No matter if your business is large or small, whether you’re just starting out or seeking new opportunities and options. In this scenario, you probably trying to find the right eCommerce platform.
Magento and Shopify are two major players that dominate the current market share, but not everyone understands all the factors that make them dominant in their respective industries.
Magento began as an open-source CMS back in 2007, whereas Shopify was founded by four friends who formed Snowedin GmbH in 2006 for commission-based sales of themes and extensions.
So, In this article, Our e-commerce developers are talking about which platform is better – Magento or Shopify?
Let’s begin the discussion…
What is Shopify?
SHOPIFY is an e-commerce platform to build online stores. It allows anyone to create a store and sell their products online.
Shopify was created over 10 years ago with the sole purpose of helping people open an online store for selling snowboards at a company called Snowdevil. It soon got tedious for founder Tobi to manage orders, inventory, and ship out packages all by himself. It became clear that he needed help running this new business, so he recruited some staff and made Shopify into the online store software powerhouse it has since become.
Shopify is the most popular e-commerce platform for small and medium-sized businesses. To sell online on social media, or in-store, Shopify is a useful platform. Our first Shopify store was our own, and we’ve made it our mission to improve commerce for everyone since then.
What is Magento?
MAGENTO is an online eCommerce website builder that provides users and developers with a variety of tools both important to their overall experience and to their patrons, who are interested in buying products.
The platform runs on PHP code, which means it has the ability to run just about any kind of application from simple CRM systems to elaborate MySQL development and as such can handle some of the toughest tasks required of modern-day programming.
The software was created by Varien on Zend Framework for the company’s needs in 2008, with an initial release that was intended for internal usage; business partners were allowed early access until it was fully released on March 31st, 2009.
Comparison between Shopify and Magento?
Magneto and Shopify are two well-known eCommerce platforms with a wide range of features and functions. For eg., Magento needs more technical and coding expertise. Apart from it, In Shopify, it is easier to customize and establish your online store.
Magneto is more complex, more robust, and offers more flexibility. On the other hand, Shopify’s intuitive design makes it easy to set up a drop shipping storefront where you can import your products into their site which displays how they sell online.
Before we compare the features of Magento and Shopify, let’s look at what are the similarities between the two eCommerce platforms:
SEO Features: Magento and Shopify both have excellent SEO features that can help your online store rank higher in search results.
Inventory Management: With this feature, users can add a number of products to their online stores whether it is built-in Magento or Shopify.
Other Functionalities: Both Magento and Shopify offer basic functionality like online shopping carts, product pages, checkout modules, and the ability to integrate third-party apps and add-ons to your store.
Differences in Features: Shopify Vs Magento
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Themes and templates:
Shopify has more than 100 free and premium Magento themes, but Magento has fewer than 100. Shopify themes are cheaper than Magento themes since they can be purchased for an average of $100, whereas you can custom order a Shopify theme for $600+
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Customer support:
Shopify offers 24/7 customer support. Users can communicate through live chat, phone, or email with a Shopify representative. Instead of this, Magento does not offer customer support via live chat, phone, or email unless you pay extra for this plan.
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Price:
Both Shopify and Magento have different packages. Magento is an open-source platform, which means it’s free to use with additional costs for hosting, apps, and themes so you’ll have to pay out of pocket regardless of any monthly fees. On the other hand, Shopify offers several plans that look cheaper at first but you’ll still end up paying for apps and themes over time because the overall cost ends up being higher.
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Ease of use:
Magento necessitates more website development and coding expertise, whereas Shopify does not.
Shopify is simple to use and provides a fast and simple approach to getting your business up and operating with minimum technical skills.
There are currently 6000+ apps available for Shopify (as of March 2017), while Magento only has 5,000+ apps available. On average, apps on Shopify cost $15 USD to download while there are apps that can cost up to $15K USD on Magento because you’ll have to build your store yourself if you want an app made exclusively for it!
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Bulti-in security:
Shopify includes security measures such as fraud analysis, whereas Magento does not. These security features will be installed at an additional cost to you.
Overall, your choice between Magento and Shopify depends on several factors. If you are willing to pay more for a flexible platform and myriad options to personalize your store further, Magento will be the better option for you.
However, if you want an e-commerce solution that’s easier to use from setting up, smoother in its running (with numerous third-party applications readily available at low or zero cost), and with more pre-built design templates to work with – Shopify is your best bet.
Magento vs. Shopify FAQ
Is Magento a good option than Shopify?
Magento and Shopify have different pricing and functionalities. Both are beneficial for your business. The major question is which one is the best for you and it ultimately comes down to what pricing structure makes the most sense based on your needs and preferences.
Are Shopify and Magento the same thing?
Magento is a self-hosted open-source platform, whereas Shopify is a hosted platform. In comparison to Shopify, you’ll have a lot more procedures to complete while creating an online Magento store.
Can we use Magento & Shopify together?
Our Shopify & Magento developers‘ answer is No. It is not a good idea to use Magento and Shopify together. Both are different platforms that perform the same thing, which means building an online store.
Who Wins?
If you run an e-commerce store, we highly recommend using Magento as opposed to Shopify. Because it’s more powerful and reliable in terms of performance (which means fewer errors will present themselves on your site.) On the other hand, if you’re looking to start an online shop without much hassle, Shopify is a great option too!
You can think of Shopify as an online store builder that helps you display your products and services online.
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