Shopify vs. Magento

Adobe Commerce, formerly known as Magento e-commerce, is an open-source eCommerce platform owned by the creative industry’s biggest, most established company. It was originally released in 2008 but was gained and rebranded by Adobe ten years later. According to Lit extension’s data team, Adobe Commerce was one of the top three “Most Migrated To” platforms for 2020, accompanied by Shopify and WooCommerce. 

Shopify eCommerce is the fastest-growing all-in-one eCommerce solution that allows brands to create an online shopping website and integrates features like a shopping cart, payment features, and order processing and increases social networking to make products and the brand itself more visible to the market. 

Overview: Shopify E-commerce vs Magento E-commerce

Shopify Magento
Ease of Setting up
  • Beginner friendly, no coding experience necessary 
  • An all-in-one subscription that manages the backend hosting 
  • 17 free and 80 paid themes, all fully customizable with little to no coding knowledge
  • Beginner friendly, but requires more tech knowledge
  •  User must manually set up the site hosting and configuration 
  • 1 free and 5 paid themes, or build your own if you have coding experience
Ease of Management
  • Fully customize campaigns and marketing automation
  • Easy to upgrade subscription as your business grows
  • Integrated methods to accept different payments
  • Use set templates to have emails match your brand
  • Must individually upgrade specific elements
  • Must install payment apps like Stripe
Costs
  • Monthly subscriptions at 3 price points
  • Transaction fees for all sales
  • Additional costs for a custom domain name, third-party application, and themes
  • Monthly payments for a domain name, hosting, SEO, and marketing
  • Payment plugins may have transaction fees for sales
  • Additional costs for a domain name, third-party applications, and themes

The boom of e-commerce allows businesses to traverse an extensive path where they can generate sales easier than ever before. As soon as the pandemic hit every country, it became a major turning point that hinder brands from conducting traditional business. This is where e-commerce platforms gained traction.

Magento E-commerce

If you are looking for an open-source and free-to-install platform, Magento is the top choice. But it has its own downside. Even though it is free to install, the platform will require you to host your website and have knowledge of web design.

Shopify E-commerce

Compared to the other platforms, Shopify is a paid platform that helps brands create an e-commerce website with little to no coding skills. This platform also covers all start-up expenses, including domain and web hosting fees.

Ease of Setting Up

Themes

Magento offers mobile responsive themes that come with a price of $499. Developers can create their own themes from scratch. The features of the platform give your brand a unique way of advertising. You can create animated themes that make your website stand out; the process is flexible and customizable, and you can add featured products on your homepage.

Shopify allows developers to customize and preview a theme on their website before purchasing, this helps them choose the perfect layout for their business. The platform offers 17 free themes and 73 premium themes. Shopify is more expensive compared to Magento. Website owners are expected to pay around $150–$350 to purchase a theme.

Ease of Management

Pricing and Costs

Money is one of the biggest assets that a business has and it also plays a vital role in making the process run smoothly. Investing in the right e-commerce platform can help businesses get the best investment return.

Magento and Shopify vary in pricing and costs. Magento does not require a monthly subscription. Anyone can download and install this platform. However, for hosting and domains, brands are required to pay in order to publish on their own website.

Unlike Magento, Shopify is subscription-based, meaning developers are required to pay a certain amount. Prices range from $9 to over $2000 per month. The listed price covers the domain and hosting fees, so you do not have to purchase them separately.

What to choose? Magento or Shopify?

Shopify is preferable because of its extensive built-in capabilities and simple workflow for transforming your business’s concept into a working online store. Magento is also a good deal for those still in their starting phase and trying to explore what approach best suits their business. 

Regardless of the e-commerce platform you choose for your business, Bambu will help you maximize each platform’s features to make the best out of them for your brand. Our developers and search engine optimization team will do the job for you to be known across the globe and increase your brand’s visibility. 

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