Softwr

E-Commerce · head to head

Medusa vs Stigg

Medusa logo

Medusa

E-Commerce

Open source Shopify alternative

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Stigg logo

Stigg

Accounting

Usage runtime platform for credits and entitlements

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Stigg has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Medusa the managed cloud meters four separate resources: edge requests, emails, compute hours and database storage; Stigg free tier limited to 10,000 entities and 5M events per month
  • They diverge on capability: Medusa covers Open source, Stigg covers Real-time credit enforcement.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Medusa and Stigg actually diverge.

Attributes where Medusa and Stigg differ
AttributeMedusaStigg
Starting price$29/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionFreemium with usage-based and custom tiers
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, Cloud, BYOC, BYODB, API
CategoryE-CommerceAccounting
Founded2020Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Medusa

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

Only in Stigg

  • Real-time credit enforcement
  • Financial-grade credits
  • High-scale metering
  • Budget governance
  • Flexible deployment
  • Billing platform integration
  • Data warehouse integration
  • CRM integration

What people use each for

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

Medusa

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

Stigg

  • Managing token and credit usage for AI productsnot Medusa
  • Enforcing spending caps and budget controlsnot Medusa
  • Implementing prepaid credit systems with expirynot Medusa
  • Real-time entitlement verification for feature accessnot Medusa
  • Scaling billing infrastructure for high-volume eventsnot Medusa

Where each one falls short

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

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

Stigg

  • Free tier limited to 10,000 entities and 5M events per month
  • Pro plan pricing ($399/month) may be high for early-stage companies
  • Scale and BYOC plans require custom contracts and sales engagement
  • Primarily targets AI and high-scale use cases, not all business models
  • Requires integration with separate billing platform (Stripe, Zuora, etc.)

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Stigg

Free
  • Build (Free Forever)Free
    • 10,000 managed entities per month
    • 5M usage events per month
    • 1K events per second rate limit
  • Pro$399/month
    • 10,000 entities included (graduated pricing to 100K)
    • 25M usage events included (to 500M with graduated rates)
    • 10K events per second (upgradeable to 100K)
  • Scale$null/custom
    • Custom entity and event volumes
    • 50K events per second (upgradeable to 100K)
    • RBAC and SSO (SAML)
  • BYOC$40000/year
    • Deploy in customer VPC
    • Unlimited entities and events
    • No event billing

Which should you pick?

Choose Medusa if

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

Choose Stigg if

  • You need real-time credit enforcement.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, BYOC, BYODB, API.
  • You also want financial-grade credits.
Stigg review

Questions people ask

Is Medusa or Stigg better?
Neither clearly leads. Medusa starts at $29/month and Stigg at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Medusa or Stigg?
Stigg has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for Medusa and Free for Stigg.
Does Medusa or Stigg run on more platforms?
Medusa runs on Web. Stigg runs on Web, Cloud, BYOC, BYODB, API.
Can I use Stigg for free?
Yes. Stigg has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Medusa starts at $29/month.
What is Medusa best used for?
Medusa is most often used for building a custom ecommerce backend on an open source headless platform, running a self hosted or managed commerce api with a custom storefront. Of those, building a custom ecommerce backend on an open source headless platform and running a self hosted or managed commerce api with a custom storefront are not what Stigg is typically brought in for.
What can Medusa do that Stigg cannot?
Medusa covers Open source, Modular architecture, Multi-region support, Plugin system. Stigg covers Real-time credit enforcement, Financial-grade credits, High-scale metering, Budget governance.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
Stigg: How quickly does Stigg check entitlements?

Stigg makes entitlement checks in under 10 milliseconds, enabling real-time enforcement of spending decisions before token consumption.

Source
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
Stigg: Can I use Stigg with my existing billing platform?

Yes, Stigg integrates with major billing platforms including Stripe, Zuora, Chargebee, Metronome, and Orb to manage entitlements and credits.

Source
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
Stigg: What deployment options does Stigg offer?

Stigg offers cloud API, BYOC (Bring Your Own Cloud) for VPC deployment, and BYODB options for customers who want to manage their own database.

Source
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