What Commerce Layer does

Commerce Layer, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Prato, Italy (with a U.S. corporate entity in Woodside, California), is a headless commerce platform that exposes commerce functionality through a 400+ endpoint REST API. The platform enables developers and enterprise commerce teams to build customizable e-commerce experiences across web, mobile, in-store, and emerging AI-agent channels. Its core product modules are Universal Checkout (a stateless, multi-market, multi-currency checkout API embeddable with a single line of code), Distributed OMS (real-time inventory and order management across locations), Promotion Engine (visual and JSON DSL rule definition), and POS (in-store engine sharing the same API as online channels). Supporting capabilities include the Event Stream Hub (100+ webhook trigger events), Metrics API, Provisioning API, Rules Engine (enterprise feature), and the Agentic Commerce module enabling AI agents to discover products, recommend, and transact on behalf of consumers.

The technical foundation emphasizes API-first, stateless architecture with average response times under 90 ms, 99.99% uptime, and a 60+ edge CDN footprint for global low-latency operations. Commerce Layer has earned SOC 2 Type 2, PCI DSS Level 1 Provider, and ISO 27001 certifications, supporting enterprise and B2B procurement requirements, and integrates with major payment gateways (Stripe, Adyen, PayPal, Klarna, Braintree, Checkout.com, Satispay, Axerve), identity providers (Auth0, Google, GitHub), infrastructure (Cloudflare), and analytics/marketing tools. The company monetizes via a freemium self-serve developer tier plus negotiated enterprise contracts, with iFIT publicly cited as a customer. Total disclosed funding is approximately $22 million across a $6M Series A in 2020 led by Benchmark and a $16M Series B in 2021 led by Coatue Management, with Mango Capital also participating. The company is led by co-founder and CEO Filippo Conforti and co-founder and CTO Massimo Scardellato, with a workforce of 11-50 employees.

Name

Commerce Layer

Legal name

Commerce Layer, Inc.

Website

https://commercelayer.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Commerce Layer is a headless commerce API platform (founded 2017, Prato, Italy) offering 400+ REST endpoints across checkout, OMS, promotions, and POS. It serves developers and enterprise brands building customizable e-commerce experiences across web, mobile, in-store, and AI-agent channels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Headless Commerce API Platform

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210)

akta.pro primary industry

Marketplace Enablement, Seller Tools & E-commerce Infrastructure (BPAMAGAK)

Keywords

• Headless commerce api
• E-commerce infrastructure
• Order management system
• Checkout api platform
• Promotion engine api

Headquarters

HQ city

Prato

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. API Platform Subscription: Commerce Layer generates revenue through subscription-based access to its headless commerce API platform. Pricing is based on usage tiers and plan levels, with free tier available for development/small scale deployments and paid tiers for production enterprise use. The company offers plans with different market limits and API call quotas.
2. Enterprise Contracts: Enterprise customers enter into custom agreements with Commerce Layer for expanded access, support levels, and service level agreements. These contracts typically involve negotiated pricing based on volume and specific enterprise requirements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Commerce Layer sells a headless commerce API platform that lets businesses add e-commerce to any website, mobile app, or channel. The platform exposes 400+ REST endpoints covering Universal checkout, Distributed OMS, Promotion engine, and POS system modules, plus Agentic Commerce for AI-agent-driven purchases, Event Stream Hub webhooks, and enterprise tools like a Rules Engine. Customers consume the platform via subscription tiers (with a free development tier) or custom enterprise contracts.

