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commercetools alternatives

commercetools alternatives with published pricing and payments built in.

commercetools doesn’t publish prices: its pricing page describes order-based pricing and asks you to contact sales, and Vendr, a third-party software buying platform, lists a median commercetools contract of $151,200 a year. Payments and tax sit outside it: commercetools Checkout needs a connector to a payment provider such as Adyen, PayPal, or Stripe, and carts compute tax from rates you set in tax categories or from an external engine. For a US team that wants a hosted commerce API with card payments and US sales tax built in and a published price, Flint Pay is the alternative: 3.79% + 35¢ per card payment, no monthly fee, and no sales call.

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3.79% + 35¢ on cards · no monthly fee · free sandbox · no credit card

last reviewed 2026-10-15 · sources

01The alternatives

commercetools alternatives with a published price.

Ranked for a US business selling on its own website or app that wants a commerce API priced on a public page. Each figure is from the vendor's own pricing page, checked on the date under Sources.

  1. 01

    Flint Pay

    US businesses that want orders, catalog, inventory, promotions, checkout, card payments, and US sales tax in one hosted API, with no contract to negotiate.

    Cards
    3.79% + 35¢, Stripe's fees included
    Monthly
    No monthly fee
    US sales tax
    automatic, 0.50% on taxed payments
  2. 02

    Shopify Plus

    Shopify's top plan, priced by term, with Shopify's checkout.

    3-year term
    from $2,300/mo
    1-year term
    from $2,500/mo
    Third-party processor
    0.20% per transaction
  3. 03

    Elastic Path

    An enterprise composable platform with a published entry price and an annual minimum.

    Entry
    $49,500/yr, up to 15,000 orders
    Term
    annual minimum, most choose 3 years
    Payments
    your own processor
  4. 04

    Saleor Cloud

    A hosted GraphQL commerce API priced by monthly GMV, with payments and tax through apps.

    Select
    $1,599/mo to $200K GMV
    Above the cap
    0.8% of GMV
    Payments
    Stripe app, your account
  5. 05

    Commerce Layer

    A headless commerce API with a free developer tier and quoted production pricing.

    Developer
    free, 100 live orders/mo
    Enterprise
    custom quote
    Gateway fees
    not included

02Side by side

Flint vs commercetools, need by need.

The commercetools column is what commercetools' own pricing page and docs say today, each linked under Sources. The Flint column is what a Flint account does, with the API name behind it.

Pricecommercetools: Not published. Order-based pricing; “Contact us for more information on pricing plans.” Vendr, a third party, lists a median contract of $151,200 a year.Flint: Published: 3.79% + 35¢ per card payment, which covers Stripe's processing fees. No monthly fee.
What the price includescommercetools: A package you extend with add-ons, including Checkout, premium support, and additional regions and connectors. Some add-ons need the Premium package.Flint: Checkout, payment links, orders, catalog and inventory, discounts, fulfillment, returns, the buyer account, refunds, and reporting. Invoices, subscriptions, and automatic tax are per-payment add-ons.
Card paymentscommercetools: Checkout needs at least one connector to a payment provider, such as Adyen, PayPal, or Stripe, from commercetools' marketplace, or a custom connector you build.Flint: Stripe, on a processing account Flint sets up and runs for you: cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH debit, and Affirm.POST /v1/checkout-sessions
US sales taxcommercetools: In the default Platform mode, the rate comes from the tax category on each product and shipping method, matched to the shipping address's country and state. External modes take rates or amounts you supply from your own engine.Flint: Automatic US sales tax computed after discounts and recorded on each line, at 0.50% only on payments that carry tax. Or send rates from your own engine.tax_money
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How switching works

03One account

What does a composable build assemble that Flint includes?

A commercetools build adds a payment provider contract and connector, a tax engine, and the team to run them around the commerce API. On Flint each piece is part of one account with published rates.

Card processing on Stripe, set up and run by Flint, with no connector to install and no processor contract of your own.

POST /v1/checkout-sessions

Carts and orders, with line items, discounts, tax, and totals Flint computes on its server.

POST /v1/orders

Products with options and variants, plus categories, modifier sets, and bundles.

POST /v1/products

Stock per location, held when payment starts, committed on success, and released on failure.

held_quantity

Codes and automatic promotions that stack by rules you set, with a preview call.

