> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.sylius.com/public/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.sylius.com/public/what-is-sylius/introduction-to-sylius.md).

# Introduction to Sylius

Sylius is a game-changing e-commerce solution for PHP, based on the Symfony framework.

## Philosophy

Sylius is completely open source (MIT license) and free, maintained by a diverse and creative community of developers and companies.

What are our core values and what makes us different from other solutions?

* Components based approach
* Unlimited flexibility and simple customization
* Developer-friendly, using the latest technologies
* Developed using best practices and BDD approach
* Highest quality of code

And much more, but we will let you discover it yourself.

<figure><img src="https://old-docs.sylius.com/en/1.13/_images/ce_plus_banner.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

## Sylius Community Edition (CE)

The free, open-source distribution of Sylius, which can be found in the Sylius/Sylius repository, is called the Community Edition, abbreviated **Sylius CE**.

#### Sylius Plus

There is also a commercial edition of Sylius, which is called [Sylius Plus](https://sylius.com/plus/).

Sylius Plus gives you all the power of Open Source and much more. It comes with a set of enterprise-grade features and technical support from its creators. As a state-of-the-art eCommerce platform, it reduces risks and increases your ROI.

In this documentation you will find also chapters dedicated to features introduced by the Sylius Plus edition, they will be marked with a frame just like this section.

### The Three Natures of Sylius

Sylius is constructed from fully decoupled and flexible e-commerce components for PHP. It is also a set of Symfony bundles, which integrate the components into the full-stack framework. On top of that, Sylius is also a complete e-commerce platform crafted from all these building blocks.

It is your choice how to use Sylius, you can benefit from the components with any framework, integrate selected bundles into existing or new Symfony apps, or build your application on top of the Sylius platform.

### Sylius Platform

This book is about our **full-stack e-commerce platform**, which is a standard Symfony application providing the most common webshop and a foundation for custom systems.

### Leveraging Symfony Bundles

If you prefer to build your very custom system step by step and from scratch, you can integrate the standalone Symfony bundles. For the installation instructions, please refer to the appropriate bundle documentation.

### E-Commerce Components for PHP

If you use a different framework than Symfony, you are welcome to use Sylius components, which will make it much easier to implement a webshop with any PHP application and project. They provide you with default models, services, and logic for all aspects of e-commerce, completely separated and ready to use.

### Roadmap

Are you wondering about Sylius plans for the next releases? If so then you should follow our [Roadmap](https://sylius.com/roadmap). Through our [Slack](https://old-docs.sylius.com/en/1.13/book/support/index.html), you can contribute by conversation and vote on the most desired features and improvements.

### Final Thoughts

Depending on how you want to use Sylius, continue reading The Book, which covers the usage of the full stack solution, browse the Bundles Reference, or learn about The Components.<br>


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