Product overview

Commerce Layer is a headless commerce platform providing a modular, API-first architecture that enables developers to build customizable ecommerce experiences across any channel. The product portfolio consists of four core modules: Universal checkout (stateless, multi-market checkout API), Distributed OMS (real-time inventory and order management across locations), Promotion engine (automated discount management with visual and DSL-based rule editors), and POS system (in-store commerce using the same API as online). The platform is designed for composable commerce, allowing AI agents and humans to transact seamlessly. Additional capabilities include Agentic Commerce (for AI agent autonomy), Event Stream Hub (real-time webhooks), Metrics API (analytics), Provisioning API (admin automation), and Rules Engine (enterprise-only complex promotions). The platform supports 400+ API endpoints with <90ms response times, 99.99% uptime guarantee, and integrations with payment gateways, shipping carriers, and tax calculators.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Universal Checkout API-first, stateless checkout solution that lets businesses sell anywhere across markets and currencies. Connects to any payment gateway or tax calculator and supports transactions via AI agents and humans; embeddable with a single line of code.
• Distributed OMS Distributed Order Management System providing real-time, unified inventory visibility across locations. Optimizes allocation by region or customer segment and automates the full order lifecycle from reservation to shipping.
• Promotion Engine Automated discount and promotion management system that lets businesses define powerful, market-specific promotion rules via a visual editor or JSON-based DSL, handling complex discount logic at scale.
• POS System In-store point-of-sale engine that uses the same API as online channels. Manages store-level inventory, enables endless aisle, and lets associates sell via shareable links with shared payments, gift cards, and promotions.
• Agentic Commerce API infrastructure enabling AI agents to autonomously discover products, make recommendations, negotiate deals, and complete purchases on behalf of consumers through conversational commerce.
• Event Stream Hub

Quantifiable outcome

• Sixfold revenue growth since 2020
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration21 records

AI capability4 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment gateway integration. Stripe manages payments through external platforms that collect payment data without allowing Commerce Layer or business customers to access it. Core payment processing partner.
• Auth0coreTechnology or IntegrationIdentity provider integration for Single Sign-On (SSO). Commerce Layer supports JWT bearer flow with Auth0 for enterprise customer authentication. Comprehensive tutorial available for Next.js + Auth0 integration.
• CloudflarecoreTechnology or IntegrationCDN and infrastructure partner. Third-party CDN provider for global edge network operations. Status page indicates past CDN issues originating from Cloudflare infrastructure.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Stripe: Stripe has steadily expanded beyond payments into commerce-adjacent APIs (Stripe Connect, Tax, Identity, and a Commerce Toolkit for agentic checkout). As a core integration partner of Commerce Layer, Stripe represents both an enabler and potential competitive threat for end-to-end commerce infrastructure.
• Salesforce Commerce Cloud: Salesforce Commerce Cloud (formerly Demandware) is a broad incumbent enterprise commerce platform with significant share among large retailers. While not API-first, its Einstein AI and composable ambitions make it an indirect but powerful competitor for Commerce Layer's enterprise target accounts.
• Shopify: Shopify is the dominant commerce platform with Shopify Plus serving enterprise merchants and has been expanding headless and composable offerings (e.g., Hydrogen, Oxygen). It competes with Commerce Layer for technical buyer mindshare, though its storefront-coupled model differs from Commerce Layer's pure-API approach.

Emerging players

• Saleor: Saleor is an open-source, GraphQL-native headless commerce platform serving a similar developer audience to Commerce Layer with comparable composable architecture and a focus on enterprise customization.
• Medusa: Medusa is an open-source headless commerce platform offering composable commerce APIs as an alternative to SaaS incumbents. It targets developers and merchants seeking self-hosted flexibility, making it a like-for-like competitor to Commerce Layer's API-first stack.
• Swell Commerce: Swell is a headless commerce platform optimized for DTC brands with API-first extensibility. It targets a similar SMB-to-mid-market developer audience as Commerce Layer with a comparable API-driven value proposition.

Direct peers

• BigCommerce: BigCommerce is a publicly traded commerce platform that has shifted toward headless and composable offerings (Feedonomics, Bundle B2B, headless APIs). It competes for the same mid-market and enterprise merchants seeking flexible API-driven commerce, with overlapping endpoint coverage.
• commercetools: commercetools is the most directly comparable headless commerce API platform, offering a MACH-aligned (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) architecture for enterprise commerce. Both companies compete for the same enterprise developer audience with composable APIs for cart, checkout, order management, and promotions — making it Commerce Layer's closest peer.
• Elastic Path: Elastic Path is a long-standing headless commerce API platform (Commerce Cloud) targeting enterprise B2C and B2B2C scenarios with composable architecture. It directly competes for the same enterprise digital transformation deals as Commerce Layer.
• Fabric (formerly Reaction Commerce): Fabric is a headless commerce platform providing modular commerce capabilities (checkout, OMS, promotions) via APIs and microservices. It is a direct headless competitor to Commerce Layer targeting enterprise retailers with composable commerce needs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/commercelayer
• GitHubgithub.com/commercelayer
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@commercelayer
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/commerce-layer

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors6 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Commerce Layer