2024 has been quite a year for Sylius. It’s been the first one under the new leadership, loaded with new initiatives and ambitious projects. For us alone, it’s quite hard to catch up with everything we have been up to. This is why it made even more sense to summarize what has happened over the last 12 months in a single article, followed by what we planned for 2025. 👀
No further intro is required – let’s wrap it up in a few paragraphs!
Last year, we kept the community busy with a packed schedule of meetups and flagship events. Let’s start with the major ones, namely SyliusDays in Germany. The event brought people together to learn, share, and simply enjoy being part of our amazing ecosystem.
The crown jewel was the 3rd edition of SyliusCon, which we held in Lyon, France. For us, it was the first time we organized the event in a different country, which meant new challenges, but also new records – this year’s SyliusCon was the biggest one yet, and it was an absolute blast. 🦢If you want to feel the vibe of the conference, check out the recently released aftermovie! 🎥
We also continued to grow our meetup series, with events popping up in Warsaw 🇵🇱, Toulouse 🇫🇷, Aix-en-Provence 🇫🇷, Mannheim 🇩🇪, Opole 🇵🇱 and Vilnius 🇱🇹. These events ranged from casual networking to hands-on workshops, with one goal in mind – strengthening our community locally.
Sometimes, it’s nice to be on the other side of the table. This year, we participated in a variety of industry events, such as the Ecommerce Party, followed by eCommerce Day Kaunas, and the inaugural eCom Expo 24, where we had the chance to showcase Sylius and connect with the wider eCommerce world. We also sponsored and have been an active part of the API Platform Conference and joined SymfonyCon, continuing our tradition of being active in surrounding dev ecosystems.
We streamed online too! This year’s webinars dived into two exciting topics: Sylius 1.14 and what’s coming in 2024, as well as a deep dive into Sylius 2.0, with a sneak peek at what we prepared for 2025. Both sessions were packed with insights and were a fantastic way for us to stay connected with the community.
Beyond the events we hosted or attended, countless others happened around the globe. There have been so many that listing them all here would be challenging. Sylius was on tongues at every major place or industry event around the globe last year, which seriously impacted our brand recognition and paved the way for solid entry into 2025. A big applause to everyone who made it happen – your dedication keeps this community thriving! 👏
This year, we went full speed on development, delivering 28 releases. From the final touches on 1.14 LTS to rolling out 2.0, we’ve been busy refining, improving, and building the next chapter for Sylius.
2024 wasn’t about slowing down – it was about delivering results. We kept our 1.x series rock-solid with updates like v1.12.14 – v1.14.1, and at the same time, we crafted and polished Sylius 2.0.0 through alphas, betas, and RCs, listening to feedback every step of the way.
On November 13, 2024, Sylius 2.0 was officially launched. Over 7 years since our first major release, this wasn’t just a version bump. It was a leap forward.
Seven years gave us time to listen, learn, and improve. Sylius 2.0 builds on the foundation of Sylius 1, but trust us – it’s a whole new ballgame:
Releasing Sylius 2.0 wasn’t just about code. It was about people. Over 21,000 commits, countless hours of testing, and the unwavering support of our community brought us here. This release is yours as much as ours.
We launched the new Sylius 2.0 documentation, moving to a refreshed platform powered by GitBook. It’s not just a visual improvement – our updated docs come with restructured content, making it easier to navigate, and even an AI helper to simplify learning about the framework.
We didn’t stop at aesthetics. While most of the documentation has been migrated and redesigned, some areas are still in progress, and we’re continuously working on new sections. Whether you’re upgrading from 1.x or starting fresh with 2.0, the updated documentation ensures you’re in good hands.
Got feedback? Magdalena Sadowska has been pouring her heart into making the docs an even better resource, so don’t hesitate to reach out! 🦢
With the release of Sylius 2.0, we’ve noticed significant out-of-the-box performance improvements – even though it wasn’t our primary focus. On a modest demo server, running a server-rendered, Twig-driven (non-headless) environment, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
We’re excited to explore even more opportunities for optimization, especially for mobile experiences. For now, if you’re starting your next eCommerce project with Sylius, you’re already in for a speed boost.
