Is SamCart or Shopware better?

Neither clearly leads. SamCart starts at $79/month and Shopware at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, SamCart or Shopware?

Shopware has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $79/month for SamCart and Free for Shopware.

Does SamCart or Shopware run on more platforms?

Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.

Can I use Shopware for free?

Yes. Shopware has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. SamCart starts at $79/month.

What is SamCart best used for?

SamCart is most often used for increasing average order value through automated order bumps and upsells, recovering failed subscription payments with retry logic and dunning management, generating sales pages, emails, and ads with ai from product descriptions, sending cart abandonment recovery emails without customer re-entry. Of those, increasing average order value through automated order bumps and upsells and recovering failed subscription payments with retry logic and dunning management are not what Shopware is typically brought in for.

E-Commerce · head to head

SamCart vs Shopware

SamCart

E-Commerce

The number one checkout platform

From: $79/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Shopware

E-Commerce

Explore the open-source commerce platform, backed by our global community

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Shopware has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: SamCart no feature differentiation between CORE and PRO tiers, pricing tier based on expected transaction volume only; Shopware rise tier starts at 600 euro per month and Evolve at 2,400 euro per month, both excluding VAT, so pricing is published in euros only and not converted for other regions
Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which SamCart and Shopware actually diverge.

Attributes where SamCart and Shopware differ
Attribute	SamCart	Shopware
Starting price	$79/month	Free
Pricing model	subscription	open-source
Free tier	No	Yes

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

What people use each for

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

SamCart

Increasing average order value through automated order bumps and upsellsnot Shopware
Recovering failed subscription payments with retry logic and dunning managementnot Shopware
Generating sales pages, emails, and ads with AI from product descriptionsnot Shopware
Sending cart abandonment recovery emails without customer re-entrynot Shopware
Migrating existing customer bases from competing platforms without data lossnot Shopware

Shopware

Managing unlimited sales channels across online, POS, marketplacesnot SamCart
Setting customer-specific pricing for B2B customersnot SamCart
Automating complex workflows with Flow Builder without codingnot SamCart
Segmenting customers automatically with behavioral tagsnot SamCart
Managing multi-language, multi-currency, multi-tax for global expansionnot SamCart

Where each one falls short

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

SamCart

No feature differentiation between CORE and PRO tiers, pricing tier based on expected transaction volume only
Transaction fees of 2.9% plus $0.30 apply to all plans

Shopware

Rise tier starts at 600 euro per month and Evolve at 2,400 euro per month, both excluding VAT, so pricing is published in euros only and not converted for other regions
Beyond, the top tier with digital sales rooms, multi-inventory and customer-specific pricing, is custom priced and requires contacting sales
The Shopware Intelligence+ AI add-on is billed separately at 29 euro per month on Community Edition or 19 euro per month on paid tiers, on top of the plan price

Pricing, plan by plan

SamCart

$79/month

CORE$79/month
- All features included
PRO$199/month
- All features included

Shopware

Free

Community EditionFree
- free open-source platform
- global developer community access
- Shopware Intelligence+ add-on at 29/month
Rise$600/month
- subscription model
- Shopware Intelligence+ add-on at 19/month
Evolve$2400/month
- subscription model
- Shopware Intelligence+ add-on at 19/month
Beyond$null/custom
- custom pricing
- contact sales required

Which should you pick?

Choose SamCart if

Nothing in the data separates SamCart from Shopware on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

SamCart review

Choose Shopware if

You want to start without paying.

Shopware review

Questions people ask

Is SamCart or Shopware better?: Neither clearly leads. SamCart starts at $79/month and Shopware at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, SamCart or Shopware?: Shopware has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $79/month for SamCart and Free for Shopware.
Does SamCart or Shopware run on more platforms?: Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Shopware for free?: Yes. Shopware has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. SamCart starts at $79/month.
What is SamCart best used for?: SamCart is most often used for increasing average order value through automated order bumps and upsells, recovering failed subscription payments with retry logic and dunning management, generating sales pages, emails, and ads with ai from product descriptions, sending cart abandonment recovery emails without customer re-entry. Of those, increasing average order value through automated order bumps and upsells and recovering failed subscription payments with retry logic and dunning management are not what Shopware is typically brought in for.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

SamCart: How much does SamCart cost?

SamCart offers two subscription tiers: CORE at $79/month and PRO at $199/month. Both plans include all features with no restrictions between tiers.

Source

Shopware: How much does Shopware cost?

Shopware offers Community Edition free (open-source), Rise at 600/month, Evolve at 2,400/month (all in EUR), and Beyond at custom pricing requiring sales contact.

Source

SamCart: What are SamCart's transaction fees?

SamCart charges a transaction fee of 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction on all payments processed through the platform.

Source

Shopware: What is the difference between Shopware Community and Rise editions?

Shopware Community Edition is a free open-source platform with global developer community access. Rise is a subscription tier starting at 600/month (EUR) with included features and support.

Source

SamCart: Does SamCart offer a free trial?

Yes, SamCart offers a 7-day free trial available for both the CORE and PRO plans, allowing customers to test the platform before committing to a subscription.

Source

Shopware: What add-on services does Shopware offer?

Shopware offers Shopware Intelligence+ at 29/month (Community Edition) or 19/month (Rise, Evolve, and Beyond tiers). Shopware Nexus is in a free introductory phase through September 1, 2026.

Source

SamCart: Does SamCart offer migration services from other platforms?

Yes, SamCart offers done-for-you migration services for customers switching from Kajabi, ThriveCart, ClickFunnels, Shopify, and Teachable. Specific pricing for migration services is not listed on the main page.

Source

SamCart vs Shopware

SamCart

Shopware

The short version

Where they differ

What people use each for

SamCart

Shopware

Where each one falls short

SamCart

Shopware

Pricing, plan by plan

SamCart

Shopware

Which should you pick?

Choose SamCart if

Choose Shopware if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on SamCart

More on Shopware

Keep looking

Other head to heads