Self-Hosting PrestaShop with Docker Compose

What PrestaShop Is

PrestaShop is an open-source e-commerce platform that competes directly with Shopify and WooCommerce. It provides a complete online store — product catalog, shopping cart, checkout, order management, customer accounts, and invoicing — all built in. No monthly SaaS fees, no transaction cuts, no feature gates.

PrestaShop 9.x is the current major version, running on PHP 8.2+ with a modernized admin interface. Over 300,000 stores run on PrestaShop worldwide, with a module marketplace of 5,000+ extensions for payment gateways, shipping, marketing, and analytics.

Prerequisites

Linux server (Ubuntu 22.04+ or Debian 12+)
Docker and Docker Compose installed (guide)
2 GB RAM minimum (4 GB recommended for production)
10 GB disk space (plus product images and media)
A domain name for your store

Docker Compose Configuration

mkdir -p ~/prestashop && cd ~/prestashop

Create a .env file:

# Database
DB_PASSWORD=change-this-strong-password
DB_NAME=prestashop

# Admin account — CHANGE THESE
ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@example.com
ADMIN_PASSWORD=YourStrongAdminPassword123!

# Store domain (without protocol)
PS_DOMAIN=shop.example.com

Create docker-compose.yml:

services:
  prestashop:
    image: prestashop/prestashop:9.0.3-apache
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      mysql:
        condition: service_healthy
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    environment:
      DB_SERVER: mysql
      DB_NAME: ${DB_NAME:-prestashop}
      DB_USER: prestashop
      DB_PASSWD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
      PS_INSTALL_AUTO: "1"
      PS_DOMAIN: ${PS_DOMAIN:-localhost:8080}
      PS_LANGUAGE: en
      PS_COUNTRY: US
      PS_ENABLE_SSL: "0"
      PS_DEV_MODE: "0"
      ADMIN_MAIL: ${ADMIN_EMAIL}
      ADMIN_PASSWD: ${ADMIN_PASSWORD}
      PS_FOLDER_ADMIN: admin-secure
    volumes:
      - ps-data:/var/www/html
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:80"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 5
      start_period: 120s

  mysql:
    image: mysql:8.0
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: --default-authentication-plugin=mysql_native_password
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
      MYSQL_DATABASE: ${DB_NAME:-prestashop}
      MYSQL_USER: prestashop
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - mysql-data:/var/lib/mysql
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "mysqladmin", "ping", "-h", "localhost", "-u", "root", "-p${DB_PASSWORD}"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

volumes:
  ps-data:
  mysql-data:

Start the stack:

docker compose up -d

First startup takes 2-3 minutes — PrestaShop runs the installer automatically when PS_INSTALL_AUTO=1 is set. Check progress with docker compose logs -f prestashop.

Initial Setup

Visit http://your-server:8080 — the storefront appears
Access the admin panel at http://your-server:8080/admin-secure/
Log in with the email and password from your .env file
Navigate to Shop Parameters → General to configure your store name, logo, and basic settings
Set up payment methods under Payment → Payment Methods
Configure shipping under Shipping → Carriers

Enabling SSL

Once you have a reverse proxy with SSL in front of PrestaShop:

Update .env: set PS_ENABLE_SSL=1 and PS_DOMAIN=shop.example.com
In the admin panel: Shop Parameters → General → enable “Enable SSL” and “Enable SSL on all pages”
Restart the container: docker compose restart prestashop

Key Configuration

Setting	Location	Default
Store name	Admin → Shop Parameters → General	”PrestaShop”
Default currency	Admin → International → Localization	EUR
Tax rules	Admin → International → Taxes	EU rules
Admin URL path	`PS_FOLDER_ADMIN` env var	`admin-secure`
Debug mode	`PS_DEV_MODE` env var	`0` (off)
Auto-install	`PS_INSTALL_AUTO` env var	`1` (on)

Modules and Themes

PrestaShop’s module marketplace has 5,000+ extensions. Install from the admin panel under Modules → Module Manager:

PayPal Checkout — free, direct PayPal integration
Stripe — credit card payments
Google Analytics — traffic tracking
SEO Expert — structured data, sitemap management
One Page Checkout — streamlined checkout flow

Modules install into /var/www/html/modules/ inside the container. Since we’re using a named volume (ps-data), installed modules persist across container restarts.

Reverse Proxy with SSL

PrestaShop should run behind a reverse proxy for SSL. With Nginx Proxy Manager, point to http://prestashop:80 (using the container’s internal port). With Caddy:

shop.example.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:8080
}

After setting up SSL, enable it in the PrestaShop admin and update PS_DOMAIN to exclude the port number.

