# Saleor API + MCP vs Shopware

> Shopware scores 71.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Saleor API + MCP's 68.6 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Saleor API + MCP leads on agent ergonomics. Both do commerce products. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/saleor-vs-shopware
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/saleor-vs-shopware.md (~2,500 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/saleor-vs-shopware.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/saleor-vs-shopware.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-08

Shopware scores 71.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Saleor API + MCP's 68.6 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Saleor API + MCP leads on agent ergonomics. Both do commerce products.

- Saleor API + MCP: grade B, 68.6/100, rank #175 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/saleor.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/saleor.json
- Shopware: grade BB, 71.4/100, rank #112 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/shopware.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/shopware.json

## Which one, for what

### Saleor API + MCP (B)

Good for: Teams that want an open-source GraphQL backend with multi-channel pricing and an agent that reads store data safely.

Ahead on:
- Agent ergonomics, 86 against 78

Watch for: The MCP server can't create checkouts or orders

### Shopware (BB)

Good for: A merchant already on Shopware, or a team that wants an MIT PHP backend with a built-in MCP server for back-office work.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 83 against 50
- Payments & pricing, 50 against 45

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better

Watch for: The MCP server is marked experimental until 6.8, and 6.7.14.0 changed what tools/list returns on the Store API endpoint


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Saleor API + MCP | Shopware | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 50 | 83 | Shopware +33 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 89 | 85 | Saleor API + MCP +4 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 86 | 78 | Saleor API + MCP +8 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 71 | 73 | Shopware +2 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 45 | 50 | Shopware +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 85 | 87 | Shopware +2 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 76 | 76 | even |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | -5 | |
| **Total** | | **68.6 · B** | **71.4 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Saleor API + MCP | Shopware |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Saleor | shopware AG |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | BSD-3-Clause | MIT for the Community Edition core. Paid plans add proprietary extensions under shopware AG's general terms |
| Tools exposed | 8 | 14 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-30 | 2026-10-02 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2026-06-10 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 23k stars, 7.3k npm/wk | 3.4k stars, 31k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**Saleor API + MCP.** One GraphQL schema with 78 typed error-code enums and 464 marked deprecations. The MCP server can't create checkouts or orders.

**Shopware.** MIT-licensed core with OpenAPI specs for both APIs and a built-in MCP server that advertises three discovery tools, previews writes by default and limits each integration to an allowlist. The MCP server is experimental until 6.8, and 20 security advisories were published between May and September 2026, four of them critical.

## Before you call either

### Saleor API + MCP

1. Pass the channel slug on product and checkout queries. Prices and availability are per channel
2. Send X-Saleor-API-URL and X-Saleor-Auth-Token on every MCP request, with a token holding MANAGE_PRODUCTS and MANAGE_ORDERS
3. Read the `errors` array in every mutation payload. A 200 response can still carry a CheckoutErrorCode
4. Keep queries under the 50,000 complexity cap and 100 items a page, and send at most 4 mutations per request
5. The 3.24 changelog removes the old dummy payment plugins, so test checkouts should use a payment app

### Shopware

1. Ask the merchant for an integration without --admin, tied to an ACL role and an MCP allowlist. Send sw-access-key and sw-secret-access-key headers to /api/_mcp
2. Call shopware-tool-search first, then shopware-toolset-enable, and keep the Mcp-Session-Id header. A fresh session lists only three tools
3. Pass dryRun=false to commit a write. shopware-media-upload has no dry run and uploads at once
4. For shopping, call the Store API over HTTP with the sales channel's sw-access-key and keep the sw-context-token. The Store API MCP endpoint has no cart tools in core
5. Send `includes` in search criteria to cut response size, and read the 429 body for the wait time

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Saleor API + MCP or Shopware?

Shopware scores 71.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Saleor API + MCP's 68.6 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Saleor API + MCP leads on agent ergonomics.

### Do Saleor API + MCP and Shopware need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Saleor API + MCP and Shopware without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Saleor API + MCP. No hosted endpoint is listed for Shopware.

### Are Saleor API + MCP and Shopware open source?

Yes. Saleor API + MCP is open source (BSD-3-Clause). Shopware is open source (MIT for the Community Edition core. Paid plans add proprietary extensions under shopware AG's general terms).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/saleor-vs-shopware.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/saleor-vs-shopware.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "saleor", "b": "shopware"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare saleor shopware`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/saleor.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/shopware.json

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