The latest articles on DEV Community by FriSay (@frisay). https://dev.to/frisay https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3992656%2Fec933e2d-bec8-468b-840c-00fc051c2263.png https://dev.to/frisay en FriSay Fri, 19 Jun 2026 13:30:22 +0000 https://dev.to/frisay/i-built-a-free-open-source-php-e-commerce-platform-frisay-42e9 https://dev.to/frisay/i-built-a-free-open-source-php-e-commerce-platform-frisay-42e9 <h1> I Built a Free, Open Source PHP E-Commerce Platform – FriSay </h1> <p>A few years ago, I was looking for a self-hosted e-commerce solution for a small Turkish business. The options were either too complex, too expensive, or just not built with the Turkish market in mind — local payment requirements, Turkish invoice fields (TCKN, tax office), and Turkish language support out of the box.</p> <p>So I built my own. And now I'm releasing it for free.</p> <h2> What is FriSay? </h2> <p><strong>FriSay</strong> is a free, open source, self-hosted PHP e-commerce platform. No monthly fees. No vendor lock-in. You own your data and your store.</p> <p>It's built on a stack that any PHP developer will feel comfortable with:</p> <ul> <li> <strong>PHP 7.4+</strong> (GD, PDO MySQL, mbstring)</li> <li> <strong>Smarty</strong> templating engine</li> <li> <strong>Bootstrap</strong> frontend</li> <li><strong>MySQL 5.7+ / MariaDB 10.3+</strong></li> <li> <strong>Apache</strong> with mod_rewrite</li> </ul> <h2> Key Features </h2> <h3> 🛒 Store Management </h3> <ul> <li>Product catalog with categories, brands, barcodes and stock tracking</li> <li>Order management with status updates, cargo company and tracking number fields</li> <li>Invoice fields with Turkish tax ID (TCKN) and tax office support at checkout</li> </ul> <h3> 💱 Multi-Currency Support </h3> <p>Products can be priced in USD, EUR or gold — with automated cron-based exchange rate updates:<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight http"><code><span class="err">GET /api/cron.php?action=currency&amp;token=SHOP_TOKEN </span></code></pre> </div> <h3> 🔌 REST API (v1) </h3> <p>Full remote integration support out of the box. Authenticate with a header or query param:<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight http"><code><span class="err">X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY </span></code></pre> </div> <p>Endpoints cover products, orders, categories and brands — with pagination, filtering and quick-update support.</p> <h3> 🧩 Module System </h3> <p>Extend FriSay without touching core files. Modules live in the <code>modules/</code> directory and hook into the system via a clean event-based architecture. Full developer guide included.</p> <h3> 🎨 Theme System </h3> <p>Separate templates for the storefront (<code>templates/default</code>) and the admin panel (<code>templates/admin</code>). Fully customizable with Smarty.</p> <h3> 🤖 AI-Friendly Codebase </h3> <p>FriSay ships with <code>AGENTS.md</code> and <code>AI_CONTEXT.md</code> — structured context files that help AI coding tools like Cursor and GitHub Copilot understand the project architecture and generate accurate modules or customizations.</p> <h2> Installation </h2> <p>No manual SQL imports needed. Just upload the files, point your browser to <code>/install/</code> and follow the wizard:</p> <ol> <li>System requirements check</li> <li>Database credentials</li> <li>Site URL + admin account</li> <li>Optional demo data</li> </ol> <p>Done. The wizard writes <code>config/env.php</code> and <code>config/installed.lock</code> automatically.</p> <p>For local development with WAMP, drop the project into <code>www/frisay/</code> and open <code>http://localhost/frisay/install/</code>.</p> <h2> Live Demo </h2> <p>Want to see it in action before installing?</p> <ul> <li> <strong>Storefront:</strong> <a href="https://fyazilim.com/fshop/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://fyazilim.com/fshop/</a> </li> <li> <strong>Admin panel:</strong> <a href="https://fyazilim.com/fshop/admin/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://fyazilim.com/fshop/admin/</a> </li> <li>Login: <code>admin@fyazilim.com</code> / <code>admin123</code> </li> </ul> <h2> Why Free? </h2> <p>Because small businesses and independent developers deserve good tools without a subscription attached. FriSay is my way of giving something back to the open source community that I've benefited from for years.</p> <h2> Links </h2> <ul> <li>🔗 GitHub: <a href="https://github.com/bera65/frisay" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://github.com/bera65/frisay</a> </li> <li>📦 SourceForge: <a href="https://sourceforge.net/projects/frisay/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://sourceforge.net/projects/frisay/</a> </li> <li>🌐 Demo: <a href="https://fyazilim.com/fshop/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://fyazilim.com/fshop/</a> </li> </ul> <p>If you try it out, I'd love to hear your feedback — especially on the module system and API. Issues and PRs are very welcome.</p> <p><em>Tags: php, opensource, ecommerce, selfhosted, webdev</em></p> opensource php showdev sideprojects