See Reverse Proxy Setup for full configuration guides.

Backup

Database

docker compose exec mysql mysqldump -u prestashop -p${DB_PASSWORD} prestashop > prestashop-backup.sql

Files

Product images, themes, and modules live in the ps-data volume:

docker run --rm -v prestashop_ps-data:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine tar czf /backup/ps-files-backup.tar.gz /data

Back up both the database and files. The database alone is not sufficient — product images are stored on the filesystem.

See Backup Strategy for automated backup scheduling.

Troubleshooting

Auto-install fails with database connection error

Symptom: Container starts but store shows the PrestaShop installer instead of auto-installing Fix: Wait for the MySQL health check to pass before PrestaShop starts. The depends_on condition handles this, but if MySQL is slow to initialize (first run), increase the start_period on the PrestaShop health check. Check logs: docker compose logs prestashop | grep -i error.

Admin panel shows blank page after SSL change

Symptom: After enabling SSL, the admin panel returns a white page Fix: Clear the PrestaShop cache: docker compose exec prestashop rm -rf /var/www/html/var/cache/*. If still broken, disable SSL via the database directly:

docker compose exec mysql mysql -u prestashop -p${DB_PASSWORD} prestashop -e "UPDATE ps_configuration SET value='0' WHERE name='PS_SSL_ENABLED';"

“caching_sha2_password” error

Symptom: PrestaShop can’t connect to MySQL 8 with authentication errors Fix: The --default-authentication-plugin=mysql_native_password flag in the MySQL command handles this. If you removed that flag, add it back.

Permission issues on volume mount

Symptom: PrestaShop can’t write files (module installs fail, image uploads fail) Fix: PrestaShop runs as www-data (UID 33). If using bind mounts instead of named volumes: sudo chown -R 33:33 ./ps-data.

Resource Requirements

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
RAM	1 GB (PrestaShop) + 512 MB (MySQL)	2 GB + 1 GB
CPU	1 vCPU	2+ vCPUs
Disk	5 GB + product media	20 GB+

PrestaShop is heavier than static site generators but lighter than Magento. A $10-20/month VPS handles a small-to-medium store comfortably.

Verdict

PrestaShop is the best self-hosted option for a traditional e-commerce store with a built-in admin panel. It ships everything you need — product management, inventory, orders, payments, shipping — out of the box. The module ecosystem fills any gaps.

Choose PrestaShop over Saleor or Medusa if you want an admin-panel-driven store (not headless/API-first). Choose it over WooCommerce if you don’t want to manage WordPress. For headless commerce with a custom frontend, look at the Saleor vs Medusa comparison instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does PrestaShop compare to WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin — you need WordPress as the base. PrestaShop is a standalone e-commerce platform with its own admin panel and doesn’t require WordPress. PrestaShop has a more complete built-in feature set for e-commerce (inventory, invoicing, multi-currency). WooCommerce benefits from WordPress’s massive plugin ecosystem. Choose PrestaShop if you want a dedicated e-commerce platform. Choose WooCommerce if you’re already running WordPress.

Does PrestaShop support multiple payment gateways?

Yes. PrestaShop supports PayPal, Stripe, and dozens of other payment gateways through its module marketplace. Some payment modules are free, others are paid. The checkout flow supports multiple active payment methods simultaneously. For EU compliance, PrestaShop includes built-in invoice generation and tax calculation.

Can I run PrestaShop on a small VPS?

Yes. PrestaShop needs about 1.5 GB RAM total (application + MySQL). A $10-20/month VPS handles a small-to-medium store comfortably. For stores with thousands of products or high concurrent traffic, allocate 2-4 GB RAM and consider adding a caching layer like Redis or Varnish.

Is PrestaShop suitable for large product catalogs?

Yes. PrestaShop handles stores with 10,000+ products. The database-driven architecture scales with MySQL tuning and caching. For very large catalogs (100,000+ products), you’ll need to optimize MySQL configurations, add full-page caching, and potentially use a CDN for static assets.

Does PrestaShop support multi-language and multi-currency?

Yes — built in. PrestaShop supports unlimited languages and currencies out of the box. You can configure different prices, tax rules, and shipping options per country. This makes it one of the strongest self-hosted options for international e-commerce, particularly in European markets.

Can I migrate from Shopify to PrestaShop?

There’s no one-click migration tool, but several community modules assist with importing products, customers, and orders from Shopify CSV exports. Product images, categories, and variants can be mapped. Order history transfers are possible but require manual verification. The migration effort depends on catalog size — expect a few hours for small stores, days for larger ones.