Medusa as the commerce backend
Catalogue, prices, customers, stock and orders, with an admin your team can work in. The core is open source. If we need Enterprise features such as advanced permissions, we say so up front.
Service
Medusa webshop development for B2C and D2C brands
Do you sell to consumers, as an online retailer or as a brand selling direct (D2C)? Then Medusa makes sense when your shop has to be more than a theme. Your own storefront, a checkout you control, and products, stock and orders in one system. No rented theme and no plugin that breaks on the next update. We build it from Nijmegen in the Netherlands, for brands across Europe. Selling to businesses? See the B2B webshop.
At a glance
- Medusa as the commerce backend
- Storefront and checkout for consumers
- Connecting what you already have
- Go-live and handover
Custom quote after a free intro call
What we do
What is included
Storefront and checkout for consumers
The pages your customers see are built in Next.js: fast on mobile, with real URLs, metadata and a design that fits your brand. You decide the checkout, the local payment methods per market (iDEAL, Bancontact, Klarna, cards) and the rest of the customer journey.
Connecting what you already have
Payments, shipping and, where needed, an ERP, PIM or accounting package. We start from the process, not from a list of apps.
Go-live and handover
Replacing an old shop means redirects are part of the job. We show your team how the admin works and hand over the code. The shop does not stay locked up with us.
Who it is for
Who this fits
- D2C brands that want to own their customer journey, checkout and customer data.
- Online retailers selling in several countries, languages, currencies or channels.
- Teams that want to own the data and the code, not just a subscription.
- Companies that already know an ERP, PIM or second sales channel is coming.
- European companies that want a small, direct team: you always talk to the person building your shop.
Honest advice
When we advise against it
- A small catalogue that has to go live on a theme this month, without integrations.
- A project where WordPress content is the main thing and the shop is a sidecar with a handful of products.
Price
What determines the price
A custom quote after a free intro call. These factors determine the price, not a menu.
- Catalogue
- Number of products, variants and languages, and the quality of the source data. Messy data takes more time than a large but clean file.
- Customer journey and checkout
- A standard checkout is different from bundles, subscriptions, personalisation or your own loyalty programme.
- Integrations
- Every extra system counts, and the quality of the API on the other side counts even more.
- Storefront and migration
- A new design, extra templates, or moving an existing shop with its URLs all add scope. We would rather see that in the proposal than afterwards.
Process
The process
- 01
Intro call
We ask what you sell, to whom, and which system is the source of truth today: the shop, the ERP or a spreadsheet.
- 02
Proposal
Scope, architecture and an estimate. Including what we deliberately leave out of the first version.
- 03
Build in cycles
You see a working environment before everything is finished, so we can steer on real products rather than on a mock-up.
- 04
Live and handover
Payments, shipping, redirects, analytics and a walkthrough of the admin. Then we discuss whether you want maintenance.
Ownership
No vendor lock-in: you own everything
With Shopify or Lightspeed you rent the platform: stop paying and the shop stops. With us everything is in your name: the code, the hosting account and the data. Also if you later want to continue with someone else.
- 01Code
GitHub, in your name
The code lives in a GitHub repository in your own account or organisation, with documentation. Any developer or agency can take it over.
- 02Data
Database, in your name
Products, customers and orders sit in the database of your own Medusa Cloud project, in the EU. You can download a backup or move at any time.
- 03Hosting
Medusa Cloud, or self-hosted
New shops run on Medusa Cloud, in an organisation in your name. We get access for as long as you want. Prefer to host it yourself? That works too.
- 04Platform
Medusa, open source (MIT)
The Medusa core is open source under the MIT licence. No licence fees for the core and no transaction percentage to the platform.
| Shopify / Lightspeed | Medusa via Alpha Digital | |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | Rented, per month | Open source, yours |
| Code | Theme and apps within their rules | Your own repository in your name |
| Data | In their system, export via their tools | In your own database, in the EU |
| Revenue-based fees | Depends on plan and payment method | No platform percentage |
| Hosting | Only with the vendor itself | Medusa Cloud or self-hosted |
| Switching | Rebuild on another platform | Another developer takes over |
To be fair
Owning also means paying for what you use yourself: the Medusa Cloud bill (or your own hosting) runs directly through your account. And your own shop needs maintenance: updates, security, an eye on the integrations. You can get that from us, or from anyone you like.
