Prestashop has a new owner

[musicmaster]

https://www.prestashop.com/forums/topic/1104807-prestashop-has-a-new-owner-d/

PrestaShop has new ownership as of December 2025, acquired by Polish tech group Cyber_Folks (through its subsidiary Cyber_Pixel) along with Sylius and BitBag, forming a major European e-commerce ecosystem, moving from its previous owner, MBE Worldwide (now Fortidia). This acquisition combines PrestaShop's open-source platform with headless (Sylius) and custom solution (BitBag) tech, aiming to create a strong European alternative to global players, with Cyber_Folks holding a majority stake in the new structure. 

[the.rampage.rado]

Good for them...

[DRMasterChief]

Good for customers? Time will tell.

In any case, a lot would have to change. The current model is no longer suitable for e-commerce today (from the retailers' perspective).

[the.rampage.rado]

13 hours ago, DRMasterChief said:

Good for customers? Time will tell.

In any case, a lot would have to change. The current model is no longer suitable for e-commerce today (from the retailers' perspective).

Good for the previous owner - they squeezed whatever they can and sold a shell...

[Yabber]

Cyber_Folks is owned by H88, a company that has been acquiring smaller hosting companies in Poland for many years. After each such acquisition, the prices of all services are raised by an average of 300%.

Also, after this acquisition, Prestashop will be the most expensive SaaS in the world.

[Kashir2000]

As Yabber said. They consolidated many hosting companies over years, shut them down and moved everyone under Cyber_folks brand.

Prices rose, and quality dropped (not for all, depends on needs). However available server resources were restricted. Many say that its worse. I know many people who ran away after that (including myself). 
 

On 1/31/2026 at 8:01 AM, the.rampage.rado said:

Good for the previous owner - they squeezed whatever they can and sold a shell...

 

It will be no different here I think. Knowing Cyber_folks, they didn't acquire it for no reason. Monetization process will surely continue, one way or other I belive.

I think this project might end up like many other open source projects. Open source development will slow or even stop, and new features will be available only when you will host on their servers. Where they will have good optimizations. So PS will work as it worked till now, and alternative version may be developed for those who use their infrastructure. 

However, maybe they will come up with another monetization method. Who knows... I have bad feelings about it.

What I can tell for sure, they all are Symfony worshippers and everything will be more and more based on symfony. Sylius (one of companies invloved in purchase) is creating headless commerce platform based on Symfony. So Symfony will surely be they way they go (I'm not a fan of symfony)

[Acer]

On 1/30/2026 at 7:07 PM, DRMasterChief said:

Good for customers? Time will tell.

In any case, a lot would have to change. The current model is no longer suitable for e-commerce today (from the retailers' perspective).

Well, the current model where the software is provided for free (ThirtyBees), is also not so great for ThirtyBees.
Will be interesting to see if there is a silver bullet technique for free software that is supported by the community.
Imo, it would help if everyone that is a long term user of ThirtyBees sees the merit of what we've done and donate or signup as a member - if only for the purpose of supporting development, server cost and keeping the lights on. If everyone does it, we can do more themes, modules, bug fixes and get more than one developer - and still keep the software free without losing the plot and going PS and even Magento routes. Which we all know how that landed up...

[OKR82]

Hello everyone.

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone at ThirtyBees.

That said, I've managed large forums using vBulletin (I don't mean to advertise). It was fantastic paid software; people paid for it if they really wanted to run a serious forum. But nowadays, people don't consider the work that goes into it; they want it for free and they want it to work like a charm...

I'm a programmer, I'm pretty good with Go, but I love PHP (I absolutely hate Symfony). I don't consider myself skilled enough to build an e-commerce site. I've done other projects, but a store is scary to mess up, so here we are. Finding a product like ThirtyBees puts a little smile on my face.

I believe that ThirtyBees should ideally be a paid license product (like Xenforo, the previous developers of vBulletin). That's the way forward. I'm sure that back in the 2000s/2008s there would have been hundreds of sponsors and donations, just like with SMF, PHPBB, etc., but that's no longer the case.

