Shopware 6: The Honest Overview You Need Before Getting Started
Last week, a potential client sat across from me and asked:
I want to start an online shop. Everyone’s talking about Shopware 6. Is it the right choice for me?
My answer surprised him: “It depends. What exactly do you want to sell, and how much time and budget do you have?”
After over 10 years of Shopware development, I know this: Shopware 6 is fantastic – for the right projects. But it’s not the best choice for everyone.
In this article, I’ll tell you when Shopware 6 is the right fit, when it isn’t, and what you really need to know before you get started.
The Problem with Most “Shopware 6 Introductions”
Most articles about Shopware 6 read like sales brochures. Everything is great, everything is easy, everything is perfect.
The reality? Shopware 6 is a professional e-commerce system with considerable complexity. It’s Made in Germany, GDPR-compliant out of the box, and often the best choice for mid-sized businesses.
But “best choice” doesn’t mean “easiest choice.”
What Actually Is Shopware 6?
Think of Shopware 6 as a building kit for professional online shops – but not like LEGO Duplo, more like LEGO Technic. You can build almost anything with it, but you need to know what you’re doing (or have someone who does).
At its core, Shopware 6 is a German e-commerce platform that was completely rewritten in 2019. It’s not a bloated system from the 2000s that kept getting patched – it was built from the ground up for modern requirements.
Built for the Future
Shopware 6 is “API-first.” Your shop can connect to virtually any other system – ERP, CRM, PIM, marketing tools.
Last year, a client connected their Shopware shop to their existing JTL warehouse management system. Before that, they’d been transferring orders manually – three hours a day. After the integration: zero. That’s the power of API-first. You don’t notice it at the start, but you’re grateful for it as you grow.
German Legal Framework Built In
GDPR, right of withdrawal, price disclosure regulations – Shopware knows the German rules of the game. It sounds boring, but ask someone who had to make a Shopify store legally compliant for the German market after the fact.
One of my clients came to me with a Shopify shop that had received three cease-and-desist letters. The switch to Shopware 6 alone cost him less than the lawyer bills.
Rule Builder and Flow Builder
These are the two features that surprise my clients the most. Complex pricing rules, discount campaigns, automated workflows – without writing a single line of code.
“If cart exceeds €200 and customer is in the loyalty group, then 10% discount plus free shipping” – you can build that in 5 minutes.
The bottom line: Shopware 6 gives you back control. Your shop belongs to you – with everything that comes with it. Including the responsibility.
Shopware 6 vs. the Alternatives
Shopify
Good for: Quick start, minimal technical know-how required Bad for: German legal compliance, full control
If you’re starting a print-on-demand business and want to be online in 2 weeks – go with Shopify. If you want to grow long-term and control everything yourself – don’t.
WooCommerce
Good for: Small shops with few products, especially if you already know WordPress Bad for: Scaling, complex product structures, German legal compliance
WooCommerce works for a small shop with 50 products and manageable traffic. But once you exceed 500 products, need multiple payment providers, or want more complex discount logic, you’ll hit limitations.
And German legal compliance? You only get that with additional plugins like Germanized – yet another component that needs to be maintained and updated.
Magento (Adobe Commerce)
Good for: Large enterprises with six-figure budgets and their own development team Bad for: Mid-sized businesses looking for good value for money
Magento is technically impressive and can do almost anything. But the costs are in a different league: hosting alone costs several times more, development takes longer, and you need specialized developers who don’t come cheap.
For most German mid-sized businesses, it’s like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. However, if you have 100,000+ products and run international B2B commerce – then Magento could be the right choice.
What Shopware 6 Really Costs
Here’s the calculation most agencies won’t show you.
The License
Shopware 6 comes in a free Community Edition (open source) and paid editions (Rise, Evolve, Beyond) with advanced features. For many smaller shops, the Community Edition is perfectly sufficient.
If you need features like advanced B2B functionality, Custom Products, or the AI Copilot, commercial licenses start at several hundred euros per month.
