Introduction to Backend Filters in Shopware 6
If you are building a high-performance eCommerce store on Shopware 6, mastering the Shopware 6 backend filters is absolutely non-negotiable.
This comprehensive backend filters reference for Shopware 6 walks you through every available filter type, complete with PHP Criteria examples and API Criteria examples, so your development team or your chosen Shopware Development Agency can implement them with precision.
At iCreative Technologies, a leading Shopware development agency in Germany, we offer top-rated Shopware services and development solutions, including Shopware UI/UX development, custom Shopware development, Shopware plugin development, Shopware theme and template development for UI/UX and optimization, Shopware consulting, and seamless Shopware integration and migration services across Germany.
What Are Backend Filters in Shopware 6?
Backend filters in Shopware 6 are programmatic conditions applied to the Criteria object when querying the Data Abstraction Layer (DAL). They allow you to narrow down results by specifying exact values, ranges, partial matches, logical combinations, and negations, all translating into precise SQL statements under the hood.
Shopware 6 offers the following core filter types:
- Equals — Exact field match
- EqualsAny — Match against a list of values
- Contains — Wildcard search (before and after)
- Range — Numeric or date-based range filtering
- Not — Negate any filter condition
- Multi — Combine multiple filters with logical operators
- Prefix — Wildcard search at the start of a value
- Suffix — Wildcard search at the end of a value
Each of these Shopware filters can be used via the PHP Criteria API (for plugin and backend development) or the Store API / Admin API (for headless and frontend integrations).
1. Equals Filter — Exact Match Filtering in Shopware 6
The Equals filter is the most straightforward Shopware 6 filter. It performs an exact match on a given field, equivalent to a SQL WHERE field = value statement.
PHP Criteria Example
$criteria = new Criteria();
$criteria->addFilter(new EqualsFilter('stock', 10));
API Criteria Example
{
"filter": [
{
"type": "equals",
"field": "stock",
"value": 10
}
]
}
When to Use the Equals Filter
Use this filter whenever you need to retrieve records that precisely match a single known value for example, fetching all products with a specific manufacturer ID, a particular active status, or a defined category assignment. Our Shopware 6 developers at iCreative Technologies use this filter heavily in custom Shopware plugin development and Shopware Development Services where precision data retrieval is essential.
2. EqualsAny Filter — Filter Against Multiple Values
The EqualsAny filter is the Shopware equivalent of SQL’s IN clause. It allows you to match a field against a list of possible values, returning records where at least one value matches exactly.
SQL equivalent: WHERE productNumber IN ('3fed029475fa4d4585f3a119886e0eb1', '77d26d011d914c3aa2c197c81241a45b')
PHP Criteria Example
$criteria = new Criteria();
$criteria->addFilter(
new EqualsAnyFilter('productNumber', [
'3fed029475fa4d4585f3a119886e0eb1',
'77d26d011d914c3aa2c197c81241a45b'
])
);
API Criteria Example
{
"filter": [
{
"type": "equalsAny",
"field": "productNumber",
"value": [
"3fed029475fa4d4585f3a119886e0eb1",
"77d26d011d914c3aa2c197c81241a45b"
]
}
]
}
When to Use the Shopware EqualsAny Filter
This Shopware filter is ideal when you have a predefined set of IDs or values, for example bulk product lookups, category-level filtering, or order management workflows where you need to query multiple records by their identifiers in a single efficient call.
3. Contains Filter — Approximate Value Search in Shopware 6
The Contains filter performs a full wildcard search, adding a % before and after your search term. This makes it ideal for partial name searches, tag matching, or description-based filtering.
SQL equivalent: WHERE name LIKE '%Lightweight%'
PHP Criteria Example
$criteria = new Criteria();
$criteria->addFilter(new ContainsFilter('name', 'Lightweight'));
API Criteria Example
{
"filter": [
{
"type": "contains",
"field": "name",
"value": "Lightweight"
}
]
}
4. Range Filter — Numeric and Date-Based Filtering
The Range filter is one of the most powerful Shopware 6 filters for eCommerce use cases. It allows filtering on numeric values (like stock levels or prices) and date fields (like creation dates or scheduled publication times).
The Range filter supports four operators:
| Operator | Meaning |
|---|---|
| gte | Greater than or equal to |
| lte | Less than or equal to |
| gt | Greater than |
| lt | Less than |
SQL equivalent: WHERE stock >= 20 AND stock <= 30
PHP Criteria Example
$criteria = new Criteria();
$criteria->addFilter(
new RangeFilter('stock', [
RangeFilter::GTE => 20,
RangeFilter::LTE => 30
])
);
API Criteria Example
{
"filter": [
{
"type": "range",
"field": "stock",
"parameters": {
"gte": 20,
"lte": 30
}
}
]
}
When to Use the Range Filter
This filter is essential for price range sliders, inventory management dashboards, date-filtered reporting, and any Shopware Development scenario where users define a minimum and maximum boundary. Combined with Shopware aggregations, the Range filter powers the price filters you see on virtually every professional Shopware storefront built by a quality Shopware 6 Agency.