POST /v1/discount-previews

Automatic US sales tax computed after discounts and recorded on each line, or rates from your own engine.

tax_money

Returns from a policy, and refunds by line item with the line's share of the discount and tax.

line_item_allocations

A hosted buyer account where buyers find an order, track a parcel, change a card, pause a subscription, or start a return.

GET /v1/me

The commerce API →Sales tax guide →Headless commerce platforms, ranked →

04Company news

What changed at commercetools in 2025 and 2026?

On February 26, 2025, TechCrunch reported that commercetools laid off about 10% of its staff. Its CEO’s memo said the company had not fully achieved its revenue growth targets over several quarters.

In October 2025, Retail Tech Innovation Hub reported that Andrew Burton had left the CEO role and Doug McNary had taken over, the third CEO in under 16 months by an analyst’s count. A commercetools spokesperson told the publication that the business was in a very strong place.

In 2026, according to Vercel’s summary, commercetools launched Sphere as the umbrella for its products in June and began selling Core Commerce and Product Catalog as separate offerings about a month later.

05Worked example

What does commercetools cost compared with Flint?

commercetools publishes no price, so this uses Vendr's median contract, a third-party figure, plus Stripe for card processing. At $50 orders, Flint's rate stays below that total until about $15,200,000 a year in sales.

Yearly cost at $50 per order$1,000,000 a year$5,000,000 a year$10,000,000 a year
commercetools, Vendr median contract$151,200.00$151,200.00$151,200.00
Stripe processing, 2.9% + 30¢$35,000.00$175,000.00$350,000.00
commercetools and Stripe$186,200.00$326,200.00$501,200.00
Flint, 3.79% + 35¢, Stripe's fees included$44,900.00$224,500.00$449,000.00

Assumptions

  • commercetools publishes no prices. $151,200 a year is the median contract Vendr, a third-party software buying platform, lists; your quote can differ.
  • Every order is $50, paid with a US card, with Stripe's standard US rate of 2.9% + 30¢ on the commercetools side. International cards add 1.5% on Stripe and on Flint.
  • Sales tax is excluded on both sides: a commercetools build needs its own tax engine, and Flint's automatic tax adds 0.50% on payments that carry tax.
  • Hosting your storefront, implementation, and the engineers who run each build are excluded on both sides.

06Who Flint is for

Flint is built for US businesses selling online.

Flint serves US businesses that sell in USD. If that describes you, everything above is running the day you create your account, with no contract to negotiate first.

US businesses, USD

Flint onboards businesses in the US and pays out in USD to your own bank account. Buyers can pay from anywhere with a card.

Your own storefront

Your frontend on any stack sends carts to the API. Flint hosts the checkout, the buyer account, and the dashboard.

Goods and services

Orders that ship, get picked up, deliver locally, or fulfill as a download or a service, with stock held at payment.

Developers and agents

A public OpenAPI spec, Node and PHP SDKs, a CLI, llms.txt, and MCP servers a coding agent can read.

07Switching

How do you evaluate Flint against a commercetools build?

In a sandbox, before any sales conversation: model your catalog, run your checkout, and read the results.

  1. Create a sandbox

    POST /v1/developer/sandboxes

    Create a sandbox with its own orders, products, and webhook endpoints, and a test key bound to it, so a proof of concept never touches live money.

  2. Model the catalog

    POST /v1/products

    Create products with options and variants, and keep your existing product IDs in metadata.

  3. Send a cart as an order

    POST /v1/orders

    Create an order from variant IDs and quantities. Flint prices each line, applies promotions, and computes US sales tax.

  4. Run checkout

    POST /v1/checkout-sessions

    Open a hosted checkout for the order and pay with Stripe's test cards. No payment connector to install.

  5. Fulfill from order.paid

    order.paid

    Handle the order.paid event in your fulfillment system, then switch to live keys. The paths stay the same.

Read the orders-first guide →

08Start

From a sandbox key to a paid test order in ten minutes.

Node

npm install @flintpay/node

CLI

npm install -g @flintpay/cli

Test keys are prefixed flint_test_ and bound to a sandbox with its own data, so nothing you try there touches live money. Pay with 4242 4242 4242 4242, any future expiry, any CVC.

Then read these

  1. 01
    The commerce APIOrders, catalog, tax, and returns in one API
  2. 02
    Saleor alternatives
  3. 03
    Medusa vs Saleor vs Vendure
  4. 04
    Accept your first payment
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Sources

Where each claim comes from.

