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Alex Spinov
Alex Spinov

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Medusa Has a Free API: Build Your Own Open-Source Shopify Alternative

#medusa #ecommerce #api #javascript

Have you ever looked at your Shopify bill and thought, "I could build this myself"?

Well, now you actually can — and Medusa gives you the API to do it.

What Is Medusa?

Medusa is an open-source headless commerce platform that gives you a fully-featured e-commerce API — products, carts, orders, payments, shipping — all exposed through a clean REST and JS SDK.

Think Shopify, but you own the code. And the API is free.

The API: Everything You Need

Medusa's API covers the entire commerce lifecycle:

# List products
curl http://localhost:9000/store/products

# Create a cart
curl -X POST http://localhost:9000/store/carts \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json"

# Add item to cart
curl -X POST http://localhost:9000/store/carts/{cart_id}/line-items \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"variant_id": "variant_123", "quantity": 1}'
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Products, variants, collections, categories, carts, orders, customers, discounts, gift cards, returns, swaps, payments, shipping — it's ALL there.

Why Developers Love It

1. Truly headless — Use React, Next.js, Gatsby, or any frontend. The API doesn't care.

2. Plugin system — Stripe, PayPal, Klarna, SendGrid, S3 — install with one command:

medusa develop
# Plugins auto-register their API routes
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3. Custom API routes — Need a custom endpoint? Add it in seconds:

import type { MedusaRequest, MedusaResponse } from "@medusajs/medusa"

export async function GET(req: MedusaRequest, res: MedusaResponse) {
  const productService = req.scope.resolve("productService")
  const products = await productService.list({ status: "published" })
  res.json({ products })
}
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4. Admin API — Full CRUD for everything. Build custom dashboards, sync with ERP, automate inventory.

Real-World Use Case

A DTC brand migrated from Shopify ($299/mo plan) to Medusa on Railway ($5/mo). They kept their Next.js storefront, switched the API layer, and saved $3,500/year.

The migration took 2 weeks. The API compatibility was nearly 1:1 for their use case.

Quick Start 

npx create-medusa-app@latest my-store
cd my-store
npx medusa develop
# API running at http://localhost:9000
# Admin at http://localhost:7001
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You get a full e-commerce backend in 60 seconds.

Who Should Use This?

  • Agencies building custom storefronts for clients
  • Startups that need e-commerce but can't afford Shopify Plus ($2,000/mo)
  • Developers building marketplace or multi-vendor platforms
  • Brands that want full control over their checkout experience

Medusa isn't trying to be Shopify for everyone. It's Shopify for developers who want ownership.

Need to extract e-commerce data or build custom integrations? I build data tools and scrapers. Check out my web scraping toolkit or email me at spinov001@gmail.com for custom solutions.

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