OpenCart vs. Magento: What You Should Choose in 2023
Updated On January 5, 2023 | by Kamal
OpenCart and Magento are handy narrow-profile CMS systems. So why do we need them? First, these systems are used to launch an online store successfully. Second, after going through with an install, you will get every desired asset for online retail. But can these platforms satisfy all of the customer’s needs? The answers to this question are tricky, so let’s break it down into details to determine the differences between these CMS.
Use of These Platforms
As was mentioned above, both of these systems were made to provide a platform for online retail. Primary clients are small and medium businesses that need a highly functional and easy online store in both cases. But the approach to the process of making an online shop is different in these two CMS.
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Magento
Magento is a reliable corporate tool with serious commerce support. The main development product is a cloud service specified for commercial exploitation. If you want to hire a Magento developer, the prices for launch and online support in cloud services will be slightly expensive. On the contrary, your business will receive a powerful instrument that grows together with a company and can manage huge workloads and tackle complex tasks. Its standalone solution (a CMS distributive you can download and install onto your server) is a trial version. Here you can study the source, make sure the engine is working right. But even the project launch will be expensive, provided that a Magento Open Source version is free to download. Your expenses will include hiring a team of specialists to create a unique design and tackle integration with different services.
Additionally, it’s almost impossible to study the engine at home, as you would typically do with other popular engines. This CMS has a complex configuration because it’s meant for big projects. Finally, the machine is targeted mainly at US and European clients. There might be some minor complications with the integration of other countries’ services.
OpenCart
OpenCart is a classic representative of popular open-source projects. It has an established community and an incredible arsenal of informational materials (instructions and guides, documentation, themed blogs, etc.) In addition, the engine is translated into many languages, so there is no problem with universal use. As a result, you can get an endless list of addons and designer themes, both free and premium. Additionally, you can find many trained specialists and freelancers who don’t overcharge for their work.
If you want to, there is a possibility to learn how the system works at home without paying professional support and calling for assistance. You can launch complex and highly functional projects with OpenCart which can scale to unbelievable standards. However, this platform will never receive the status of a colossal commerce instrument corporate clients will use because of its open-source assets.
What are the Similarities?
Both CMS offers professional support and cloud services. But with Magento, it’s a robust platform for serious corporate clients, while OpenCart is one of the choices of ready-to-use hosting. The similarities are:
- Both of them work on PHP. That’s why they can be added to different types of hosting, including shared.
- Both of them support add-ons and templates. Again, there are official catalogs for that.
- Both of them work with several interface languages, as well as universal currencies.
- There is an out-of-the-box starter pack of the essential instruments, such as catalog, payment acceptance functionality, coupon/discount system, etc.
You may argue a lot about what platform to choose for your online shop, but each of them has its pros and cons. For example, Magento is relatively expensive, even with an open-source, free version. However, the Magento support agency provides workload tackling, has several additional modules, and reasonable prices for templates. If you want to try your best at online commerce, and you want to make it cheaper, OpenCart is the answer for you. You can launch it from shared hosting and find ready solutions for e-commerce-service integrations.