According to BuiltWith, we’ve crossed the 10,000 live instances mark, representing a growth of over 40% compared to last year. While these numbers include projects of all sizes, it’s a testament to the open-source foundation we’ve been building for years. Seeing this adoption is not just validating – it’s deeply motivating for whatever’s next.
This year, we witnessed a remarkable milestone, with Sylius installations reaching an all-time high. Over the past 30 days alone, the numbers soared to 100,000 installations, marking a 25% increase from last year’s peak of 80,000. It’s clear that Sylius 2.0 played a significant role in this growth, drawing the attention of developers and merchants alike.
Sylius recently crossed 8,000 stars on GitHub, which reminds us how far we’ve come. It might have taken time, but great things often do.
PHP may not be considered the most fashionable language these days, but it’s still the backbone of many successful platforms, including Sylius. And yes – it’s far from being dead. In fact, the language itself is doing better than ever. Open source remains irreplaceable, offering transparency, freedom, and community-driven innovation. Sylius’ growing popularity reflects the trust and support of a vibrant global community – and we’re just getting started.
Behind the scenes of last year’s SyliusCon, Gracjan Józefczyk, our new Key Contributor, dedicated his efforts to creating the new Sylius Practical Mastery Course, which features 71 episodes and over 14 hours of video content.
The course is packed with valuable materials designed to provide actionable insights and hands-on knowledge for Sylius users. And the best part? If you’ve purchased the previous course, you’ll automatically gain access to the updated materials – no extra steps required. 🚀
Ready to dive in and elevate your Sylius expertise? The new course is waiting for you – Academy link!
Moreover, this year marked the beginning of one of our most important technological partnerships as we joined forces with Platform.sh, a leading Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) provider. Together, we launched a product called Sylius Cloud powered by Platform.sh, a PaaS solution designed to simplify deploying, managing, and scaling Sylius projects in the cloud.
Platform.sh started supporting Sylius last year and quickly became an integral part of our ecosystem. This year, they went a step further by becoming the naming partner of SyliusCon 2024!
The choice of Platform.sh as our cloud partner was deliberate. Their expertise in supporting open-source projects like Symfony, combined with their robust and developer-friendly PaaS, made them an ideal fit for Sylius. This collaboration allows us to deliver a modern cloud solution tailored to developers, agencies, and merchants, meeting diverse business needs while streamlining project management.
For more details, visit the dedicated blog!
This year, we welcomed 16 new partners into the Sylius ecosystem, including names like Presta Rock, Wilma Tech, move:elevator, Sulu CMS, Coolminds, Sylex, Foxop, Widop, Dn’D, Akini, Alumio, Clever Age, Lupa Search, Keenobi, Gally, and Berger Systeme.
Each of these partnerships plays a vital role in expanding and strengthening the Sylius ecosystem in various local markets. With their expertise in integrations, customizations, and advanced eCommerce solutions, together we make Sylius unlock new opportunities for mutual growth.
We’re happy to share a sneak peek of a new initiative for our Sylius partners, designed to make collaboration even more rewarding. Tomorrow, we’ll unveil the Sylius Partner Points Program, a gamified approach to recognizing and celebrating the incredible contributions of our partners.
This program is all about transparency and engagement and shows how every action helps shape the future of Sylius, the whole partner’s network, and the surrounding ecosystem. Whether organizing events, developing plugins, or contributing in other ways, every effort matters – and now, these will be rewarded like never before.
Read more on how it works in our recent blog article here.
We’re also excited to give you a first look at the Sylius Key Contributors Program, a new initiative aimed at fostering collaboration and celebrating the efforts of our amazing community members. This program is all about making Sylius more inclusive, transparent, and community-driven.
With the Key Contributors program, we’re creating a dedicated space for external developers to play an active role in shaping the future of Sylius. From contributing code to influencing key decisions, this initiative is designed to empower those who help Sylius thrive.