  • No published prices; order-based pricing; contact sales; add-ons include Checkout, Premium Support, and additional regions and connectors, some only with the Premium package. commercetools: Pricing

    commercetools.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • Before setting up a Checkout application you must install at least one Connector; public connectors include Adyen, PayPal, and Stripe, or you build an organization connector. commercetools: Checkout overview

    docs.commercetools.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • Platform tax mode takes the rate from the tax category, matched exactly on country and state; External and ExternalAmount modes take rates or amounts you supply. commercetools: Carts and orders overview

    docs.commercetools.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • Third party: median commercetools contract value of $151,200 per year. Vendr: commercetools

    www.vendr.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • Third party (2026-09-28): Sphere launched in June 2026; Core Commerce and Product Catalog sold separately from about July 2026. Vercel: commercetools alternatives

    vercel.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • 2025-02-26: about 10% of staff laid off; the CEO's memo cited revenue growth targets not fully achieved. TechCrunch: commercetools lays off dozens of staff

    techcrunch.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • October 2025: Andrew Burton left and Doug McNary became CEO, the third in under 16 months per an analyst; a spokesperson said the business is in a very strong place. Retail Tech Innovation Hub: commercetools CEO change

    retailtechinnovationhub.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic card transaction; international cards +1.5%. Stripe: Pricing

    stripe.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • From $2,300 a month on a 3-year term or $2,500 on a 1-year term; 0.20% per transaction with a third-party processor. Shopify Plus: Pricing

    www.shopify.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • Entry $49,500 a year for up to 15,000 orders or $5M GMV; annual minimum, most customers choose three years; no surcharge for the processor you choose. Elastic Path: Pricing

    www.elasticpath.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • Select $1,599 a month up to $200,000 monthly GMV, then 0.8%. Saleor: Pricing

    saleor.io · checked 2026-10-15

  • Developer plan free with 100 live orders a month; Enterprise custom quote; gateway fees not included. Commerce Layer: Pricing

    commercelayer.io · checked 2026-10-15

last reviewed 2026-10-15 · corrections: Flint Help

FAQ

Questions people ask.

How much does commercetools cost?

commercetools doesn't publish prices. Its pricing page describes order-based pricing, lists add-ons such as Checkout and premium support, and asks you to contact sales. Vendr, a third-party software buying platform, lists a median commercetools contract of $151,200 a year. Payment processing and a tax engine are separate costs.

What are the best commercetools alternatives?

For a US business that wants a hosted commerce API with a published price, Flint Pay: 3.79% + 35¢ per card payment with Stripe's fees included, no monthly fee, and orders, catalog, inventory, promotions, checkout, and automatic US sales tax built in. Other options with public prices include Shopify Plus from $2,300 a month on a 3-year term, Elastic Path from $49,500 a year, Saleor Cloud from $1,599 a month, and Commerce Layer's free developer tier.

Is Flint a good alternative to commercetools?

Yes, for a US business selling in USD that wants payments and US sales tax in the same API as its orders and catalog, at a published price. At $50 orders and $5,000,000 a year in sales, before sales tax on either side, Vendr’s median commercetools contract plus Stripe comes to $326,200.00 a year, and Flint comes to $224,500.00. Flint serves US businesses only, in USD. Create an account from the terminal with flint signup. Flint pricing

Does commercetools include payments?

No. commercetools Checkout routes payments through a connector to a payment provider, such as Adyen, PayPal, or Stripe, from its marketplace, or a custom connector you build, and Checkout is listed as an add-on on the pricing page. Flint includes Stripe processing in its rate, with no connector to install.

Does commercetools calculate US sales tax?

commercetools carts calculate tax from the rates in the tax categories you assign to products and shipping methods, matched to the shipping address's country and state, or take rates or amounts you supply from an external engine. Flint calculates US sales tax automatically after discounts, at 0.50% on payments that carry tax, or takes rates from your own engine.

Did commercetools have layoffs?

Yes. TechCrunch reported on February 26, 2025 that commercetools laid off about 10% of its staff after missing revenue growth targets. In October 2025 Retail Tech Innovation Hub reported that Doug McNary had replaced Andrew Burton as CEO, and a commercetools spokesperson said the business was in a very strong place.

A commerce API with a published price.

Free sandbox, no credit card, no sales call. Model your catalog, send a cart as an order, and take a test payment with US sales tax computed after the discount.

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Read the orders-first guide

Or run npm install -g @flintpay/cli && flint signup to create your account and a sandbox key from the terminal. CLI guide

More comparisons · last reviewed 2026-10-15