What is the difference between Shopware Cloud and self-hosted Shopware 6?

Shopware Cloud and self-hosted Shopware 6 run the same underlying platform but hand you a different amount of control. Shopware Cloud is a managed subscription, sold as Rise, Evolve, or Beyond, where Shopware AG runs the servers, handles updates, and restricts you to its App system. Self-hosted Shopware 6 puts you or your agency in charge of the infrastructure, using either the free Community Edition or a self-hosted commercial license, and gives you full access to the classic Plugin system and server configuration.

Shopware Cloud vs Self-Hosted Shopware 6 at a Glance

How Shopware Cloud Works

Shopware Cloud runs on infrastructure Shopware AG owns and operates. You don’t touch servers, PHP versions, or database tuning. Instead, you install extensions through the App system, which communicates over API and webhooks rather than running inside the Shopware core. That isolation is what makes Cloud manageable at scale, but it also means the App Store carries a smaller catalog than the classic Plugin Store, and some ERP or logistics integrations that exist as plugins may not have an App equivalent yet. Check App availability before assuming a Cloud migration will be seamless.

How Self-Hosted Shopware 6 Works

Self-hosted Shopware 6 gives you the classic Plugin system, which runs inside the Shopware core with full server access, alongside support for Apps too. You can install any plugin from the Plugin Store, write custom code against the platform directly, and configure caching, search, and infrastructure to match your traffic patterns. This comes with real technical requirements: Shopware 6.7 needs PHP 8.2 or higher, MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.11+, and Node.js 20, with Redis and a reverse proxy like Varnish generally required for acceptable performance in production. [INSERT: confirm current PHP/MySQL/Node minimums directly against the Shopware system requirements page at time of publish, since these change with each release] Self-hosting can run on the free, MIT-licensed Community Edition or on a self-hosted commercial license if you’re past the eligibility threshold for Community.

Cost Isn’t Just the License Fee

Shopware Cloud’s price is predictable: you know your monthly Rise or Evolve fee up front, and hosting, scaling, and patching are bundled in. Self-hosted looks cheaper on paper, especially with Community Edition costing nothing to license, but you’re paying for hosting, a developer or agency to maintain updates, and your own uptime risk instead. Since March 24, 2025, Shopware’s Fair Usage Policy caps free Community Edition use at €1 million in annual GMV generated through your Shopware store. Below that, the Account and Store stay fully accessible at no cost. Cross it, and you need to move to Rise, Evolve, or Beyond to keep Account and Store access, since Shopware doesn’t auto-upgrade you but will reach out to work out a plan once your reported GMV crosses the line. The MIT-licensed code keeps running either way, but without upgrading you lose Store access, which means no new plugin purchases and no plugin security updates. For a store with a lean dev team and straightforward requirements, that gap often closes once you account for the hours spent on maintenance. For a store that needs deep customization or already has development capacity, self-hosted tends to win on cost as revenue grows.

Which Should You Choose

Choose Shopware Cloud if you want to launch fast, don’t have in-house DevOps capacity, and your extension needs fit within the App system. Choose self-hosted Shopware 6 if you need a specific plugin that only exists in the classic Plugin Store, want full control over customization and integrations, or expect your long-term hosting cost to undercut a flat Cloud subscription once you factor in growth. Teams that want self-hosted’s flexibility without managing servers themselves often land on managed hosting through an agency, which keeps the Plugin ecosystem and code access while outsourcing the infrastructure work.

Neither deployment model is wrong. The decision comes down to whether you’d rather pay for someone else to manage infrastructure or keep full control and take on that work yourself. Map your required plugins against the App Store before you decide, since that single check resolves most Cloud vs self-hosted questions on its own.