E-commerce is a booming industry, and many firms are moving from their physical locations to the online retail area to expand their reach and increase their profitability. As a result, they are faced with a difficult decision: which platform to choose. Because they want to unlock the full potential of their online store and have complete control over everything, many business owners choose a self-hosted solution rather than a hosted one like Shopify.
In terms of self-hosted e-commerce platforms, WooCommerce and Magento are among the most popular options on the market today. The two of them stand head and shoulders above the rest of their field. Is it possible to determine which one to opt for by comparing the performance of each?
Both have a lot of power and are extremely popular. There isn’t a single answer for every e-commerce store, but you can make the right option for your requirements if you know all the details about the platforms. Because of this backing, they are saying that their platform is the finest and pushing their cause. If you want to make an informed decision about which platform to choose, this article will provide a side-by-side comparison. Here, you’ll find out which solution is best for you!
COMPARISON OF WOOCOMMERCE AND MAGENTO
Anyone can create extensions for open source systems like WooCommerce and Magento. To get something that isn’t already built into an open-source system, you can hire someone to create an extension for it (or someone already did). WooCommerce has a large WordPress user base, and Magento has a passionate user base that is always willing to lend a hand and is always looking for ways to improve the platform.
Because both platforms are self-hosted, you’ll be able to customize any component of your store, such as the branding, with a plugin, which is possible only because both platforms are self-hosted. The beauty of open-source platforms is that they allow you to customize your online store exactly how you want it to look.
Business owners can benefit from the free initial product and the community’s support at every stage. The plugins and add-ons that most online stores install as they grow make money.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin developed by WooThemes and released to the web in 2011. A simple plugin that turns any WordPress website into a working online store in no time. WooCommerce has many advantages, including a low barrier to entry. Using WordPress means paying a monthly hosting fee, which is the one drawback.
All of WordPress’s plugins, as well as a slew of excellent WooCommerce-specific ones, are at your disposal because you’re utilizing WordPress.
It’s as simple as installing the plugin and configuring your store if you already have a WordPress site.
Magento
eBay owns Magento, a platform that provides a wide range of options. While Magento Connect has thousands of add-ons to enhance your store’s functionality, the most expensive add-ons might make it prohibitively expensive. You’ll likely require the help of a professional developer to set up Magento store plugins.
Setting up your Magento store will take a higher degree of technical expertise, which means that if you aren’t tech-savvy, you may need to engage a professional to get things started. Magento is best suited for large businesses that already have a lot of money and time to spend.
MAGENTO Vs. WOOCOMMERCE: PRICING
For the most part, the price is a deciding factor when comparing the various software platforms. You should always keep in mind your long-term financial needs and expenses. Even if it is feasible to start your online business for free (aside from hosting charges), you must consider how much it will cost to maintain and expand your store over time. Before settling on any platform, do some research to see what additional features you’d like to include in your store.
WooCommerce-Costs
Since WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin, you can get started right now. Some of the basic functions may not be sufficient for everyone, so you will have to install some available plugins to utilize their potential fully. Installing and using some plugins is entirely free while doing so with others costs money. To use a complete variety of payment alternatives, you’ll need further extensions. For example, in the basic configuration, you’ll be able to accept payments via PayPal and bank transfers.
Plugins like WooCommerce are easy on your server resources because they are lightweight, efficient, and quick. If you don’t have a lot of products in your store, you can get away with lesser-grade servers, which will cut your monthly hosting costs.
Magento – Costs
Magento is free, to begin with, but as your store grows, you’ll need to install extensions and make customizations. While it is possible to buy Magento extensions for as much as $1000, you will also need a developer to install and personalize these extensions for you. Fewer Magento developers are available than WooCommerce, so expect to pay extra for their services.
Magento also has an Enterprise edition that provides greater support, expanded content management, improved search functionality, and so on, but it will cost you at least $18000 per year.
Because Magento is a more complex platform than WooCommerce, it is more probable that your server will be put under a lot of stress. Consider employing a dedicated server to avoid slowing down your store, which could have a negative impact on your sales and performance.