The rights to custom work are set out in article 10 of our terms and conditions (intellectual property).
About maintenance and supportHosting
Medusa Cloud in Frankfurt: your data stays in the EU
By default we set up new shops on Medusa Cloud, in the Europe Central region. The infrastructure is managed; the bill and the account are in your name.
- 01EU
Your data stays in the EU
The project runs in the Europe Central region: Frankfurt, eu-central-1. Backend, database, backups, uploaded files, Redis and search indexes all live there.
- 02Backups
Daily managed backups
The database is backed up every day and stored encrypted. Restoring or downloading is done from the dashboard.
- 03Infra
Managed Redis and autoscaling
Database, Redis and scalable servers are managed by Medusa. No servers of your own to look after.
- 04Exit
Self-hosting is possible too
Medusa is open source. If you want to run the shop on your own infrastructure, the code moves with you. You are not locked into Medusa Cloud.
To be fair
Medusa Cloud is also a service from an external provider, just like Shopify. The difference: with Medusa you can leave and host it yourself, with the same code and your own data. Shingyo, our first project, still runs on Vercel and Supabase.
What Medusa can do · costs
What can you save with Medusa?
No revenue share to a platform, less manual work and a faster launch. Four figures from brands that shared them publicly. Not ours, but you can check every one.
- €22,300/mois what Healthletic paid on Shopify Plus in platform and transaction fees (source: 25,000 US dollars, converted at the ECB rate of 5 November 2026). On Medusa the platform bill no longer grows with revenue.Source: Healthletic via Medusa ↗
- −80%operating costs for order processing at INSPIRED Pet Nutrition, through less manual work.Source: INSPIRED Pet Nutrition via Medusa ↗
- 2 people, < 5 monthsfor a B2B platform in 26 markets. According to Partbase that normally takes five people 6–9 months.Source: Partbase via Medusa ↗
- −30%time-to-market for new features at Patyna, after moving from WooCommerce.Source: Patyna via Medusa ↗
What it saves you depends on your platform, volume and processes. We work that out together in the intro call, without promises up front.
Insights
Further reading
From this service to the articles, and from each article back again.
- ArticleShopify vs Medusa: costs, flexibility and when to choose whichShopify and Medusa compared on subscription, revenue fees, apps, hosting, three-year cost and B2B. Prices as of 5 November 2026, and honest about where Shopify wins.Read more
- ArticleMigrating to Medusa: why, and how to do it rightWhy companies move to Medusa, from which platforms it makes sense, the six steps of a good migration and when you are better off staying.Read more
- ArticleWhat a headless Next.js storefront does and does not solveMedusa stays the engine, Next.js becomes the shop window. When that difference matters, and when a theme is simply enough.Read more
- All articlesPlatform comparisons and the migration guide, with sources.To the articles
What do we get?
A Medusa backend, a Next.js storefront, the agreed integrations and access to the code and the hosting. Your team gets a walkthrough of the admin. What exactly is in the first version is in the proposal.
Do we own the design?
Yes. We do not build a theme you share with a thousand other shops. The design can come from you, or we create it in the project. Product photography is planned separately if you do not have it yet.
Can we connect an ERP later?
Yes. Medusa is well suited for that. If the integration is already known, we prefer to include it in the first scope. Adding it later also works, as long as product and price data have a clear source.
Do you work with companies outside the Netherlands?
Yes. Our office is in Nijmegen, close to the German border. We work remotely with teams elsewhere in Europe, in English or Dutch. The shop itself can sell in as many countries, languages and currencies as you need.
What do we need to provide?
Product data, a picture of your customer groups, access to the systems that need connecting, and someone who can make decisions. Without that person, a build project slips.
What does it cost?
That depends on your project. After a free intro call you get a custom quote.
Free intro call
What is your challenge?
Twelve shops that need to become one, an ERP that sets the price, or a checkout that does not do what you want. Tell us in one call. You will hear honestly whether Medusa fits.
Based in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, working with companies across Europe. How we work with European teams.