Know the difference between Magento and Shopify

The trend of online shopping is increasing day by day for internet users. People are using desktops, laptops or smartphones for online shopping, which means that businesses are also updating themselves to improve their eCommerce platforms. Choosing a suitable platform is critical for the success of the eCommerce business. 

There are many options in the market to develop an Ecommerce business; however, a meticulous find is very important!

Magento

and Shopify are the topmost contenders in the eCommerce market. These two popular platforms are dominating the industry for a quite long time. Though Magneto and Shopify are meant for the eCommerce business; both are completely different in their features and other factors. Let us discuss the exact difference between these two platforms in this blog.

The difference between Magento and Shopify:

The choice of a platform is dependent on the requirement of your business and factors suitable for the growth of your business. Neither of the platforms could be a 100% perfect one; every platform has its features, pros as well as cons. 

 Understanding the Magento and Shopify

Shopify was launched in 2004 as an online business platform for personal requirements; But afterward, it expanded with various features and today serves a wide user base globally. 

On the other side, Magneto was discovered in 2007 with both free and premium versions.

The major unique feature of Shopify is running the business without extensive support from developers.

 Shopify comes with fixed templates and workflows and operates on a plug-and-play base. It is a user-friendly platform with personalization as per business needs. 

 Magento is an adobe product with an open-source facility. It offers a great level of customization, and a range of themes, designs, and templates. A developer with adequate knowledge can do a lot more with the Magento platform. It can be used for both beginners as well as exerts businesses. 

Technical factors 

Coding: 

Shopify is developed based on the SaaS model so it does not offer a codebase to the developer. On the other side, Magento uses PHP for development. Shopify is proprietary and Magneto is an open-source platform. So Magneto code is the property of its owner with entire access and all rights. 

Hosting:

Shopify will take care of the hosting and domain part however for Magento store development you need to have an explicit hosting facility. 

Deployment Time: 

While creating the online store using Shopify; you just need to select and buy a suitable plan. You will get administrator credentials with domain hosting to manage the store. Now you can install the themes, add the products and enable the appropriate payment and shipping options; now your store is ready to go live. Magento online store development is fully customizable. Based on the design, theme, payment gateway, and other factors the deployment times vary. 

Number of SKU and Product line up

You can develop unlimited SKUs using Magneto, however; Shopify comes with a base plan with 25 SKUs and a top plan with unlimited SKUs. 

Magneto supports a wide range of products with more attributes and efficient inventory management and catalog management. Shopify offers a similar kind of store but doesn’t have a fixed product lineup. Magneto supports simple, grouped, bundled, and downloadable product types. 

Scalability:

Magneto is easily scalable and suitable for start-ups and enterprises and Shopify is most suitable for medium-scale (less than $1 million) businesses. 

Platform integration

For Magento integration, web services and SOAP mechanism can be used to integrate the system also there are an array of Magneto extensions available in the market. However Shopify platform requires separate third-party vendor integration, and no inbuilt extensions are available with Shopify. 

Multichannel Facility

Magento offers a multichannel store with an M2E pro extension to combine with popular stores like Amazon, Rakuten, eBay, etc. On the other hand, Shopify has an app called Stitch Labs that costs approx $29.00/month for the multichannel marketplace. 

Customer Support

Shopify offers you dedicated customer service and support while Magento gives you dedicated community-based support. Many experienced and certified individuals come together in a community with their valuable inputs and suggestions. The community is continuously growing with the latest trends and technology. 

Payment Gateways

Payment Gateways are a crucial part of online shopping and financial transactions. Shopify comes with easy and custom payment modes like Paypal Express Checkout (Default payment method). The tax rates and discounts are automatically getting calculated. Magneto can integrate an array of custom payment gateway solutions with different other options. 

Pricing

Shopify comes with a subscription model; you can begin with a 14 days free trial but need to pay charges to continue the service. The pricing varies from the base plan at $29 to the top plan at $299. You also need to bear the commission charges on orders from 0.5 % to 2 %. You need to pay an annual fee for the subscription to the Shopify eCommerce platform. 

As Magento is an open-source platform, the costs are depending on the domain and hosting part. No annual charges and commission charges are involved in Magento store development. However, if you are looking for Magneto premium services, you need to pay the charges as per the need of the business. 

Wrapping up

Magento is a popular eCommerce platform with a good reputation and a lot of customization options. It is extremely scalable with extensive documentation and training support. You can develop your online store as per your liking and need with a unique design. Shopify is a robust and end-to-end eCommerce platform with more than 100 free templates and a 24*7 technical support facility. You can get a mobile-friendly online store with an SEO facility in Shopify. 

Thus both Magneto and Shopify platforms are complete in their own set of strong and weak points. The choice of platform is dependent on the business model, fundamental needs, and budget.