WooCommerce: Winner
As you can see, aside from the cost of hosting, both of these alternatives are completely free to begin started with. In the long run, though, WooCommerce will be the most cost-effective option because it doesn’t require you to upgrade your platform (because it is always running WordPress, which is free) and because the majority of the plugins you’ll need are also free of charge as you grow your business.
Since WordPress is an established and stable platform, practically any hosting company can operate a WooCommerce store without issues.
In this particular metric, WooCommerce is the undisputed victor, thanks to its scalability and dependability. On a larger scale, it’s more economical and has greater support, resulting in lower costs due to the availability of compatible products. This is only one of the many reasons why Quicklicks selected WooCommerce for its e-commerce development on WordPress.
WOOCOMMERCE VS MAGENTO – FEATURES
Regardless of which e-commerce platform you choose, you will need to upload an unlimited number of products and have a shopping cart. WooCommerce and Magento both offer these essential functionalities. When it comes to customizing your online store, the question is if one platform has more features than another.
Features of WooCommerce
A business that owns both WordPress and WooCommerce has bought WooCommerce, which should sound familiar to anyone who has used WordPress in the past. Around one-third of all online stores are powered by WooCommerce, the most popular e-commerce platform. Even if you don’t need all of these features, you can always add plugins to make it even more powerful.
Because it is a mature and stable platform, WooCommerce can serve any online store well. Adding e-commerce capabilities to your WordPress website is as simple as installing the WooCommerce plugin; even if you’ve never worked with WordPress before, getting started with WooCommerce is fairly straightforward.
When it comes to managing products, orders, and reporting, WooCommerce takes a no-nonsense approach. Plugins and extensions let you add new features to your online store at any time.
Features of Magento
Magento comes with a plethora of capabilities that are ready to use. Use upsells and cross-sells, generate discount codes, compare your products, and more. It’s possible to manage many Magento stores from the same account. It includes an efficient API that can be used with third-party systems, allowing you to upload endless products. As long as your infrastructure can keep up, Magento can scale and handle enormous stores. Braintree, PayPal, and Authorize.net are all pre-configured as well.
Several additional security features are available for both WooCommerce and Magento that may be implemented via extensions or by manual changes. Trying to update Magento’s security fixes on your own is a daunting task for any novice user.
Magento can enable wish lists, product personalization, product reviews, complex price rules, and more with no additional extensions. Although the included features are impressive, the learning curve is somewhat steep.
Its a Tie
If we only consider the things that both systems offer, they are both good options. Even though WooCommerce and Magento have many built-in features, it is possible to increase your store’s features using extensions and plugins.
Either WooCommerce or Magneto can incorporate the work of other developers to accomplish a specific goal, whether it be social media integration, database IDs, credit card processing, or PayPal capabilities. This metric does not have a clear winner, so keep reading to understand the whole situation.
WOOCOMMERCE VS MAGENTO – PLUGINS AND EXTENSIONS
WooCommerce Plugins
Websites powered by WooCommerce and WordPress have a wide variety of extensions and plugins that increase the functionality and design of the site. The default WooCommerce plugin may be sufficient for some online stores, but most will choose to install extra plugins to take advantage of all the features it has to offer.
If you choose this route, you will benefit significantly from the large community of WordPress developers who are continually creating new plugins and can be hired to assist you in achieving your goals.
Magento Extensions
Magento typically necessitates a great deal of modification to attain the desired level of functionality. The initial setup is straightforward, and you’ll have access to online documentation and instructional videos to assist you. Even though Magento has a lot of built-in capabilities, you’ll probably need to install some extensions.
Extensions can be found on Magento Connect and Magento Marketplace. To give your customers a better shopping experience, you’ll virtually always need to add new attachments as your store grows. You’ll discover that Magento extensions are costly and that you’ll also require the services of a Magento developer to install them correctly. Because of the platform’s complexity, adding extensions to the store involves a significant learning curve for those without prior coding knowledge.