I know many people who even tell me, "Bagg, Shopify makes everything so easy." Really? A system, users, private data, etc., that will never truly belong to you? But of course, for $30 a month you get your own cool store...

I'm very pessimistic about buying PrestaShop, and the poor choice of Symfony as the framework. Even phpBB already uses the Symfony core...

And here we are. Seeing this thread makes me reconsider ThirtyBees precisely because of what's being said: people are indifferent, nobody wants to donate, there are no funds, and people aren't here to waste their time offering something for free that no one supports, which will cause this project to fail like PrestaShop did.

So here I am, watching the days go by without knowing exactly which system to use in the future, and after reading this thread, PrestaShop is completely out of the question.

P.S. Excuse my English, I'm from Spain. ;)

[Acer]

5 hours ago, OKR82 said:

Hello everyone.

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone at ThirtyBees.

That said, I've managed large forums using vBulletin (I don't mean to advertise). It was fantastic paid software; people paid for it if they really wanted to run a serious forum. But nowadays, people don't consider the work that goes into it; they want it for free and they want it to work like a charm...

I'm a programmer, I'm pretty good with Go, but I love PHP (I absolutely hate Symfony). I don't consider myself skilled enough to build an e-commerce site. I've done other projects, but a store is scary to mess up, so here we are. Finding a product like ThirtyBees puts a little smile on my face.

I believe that ThirtyBees should ideally be a paid license product (like Xenforo, the previous developers of vBulletin). That's the way forward. I'm sure that back in the 2000s/2008s there would have been hundreds of sponsors and donations, just like with SMF, PHPBB, etc., but that's no longer the case.

I know many people who even tell me, "Bagg, Shopify makes everything so easy." Really? A system, users, private data, etc., that will never truly belong to you? But of course, for $30 a month you get your own cool store...

I'm very pessimistic about buying PrestaShop, and the poor choice of Symfony as the framework. Even phpBB already uses the Symfony core...

And here we are. Seeing this thread makes me reconsider ThirtyBees precisely because of what's being said: people are indifferent, nobody wants to donate, there are no funds, and people aren't here to waste their time offering something for free that no one supports, which will cause this project to fail like PrestaShop did.

So here I am, watching the days go by without knowing exactly which system to use in the future, and after reading this thread, PrestaShop is completely out of the question.

P.S. Excuse my English, I'm from Spain. 😉

Hi there

Thank you for your post, and welcome to ThirtyBees. We literally have thousands of stores running, so you're not alone. TB remains one of the best and top eCommerce platforms out there. It's stable, it's fast and it's awesome. It's the best PS that PS could've been - and better! So it may still be a good choice for you. 
About your comment about TB going the same route as PrestaShop. The reason PS went down this slow and painful dead-end is due to corporate greed and dark-side behavior; where they would literally take what was free before and lock it behind a paywall; not to mention not giving a sh*t about their client base and what was good for PS and going symphony route. Which hurt them badly.
Many of these reasons are why TB exists in the first place. And it's for that reason that we are unlikely to go down that specific path and "fail like PS did".
However; our very nature (being good, doing it for the community, hoping for the best) may be our undoing. And we may fail anyway. As simply closing our eyes, crossing our fingers, and hoping that people who love the software will signup for memberships or make a donation - to make TB better, get more developers, make more themes, do more marketing to pull in more customers etc. Wishful thinking on our part?

Maybe you're right. Maybe we should start charging entry. Maybe people would stop being indifferent then.
And if people feel strongly about what I just said, even if it made them upset, then well, they know what to do:

 

[OKR82]

9 minutes ago, Acer said:

Hola.