5. Not Filter — Negating Conditions in Shopware 6
The Not filter is a container filter that wraps other filters and negates them. It supports both AND and OR logical operators, giving you fine-grained control over exclusion logic.
SQL equivalent: WHERE !(stock = 1 OR availableStock = 1) AND active = 1
PHP Criteria Example
$criteria = new Criteria();
$criteria->addFilter(new EqualsFilter('active', true));
$criteria->addFilter(
new NotFilter(
NotFilter::CONNECTION_OR,
[
new EqualsFilter('stock', 1),
new EqualsFilter('availableStock', 10)
]
)
);
API Criteria Example
{
"filter": [
{
"type": "not",
"operator": "or",
"queries": [
{
"type": "equals",
"field": "stock",
"value": 1
},
{
"type": "equals",
"field": "availableStock",
"value": 1
}
]
},
{
"type": "equals",
"field": "active",
"value": true
}
]
}
When to Use the Not Filter
The Not filter is indispensable for exclusion-based queries hiding out-of-stock products, excluding inactive categories, removing specific tags from listings, or building “exclude already-seen” recommendation logic. It’s a hallmark of advanced Shopware Development and a filter our Shopware 6 Specialist at iCreative Technologies rely on when building complex catalog rules.
6. Multi Filter — Combining Filters with Logical Operators
The Multi filter is the go-to container when you need to combine multiple Shopware filters under a single AND or OR logical condition. Think of it as grouping filter conditions inside parentheses in SQL.
SQL equivalent: WHERE (stock = 1 OR availableStock = 1) AND active = 1
PHP Criteria Example
$criteria = new Criteria();
$criteria->addFilter(
new MultiFilter(
MultiFilter::CONNECTION_OR,
[
new EqualsFilter('stock', 1),
new EqualsFilter('availableStock', 10)
]
)
);
$criteria->addFilter(new EqualsFilter('active', true));
API Criteria Example
{
"filter": [
{
"type": "multi",
"operator": "or",
"queries": [
{
"type": "equals",
"field": "stock",
"value": 1
},
{
"type": "equals",
"field": "availableStock",
"value": 1
}
]
},
{
"type": "equals",
"field": "active",
"value": true
}
]
}
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Filter 7: Prefix — Faster Starts-With Search
The scenario: A customer starts typing “Light” in a search box and you want to return products whose name starts with that string. Or you want all SKUs beginning with “SW-2024-“. You know the match will always be at the beginning of the field.
This is where Prefix beats Contains on performance. Because the wildcard is only at the end — LIKE 'value%' — the database can actually use an index on that field. It’s significantly faster than the double-wildcard Contains on large catalogs.
SQL under the hood: WHERE name LIKE 'Lightweight%'
PHP Criteria
$criteria = new Criteria();
$criteria->addFilter(new PrefixFilter('name', 'Lightweight'));
API Criteria
{
"filter": [
{
"type": "prefix",
"field": "name",
"value": "Lightweight"
}
]
}
When to Choose Prefix Over Contains
Use the Prefix filter when your search term appears at the beginning of the field value, such as in autocomplete suggestions, SKU lookups, category path matching, or Shopware SEO URL slug searches.
For autocomplete, combining Prefix with a limited result set is the optimal approach. Using Contains in this scenario is a common mistake, as it scans more data and can lead to noticeable performance slowdowns, especially on large datasets.
Filter 8: Suffix — Ends-With Matching
The scenario: You want all products whose name ends with a specific term. Think variant suffixes like “-XL” or “-REFURBISHED”, file type indicators, or naming conventions where a specific qualifier always appears at the end.
Suffix is the mirror of Prefix. The wildcard goes before the value — LIKE '%value'.
SQL under the hood: WHERE name LIKE '%Lightweight'
PHP Criteria
$criteria = new Criteria();
$criteria->addFilter(new SuffixFilter('name', 'Lightweight'));
API Criteria
{
"filter": [
{
"type": "suffix",
"field": "name",
"value": "Lightweight"
}
]
}
Real-World Shopware 6 Filter Combinations You’ll Actually Use
Theory is one thing. Here’s what filter combinations look like in actual Shopware Development projects.
Show all active products in a price range that aren’t out of stock:
$criteria = new Criteria();
$criteria->addFilter(new EqualsFilter('active', true));
$criteria->addFilter(
new RangeFilter('price', [
RangeFilter::GTE => 20,
RangeFilter::LTE => 200
])
);
$criteria->addFilter(
new NotFilter(
NotFilter::CONNECTION_AND,
[new EqualsFilter('stock', 0)]
)
);
Find products from multiple manufacturers that contain a keyword:
$criteria = new Criteria();
$criteria->addFilter(
new MultiFilter(
MultiFilter::CONNECTION_AND,
[
new ContainsFilter('name', 'Lightweight'),
new EqualsAnyFilter('manufacturerId', [
'abc123',
'def456',
'ghi789'
])
]
)
);
Shopware 6 Filters + Aggregations: The Duo That Powers Layered Navigation
Filters don’t work in isolation on a real storefront. They work hand-in-hand with Shopware aggregations. Here’s what that means practically:
When a customer selects “Price: €50–€150″ in your storefront filter panel, two things happen simultaneously. First, a filter narrows the product result set to that price range. Second, an aggregation recalculates the counts next to every other filter option , so the size options, color options, and manufacturer options update dynamically to reflect only what’s available within that price band.