WooCommerce: Winner
You’ll likely need to install some plugins or extensions to get the most out of each platform, even if it comes with many built-in capabilities. WooCommerce is the clear winner because it has more plugins than Magento, and you can hire a WordPress developer for a fraction of the price.
As a bonus, you may save a lot of money by using free or low-cost WordPress plugins instead of the more expensive premium options. On the other hand, the high cost of each extension and the necessity of hiring a developer to install it correctly will make your wallet scream if you decide to add a few extensions to your Magento business.
As a result, WooCommerce outperforms Magento in terms of plugins and add-ons. A wide range of functionality can be added to an E-Commerce site developed with WooCommerce as more products are available on the WooCommerce side. Only highly profitable E-Commerce firms can afford Magento, which has a steep price tag.
WOOCOMMERCE VS MAGENTO – DESIGN
WooCommerce and Magento themes may be altered in virtually any way, making them popular among developers. Many free and premium themes are available on both platforms, and each theme comes with its own set of features that you can utilize in your store.
Design for WooCommerce
You may use any WordPress theme for your online store because WooCommerce is fully integrated with WordPress. WooCommerce integration is a selling factor for many WordPress themes. For the sake of sales, every online store needs to have a responsive design. Otherwise, you’ll lose a significant number of your customers because your store won’t be correctly shown on any device. Thanks to WooCommerce’s seamless integration with WordPress, responsiveness is not an issue.
Free and paid themes abound, including the official WooCommerce theme, Storefront, and several WooCommerce-specific themes. Storefront is available for free on the WooCommerce website, along with a slew of valuable extensions and child themes. The scalability of WooCommerce makes it an excellent alternative for new or rapidly expanding businesses. Getting a website design firm to create a bespoke theme tailored to your tastes and business needs is no problem, thanks to the ease with which Web Designers and Web Developers can work with it. Many WooCommerce websites are more affordable to design with a Website Designer than a custom Magento website.
Magento Design
Because Magento was built from the ground up to be an e-commerce platform, all themes have responsive and user-friendly interfaces. Over a thousand free and paid themes are now available. It’s not uncommon for a premium theme to cost between $80 and $100. If you’re looking for a modern, feature-rich shopping experience, Magento themes are a terrific option for you.
WooCommerce: Winner
As a part of WordPress, WooCommerce is a shoo-in because it is the most mature and stable platform developers enjoy working with. Simply put, any theme may be used on a WooCommerce site. WooCommerce is a great option because there are many themes and developers to choose from. Magento themes and designs do not, however, suffer from this flaw. There are a lot of outstanding Magento themes, but WooCommerce takes this round due to its maturity and the sheer amount of WordPress themes available.
WOOCOMMERCE VS MAGENTO – HOSTING AND PERFORMANCE
Depending on which e-commerce platform you use, the fees associated with hosting can have a significant impact. As a result, if your website takes too long to load, many customers will quit and take their money with them.
So, how about safety? Customers assume that the information they provide, such as credit card numbers and other private information, will be kept secure. A variety of security mechanisms are available for usage on both platforms, some of which are pre-installed and others that need the use of extensions and some manual labor. While no website is 100% secure, Magento does offer specialized security patches, making it a minor improvement over other platforms. A big percentage of Magento stores are out of date because of the difficulty of applying these fixes and the fact that many store owners do not use them.
WooCommerce
All basic WordPress hosts will work with WooCommerce because it is a plugin. If you pick a cheap host and package, you can expect to pay as little as a few dollars a month, all the way up to a few dozen or hundreds of dollars for a fully managed service that can handle a lot of visitors. WooCommerce is a lightweight and efficient plugin that consumes minimal server resources. You’ll be OK with a respectable shared server and can easily change to a higher package if your store grows rapidly.
Magento
Maintenance and server resources are more in Magento than in WooCommerce and WordPress. Magento stores that are overly complex and run on shoddy hardware can be found. Customers will leave if they have a poor user experience or the website takes too long to load. Hosting a Magento store on a dedicated server is ideal, but it comes with a larger price tag.
