With Sharetribe, you keep the storefront and rent the engine
Sharetribe only open-sources the storefront template. The backend and APIs that run your marketplace stay proprietary and hosted. With Mercur, the whole engine is yours.
| Layer | Sharetribe | Mercur |
|---|---|---|
| Storefront template | Open source | Open, and any frontend |
| Engine & backend | Proprietary, hosted | MIT, self-hosted |
This is what you control once the engine is yours
- Full-source engine — The core is yours to read, and yours to change.
- Your infrastructure — Any cloud, on-premise, or air-gapped. Data residency is your decision.
- Built on the most popular framework — Standard JavaScript and TypeScript – any web developer can work on it, no certified specialists to hire.
- No vendor lock-in — Keep the version you paid for and everything built on it – forever.
- Scale on your terms — You add capacity when you need it, and the license stays the same.
Sharetribe vs Mercur, by architecture
| Criteria | Sharetribe | Mercur |
|---|---|---|
| Engine / backend | Proprietary, hosted | Open source (MIT), yours to run |
| Storefront | Open-source template | Open, and any frontend (headless) |
| Deployment | Sharetribe cloud only | Any cloud or on-premise |
| Customization | Template and their API | Extend or change the core, your own layer |
| Data & residency | On their infrastructure | Your database, your residency |
| Cost model | Subscription + per-transaction fee | License and services, no per-transaction cut |
| Exit | Replace their backend | You keep the whole engine |
| Built for | Founders launching fast | Admins who’ve outgrown a builder |
When Sharetribe is the right call
Choose Sharetribe
You have a marketplace idea and want to validate it fast: launch in a day, no infrastructure to run, no code to start.
Choose Mercur
- You’ve outgrown a hosted builder
- You need to own the engine and the data
- You want to self-host or run on-premise
- You need to change the core and scale on your own terms
Graduate to an engine you own
Read the comparison, clone the repo, then talk to us about moving off a hosted builder – onto your own infrastructure, with the full source in hand.