If you want to build, manage, and grow your online business, you can’t go wrong with any of the top rated and widely available ecommerce platforms. Yet, to be successful, you want to choose the right platform. This is exactly what this Magento vs Shopify comparison will help you to do. Magento and Shopify are amongst the best rated ecommerce platforms for ebusiness owners.
Both platforms are designed to help you effortlessly build your online store, manage it, and ultimately, grow and enhance revenue generation for your business. Nonetheless, you have to choose between the two platforms and decide which one works best for your business. So, to make this process easier for you, we’ve shared an in-depth Magento vs Shopify comparison to help you make the right decision.
What Is The Difference Between Magento and Shopify?
Magento is an open-source ecommerce platform designed to help business owners build and manage their online store. Amongst the few features that come with using the platform include web design, order management, a flexible shopping cart system, shipping, and payment solutions.
To cater more to a variety of audiences, the site is built with plans designed for small and midsized businesses as well as B2B businesses. Furthermore, Magento plans are designed to easily cater to different industries such as fashion, F&B, health & beauty, and automotive.
On the other end, Shopify is similarly an ecommerce, however, unlike Magento, it is not designed as an open-source platform. Nonetheless, Shopify is designed to host online stores – allowing business owners to enjoy features such as web design, branding, business name generation, store set up, payment collection solutions, email marketing, and even, shipping. Shopify thrives due to its easy-to-use interface and design tools which allow anyone to design their store without any coding knowledge.
Design & Ease of Use
Magento has a steep learning curve. Using the platform users have to familiarize themselves with some jargon and even use code to build their sites. Alternatively, you will have to invest in a web developer to help you build your site. When it comes to the designs, Magento has a few design templates to pick from.
In total, Magento only has 16 themes – some of which are free and others are paid for. Furthermore, only 10 of the 16 available pre-designed themes are mobile responsive. Alternatively, you can choose to design and use your own themes and designs. However, the downside to this is that you will need web developer knowledge to easily implement this.
When it comes to ease of use, Shopify was built with this focus in mind. The platform allows you to make several manipulations – changing themes and designs to help your online store stand out. The platform features a simple drag-and-drop website builder which makes it extremely easy for anyone to use.
Furthermore, Shopify offers over 10 times as many templates – about 170 different themes you can use – however, the downside is that some of the themes are available at an extra cost. Nonetheless, the paid-for themes offer more unique designs and include add-on options such as changing pallet colors.
Alternatively, you can opt to upload and design your themes. Additionally, what makes Shopify an excellent investment is its versatile interface that looks nice and easily navigable on PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
Winner: Offering a wide selection of mobile friendly design themes and featuring an easy-to-use interface with no coding knowledge, Shopify definitely takes the lead.
Integrations& Add-ons
Magento offers generous integrations – connecting you to different apps such as ERP, CRM, PIM, and even marketing automation apps. Amongst the common apps to integrate with include HubSpot, Office 365, Facebook, Dropbox, Marketo, BigCommerce, and even Shopify, just to mention a few. Magento even integrates with Zapier to give you access to 3,000 extra third party app integrations.
Shopify is designed with multiple integrations – amongst the most significant ones is its native integrations with over 100 online payment gateway integrations including PayPal. Additionally, Shopify integrates with other types of apps such as analytics, email marketing, loyalty programs, sales funnel, and even workflow automation apps.
If you can’t find the app you need in the native integration list, you can always find it thanks to Shopify’s integration with Zapier – connecting you up to 3,000 additional third party app integrations.
Winner: When it comes to the integration, even with Shopify’s generous payment gateway app integration, both two platforms take the lead thanks to their variety of different app connections.
Customer Support
Magento offers a selection of self-help support tools. You can opt for the community-based forum where you will find experienced users and experts that share different information on using the platform. Alternatively, the resource area of the community-based platform also offers detailed user guides on different topics – offering step-by-step guidance to solving any problems.
Magento doesn’t have a dedicated support team, however, it offers a SiteGround help and support team that comes to help in case of any troubles.
Shopify offers more comprehensive support with one-on-one and community-based help. The platform offers 24/7 live chat and phone support as well as interactive email and social media support. Furthermore, the site offers other tools such as the community forum, how-to articles, and video tutorials. At higher plans, the platform even offers special advanced support.
Winner: With a wider variety of customer support tools, Shopify offers a better customer support experience.
Pricing
Magento and Shopify don’t only differ from each other based on the rates but, also the setup. Shopify is a hosted ecommerce site whilst Magento is self-hosted. This means that Shopify takes care of the web hosting for you with the hosting cost included in the plans. Magento on the other end is different. Web design and installation of free, however, you will have to pay for the hosting, domain, and security extensions.
Thus, whilst Shopify charges for the entire package, Magento charges for the hosting services. Its most popular web hosting service is SiteGround. With SiteGround, you can choose from any of the three plans. These include the Startup at $9.95 per month, Grow Big at $19.95, and Go Geek at $29.95. Furthermore, you have to pay for the annual domain fee which ranges between $10 and $15 per year.
Magento also offers Enterprise plans for large businesses which offer a specially curated payment plan based on the business needs and business size. In addition to the paid plans, Shopify offers a 14-day free trial. Amongst the plans include the Basic Shopify plan at $29 per month, Shopify plan at $79 per month, and Advanced Shopify plan at $299 per month.
Additionally, Shopify offers a special Shopify Lite plan which is designed for business owners who want to sell in person via the Shopify Lite gateway or add a Buy button to their existing website. This special plan costs only $9 per month. Furthermore, each plan incurs a small percentage with each sale – however, if you use Shopify’s dedicated payment gateway, the charges are free.
MagentoShopifyPricing per monthPricing per monthStartup$9.95Basic $29Grow Big$19.95Shopify $79Go Geek$29.95Advanced Shopify $299
Winner: Shopify offers a full suite of services to make your business processes more convenient and easy – however, this means that their pricing is much higher. Even with the web hosting fee and domain fee per year, Magento prices are still quite affordable.
Feature Comparison Chart
Both Magento and Shopify are excellent ecommerce platforms. However, the comparison also outlines their distinctions to help you choose the right tool. The more significant differences are their design concept. Whilst Magento is a free open-source platform, Shopify is a paid one. This means that with Magento all you really pay for is the web hosting and domain services.
However, the actual web building and design are free – although this comes with the price of access to fewer design options. With Shopify’s paid plans, you are exposed to a wider variety of design options and features – although this comes with the sacrifice of higher costs.
But pricing is not always the factor because you will notice you enjoy features such as generous app integration options with both apps. The feature comparison chart below shares ratings on the key features of the platforms.
FeaturesMagentoShopifyDesign & Ease of Use4.54.9Integrations & Add-ons4.84.8Customer Support4.74.9Pricing4.84.6Rating 4.74.8
Final Verdict – Magento vs Shopify
Magento vs Shopify helps you to pinpoint which platform is better for your business. From the comparison above, it is clear that the two platforms are built for business owners with different needs. The Shopify platform offers more convenience and more powerful tools compared to similar web builders such as Wix.
The platform works best for anyone even people who have no web design experience. The Magento platform on the other end offers a cheaper option for business owners. However, it works better for technical people with coding and web design skills. With these skills, using the site gives you more creative freedom and allows you to create a large brand to draw in more audiences and revenue – you just need the time and expertise!