Zen Cart

E-Commerce software with room to grow

Zen Cart is a free, open source shopping cart system for building and running an online store on your own server, giving merchants control over their storefront and data without platform fees. It is developed and maintained by a global group of shop owners, programmers, designers, and consultants, and is licensed under Version 2 of the GNU General Public License.

The software includes catalog and product management, advanced pricing and attributes, group pricing for wholesale and B2B, multi-language and multi-currency support, tax rules, coupons and vouchers, and an advanced template system with override protection. Payment support includes PayPal, Authorize.Net, and Check/Money Order out of the box, with community plugins available for additional gateways such as Stripe, Klarna, Braintree, and others, as well as shipping integrations for DHL, FedEx, UPS, USPS, and Royal Mail. SEO tools, structured data, XML sitemaps, and connectors for Google Analytics and Google Merchant Center are also available through the core software and plugin ecosystem.

Zen Cart is aimed at merchants, web designers, and developers who want to self-host and customize their store. It runs on PHP 8.1–8.3+, Apache or Nginx, and MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB. The software is free with no monthly license or revenue fees, and there are no stated limits on products, sales, or admin users.

12 alternatives to Zen Cart

Ranked by how well each tool replaces Zen Cart: shared features, audience, price and popularity.

CubeCart
Free, open source ecommerce with free official extensions
Covers 6 of 15 key features.
Free planOpen sourceOpen sourceSelf hostingInventoryMulti currency
72 out of 100 matchFree
osCommerce
Free open source shopping cart for selling online
Covers 10 of 15 key features.
Free planOpen sourceOpen sourceMarketplaceCustomizationMulti language support
70 out of 100 matchFree
OpenCart
Open source shopping cart and e-commerce platform for building online stores.
Covers 5 of 15 key features.
Free planOpen sourceOpen sourcePaymentsMarketplaceSeo tools
70 out of 100 matchFree
PrestaShop
Create an online shop easily - Ecommerce
Covers 3 of 15 key features.
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68 out of 100 match—
Shopware
Ecommerce platform for building and customizing a responsive online store
Covers 7 of 15 key features.
Free planOpen sourceOpen sourceSelf hostingSeo toolsMarketplace
65 out of 100 match$600/mo
UltraCart
All-in-one eCommerce platform with storefronts, custom checkout, subscriptions, AI tools
Covers 6 of 15 key features.
Free planReportingTemplatesCollaborationSearch
65 out of 100 matchFree
WooCommerce
Open-source e-commerce for WordPress
Covers 1 of 15 key features.
Free planOpen sourceInventory
65 out of 100 matchFree
Shopify
Commerce platform for online and in-person sales
Covers 1 of 15 key features.
Free planInventory
65 out of 100 matchContact sales
Spree Commerce
Open source headless eCommerce platform for B2B, marketplace, and enterprise use
Covers 7 of 15 key features.
Free planOpen sourceOpen sourceSelf hostingMulti currencyPermissions
64 out of 100 matchFree
Shoplazza
Turn your idea into a selling online store
Covers 6 of 15 key features.
TemplatesPaymentsInventoryCustomization
64 out of 100 match$29.25/mo
Jumpseller
Online store builder for fast-growing businesses
Covers 7 of 15 key features.
MarketplaceSeo toolsPaymentsCustomization
63 out of 100 match$10.80/mo
S-Cart
Free, open-source online-store software for businesses, individual sellers and developers
Covers 7 of 15 key features.
Open sourceReportingTemplatesCustomizationSearch
62 out of 100 match—