Compare Open Source Ecommerce Platforms

An increase in demand for convenience and accessibility within the online shopping world has bred subsequent cutthroat competition among ecommerce platforms. Powerful features and useful tools are updated or released daily. In a market chock-full of awesome ecommerce platform solutions, it can be daunting when faced with choosing the best one for your business.

1. Magento Ecommerce
2. Open Source Ecommerce Java
3. Ecommerce Platforms Price Comparison

Which is the Best Ecommerce Platform?It’s no secret that it’s a great time to be in ecommerce but these platforms are not one-size-fits all. Each platform is equipped with its own strengths and weaknesses based on the size, sophistication, and ideal functionality for your business.Depending on if you are a small business with the intention of doing most of the set-up on your own, or if you are a larger business who’d prefer to take a hands off approach, there is an ecommerce platform for you. Ability to customize, scalability, affordability, bandwidth, mobile accessibility, the number of apps, your amount of technical knowledge and user experience are all things to consider when choosing the right ecommerce platform.The Most Popular Ecommerce PlatformsAlthough the market is saturated with a number of, today we will compare and contrast some of the most popular platforms, including:. BigCommerce. Shopify.

Magento. WooCommerce.

VolusionBigcommerceBigCommerce is one of the most popular ecommerce solutions for small-to-medium sized businesses. Its dashboard is noticeably straight-forward and easy to use, making it a favorable choice for front-end users.The ecommerce platform is top-rated for its SEO features, the ability to personalize, strong performance, and reliability. BigCommerce is equipped with seven free themes and 84 paid themes ranging from $145 to $243 per month.If you want a full-fledged store without a ton of plugins and add-ons, BigCommerce is your go-to. While it is the most expensive of the five options we will discuss but comes equipped with tools right off the bat that will help build your site fast and free up time. ShopifyShopify is perhaps the most well-rounded of the ecommerce platforms. It has it all when it comes to easy setup and an easy to use dashboard. In terms of popularity, Shopify is the most popular platform out there for small, medium, and large businesses alike.

With the exception of WooCommerce, Shopify is the cheapest of the five platforms at a starting price of $9 per month. Shopify also offers a number of professional looking themes. If you are looking for the most variety of apps, add ons, and plugins then Shopify is a great choice for your online shop. MagentoMagento is an open-source platform offering maximum flexibility as well as third party integration. It comes with an abundance of features other platforms are missing, including multiple locations, sites, languages, and currencies. Magento also happens to be very scalable and it suited to grow your small or enterprise business to a thriving online store.

Feb 22, 2018 - Serious Open Source eCommerce Platforms. In e-Commerce flexibility and safety are crucial. That's why the Open Source Software has.

WooCommerceWooCommerce is the most popular WordPress-specific ecommerce plugin. Perhaps its most attractive feature is that it is completely free and open-source. The platform is easily customizable and the WordPress community offers endless support. The plugin is also very regularly updated and very secure. Perhaps the biggest downfall is that WooCommerce requires a knowledge of WordPress because the two are tied together.

However, WordPress’ ease of use enables even beginners to start and operate an ecommerce store without advanced technical knowledge. VolusionVolusion allows you to focus on selling products and leaves the technical stuff, like getting bogged down by servers or getting frustrated with the back end of your site, to them. Volusion does not charge any transaction fees so you keep all of the revenue you make. Volusion has 359 (82 free and 277 paid) ecommerce template design options including some that are very mobile-friendly. Volusion also enables you to run your store on the go with their mobile app. Enterprise Ecommerce PlatformsBecause ecommerce enterprise solutions aren’t cheap, require a large time commitment, and are generally a team effort, it is important to consider your options when selecting the right solution.When choosing an enterprise ecommerce platform, sufficient research should be involved in making the decision. How customizable do you want your site to be?

How much technical knowledge do you have? How much are you willing to pay? This brief synopsis of the top five platforms will help guide you in choosing an enterprise-grade solution. Shopify for EnterpriseIf budget is not an issue and you are solely looking for a place to sell products with little to no technical involvement, the fully hosted SaaS is worth checking out. For enterprise businesses, this means a lot of removal of opportunity costs; if you’d rather spend money on marketing and product development and not on testing servers.Shopify offers superior account management, amazing technical support, and tons of agile marketing tools. The interface is also very easy to navigate for front end users. Although Shopify Plus is flexible on the front end, there are backend limitations that limit customizability.The enterprise level plan, Shopify Plus, starts at around $2000 per month with some additional costs depending on add-ons.

Some notable Shopify Plus customers are LakersStore.com, Hershel, and Tesla. BigCommerce for EnterpriseA very apparent and noteworthy competitor of Shopify Plus for businesses that make more than one million a year is BigCommerce Enterprise. In many ways, BC Enterprise is very similar to Shopify Plus; both are fully hosted, are easy to use, and are entirely scalable.A noteworthy feature included in BigCommerce Enterprise is the one-page checkout feature which aids in conversion rates. However, BC Enterprise falls behind Shopify in available themes, integrations, and add ons.

