Opencart vs Magento - Which is the best eCommerce Shopping Cart Solution For Your Business?

Developing an eCommerce store is easier than ever with open source solutions like OpenCart and Magento. But most businesses who are new to eCommerce do not understand the technicalities involved while making a choice between the two. Magento captures a substantial 25.6% market share of the eCommerce market with OpenCart having only 3.1%.

With each platform having its own set of features and strengths, choosing a right eCommerce solution for your business can be a challenge. So, it is important to look at the unique elements in each of the platforms before making a choice.

OpenCart

OpenCart is a free, open source, shopping cart solution for online merchants. It lets  retailers  set up an online store with professional feel and intermediate functionalities. Developers as well as non-programmers can set up and manage it easily. Also, low-cost extensions and themes, responsive and nimble admin user interface and easy documentation are other strong points of OpenCart.

Magento

Magento is a leading eCommerce product that can be used to develop high-end, multi-functional, online stores. It gives developers full command and flexibility over the look and feel, contents and functionalities of the store. It is a feature-rich platform that includes facilities like customer segmentation, SEO, multiple payments, shipping and more.

Both of these well-known platforms are developed in PHP and offer more or less similar features. But to determine which one suits your business environment the best, let's look at a detailed comparison.

Which is better for your business - OpenCart or Magento?

Installation and Usage: OpenCart is believed to be easy to use and has multiple themes to choose from. The products and services in the store can be managed easily on a shared hosting plan. Whereas, Magento requires a strong hosting to support the store functionality and performance. It is a recognized platform providing limitless flexibility and configuration options to developers. Non-programmers might find it difficult to use but it is worth the user experience and opportunities it offers in long run.

Pricing Policy: OpenCart is free. After download and installation, additional modifications can be used at $7 per month with a web hosting plan. If you are a small retailer, opt for OpenCart website development as it is both cost friendly and lightweight. On the other hand, Magento comes with a higher price, it offers more services. It has two editions – a Magento Community Edition which is free and a Magento Enterprise Edition that costs around $18,000 a year. The prices can differ depending on the package and features you select for your organization.

Customizability and Community Support: Both OpenCart and Magento offer wide-ranging customization options. They support multi-store management, unlimited categories, and products along with sales reports. OpenCart has around 100 features and many free and paid templates. Similarly, Magento offers 350+ features but has limited templates on its official site. In case of community support, both the platforms provide 24/7 assistance and free user guides and tutorials on their sites. But Magento goes an extra mile to offer expert counseling and training courses for its users.

Conclusion

OpenCart's solutions are more favorable for small businesses while Magento's scalability and plethora of features are a good fit for big stores with large budgets. Each business has its own unique requirements. So, there is no one-size-fits-all approach while zeroing in on an eCommerce platform.

What are your opinions about these eCommerce solutions? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.