Gracias por tu publicación y bienvenido a ThirtyBees. Tenemos miles de tiendas en funcionamiento, así que no estás solo. TB sigue siendo una de las mejores plataformas de comercio electrónico del mercado. Es estable, rápida y fantástica. Es la mejor plataforma de pago que PS podría haber sido, ¡y aún mejor! Así que puede que siga siendo una buena opción para ti. 
Respecto a tu comentario sobre que TB siguió el mismo camino que PrestaShop, la razón por la que PS cayó en este lento y doloroso callejón sin salida se debe a la avaricia corporativa y a su comportamiento despiadado; literalmente, cogían lo que antes era gratuito y lo encerraban tras un muro de pago; por no mencionar que no les importaba su base de clientes ni lo que era bueno para PS, y optaron por la vía de la sinfonía. Lo cual les perjudicó gravemente.
Muchas de estas razones explican la existencia de TB. Y es por eso que es poco probable que sigamos ese camino y "fracasemos como PS".
Sin embargo, nuestra propia naturaleza (ser buenos, trabajar por la comunidad, esperar lo mejor) puede ser nuestra perdición. Y puede que fracasemos de todos modos. Como simplemente cerrar los ojos, cruzar los dedos y esperar que quienes aman el software se registren o hagan una donación para mejorar TB, conseguir más desarrolladores, crear más temas, hacer más marketing para atraer a más clientes, etc. ¿Ilusiones por nuestra parte?

Quizás tengas razón. Quizás deberíamos empezar a cobrar la entrada. Quizás entonces la gente dejaría de ser indiferente.
Y si la gente se siente fuertemente afectada por lo que acabo de decir, aunque les moleste, entonces, bueno, ya saben qué hacer.

 

Thanks for the welcome. 😉

Every year I renew my software licenses. If they solve problems and help my work, what's wrong with charging for your work? I wouldn't see it as a bad thing at all. In fact, it would be a way to ensure that this great alternative to PrestaShop continues.

As a programmer, I know perfectly well all the time you "lose" with your family, the frustrations, the headaches that keep you up at night until you solve the problem. It's not worth it.

Simply put, do the math. What professional in the industry who sells every day wouldn't pay the $140 I pay to renew my Xenforo license? More? I don't know, but if there are 1,000 stores and we do the math, the numbers would give this project a much-needed boost.

Membership forums used to work really well, charging 50, 100, etc. per year for access to downloads. Why not emulate this model to keep this project going? Not only with code improvements, but also with a budget for advertising campaigns, hiring designers, etc. 🙂

[DRMasterChief]

Okay, we're getting quite off-topic here. But that's okay, right? 🙂

I wrote a long time ago that charging a low monthly fee can be a good approach. It absolutely mustn't scare off potential customers.

It's (nowadays) very important to reach small retailers/shops that don't have a large budget.

This is exactly where Thirtybees would be a great solution, and $4-5 per month for the shop as pure software would be fantastic. Payable every six months in advance.

If that's too complicated to implement, offer a free 30-day trial or something similar. Then the license would need to be activated.

It's important that no money-grubbing third-party provider does this (no Envato, please).

And of course, it has to work flawlessly. I'd be happy to receive a license via email and have me insert it into a config file and upload it—no problem.

I'm fine with that. In addition, there could be paid premium modules for ThirtyBees (as has already begun).

That's fair, because nowadays it's also important to only pay for what you need.

 

One more important point:

Some information about ThirtyBees is extremely outdated. The demo, changelog, version roadmap, etc.

It's also not entirely clear how and for what purpose paid support is provided; this urgently needs to be revised.

[Acer]

Thanks for your post DRMasterChef.

During some retrospection I realised something interesting. If you're willing to pay monthly for TB, why are we not seeing a membership tag with your profile? And on the profiles of others that will pay, including some of the long term users of TB? Is it some strange social thing? Where if it's free people won't pay to support it, but if we charge, then people will pay, especially if it's not free anymore? 

I'm very aware that I don't know if you've made a donation or paid for support. So please, I mean no disrespect. I'm simply curious and would like to get to the bottom of this. 

Also, TB started of free, which has benefited many, especially those with next to zero budgets. So going paid, could be a difficult decision for us. Not to mention that fact that TB is OpenSource - so it's complicated and not so easy to do.
However, I still find the psychology behind all this very interesting. That someone would rather pay for access than signup for a monthly membership when the thing is free. 

