Choosing the right eCommerce platform is a daunting task. With dozens of eCommerce platforms available in the market, each having their own pros and cons, it can be a bit of struggle to choose one for your online store. We, at Magento Developer Group, work hard to solve your problems. In this blog, we will take a closer look at Magento 2 vs OpenCart. We will compare these two eCommerce platforms to help you decide which is better for your eCommerce store.
Magento 2 vs OpenCart have a lot of similarities. Both the eCommerce platforms are open-source and developed in PHP. They also have large, active developers’ communities and plenty of resources (extension, add-ons, etc.). Besides, they use templates to upload products and support multiple currencies and language options. In spite of so many similarities, there are still certain key differences between the two platforms that differentiate them from each other. Over the years, we have been serving our global clientele with excellent Magento 2 development services as we think Magento 2 has something more to offer than other platforms. If you’re stuck with Magento vs OpenCart, no worries, we have got you covered!
Magento 2 vs Opencart – A Detailed Comparison 2020
Market Share
Magento 2 offers both free and paid options. Magento 2 is ranked among the Top 10,000 Sites, Top 100,000 Sites, and Top 1 Million Sites and The Entire Web. Magento 2 is an eCommerce software and platform trusted by the world’s leading brands. Currently, Magento powers 34,632 websites.
OpenCart, in terms of market share, is clearly lagging behind, losing to Magento 2 in all segments. OpenCart is an open-source shopping cart solution and is free to use. Currently, OpenCart powers 6,271 websites.
Website Categories
Magento 2 covers more website categories including lifestyle, eCommerce & shopping, home & décor, electronics & technology, sports, and 20 other categories.
OpenCart does not take the lead in any website category.
Geography
Magento 2 is being widely used in most countries including the U.S., U.K., Netherlands, Germany, and 144 other countries.
OpenCart is popular in Taiwan, Uzbekistan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Bermuda, and 2 other countries.
Features
Although OpenCart is a great platform, it still doesn’t come close to the features that Magento 2 has. Magento 2 was designed for large-scale enterprises, and if you’re thinking of expanding your business in the future, Magento 2 should be your first preference because it has plenty of features that better cater to large-sized online businesses. Most of the world’s leading brands opt for Magento eCommerce development because the platform is more rich-featured as it offers unlimited design options, powerful SEO resources, unlimited plugins, and customizable shopping experiences. You can always hire Magento 2 developers to create a solution tailored to your business needs. However, if you are new or have less expertise working with PHP, Magento 2 platform may seem a bit complex platform, especially when it comes to leveraging its flexibility and custom features.
On the other hand, OpenCart is a much easier platform to work with. You don’t need to hire a developer to build your online store, making it a great platform for start-ups that need quick delivery without additional integrations. OpenCart isn’t mobile-friendly, doesn’t support API integration, and has very poor SEO. It can be improved by installing plugins, however, it still doesn’t come close to the Magento 2 platform.
Inventory Management
An online store also needs an inventory which is a large database of products and hundreds of pages that the website has to manage. Here, both Magento 2 and OpenCart are players at managing inventory. Magento 2 beats OpenCart as it has more extensions and features that facilitate better inventory management.
Extensions
Extensions are a crucial part of your store that adds extra features and functionalities that do not come with the platform. Magento 2 comes with a far bigger library of extensions that has everything to enhance your online store. You can find any kind of extension that you require for your eCommerce store in the Magento 2 extensions repository.
OpenCart also has a large number of extensions, however, it still lags behind when compared to Magento 2. So, if you’re a store owner who wants to empower your customers with the best store features and functionalities, Magento eCommerce development is a better choice.
SEO Resources
Both Magento 2 and OpenCart have powerful SEO resources which are great for ranking your website higher in the search engine results. So, while you can optimize your website using both platforms, one of them beats the other by offering far superior SEO options.
Although OpenCart is an SEO-friendly platform, it still has a long way to go. It is limited and even restricts users from performing certain crucial SEO modifications.
While Magento 2 allows users to play around with SEO and effectively optimize titles URLs, and even connect a store to a WordPress blog for better reach. Therefore, when it comes to SEO, Magento eCommerce development can help you get noticed by your customers.
Ease of Use
When talking about the ease of use, Magento 2 hardly wins as it is a robust, complex, and feature-packed platform and is not a child’s play for an amateur.
On the other hand, OpenCart is easy to install, setup, and use. For installing Magento 2, you’ll need to hire Magento 2 developers if you’re new to Magento eCommerce development. Also, it is going to incur the cost of hiring professionals for the installation purpose.
Security
Security is the major concern of every website, especially eCommerce websites as it deals with online transactions. People are sensitive about security these days, and therefore, business owners must keep this point in mind always.
Magento is prompt in releasing security patches and updates to its users. If you’ve indulged in Magento eCommerce development, it is important to keep your store up-to-date to ensure that your store is always secure and your customers feel secure about shopping from your online store.
OpenCart lags behind in the security department as well. So, when it comes to robust security, Magento 2 is your go-to platform.
Popularity and Community Support
When it comes to popularity, Magento is the real winner. Magento 2 platform is the premier choice of the world’s leading brands. It is the choice of platform for nearly thrice as many online stores as OpenCart.
This also means that Magento has a large community of developers as well. Whenever you are in need of a solution to a problem, the active Magento community is always ready to help you out.
You cannot say that OpenCart does not have a community, because it does and you’ll be assured of complete support. It’s just that when comparing both platforms, you’ll find Magento is backed by a large, active, and robust community.
Pricing
Both Magento 2 and OpenCart are open-source eCommerce software which means that they are free to download and use. While the platforms are available for free, you must keep in mind that you’ll have to incur hosting costs. However, since Magento is a resource-demanding platform, you might have to spend big bucks on its hosting than you’d have to on OpenCart.
Otherwise, both the platforms are free and open-source, so you don’t have to pay anything to acquire either until you’re not opting for Magento Enterprise Edition.
Conclusion
While picking the right eCommerce platform, it is important to understand what is important for you and what will work best for your online business. If you’re a beginner or a start-up, OpenCart is an ideal platform for you to run your online store. But if you want to build a large-scale online store with multi-store exposure, custom features, SEO capabilities, and a lot more that gives you a competitive edge in the market, then Magento eCommerce development is meant just for you.
If you’re looking for Magento 2 development services, our Magento 2 developers are just a click away!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q.1. Which is better WooCommerce or OpenCart?
Ans. WooCommerce offers more benefits as you are getting powerful WordPress, more flexibility, more plugins, more customization, SEO resources, and better designs. This is a perfect solution for large-scale online stores.
The OpenCart eCommerce solution is still an ideal option, especially if you are tight on your budget and just need something good to get started with.
Q.2. How good is OpenCart?
Ans. OpenCart is a highly-customizable, open-source platform that comes without any monthly charges. It comes with 1300 modules and themes that you can use to build your website all by yourself, thus avoiding large ongoing development costs.
Q.3. Why Magento 2 is better than Magento 2?
Ans. Needless to say, Magento 2 is the latest, updated version of Magento 1, and therefore, offers more benefits than the older version. Magento 2 supports the latest PHP versions for better security and online store speed as compared to Magento 1.
We, as a leading Magento eCommerce development company, offer excellent Magento 2 development services to our global clientele at affordable rates. If you need help with Magento 2 store, we are always ready to help you.