The Real Costs: The Project
| Project Type | What You Get | Investment |
|---|---|---|
| Small shop | Standard template, under 200 products, minimal customization | €5,000–15,000 |
| Mid-sized shop | Custom design, integrations, complex logic | €15,000–50,000 |
| Enterprise | Multi-market, B2B, complex integrations | from €50,000 |
Yes, that’s a lot of money. But compare it to a physical retail location – rent, setup, staff. An online shop is an investment, not a bargain.
A Real-World Example
Last year, I built a mid-sized fashion shop. The client’s original budget: €15,000. The final bill:
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Custom theme design | €8,000 |
| ERP integration (JTL) | €5,000 |
| Payment setup (Mollie) | €1,500 |
| SEO & tracking configuration | €2,000 |
| Plugins (shipping, reviews, SEO) | €1,800 |
| Total | €18,300 |
The client wasn’t angry – but he would have liked to know upfront that plugins and integrations alone account for nearly half the cost.
The Hidden Ongoing Costs
What most people forget: a shop doesn’t stop costing money once it goes live.
Expect at least €200–500 per month for hosting, SSL certificates, updates, and security patches – before you spend a single euro on marketing.
My advice: Budget not just the project, but also the first 12 months of operation. Plan a 20% buffer. In over 10 years, I’ve never seen a project where a requirement didn’t come up at some point that nobody had on their radar at the start.
When You Need a Developer (and When You Don’t)
Most shop owners underestimate the technical complexity. Not because Shopware is bad, but because e-commerce in general is complex.
The good news: Shopware 6 has improved massively when it comes to usability. Motivated shop owners can do more on their own than most people think.
What you can do yourself
- Create and manage products – The backend is intuitive, even for non-technical users
- Pricing rules and discounts – The Rule Builder is powerful and visually operable
- Automations – Flow Builder for “if X happens, do Y” logic
- Design content pages – Shopping Experiences work like a page builder
- Day-to-day operations – Orders, customers, inventory – all seamless
What you need a developer for
- Custom design – Once the standard theme isn’t enough: Twig templates and CSS
- Integrations – ERP (SAP, JTL, sevDesk), PIM systems, custom APIs
- Performance – Caching, server configuration, database tuning for large catalogs
- Plugin development – When no suitable plugin exists
- Updates – Major updates can break plugins and require testing effort
Three Warning Signs I See Over and Over
Shop owners regularly come to me after hitting one of these walls:
1. Design Frustration “The shop looks like every other shop.” Nobody dares touch the templates – and rebranding on top of the default theme feels like renovating a rental apartment.
2. Integration Chaos Payment providers act up, the shipping service won’t sync, and the ERP shows different numbers than the shop. One client lived with broken Mollie webhooks for three months before seeking help.
3. Update Anxiety The shop is getting slow. There’s an important security update. But the last update broke two plugins – so nobody dares change anything anymore.
My tip: Start on your own, go as far as you can. Get to know the system. But budget for a developer from the start – the question isn’t if you’ll need one, but when.
The Decision Framework
Instead of a long checklist – answer these three questions:
1. Do you have at least €5,000–10,000 in starting budget and can you plan for €200–500/month in operating costs? If no → Shopify or WooCommerce are more honest choices for your budget.
2. Do you need German legal compliance and want to grow long-term? If yes → Shopware 6 is probably your best option.
3. Do you have access to a developer or agency (or plan to get one)? If no → You will need technical help at some point. Without a plan for it, things get frustrating.
If you can answer all three with “yes,” Shopware 6 is very likely the right platform for you.
What’s Next?
Remember the client from the beginning? The one who wanted to know if Shopware 6 was right for him?
He now sells outdoor equipment with a Shopware 6 shop. Not because I sold him on Shopware – but because after that conversation, he could decide for himself that it was the right fit.
That’s exactly what I want this article to do for you.
In upcoming articles, I’ll show you step by step how to get started with Shopware 6. If you’re not sure whether it fits your project – reach out. I’ll tell you honestly what I think. Even if that means recommending a different platform.