Mgento Vs WooCommerce: need to pick a clear winner? It is not that easy. With power-packed features in both these great website-making solutions, you always remain in a dilemma about the best one to pick. But in order to determine a winner for an eCommerce business owner, we need to think of these website builders on many different lines.
How can we choose the Best eCommerce Platform?
Magento and WooCommerce are arguably the leading open-source content management systems available for eCommerce. Among the two, Magento and WooCommerce, we cannot think of a win-and-lose situation. Both these platforms are incredibly well built and have a great performance.
However, the needs of every business are different. And, so are the considerations. We will talk about all these in detail later, but first, let’s understand the major considerations from a business perspective.
Human Resources: An eCommerce business owner needs to know about the talent available to him. Only if the developers of a certain technology are available to him in plenty, should he choose a particular platform to build his store on. This is in our opinion the most vital aspect to consider while choosing a platform. For example, does he know how to hire Magento developers, or are they available to him?
Capital Investments: It is not hidden from anyone that building a site on WordPress costs less than on Magento. This is especially because of the great number of coders who are experts in WordPress. But as they say, you get what you pay for. So, the amount of money you wish to invest is another factor to consider.
Customizations: The degree to which you wish to customize your eCommerce site is another big factor. Your choice of ‘how to make the customizations’ is important. Do you wish to use ‘plug and play’ plugins, or do you wish to custom code every detail of your website?
In-house development or Outsourcing: Do you have, or plan to have coders sitting in your office, or do you just wish that some else gets their hands dirty, and you as an eCommerce business owner only would want to demand the results.
Understanding the Equation: Magento Vs WooCommerce
To make a good decision, it is important that we understand both platforms impartially.
Understanding Magento
Magento is an Open-Source software that is owned by Adobe. The platform brags about its ability to offer extreme customizations. The platform also claims that their customers grow 3x faster than those using a competitor platform.
In an industry analysis done by Inchoo, it was found that 170,000 websites on the internet run on Magento. That is about 1.4% of the total websites on the internet. That’s not it, Adobe says that 150,000 innovators are in one way or the other working on the platform.
Understanding WooCommerce
WooCommerce is an additional plugin that can be added to any WordPress website to convert it into an eCommerce store, instantaneously. It works almost like magic for someone who doesn’t know about it.
WordPress is by far the most popular Content Management System on the market. Over 42% of websites use WordPress as their CMS. From hobby blogs to the biggest news sites online, WordPress powers multiple small and medium eCommerce websites across the globe.
Magento vs Woocommerce: Comparison
Both Magento and WooCommerce have their own dedicated supporters who support their cause and proclaim that the one they work on is the most effective. There are those who say:
- Magento for eCommerce is the best solution.
- WordPress for eCommerce is unmatched.
- WooCommerce for eCommerce is the go-to solution.
But we decided to cut through the bias and have a look ourselves, providing you with an objective opinion that will help you to make a decision.
Ease of Use:
For small businesses the ease to use a platform matters a lot. Imagine a homemaker deciding to sell some scented candles. How would she want her tech stack to be? Easy and friendly. For enterprises, it doesn’t just matter. They will onboard specialists to do the job, however hard it is.
In this battle, we see WooCommerce as the clear winner. Only if that matters.
Use Case:
How easy is the platform to get started with? Again, it matters more to small businesses and not as much to larger organizations.
Here, we cannot talk about a winner. Both have their benefits and uses. While WooCommerce seems to be a platform that is ideal for smaller businesses, Magento is great for corporations.
Costs:
For enterprises, the cost game is a lot different from that of a small business. While an enterprise will think of the costs of developing and maintaining its own website, a small business will be more focused on the setup and maintenance of its eStore.
You cannot say that one of them wins over the other. But WooCommerce is a cheaper platform to get started with. And once the business grows, it gives the opportunity to add more plugins, or directly work on its code to present a more robust eCommerce solution.
Speed and Performance:
Loading times are important in this era. Moreso when we talk about an eCommerce website. From all the factors, this is one of the greatest that helps an eCommerce business owner to get a sale.
We can say that this can be called a tie. Either of the platforms can be fast or slow depending on the people working on them
Extensions and Plugins:
Plugins enhance the functionality that is available on basic eCommerce websites. WooCommerce is different from Magento, yet both are popular for a wide number of extensions that can enhance the performance and appearance of the site.