In marketing, there's a study with two identical wines. If the one is more expensive than the other, then people go for that one rather. Either way, very interesting...

I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

 

Also regarding your other points, it's a time, money and limited resource problem (regarding outdated info etc). But as far as I know, the demo is up to date. I'll have a look 

[Kashir2000]

I don't think that's necessary. 

I think, for starters, you should improve your paid modules. There is a lot of good stuff coming out of premium modules.. but they are:

- Undocumented - real pain... I don't really know what they do... 
- Not UI/UX friendly - some are pain to manage

So basically... idea of those modules, and functions are cool. However... 

Forgive me @Acer but if you can't get https://store.thirtybees.com/premium-modules straight... then you think you will be able to sell thirty bees?
Look at this page, sorry to say.. .but from marketing view its not worth much... 

First of all... and most important... It's a hell to see how they work and if they worth it.

There is a WALL.... 

Want to see how it looks? Support TB first.

FAQ Snippets... more like basic docs than advertising description.... and where is banner saying? "Want it? You can have it for free if you support tb development"
Bulletpoints... Same story... really nothing about module.
Purchases... some won't even know its a re-stock inventory planner. Purchases sounds like customer purchasing..
Shortcodes... some more info... but how it looks?
Dynamic lists...  is a mystery to me couldn't get it to work

All those software is made more for programmers than for users/merchants (Unlike thirtybees).

You could really get those modules to profit you, just first put some effort. Because making TB paid without good marketing will cost you a lot.
And heed my warning... there are a lot who will say "Look at thirty bees, Prestashop is newer, better and FREE, but TB became paid for useless script"

You will pour oil into fire and it may burn you. 

Also... you can make a module marketplace, where you - for a fee like 10%? - allow people sell their modules.
For module creator it's a fee based place to advertise... only one thing they need to do is make their module compatible with TB - and belive me, more modules compatible with TB = better future for TB.
 

Don't go making TB paid, before you finish what you actually started with Premium modules, because IDEA is cool, Backoffice integration is cool... however visual and informational layer is at its lowest.

[Kashir2000]

Abandoned cart reminder

Description: "Abandoned cart reminder"
How it works? What does it do (send emails, SMS'es, calls their mom to tell her, her boy didn't finish his grocery shopping?)

GDPR Compliant: No --- Not compliant, or GDPR compliance does not apply?

[Kashir2000]

That's only example (and yes, you can use it):

Abandoned Cart Reminder – Recover Lost Sales Automatically

Every day, customers add products to their cart… and then leave. This module helps you win them back automatically.

Abandoned Cart Reminder sends friendly, well-timed reminders to customers who didn’t finish their purchase, encouraging them to return to your store and complete the order. It works quietly in the background and helps you recover sales that would otherwise be lost.

What this module does for your store

• 🛒 Recovers abandoned carts
  Automatically reminds customers about products they left behind.

• ⏰ Smart reminder timing
  Send up to 3 reminders at custom time intervals (for example: after 2 hours, 22 hours, and 48 hours).

• 🔄 Always up to date
  If a customer comes back and updates their cart, old reminders are reset so messages stay relevant and accurate.

• 🤝 Customer-friendly approach
  Gentle reminders instead of aggressive marketing — perfect for building trust and increasing conversions.

• 📈 Boosts conversion rate & revenue
  Turn abandoned carts into completed orders with minimal effort.

Why merchants love it

• Fully automatic — no daily work required

• Works with all shops (multi-shop supported)

• Simple configuration

• Designed specifically for thirty bees

Perfect for you if

• You want more completed orders without increasing ad spend

• You want to remind customers at the right moment

• You want a reliable, lightweight solution that just works

Edited 6 hours ago by Kashir2000

[nickz]

On 1/29/2026 at 9:53 PM, musicmaster said:

Cyber_Folks

 

Quote

Say goodbye to waiting for code, photos, and text. Launch an attractive website for your small business instantly with the AI website builder _now by cyber_Folks

AI tools, that is pretty good as long as TB stays away from the easy does it approach, Too easy is mostly pretty bad in the long run.