Shopify vs. Magento: Comparing Two eCommerce Platforms Across 9 Categories

Congratulations on building a successful, profitable online store! You’ve succeeded where many others have failed.

Like many of our ECommerceFuel forum members, you’re looking for ways to grow and improve even more. Part of that journey may be wondering if you’ve chosen the right eCommerce platform.

To help with that, we’re going to compare two of the more popular eComm platforms today ? Shopify and Magento.

We’ll give a head-to-head comparison across 9 categories, declaring a winner in each. When finished, you’ll have a better understanding of each, and know which is the best eCommerce platform for your business.

Here are the 9 categories we’ll cover in this guide:

• Pricing
• Ease of Use
• Design, Themes, and Customization
• Apps and Add ons
• SEO
• Marketing Features
• Sales Tools
• Payments and Transaction Fees
• Customer Support

Let’s start with a brief overview of each to begin.

The Pros and Cons of Shopify and Magento

Magento Pros and Cons

Magento Pros	Magento Cons
Large user community	Not a lot of customer support
Ideal for medium to large businesses	Unsuitable for beginners
Very SEO friendly	Self-hosted
Built for scalability	Difficult to find a hosting provider
Lots of customization options	Complex customization process

Shopify Pros and Cons

Shopify Pros	Shopify Cons
Easy to use	Transaction fees
24/7 Customer support	Price
Professional, responsive themes	Limited customizations
Shopify app store	Cost of apps
Marketing and sales tools
Built for scalability
Fully hosted

These two eCommerce platforms have a lot in common. Let’s see who comes out the winner in our head-to-head comparisons.WebSiteBuilderExpert. Let’s look at it first.

HostGator’s Magento Hosting Features

• $2.75/month
• One-click Magento installation
• 24/7 customer support
• 45 day money-back guarantee

Now let’s look at Shopify.

Shopify Plan Pricing

Shopify has three plans suitable for most eCommerce sellers. They are:

• Shopify Basic: $29/month
• Shopify: $79/month
• Advanced Shopify: $299/month

All this makes Shopify look pricier than Magento. Just remember, with Magento, you’ll have to pay for site security, domain name, and add-ons like themes and apps. Your Magento online store could actually end up costing thousands a month.

Of course, there are extra costs with a Shopify storefront, too. Their apps can carry monthly subscription fees that jack up your price, too.themes.shopify.com

And now, one of their more expensive themes, currently running at $180:

On the other side of the fence, Magento’s themes run anywhere from $55 to $25,000.

Here’s one that costs $994:

And one more comparable to Shopify, at $170:

forum members here at eCommerceFuel join specifically for marketing help and advice.

Magento and Shopify both offer marketing tools. The two platforms approach marketing features the same way they do SEO ? differently. One uses quite a few built-in features, while the other relies on apps.

Only now, the tables are turned. Shopify has more ready-made marketing tools than Magento, which requires you to purchase and install apps from its Marketplace.Magento is built for, aimed at, and works best for the larger, most successful eCommerce businesses out there. All that expert know-how and skill can be hired out and those apps can be bought without breaking the bank.

After all, your store’s continued success is certainly worth it, right?

Photo by Freepik