All eCommerce stores need an excellent platform to capitalize on their functionalities to build, manage, and progressively sustain their business processes. There are many e-commerce platforms around like; Joomla, OpenCart, Woocommerce, and Magento. In this article, we will talk about OpenCart and Magento; both Magento and OpenCart provide a unique set of features tailored to specific business functions. It is what confuses most new businesses when they are asked to choose between both.
Let’s put an end to the OpenCart vs. Magento 2019 debate right here. Here is a detailed shopping cart platforms comparison for the two:
Similarities
Both OpenCart and Magento are open source e-commerce platforms, developed in PHP. Business owners can use both the platforms to add products to the e-store front through pre-built templates. There are numerous add-ons and extensions available to enhance the functionality of both platforms, like inventory management. Global businesses can benefit from their multiple languages and currency support. Also, both Magento and OpenCart allow eCommerce customers to make recurring payments.
Differences
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User Interface
Regardless of the tech-skill set of the user, a user-friendly interface is what makes a platform hit.
Magento is a feature-rich eCommerce platform that comes with a steep learning curve. There is an endless number of functionalities that make the Magento UI slightly complex to navigate through. While an ordinary business owner may find himself/herself lacking the necessary expertise to operate an e-store through Magento, the platform does come with a simple sidebar and lots of official documentation that can help any keen learner pick up some skills.
OpenCart, on the other hand, promises a simple interface to its users. The sidebar on the admin panel is easy to navigate here too. Businesses can download extensions, play around with the design, and list products easily through tabs listed on the left. The platform also equips the user with simplified statistical data as an additional perk.
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Support
At a time of crisis, community support tends to be as important as official support.
Talking of Magento, support is not offered as a service on the e-commerce platform. There is a thriving community of software developers that come to your rescue when things tend to go down the drain with Magento. Magento Expert and Magento Stack Exchange are two such Magento forums that can be of use. Magento also has an official knowledge base where business owners can look up tutorials and FAQs and improve their storefront. Both free and paid support available for Magento users.
In comparison, OpenCart offers a dedicated support system for all its users, at a price. Pricing packages start from $99 for one time fix and $99 per/month for a dedicated support team. Paid support comes with a guaranteed response time. For unpaid support, businesses can rely on the community and forums, which are relatively limited in number.
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Hosting Cost
The choice of the host does impact an eCommerce store’s performance in terms of speed and security. Many companies offer to host Magento and OpenCart business websites.
When it comes to Magento, steer clear of the shared hosting as it can negatively impact your store performance. However, a managed Magento hosting is a viable option for businesses who do not mind spending the buck. Though the store owner enjoys complete control and flexibility with Magento, they will be paying for the domain name.
With OpenCart, hosting is cheap. It is easy to use, and uses fewer resources. Just buy a domain name and get started with the tutorial on their website.
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Security
All businesses struggle for security to protect their client’s precious data.
The team at Magento rolls out regular updates with security patches for any loop. Being an open-source platform, a business can add extensions and make sure that they follow Magento security guidelines enlisted online. SSL and WAF are great to protect an e-store.
Comparatively, OpenCart is less vulnerable to a security breach than Magento. It comes with a basic defense system offered by the platform that seems enough for online stores. Resources in the form of official documents for security practices can be referred to mitigate glitches, if any.
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Features and Extensions
Businesses prefer eCommerce platforms with better shopping experiences, design options, powerful SEO resources, and unlimited plugins and integrations.
Magento Marketplace is a mighty resource hub for eCommerce stores. There is a vast community of Magento developers who keep developing a new extension to improve storefronts. With more than 5000 free and paid extensions available, Magento can spoil a user for choice.
OpenCart has fewer extensions to offer than Magento.
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Search Engine Friendliness
The story never ends at creating a high-quality eCommerce store; instead, it begins with steady traffic. Search Engine friendliness is the sticking factor that gets your store to rank higher on the Search engines.
Magento SEO extensions can be used to optimize titles, images, and URLs. However, businesses can only add limited content unless they have a blog in place.
OpenCart allows basic modifications like editing the meta tags and adding 301 referrals and rel canonical. However, it lacks polished SEO solutions for businesses.
Conclusion
When faced with the question ‘Should you choose Opencart or Magento for your online business?’, we suggest every business must evaluate its unique needs. A variety of tools and methods need to be adopted to sail the eCommerce boat with satisfying results. Detail out the size of your e-store, your design preferences, SEO aspirations, and budget before you choose an eCommerce platform.
Small beginners in the world of e-commerce can do with minimal functionality to save costs. OpenCart is a good fit for these businesses.
However, if you own a fast scaling business and intend to establish your brand name in the digital world, Magento can be your go-to platform.
