Magento vs Opencart 2018: Which one to choose?
Choosing the right e-commerce platform is perhaps that trickiest part of starting with an online business. After all, the performance and features of your e-commerce store determine the fate of the business to a considerable extent. There are a number of platforms that have emerged as the best ones to create feature-rich, robust, and scalable e-commerce stores. Amongst these, Magento and Opencart are the ones that deserve a special mention because of the commendable features they have.
When it comes to making a choice between the two, you should go for magento and opencart comparison before making a decision. Let’s help you to explore the similarities and differences between the two of them.
Magento vs. OpenCart: How Are They Similar?
Before knowing about the differences between the two, it is better to understand the similarities they have. In fact, there is a lot that is common between Magento and Opencart.
- Both are open-source and tailored to facilitate the typical e-commerce activities.
- Both the platforms are developed in PHP and offer a number of extensions and plugins that can be used for customization purposes.
- Both support multiple currencies and languages, which makes them a global solution for businesses across the globe.
- Both are capable of supporting e-commerce stores of any size, small-, mid-, or large-sized.
Magento vs. OpenCart: How Are They Different?
While there are several ways in which both the platforms are similar, there are also considerable differences between them.
- When it comes to the feature set, Opencart comes nowhere close to Magento. The latter still remains the top choice for large websites with extensive feature and scalability requirements. Opencart may struggle with stores that have massive traffic and it may also lack in terms of customization.
- With extensions comes the ability to add some extra features and functionalities in an e-commerce store. Here again, Magento claims the top spot as the number of extensions it offers is fairly larger than those offered by Opencart.
- Availability of adequate SEO resources with a platform ensures that the store can be elevated to the top of Google search rankings. Magento is an amazing option when it comes to SEO-compatibility as it allows the user to optimize URLs and titles to boost the store’s traffic. Even though Opencart claims itself to be SEO-friendly, it is far behind in terms of SEO capabilities.
- Opencart is far more user-friendly as compared to Magento because of the ease to install and setup. With the latter, however, you will need to engage a professional Magento development agency to take care of the store setup. The need for developer expertise will increase in future as the business grows and the store needs to scale its resources accordingly.
- Security is a huge concern for e-commerce merchants as they need to ensure the security of the key personal and financial details of the customers. Magento is regarded as a dependable platform in terms of security as it keeps bringing new updates and security patch releases. Opencart is good enough but lags behind because it does not bring security patches.
- In terms of popularity, Magento takes the pie with thrice as many stores built on it as Opencart. There is a huge Magento community that offers ample support for the store owners who opt for it. Opencart too has a good support system but its community is not as large as that of Magento.
- Both of these are open-source platforms and can be used to build basic online stores free of cost. However, they need to incur other expenses such as those for adding premium Magento or Opencart themes and extensions and availing hosting services to run them. The hosting costs are higher for Magento as it is a resource-demanding platform. Also, the platform can be an expensive option if you opt for the high-end, premium Enterprise edition it offers.
Magento vs Opencart 2018: Which one is the best?
Now that we have weighed the pros and cons of both the platforms, it is time to make a choice between them. The big question here is not only about picking the one that has better features and functionalities; it is rather about choosing the one that will well-suited for your specific business requirements and budget. Opencart is the best for small businesses that are planning to initiate in the e-commerce domain. On the other hand, Magento is a viable option if you have a huge business with a massive product catalog and multiple functionality requirements. Even the small and mid-sized businesses can avail it if budget is not a constraint for them.