Level of Security
Security has to be an important priority for any eCommerce business. In our opinion, the security of a website depends mainly on the ability of its developers and the precautions they undertake.
Overall, both the two giants of the world of eCommerce Magento and WooCommerce have a good security threshold.
Marketing & SEO:
For an eCommerce business, there can be no bigger criteria than the ease to make a product through a particular platform. An eCommerce business is not just about looks and feel, it is majorly about the ease to take it to more and more people.
WordPress surely performed better in terms of SEO. But you can always use any platform to market your website through paid advertising.
Scalability and Product Management:
If an eCommerce website grows, it needs an infrastructure to support its expansion. And a failure to scale may lead to stunning eCommerce business growth. In the war of WooCommerce Vs Magento, we can’t say one is scalable and the other is not.
At this stage, one can safely say that they both are almost similar in their scalability.
Support and Customer Service
Both community support and customer service are important. The former is essential if you’re using the open-source self-hosted version of the platforms and the latter is required if you’re paying the platform to maintain your site.
Since WooCommerce is used by a lot of people and is fairly simple in terms of application, you will find a lot more free resources than Magento. But good developers will find enough resources to get help for Magento-related issues.
Payment Methods:
Payments methods are another important consideration for any business. WooCommerce says that it supports any recognized payment method on its platform. And you will find just about any payment method available for it. Magento also allows a lot of different options, and needless to say that they most popular payment methods are available for both these eCommerce platforms.
Magento vs WooCommerce FAQs
Many people remain confused about which platform they should use to create their eCommerce website. Although, there are too many ‘website making softwares’ in the market including Wix, Shopify, Weebly, OpenCart, and BigCommerce, the battle between Magento and WooCommerce is epic. So, let us answer some of the most frequently asked questions that are related to the tug of war; WooCommerce Vs Magento.
1. How is WooCommerce different from Magento?
WooCommerce is a plugin that when installed on WordPress gives us a working eCommerce website. WordPress is a fairly simple-to-use CMS that is geared towards bloggers, news sites, and small businesses.
Magento again is an open-source platform much like WordPress with a large community. However, it is more focused and directed towards enterprises and large organizations.
2. Does WordPress use Magento?
No! WordPress and Magento are two competing rival CMS platforms. However, both can be used to set up an eCommerce website.
3. Is Magento good for eCommerce?
It depends on the needs of the business. In some cases, WooCommerce can be a better option, while in others Magento is the one to go for. As stated earlier, as a business owner you need to understand your needs and the functions you want. Generally, if you are looking to start big, Magento will be a good choice.
4. What is better than WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is a terrific plugin that gives scalable eCommerce websites. It powers 400,000+ websites. So, it is one of the best in the market right now. What is better than WooCommerce is a question that is difficult to answer.
5. Is Magento more secure than WooCommerce?
No, they both are equally good in their security. Unless your developer messes it up, either won’t malfunction. So, you need to take care of your cybersecurity well and relax.
6. How much does Magento cost per month?
Magento’s open-source websites may cost from $10 to $250 a month. But these costs can vary depending on the hosting plans you choose; managed or unmanaged. The enterprise edition of Magento has pricing based on gross annual turnover.
7. Why is Magento so expensive?
Magento is a powerhouse, a CMS that is geared at offering scalable services to large enterprises. And since you need to pay for the services and support you get, naturally it will be expensive to a small business owner. But all in all, considering the resources it will take for a large organization to set up infrastructure like this, it is not an expensive option in any shape or form.
Who wins where?
As explained earlier, there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to choosing an eCommerce platform to build your store on. What appears to us is that considering all the variables, WooCommerce is best for small businesses that are on a strict budget while Magento is more suited for larger organizations.
While it is a fairly simple guess for the choice when it comes to small businesses and large enterprises, mid-sized businesses would need their finance team and technology team to sit together and finalize a suitable solution. And, it would obviously differ.
In our opinion, the battle; Magento Vs WooCommerce will continue without a clear winner until both provide exactly similar solutions, and that won’t happen anytime soon.
Want to set up an eCommerce website but are unsure about the platform to build it on? Seek a free consultation from us at Hire Indian Programmers. You can hire the best WordPress developers and even the finest Magento developers from India through us.
Top comments (1)
Magento is a strong choice for large businesses with complex needs, while WooCommerce is more suitable for small and medium-sized stores that prioritize simplicity and ease of use. Consider your business needs, budget, and technical expertise when deciding between Magento and WooCommerce.