Another complaint about BigCommerce is the price lock down rule; companies who make a certain revenue are forced into the enterprise plan.BC Enterprise prices range from $900-1500 a month. Notable brands using BC Enterprise include Paul Mitchell, Camelbak, and the Native Union. WooCommerce for EnterPriseIf you have an enterprise level business that already uses WordPress, WooCommerce might be perfect for you.

However, it is very simple and not intended for a hugely complicated ecommerce experience. If you have a lot of products, you’ll need to import a bulk product extension which runs at around $200. This solution is simple and straightforward but if you are an enterprise level company you might consider opting for a digital experience platform so your site can scale. Magento for EnterpriseMagento’s enterprise solution is a self-hosted platform, meaning it needs to be modified at the core level in order to incorporate additional features and functionality. This makes Magento a very malleable, customizable platform. If you have the resources and time, open source software is the only way to ensure premium quality.The platform is truly everything you want out of an ecommerce solution, equipped with PCI compliance, tax calculation features, return management modules, loyalty programs, email marketing, and more.

While the interface’s dashboard can be a little tricky, there are some beneficial features, such as the ability to list and add product attributes, site management functions, and SEO optimization features. Magento Enterprise is primarily geared toward retailers who want the all-in, hands off package.Some downfalls include the fact Magento Enterprise does not have a built in blog and is not open source so users will not have access to the full code of the site. It is also pricey, starting at around $20,000 annually. Current Magento Enterprise clients include Nike, Tivo, Toms, and OfficeMax. Volusion for EnterpriseBecause of the limited storage space offered by Volusion, this particular platform might not be ideal for huge companies.

Exceeding the storage space offered results in large fees which is not ideal for a large, enterprise level business. Volusion is highly customizable and jam packed with features with five different plans suitable for many different size businesses. Their premium plan (the highest plan they offer) is around $135 per month. Ecommerce Platforms for Small BusinessSometimes you don’t need all the bells and whistles. Smaller retailers are most likely looking for a simpler, easy to use, inexpensive platform. Some platforms are made for complicated, larger businesses but you shouldn’t pay for what you don’t use or need. Opt for small, powerful plans that will offer you an easily navigable, beautiful site.

Shopify for Small BusinessBecause of its simplicity and ease of use, Shopify is ideal for small businesses. It’s also affordable, with Shopify Lite starting as low as $9 per month. Shopify’s themes are abundant and very aesthetically pleasing. Smaller inventories will benefit from the features and the top-rated support. Although Shopify lacks powerful blogging and content-creation capabilities, it can with CMS’s like WordPress (they even developed a plugin to integrate the two!). BigCommerce for Small BusinessStarting at $29.99 per month, BigCommerce is abundant with features.

A Standard pricing plan comes BigCommerce comes with a number of sales channels, and is rich in features, including a responsive website, single-page checkout, Apple Pay, reporting tools, HTTPS, and more. While it lacks powerful content management capabilities, you can with a CMS like WordPress to reap the benefits of content and commerce. WooCommerce for Small BusinessWooCommerce is free to download and easy to setup, making it ideal for the small business using a WordPress website. The interface is modern and intuitive and creates beautiful websites using extensive and mobile-friendly themes. Plenty of add ons such as Instagram integration, table rate shipping and wholesale pricing can be purchased if businesses want to take it up a notch. It’s by far one of the best options for small businesses, due to its affordability and ease of content creation on WordPress to bridge the gap between content and commerce. Magento for Small BusinessFor businesses that prefer a simple online store, Magento Go is Magento’s most basic plan.

Features ideal for small retail shops include the very simple user interface, a highly developed knowledge base that answers almost every question you might have, very developed product management, and no transaction fees (just one service fee per month). Ultimately, Magento Go offers a very basic experience; there is limited bandwidth, limited themes, few add-ons, and infantile development features.Magento Go starts at $15 per month for 200MB of storage space and 100 SKUs and ends at $125 per month for 5GB of space and 10,000 SKUs. Some notable Magento Go customers are Arrive Chic and Off the Hook.For those seeking something in between Magento Go and Magento Enterprise, Magento Community is your go-to. It is free with paid extensions, features mobile integration, plenty of themes, and multi-store functionality. Magento Community will best serve retailers with high traffic and a large inventory and is ideal for mid-sized to upper retailers.

Magento Ecommerce

Essential, with a series of extensions and excellent programming, retailers can achieve an Enterprise level site and a sophisticated ecommerce experience.Some notable Magento Community customers are The Discovery Store and the Watch Gallery. Volusion for Small BusinessOne of the oldest, open-source ecommerce solutions on the market, Volusion offers a very standard and comprehensive experience. For a business just getting off the ground, their Mini plan allows for 100 products, includes 1GB of bandwidth and only costs $15 per month. For those who have graduated and are generating more revenue, there are the Plus and Pro plans for 1000-10,000 products and 3-10GB of bandwidth.

