa

Medusa

  • Building a custom ecommerce backend on an open source headless platformnot Depop
  • Running a self hosted or managed commerce API with a custom storefrontnot Depop

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Depop

  • The 2024 shift away from a flat 10 percent fee increased the effective cost per sale for sellers moving high volumes of low-priced items, a group that was previously well served by the app.
  • Payment processing is a separate fee on top of the per-order seller fee, so the total deduction from a sale is not fully captured by the headline percentage alone.
  • Discovery leans heavily on an algorithmic social feed, so newer sellers without an existing following can find it harder to get visibility without paying for Boost promotion.
  • As an Etsy subsidiary since 2021, Depop's roadmap and fee decisions are set within a larger public company strategy rather than independently, and past fee changes reflect that broader commercial pressure.
  • Buyer protection and dispute resolution for item condition or authenticity issues rely on Depop's own policies, which are less standardised than the seller-rating-driven trust systems on some competitors.

Medusa

  • The managed cloud meters four separate resources: edge requests, emails, compute hours and database storage
  • The Develop plan at $29 a month applies a hard limit of 1,000 emails, so it stops rather than bills
  • Compute hours are capped at 600 on Develop and 800 on Launch
  • Edge request overage is $0.3 per million and storage $0.5 per GB month above the plan allowance
  • Background workers and priority support require the Scale plan at $299 a month

Pricing, plan by plan

Depop

Free
  • SellingFree
    • Percentage-based fee on sale price plus a small fixed per-order fee
    • Separate payment processing fee applies on top
    • Sellers should check current published rates, as the fee structure changed from a flat 10 percent in 2024

Medusa

$29/month
  • Develop$29/month
    • Base cloud hosting
    • Commerce features included
    • No GMV-tax
  • Launch$99/month
    • Enhanced features
    • No GMV-tax
  • Scale$299/month
    • Advanced features
    • No GMV-tax
  • Enterprise$null/custom
    • Custom configuration

Which should you pick?

Choose Depop if

  • You need curated seller shops.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want social discovery feed.
Depop review

Choose Medusa if

  • You need open source.
  • You also want modular architecture.
Medusa review

Questions people ask

Is Depop or Medusa better?
Neither clearly leads. Depop starts at Free and Medusa at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Depop or Medusa?
Depop has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Depop and $29/month for Medusa.
Does Depop or Medusa run on more platforms?
Depop runs on iOS, Android, Web. Medusa runs on Web.
Can I use Depop for free?
Yes. Depop has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Medusa starts at $29/month.
What is Depop best used for?
Depop is most often used for a younger seller building a curated vintage or streetwear shop with a distinct aesthetic identity, a buyer who discovers items through a social-style feed rather than direct search, a seller moving higher-priced individual pieces where the current fee structure is more favourable than the old flat rate, someone who wants social features like likes and follows as part of the buying and selling experience. Of those, a younger seller building a curated vintage or streetwear shop with a distinct aesthetic identity and a buyer who discovers items through a social-style feed rather than direct search are not what Medusa is typically brought in for.
What can Depop do that Medusa cannot?
Depop covers Curated seller shops, Social discovery feed, Per-order seller fee, Depop Payments. Medusa covers Open source, Modular architecture, Multi-region support, Plugin system.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Depop: Is Depop seller fee still a flat 10 percent?

No, Depop moved to a percentage plus small fixed per-order fee structure in 2024, replacing the earlier flat 10 percent rate.

Medusa: What does Medusa charge for additional team members?

Additional seats on the Medusa Cloud development platform cost $30 per seat per month. Unlimited users can access the Medusa Admin Dashboard at no additional cost for commerce operations.

Source
Depop: Who owns Depop?

Etsy, which acquired Depop in 2021 for 1.625 billion dollars.

Medusa: Are there usage-based charges beyond the base Medusa plan price?

Yes. Beyond base plan costs, Medusa charges for edge request overages at $0.30 per 1M requests, email overages at $0.70 per 1,000 emails, data transfer at $0.125 per GB, and database storage at $0.50 per GB-month.

Source
Depop: Does Depop charge for payment processing separately?

Yes, Depop Payments carries its own fee in addition to the per-order seller fee.

Medusa: Can I cancel my Medusa subscription at any time?

Yes, users can cancel their Medusa subscription anytime. Plans are billed monthly in advance, with flex usage charges from the previous month added to the next invoice.

Source
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