It’s a Tie
When it comes to overall performance, it’s not that simple to determine the winner. Stores behave differently depending on their size and functionality regardless of the platform. Many variables come into play here, including your web host, the quality of your photos, and whether or not you’re utilizing a CDN (Content Delivery Network). Since your and your host’s performances will determine the outcome, this round is a toss-up.
WOOCOMMERCE VS MAGENTO – SUPPORT
WooCommerce
WooCommerce’s support documentation is broad and excellent, making it highly probable that it will answer all of your questions. The WordPress community is also at your disposal since it is a part of WordPress. You can also submit a ticket on the WooCommerce website to get assistance.
Magento
Magento Community Edition users will not have access to official support because the software is free to use. If you want Magento’s dedicated support, you’ll need to subscribe to the Enterprise Edition, which costs at least $18,000 annually. In addition, you can look for solutions in the support manuals and the community forums.
WooCommerce: Winner
Compared to Magento, WooCommerce provides better customer service through its extensive community forums and documentation. To get help with WooCommerce, you can email a support ticket or ask for help from the large WordPress community.
Working directly with programmers to troubleshoot and fix technical issues opens up the door to greater personalization. WooCommerce is Quikclicks’ preferred e-commerce content management system because of the larger breadth of its support networks.
WOOCOMMERCE VS MAGENTO – EASE OF USE
WOOCOMMERCE
When deciding on a platform, this is a critical aspect. An e-commerce platform that is simple to use is ideal if you want to quickly get your business up and running.
WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin, so getting your store up and running is quick and straightforward. Once WooCommerce is installed, you’ll be presented with the on-screen setup wizard as shown in the image below:
You only need to follow those five steps to set up your store’s main settings and configure everything. Choosing payment gateways, currency settings, and other options are part of this configuration.
MAGENTO
When it comes to e-commerce, WooCommerce and Magento have a lot to offer. As far as the user experience is concerned, WooCommerce keeps things simple.
Magento has a significant learning curve compared to WooCommerce when you are just getting started. To maximize the platform’s potential, you’ll need to understand some programming and terminology. There is a slew of jargon-heavy terminology that can confuse newcomers, adding even another layer of difficulty.
This is even though Magento is a very customizable platform. You can consult their online documentation or post a question in their extensive forum for assistance. No one is available by phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to answer your questions.
If you’ve never used Magento before, it’s going to be a bit of a challenge to get it up and running. Adding products, managing delivery options, etc., gets a lot easier once you get past the first setup.
WooCommerce: Winner
It’s possible to use Magento if you’re more of a technical person and have a lot of time on your hands. If you’re going to get the best results, you’ll probably need the help of a developer to get the job done.
WooCommerce, on the other hand, is the best option if you want to get up and running quickly. Using this platform is a breeze because it’s so user-friendly. WooCommerce’s pre-loaded layouts and stock photos make creating a beautiful website simple, and SEO integration is also a pleasure. This round goes to WooCommerce because of the difficulties associated with Magento.
Finally, setting up an online store can be a rewarding endeavor, but only if you use the correct platform. Although WooCommerce and Magento have their merits, WooCommerce emerged victorious in all three comparisons.
WordPress’ WooCommerce plugin is the most acceptable option for any size business. It outperforms Magento in nearly every way, and it’s easy to scale as your business grows. Using WooCommerce to sell your products on your WordPress website is ideal if you already have one.
It’s important to note that WooCommerce exceeds Magneto on nearly every parameter in this comparison. The WooCommerce app has a better plugin, design, and support features. As a result, Quikclicks uses WooCommerce on a WordPress platform for most of its e-commerce sites.
Even though Magento was created with e-commerce in mind, WooCommerce is still viable. A few more fundamental functions are available right out of the box, but you’ll need a lot of time and money to grow your operations and fully take advantage of all the features.