These plans are $35 and $75 per month respectively. If you are looking for a simple and clean online store with few products, Volusion could be good for you. Best Free Ecommerce PlatformWhen someone mentions a “free” ecommerce platform, that’s usually code for open source.

If you’d rather devote money to other aspects of your business or you’re looking for the satisfaction of building an ecommerce store, open source ecommerce solutions could be the answer you’re looking for. While we’ve mentioned some of these platforms previously, here we will compare and contrast additional platforms that are considered “free.”. WooCommerce. For those who are familiar and comfortable with WordPress, WooCommerce is the low-cost answer to your ecommerce needs.

There is so much possibility with this powerful plugin, including a number of themes to choose from (2,700-plus). WordPress and WooCommerce are continuously updated and improved daily to meet your security needs. JigoShop. JigoShop is also a free WordPress plugin. It has a minimalist code base and therefore does what it needs to do directly after installation. JigoShop offers an easy way to add products, tax options, and widgets.

Open Source Ecommerce Java

Some of the drawbacks to using JigoShop are limited support, limited shipping settings, and an unimpressive front end design. OpenCart.

Ecommerce Platforms Price Comparison

OpenCart could be a great choice for small businesses without tech savvy employees. OpenCart is very simple to install and start using. It runs very quickly using simple code.

OpenCart allows you to set advanced user privileges and separate access for users and groups. A simple code also has drawbacks; often for sale extensions and themes may not be up-to-date with security standards. Magento Community. Magento is rich in features and functionality. It is a tried and tested solution and its use of SEO is very efficient. Magento is extremely scalable, features easy language translation, and currency conversion.

Although it is effective, Magento is a complex solution that might require a longer learning curve.Best Ecommerce HostingAt WP Engine, we are proud to host a number of ecommerce sites. We combine a dedicated work environment with a toolkit for WooCommerce integration. We will protect your ecommerce shop when you need protection most; you won’t need to worry about high traffic conflicting with your sales revenue. Our digital experience platform will provide your business with SEO ready performance, improved mobile UX, and third party integrations (Shopify, BigCommerce, etc.) to integrate stores running on other platforms with WordPress.WP Engine is ideal for your ecommerce store because it is built for speed, easily scalable, provides simple staging, and total security. Ecommerce sites using WP Engine’s digital experience platform experience three-times more cart additions, 50 percent reduced page load, and three-times more checkouts.

Check out the we offer for any size business. Or check out our to take your enterprise level business up a notch.

There are many open source e-commerce platform that enables you to start your business online. Open source platform is available for free, you can download and modify them, so if you prefer to do it yourself, all you need is to invest time rather than money. However, if you have no clue on how to do it, you might need to consider hiring somebody to do it for you.We also compiled some information & comparison for. It is recommended to look into payment solution information before starting an e-commerce store, since you would need to consider the cost of subscribing payment solution and to start your online transactions.Now, let’s dive into few open source e-commerce that commonly use in Malaysia. What are they? What’s the difference between them? Offers a lot of features and flexibility.

It is capable of handling all scales of business – from small to large enterprise. On the right hand, it is able to create beautiful and feature-rich website. However, it requires much more resources to run compared to other platform. Magento is very much intended for expert programmers.Magento comes with two versions – Community Edition and Enterprise Edition.

Community Edition is free while Enterprise Edition is not. Both offer many similarities, except for certain elements: Developer Support, Return Handling, Performance (Enterprise builds to handle large catalog), Advance Search.Finding developer or support for Magento shouldn’t be big issue since it is supported by large community. Is an extension of WordPress, which enable WordPress powered website to become an online store.

WooCommerce is acquired by Automattic, the company which makes WordPress.It is easy to easy to install, flexible and feature-rich. If you are familiar with WordPress, then WooCommerce should be easy for you. It requires some technical skill if you want to have many customization. However, many features (plugins) and the theme are available which is developed by the community.Also note to mention that the community support for WooCommerce is large, which can ensure bug free, easily smooth out problems and obtain advice.Check out our solution.

Is easy and straightforward for its user. Even the build-in features are not as much as Magento, it is enough to run online business and require less resources to power up. It is easy to install and configure.Community support for OpenCart is large, you can get various support in term of bugs, problem with the platform and others. OpenCart plugins and themes are available everywhere and quite considerable amount of it.If you are trying your hand with setting up your first online store, without or little technical knowledge, OpenCart may be your first suitable choice. Offers user-friendly interface and it is easy to install and configure.

Most of hosting company allows you to install it by one-click button and you are ready to customize your store. Various build-in features that support your online business such as product management, analytics, reporting, taxes, payment, shipping and many others.PrestaShop has been around the market for quite long, the community is quite large, so you most likely able to find support, themes and plugins you need.PrestaShop is also one of the platform to try if you have none to little technical knowledge.