Which one is the best platform for your eCommerce websites?
As we know that all types of business (whether it is big or small ) are going online today and want to build an eCommerce website. Both WooCommerce and Magento are the most popular cms platforms for eCommerce websites.
Choosing the best suitable eCommerce platform for our business is not an easy task because both WooCommerce and Magento offer a lot of great features. In this article, we will compare both platforms on the basis of some factors and find which one is best.
After reading this article it will be easy for you to decide which platform is best for your business.
Let’s compare both WooCommerce & Magento on the basis of the following factors:
Ease of use :
WooCommerce is very easy to install and easy to configure a website. It also provides a setup wizard to install your website comfortably with which even a non-technical person can easily set up their website using it.
Lots of plugins are also available for WooCommerce through which you can easily install extended features.
On the other hand, the installation process of Magento is complex and it’s not easy to configure a website with Magento, it requires professional expertise. Magento has so many great built-in features but for using these features one should have technical knowledge. In Magento, for secure installation we need to set file system ownership, please see our dedicated blog for Magento 2 file system ownership. Magento also offers so many extensions to extends features.
So on the basis of ease of use, WooCommerce wins over Magento. (W > M ).
Enhancement of features :
Both WooCommerce and Magento provide the facility to enhance the features using third party addons.
Wocommerce comes with some basic eCommerce features but you can extend these features by using plugins, there are lots of plugins available for woocommerce, these plugins are available for free or at a premium, you can use them as per your website requirement.
Magento also comes with so many advanced built-in features you can use them to create a good level website. In addition, Magento also offers so many extensions that you can enhance your website functionality.
On the basis of enhanced features, both are on the same level (W == M).
Size of business (small or big) :
WooCommerce and Magento both are very good platforms. Size of business is a really important factor to determine which will fit best WooCommerce or Magento. For a small scale business, WooCommerce works well because you can quickly start with WooCommerce. You can add an unlimited number of products in WooCommerce. If your scale of business is large, I would recommend you to go with Magento because with WooCommerce you may face issues related to site performance.
On the other hand, Magento works well for both small scale business as well as large scale business. You can also add an unlimited number of products in Magento. The advantage of using Magento over WooCommerce is that you will not face any issues related to site performance even if your website is large.
On the basis of the size of the business, Magento wins over WooCommerce (W < M).
Initial cost and Maintenance cost :
We should take into consideration the cost of the overall website while choosing the platform. There are two types of cost: Initial cost and maintenance cost.
Let’s compare both platforms on the basis of cost:
Initial cost: If we talk about WooCommerce, WooCommerce is totally free and it works on the WordPress platform which is also free. We only need to spend money on web hosting. Almost all web hosts are WordPress friendly, WooCommerce also works well on shared hosting, you don’t require any dedicated server.
On the other hand, Magento comes in two editions, the community edition, and the enterprise edition. The community edition is free. The enterprise edition is the Magento premium edition. Magento also works on shared hosting but it works well on dedicated hosting or Magento friendly hosting. So as per the initial cost, WooCommerce is more cost-effective than Magento.
Maintenance cost: If we talk about maintenance cost both WooCommerce and Magento are almost the same, both come with basic features and if we need any advanced feature there are lots of addons (plugins & extensions) which are available in the market we can use them as per our need and for customization, we can hire professionals. Therefore, Magento is a bit complex to use and it requires professional expertise more than WooCommerce. Therefore, we can conclude that Magento is a bit costly to maintain.
On the basis of cost factor, we can say that WooCommerce is more cost-effective than Magento. (W > M).
Security :
Security is another important factor for any eCommerce website. Whenever a customer makes an online transaction they look for a more secure website because they share their personal details as well as payment/Bank details.
Both WooCommerce and Magento provide enough security via the third party add ons or manually.
WooCommerce provides basic security, on the other hand, Magento provides advanced security as well as dedicated security patches. Using security patches is not easy in Magento because it requires professional expertise.
If you want basic security for a website both platforms are good, but if you are very serious about security and looking for advanced security, you should go for Magento.
On the basis of security, Magento wins over WooCommerce. (W < M).
Performance :
The performance of any eCommerce website is another factor that should also be considered. As per the survey, most of the customers leave the website because of slow loading. Both Magento and WooCommerce provides so many addons for performance optimization. Website performance also depends on web hosting, scripts, and images that you are using on the website. The images you use on the website should be optimized, you can use a CDN cloud server for image and media hosting.
On the basis of performance factors, we can say that both Magento and WooCommerce are on the same level because web hosting play’s a critical role in site performance. (W == M)
Customization :
WooCommerce and Magento both are open-source software and both can be customized.
In WooCommerce for every page, there is a template file. It provides template overriding, you can override any page or functionality by including these templates in your theme. As WooCommerce works on the WordPress platform, it also provides so many hooks (actions and filters). You can change the core workflow by using these hooks. There are a variety of WooCommerce themes available in the market, these themes are available for free or at a premium, you can use them as per your need.
On the other hand, Magento can be customized, it also supports overriding. Magento core function can also be overridden by your theme. You just need to use the same structure of Magento core as in your theme and can override the workflow. For Magento, many premium themes are available in the market.
Scalability :
Scalability is also very important for any eCommerce website, both WooCommerce and Magento platforms are fully scalable. Let’s compare both :
WooCommerce is a fully scalable platform but achieving higher scalability as per the demand is not easy, it requires lots of effort and you may find struggle in achieving higher scalability.
Magento, on the other hand, is a more scalable platform and it is easy to scale your website on a higher scalability demand. Magento is a multi-stores platform, you can create multiple stores on a single Magento install.
On the basis of the Scalability factor, Magento wins over WooCommerce (W < M)
Support :
If we talk about support both Magento and WooCommerce has large interactive communities and you can contact them if you need any help. It is easy to find WooCommerce and Magento professionals.
On this point both are on same level (W == M)
Conclusion :
Both Magento and WooCommerce are very good the platform, choosing one is not an easy task because both platforms perform well in a different scenario. As per the above factors, WooCommerce is very easy to use, cost-effective and, works well on a small size business while Magento is a bit complex and slightly expensive than WooCommerce whereas Magento works well even on a large scale business and also provide advanced security.
If you want to quickly start and your business is not so large then WooCommerce is a better option for you. You can also check our dedicated post on WooCommerce 9 Best Things to remember to build a Website.
Or If you are planning for a large eCommerce business and want advanced security for your business then you should go with Magento.
I hope after reading this article it would be easy for you to choose the best option for your business.
Thank you for reading this article, if you have any query please leave a comment, we will be happy to help you.
