Magento Vs Shopify: Pros and Cons To Choose Your Platform
Updated on November 2, 2022 in Ecommerce by Nishant Shrimali
Magento vs Shopify. Both are two of the most powerful eCommerce platform. Each comes with industry-standard features and tools that align with scaling a brand.
But in saying that, both these platforms are created for two different types of customers.
I am breaking each one of them, sharing the pros and cons of Magento vs Shopify to help you choose the platform that best aligns with you. Save time, and resources by learning about each one of them, right here in this one article.
So without taking any more time, Let’s get started with Magento vs Shopify breakdown.
Shopify Ecommerce Platform
Shopify is an eCommerce platform that makes starting an eCommerce easier for beginners. It is a subscription service, which means it is a service that you can use by paying for its service every month or annually.
In addition to starting an eCommerce platform, Shopify also provides beginner-friendly tools and interfaces to help you manage and grow your online store.
Along with all the features for your online store, Shopify now also helps you manage your sales offline as well. With its Point Of Sale, you can track as well as bridge your online and offline store from one single device.
Pros
- Beginner Friendly: The platform is perfect for people with no technical background. You can simply sign up for a 14-day free trial and understand the interface in less than half a day.
- Themes: Rather than starting from scratch, you can use Shopify themes to update the way your store looks. There are hundreds of themes for various categories of products, free and paid. You can pick one and get started.
- Community Support: Shopify has one of the most dedicated community support. At any point, for any particular problem, you can go through their forums and groups. Shopify experts and other users from the same or different niches will help you with your issues
- Third-Party Apps: From functionality to marketing, you can find various thirds party apps that can easily integrate with your Shopify store. These are the Shopify verified apps that can easily be integrated and used for gaining extra functionality.
- Reporting and Analytics: Analytics are an important part of your eCommerce. Shopify features its own reporting and analytics tools to keep track of everything that’s going on with your store and shares insights that you can use to grow your eCommerce.
Cons
- Poor Blogging Capabilities: While Shopify features a lot of options, the options related to blogging are limited. With a growing focus on content marketing and blogging, starting a blog for eCommerce can really be helpful where Shopify is lagging.
- Transition Difficulties: Growing ahead if you would like to shift to another eCommerce platform, transitioning from Shopify will really be difficult.
Magento Ecommerce Platform
Magento is an Adobe eCommerce platform, that is created using open-source technology. What it means is that is publicly available, which allows you as an eCommerce to customize it in whatever way you want.
Unlike other platforms with customization limited to the way the site looks, Magento allows you to customize every detail that you’d want. Features, content, and the way the whole site looks.
Magento gives a variety of options and features to help an eCommerce even when it is growing. That means you won’t have to shift your platform even in case your eCommerce starts growing.
Pros
- Free to use: One core benefit of using Magento is that it is free to get started. Being open-source, it is a platform that can be easily accessed and designed as per your requirements.
- High-End Features: Magento features some of the most high-end features that an eCommerce might need. Features like built-in multilingual support, inventory management, site optimization, and multiple payment gateway options. You get everything in one place.
- Highly Customisable: If you are looking for a platform that gives you customization, no one can match Magento in this sector. As said, you can customize the looks, the features, and everything to align with your requirements.
- Scalability Friendly: When using the Magento eCommerce platform, you’ll never see the need to transition due to scalability issues. The platform is designed for that purpose and Magento full fills it.
Cons
- Not for beginners: Not a con, but Magento is best suitable if you have some technical knowledge and experience in web development. Or else, you’ll learn as you go and it might take a lot of time and effort.
- Complicated for small stores: If you are running a small or normal size eCommerce with limited products, Magento is overkill. It can become too complicated as all the benefits are focused to help big eCommerce.
Difference: Magento Vs Shopify
| Factors | Magento | Shopify |
| Pricing | Magento is free to download, install and use. | Shopify is a subscription-based eCommerce platform that starts at $29/month. |
| Hosting | You’ll have to buy a domain and host separately. | Domain and hosting are included in the pricing. |
| Themes | Magento offers 6 themes that charge you up to $499. | Shopify offers 13 free and 73 premium themes. The cost of a premium theme is around $150 – $350. |
| Ease Of Use | Magento is not user-friendly and requires a technical understanding to get the work done. | Shopify is a user-friendly eCommerce platform designed for beginners. |
| Apps & Extensions | Magento has 3600+ extensions that you can install and use. | Shopify has 4200+ free and paid apps along with some other integration that you can use. |
| Marketing Feature | Magento provides extensive marketing as well as SEO functionality. | Shopify matches the marketing features and SEO functionality along with the ease of carrying out everything with ease. |
| Support | Magento offers community support but other than that doesn’t have any other support feature. | Shopify has one of the best support systems than any other eCommerce platform. From dedicated community to live chat and experts, you’ll find help for any problem you might be facing. |
| Scalability | Magento is a great eCommerce platform for big and scaling eCommerce. | Shopify is a good fit for eCommerce of all sizes and experiences and supports scalability. |
| Ratings | 4/5 | 4.6/5 |
Which is the right eCommerce platform for you?
Shopify and Magento, both are among the top eCommerce platform, that has their own brand advocates. As per our research, here’s our summary on which is the right eCommerce platform for you
If you are looking for extensive customization, along with pre-build tools to cater to big eCommerce, Magento is a great fit for you. Also if you have a team to manage your store and developers to help customize, Magento will make scaling an eCommerce super easy.
If you are a beginner or are looking for a simpler and easy-to-use platform, Shopify is the one that you should go for. You’ll have to pay monthly fees but the ease, features, app, and integration make managing and scaling an eCommerce easy. You might not even need a team to get started.
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