Create Free Shopping Website with Bagisto

Know What "Free" Means Here

Bagisto is a free, open-source e-commerce platform built on Laravel, made by Webkul and released under the MIT licence — the software itself costs nothing, and you own your store completely. But "free" describes the software only: a shop that real customers can visit still needs hosting and a domain name, and payment gateways take their own charges on sales. Keep those real costs in mind from this first step, not after the shop is built.

Check the Machine First

Bagisto is a Laravel application, so the machine or hosting must run a web stack: a current PHP 8.x release, Composer 2 (the PHP dependency tool that downloads Bagisto and everything it needs), a database — MySQL 8, MariaDB or PostgreSQL, with an empty database created for the store — and a web server, Apache or Nginx. Check the two tools from a terminal:

php -v
composer --version

Both commands should print a version number instead of an error. Keep the versions current, and check Bagisto's official documentation for the exact requirement of the release you install.

Create the Project with Composer

Open a terminal in the folder where the store will live and create the project with Composer, then move into the new project folder:

composer create-project bagisto/bagisto
cd bagisto

Composer downloads Bagisto and everything it depends on. Download only from the official Bagisto project — never install a repackaged or "nulled" copy from a random download site.

Connect the Database in .env

Bagisto keeps its settings in a file named .env in the project folder. Copy the example settings file to a real one named .env, create an empty database for the store, and put the database details into these lines: DB_DATABASE (the database name), DB_USERNAME and DB_PASSWORD. Also set APP_URL to your store's address.

Run the Installer and Create the Admin

With the database connected, run Bagisto's own installer:

php artisan bagisto:install

The installer sets up the database and asks for the store and admin details, creating your admin account. Use a strong, unique password for this account — it controls the whole store, its orders and its customer data.

Start the Store and Open the Admin Panel

On your own PC, start the built-in development server:

php artisan serve

Open the store address in the browser, and add /admin to it to reach the admin login. On real hosting the store runs under Apache or Nginx instead of this development server.

Set Up the Store Basics

Before adding products, set up the store basics in the admin panel: your store name and default currency, the tax settings that apply to what you sell, and the shipping methods you will offer. Getting currency, tax and shipping right first means the products you add next are priced and delivered correctly from day one.

Add Your First Products

Add your first products from the admin panel — name, price, description, photos and stock — then open the storefront and place a test order yourself, so you see the full journey a customer takes before real orders arrive.