How do I build a multi-vendor marketplace with open source?

Type: Concept
Applies to: Medusa v2.x
Updated: 29 Oct 2026

Short answer

To build an open source multi-vendor marketplace on Medusa, either follow Medusa's marketplace recipe to add vendors and order splitting yourself, or start from Mercur, a marketplace platform on Medusa built by Rigby. Mercur ships seller onboarding, a vendor panel, commissions, split orders, Stripe Connect payouts, and reviews, and deploys on Medusa Cloud.

What a multi-vendor marketplace needs from its platform

A multi-vendor marketplace is a store where many independent sellers list products and customers buy from several sellers in one checkout. On top of normal commerce, it needs seller accounts, a seller dashboard, per-seller orders, a commission model, and payouts to each seller.

Medusa core is a single-store commerce engine. The vendors example states that Medusa doesn't provide marketplace features natively, but its framework lets you add them. You have two paths: build the marketplace layer yourself from the official recipe, or start from Mercur, which ships that layer prebuilt on Medusa.

How Medusa and Mercur cover each marketplace capability

Statuses: Native is Medusa core, Starter is Mercur, Official guide is a Medusa docs recipe with example code, Custom is code you write.

Capability	What it means	How it works on Medusa	Status
Vendor onboarding	Sellers register, get approved, and connect a payout account	Mercur Vendor Panel registration and onboarding wizard, with an admin approval queue. The recipe creates vendors and vendor admins with a custom actor type	Starter or Official guide
Vendor dashboard	Each seller manages only their own store	Mercur Vendor Panel at /seller. The Medusa Admin is for super admins only, so the recipe path needs a dashboard you build	Starter
Per-vendor products and orders	Products and orders belong to a seller	Module links between a vendor and the Product and Order modules	Starter or Official guide
Order splitting	One cart becomes one order per seller	Mercur order groups; the recipe's vendor order workflow	Starter or Official guide
Commission	The marketplace keeps a share of each sale	Mercur Commission module: percentage or fixed rates scoped by seller, product, type, collection, or category	Starter
Payouts	Each seller receives their share	Mercur Payout module with a Stripe Connect provider; you decide when to trigger payouts	Starter
Reviews	Customers rate products and sellers	Mercur Review module with operator moderation and seller replies	Starter
Cart, checkout, payments	One checkout across sellers	Medusa Cart and Payment modules with the Stripe provider	Native

Path 1: build on the Medusa marketplace recipe

The Marketplace recipe shows how to create a Marketplace Module with vendor data models, link vendors to products and orders, protect vendor API routes with a custom actor type, and split a cart into one order per vendor with a workflow. The full code is in the marketplace example repository.

Choose this path when your marketplace model is unusual, for example rentals, services, or a restaurant-delivery flow, and you want to own every data model. Commissions, payouts, and a vendor dashboard are yours to build.

Path 2: start from Mercur

Medusa describes Mercur as an open core marketplace platform built by its Expert partners at Rigby. The Mercur repository is MIT licensed. Mercur runs Copy to clipboard@mercurjs/core as a plugin on Medusa and adds an Admin Panel for operators and a Vendor Panel for sellers.

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bun create mercur-app@latest

Mercur projects deploy on Medusa Cloud. Mercur's Medusa Cloud guide says one deployment serves the API, the admin panel at /dashboard, and the vendor panel at /seller. The basic template doesn't ship a storefront, so you build one on the Mercur Store API or start from Mercur's separate storefront repository.

Medusa and Mercur vs Sharetribe vs WooCommerce + Dokan vs from scratch

Prices are as of October 2026, from each vendor's own pricing page.

Option	Model	Price	Marketplace features	Best for
Medusa + Mercur	Open source, self-hosted or on Medusa Cloud	Free to self-host; Medusa Cloud from $29 per month, 0% GMV fee	Sellers, commissions, split orders, Stripe Connect payouts, reviews	Teams with a developer who want to own the code
Sharetribe	Hosted SaaS with no-code tools and code access	Build $39 per month; Live $199 per month billed yearly, no transaction fees, usage above 1M credits billed	Listings, transactions, reviews, Stripe payments	Founders without a developer
WooCommerce + Dokan	WordPress plugin	Dokan Lite free; paid plans from $149 per year list price	Vendor dashboard, commission types; Stripe Express in Professional and above	Teams already on WordPress
From scratch	Custom code on any stack	Developer time	Only what you build	Teams that need no commerce engine at all

When Medusa is not the right choice

No developer on the team. Mercur and the recipe both need someone to run and change code. Sharetribe is built to launch without coding.
A small marketplace on an existing WordPress site. Dokan adds sellers to WooCommerce without a new stack.
You expect payouts to run with zero code. Mercur's payout docs state that core doesn't ship the job that decides when an order is paid out. You write that trigger.

Who runs marketplaces on Medusa

Foraged moved to Medusa after trying WooCommerce and a fully custom build, and serves over 1,000 local sellers of wild and specialty foods. Medusa's marketplace page also lists Patyna, Poland's largest vintage marketplace, which uses custom post-order splitting on Medusa.

Common questions

Does Medusa support multi-vendor marketplaces natively?

No. Medusa core is a single-store commerce engine, and its docs say it doesn't provide marketplace features natively. You add them with the official marketplace recipe or by starting from Mercur, which runs on Medusa.

Is Mercur free to use?

Mercur's main GitHub repository is MIT licensed, so you can self-host it without a license fee. Medusa describes Mercur as an open core platform, so check Rigby's site for any paid offerings.

Can I deploy a Mercur marketplace on Medusa Cloud?

Yes. Mercur's Medusa Cloud guide shows importing the project with packages/api as the Medusa root directory, and Medusa Cloud plans start at $29 per month with a 0% GMV fee.

Is Medusa a good Dokan or Sharetribe alternative?

Medusa with Mercur fits teams with a developer who want to own the code and the marketplace logic. Sharetribe fits founders who want a hosted no-code launch, and Dokan fits teams already on WordPress and WooCommerce.