That real time faceted navigation, the feature that makes Shopware storefronts feel fast and intuitive, is powered by filters and aggregations working together within the same Criteria object.
$criteria = new Criteria();
$criteria->addFilter(new RangeFilter('price', [
RangeFilter::GTE => 50,
RangeFilter::LTE => 150
]));
$criteria->addAggregation(
new StatsAggregation('price-range', 'price')
);
$criteria->addAggregation(
new TermsAggregation('manufacturer-count', 'manufacturerId')
);
How Filters Connect to Shopware Twig Functions on the Storefront
Here’s something many admin-focused guides miss: backend filters don’t automatically become storefront filters. You need a bridge through Twig and the listing page loader.
When a category listing page loads, Shopware collects request inputs, builds a Criteria object with filters, runs the query, and passes results plus aggregation data to Twig, which renders the filter UI.
So, if you’re adding a custom filter (e.g., “Ships within 24 hours”), you need to connect backend logic with storefront rendering.
- Create a
ListingFilterHandlerthat extendsAbstractListingFilterHandler - Register it as a service with the
shopware.listing.filter_handlertag - Handle the aggregation in
aggregate()and the filter application inprocess() - Render it in your twig template using the filter data passed to the page
The Shopware SEO URL twig function seo_url() also interacts here when filter selections are applied and the URL updates, properly configured SEO URLs ensure that filtered pages can be indexed by search engines rather than treated as duplicate content. This matters enormously for eCommerce SEO at scale.
The Most Common Filter Mistakes We Fix at iCreative Technologies
Mistake 1: Using Contains for everything. Developers reach for ContainsFilter because it “works” for partial matches. But on a 50,000-product catalog, Contains on every search input creates slow queries. The fix is using Prefix where possible, Elasticsearch for full-text search, and Contains only where genuinely needed.
Mistake 2: Not understanding Multi vs top-level AND. Every filter added directly to $criteria->addFilter() is ANDed together at the top level. Developers who want OR logic between two conditions but don’t use MultiFilter end up with queries that return zero results because they’ve accidentally required both conditions to be true simultaneously.
Mistake 3: Hardcoding filter values that should be dynamic. Hardcoding new EqualsFilter('active', true) in ten different places means that if the business logic changes, you’re hunting through ten files. Centralise filter logic in dedicated services.
iCreative Technologies — Germany’s Leading Shopware Development Agencyices.
If you’ve read this far, you now understand Shopware 6 filters better than most developers who’ve been working with the platform for months. But understanding filters is one thing.
We are a Shopware Development Company based in Germany, and Shopware is not a sideline for us , it’s our core.
Our team of experienced Shopware 6 developers has built stores, custom plugins, headless frontends, B2B portals, and ERP integrations on Shopware for clients across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and beyond.
What makes us different from other agencies:
- 11+ years of hands-on Shopware real-world development expertise
- Deep expertise in Shopware support, extensions, apps, and theme customization
- High-quality work with reasonable Shopware development cost
- End-to-end Shopware development expertise
- Official Shopware partner agency
- 24×7 Shopware support for your website
Shopware Development Services (End-to-End Solutions)
1. New Shopware Store Development
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6. Ongoing Support & Maintenance
Continuous monitoring, updates, and technical support to keep your Shopware store secure, stable, and future-ready.
Shopware 6 Backend Filters: Quick Reference
| Filter | PHP Class | API Type | SQL Pattern | Use When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equals | EqualsFilter | equals | = value | One exact value match |
| EqualsAny | EqualsAnyFilter | equalsAny | IN (…) | Match from a list |
| Contains | ContainsFilter | contains | LIKE ‘%value%’ | Partial text anywhere |
| Range | RangeFilter | range | >= x AND <= y | Numbers, dates, prices |
| Not | NotFilter | not | NOT (…) | Exclude conditions |
| Multi | MultiFilter | multi | (A OR B) AND C | Group with OR logic |
| Prefix | PrefixFilter | prefix | LIKE ‘value%’ | Starts-with search |
| Suffix | SuffixFilter | suffix | LIKE ‘%value’ | Ends-with search |
Final Thought
The Shopware 6 filter system is powerful and precise. Most challenges come from choosing the right filters and managing performance at scale, not the system itself.
This guide helps you structure complex queries effectively. Save it, share it with your team, and use it as a reference.
When you need a Shopware Development Agency that gets these details right from the start, you know where to find us.