What’s in it for Key Contributors? Recognition, exclusive perks, direct collaboration with the Sylius Team, and the opportunity to leave a lasting impact on the ecosystem.
We can’t wait to officially announce the program and celebrate the incredible developers who will join this journey with us. Stay tuned for more details soon! 🚀
As we look ahead, we’re focusing on expanding and improving the Community Edition of Sylius. Here’s what’s next on our roadmap:
One of the most common questions we receive is: “What CMS works best with Sylius?” While we usually recommend our technology partners like Sulu or Storyblok, we know these robust solutions might not suit every project. For smaller or less complex needs, a lighter alternative is often more practical.
That’s why we’re creating our own Sylius CMS, as an official plugin. This will give users a straightforward, native solution tailored to Sylius projects without the overhead of larger CMS platforms.
SEO has always been a critical component of eCommerce, but we’ve heard your feedback: Sylius needs a better SEO solution. To address this, we’re developing a dedicated set of advanced SEO features that will simplify optimization and ensure your projects meet the highest standards for search engine visibility.
We want to make it easier than ever to get started with Sylius and accelerate your project development. The POC Booster will provide a suite of tools and resources aimed at streamlining the proof-of-concept phase. The ultimate goal for this feature is to make it way easier for agencies to pitch Sylius and for developers to test it out. By configuring a few config lines, you will be able to define how the store looks, what data it should load, and which plugins to use so that it could reflect an MVP as soon as possible.
Starting a headless project can be time-consuming. This is why we decided that this year, we will introduce a standardized pre-built template for headless usage based on React.js. This kit will provide a head start for developers, reducing the time and effort needed to set up and scale Sylius-based applications.
What’s Next for Sylius Plus? As we continue to expand the capabilities of Sylius Plus, our immediate priority is ensuring that all modules are fully compatible with Sylius 2.0. This work is already underway, and we aim to complete it by the end of this month or, at the latest, by the close of Q1. Naturally, we’re starting with the most popular modules, including B2B and Marketplace, to ensure that the features you rely on are available as soon as possible.
Here’s a brief list of what we planned for Sylius Plus this year:
Sylius has become a go-to solution for many B2B businesses, and one of the most frequent requests we’ve received is a “Request for Offer” functionality. This feature will allow customers to inquire about custom offers directly through the system, streamlining communication and making the buying process more flexible for customers who demand a slightly different offering path.
Currently, Sylius Plus allows you to create orders on behalf of customers, delete orders, or manage users. However, editing existing orders remains a challenge – especially in B2B scenarios where large or complex orders are common. With the new Order Editing feature, admins will be able to adjust orders without generating extra paperwork, like new invoices, reducing errors and making order management smoother.
Recurring orders and product subscriptions are another set of highly requested features. This addition will enable Sylius Plus users to offer subscription-based services, catering to businesses that rely on repeat orders or want to introduce subscription models to their offerings.
Migrating data to Sylius is an integral part of any project. Exchanging data with 3rd party systems is an even more burning requirement. API itself is fantastic, but exchanging large amounts of records through the HTTP protocol is not always efficient enough. This is why our “Plus Roadmap” will welcome a bundled Import/Export layer with a friendly GUI and highly performant infrastructure that is about to support Advanced Message Queueing Protocols (AMQP) and techs such as Apache Kafka or RabbitMQ through Symfony Messenger.
Like it or not, AI is everywhere these days. It’s still not clear how it’d impact eCommerce just yet, but we’re sure there are numerous areas it’d revolutionize the way people work with eCommerce from the operational point of view. This is why we planned to create an Open AI SDK for Sylius with a set of compatible services one could inject, extend, or define easily to create their own AI enhancements.
2024 has been amazing, but for us, it’s been a year of trying new things out, figuring out how to grow further, and paying off the technical debt. Now, in 2025, we start a fresh chapter on a solid foundation we worked on really hard last year. 24 was amazing, but 25 will be even better. Stay tuned! 😎
