Magento 2 Vs Shopify: Which is a better CMS for E-commerce Website Development?

Looking to start an E-commerce business, choosing the right platform is always a challenging and important job. This step plays a significant role in online business success. There are multiple options for business enterprises not happy with their current CMS. Two of the biggest contenders are Magento 2 and Shopify. In this blog, we will discuss the comparison between them on various fronts as both these platforms are often measured as the best E-commerce CMS.

While Magento is quite popular among the brands and they have heavily invested in Magento 2 development company to stay competitive. With the release of the Magento 2 version, it has inch higher in the priority list of the best CMSs. We’ll discuss how the two platforms differ from each other and which will be a better option for the store owners.

What are the basic differences between Magento 2 & Shopify?

1. Popularity

Magento 2 is the most preferred E-commerce platform, acquiring 14% of the top million sites in comparison to 6% for Shopify. Magento also helps brands to rank higher on the search engines according to Google trends.
Another way to compare the two popularity is to look at the businesses that use them. Magento 2 is used by some big names like Nike, Olympus, Rosetta Stone, and Ghiradelli.

Shopify has a few renowned brands like Tesla and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Store. Both store platforms boast successful companies.

2. Coding

Magento 2 & Shopify vary vastly in terms of coding standards. Magento is based on PHP, while Shopify implements Liquid language. Magento is open-source, while Shopify needs license fees. This is important when it comes to selecting a platform because it specifies what can be performed.

Open source means the source code is free to avail and can be customized, while the licence code cannot be customized. With Magento 2, the code can be customized to meet specific store needs, while Shopify misses out this feature. The Shopify is perfect for simple stores, but not ideal for the complex ones having advanced functions that need changing the source code. Thus to build complex websites, brands hire Magento 2 developers from the reputed development company.

3. Expense

Shopify is SaaS, it means monthly fee needs to be paid to access the software. Initially, you will get access for free but after that fee needs to be paid. By paying more per month, Shopify users get additional features to implement like abandoned cart recovery, gift cards, and advanced reporting. In comparison, Magento users can avail of these features for significantly paying less every year.

Shopify payment gateways charges transaction fees for the payments. External gateways like PayPal, Braintree, and Authorize.net can be integrated. The fee percentage varies from 2.0% to 0.5%, with higher transaction lower fees. This means when a transaction is made, Shopify takes a cut. If your store experience a lot of transactions, the fees can easily comprise of a lot of money.

4. Scalability

To build large-scale, complex stores Magento 2 is a better option than Shopify. If you’re looking to build a small store with little investment or commitment, Shopify is a perfect choice. If you want to run an online business that can be scaled and has the ability to grow with more flexibility, Magento is a better bet. Renowned E-commerce websites having a large number of products, heavy traffic and smooth checkout are based on Magento 2.

5. Capabilities

Magento 2 is a perfect CMS for the business owners. With over 5,000 free & paid extensions, this CMS definitely has the benefit when it is about the capabilities. Any ideas you want to implement can most likely be integrated within the store through a wide array of extensions. You want to add discount coupons, multi-store and inventory get all done with the use of extensions.

With Magento 2, every functionality of the website is under the business owner’s control. This is something a store owner always prefer, depending on the individual’s goals. Admin has the liberty to create and manage several stores from the same dashboard. With such benefits, the store owners prefer Magento development services for building an engaging selling platform. Such features are present in Shopify as well but not the level of liberty.

Wrapping Up:

It is a difficult decision to select an E-commerce development platform for an online store. The major factor to make a wise selection depends on the goals, budget, and expertise. When selecting between Shopify and Magento 2, think about your store requirements. Shopify is best for small stores having limited products. If you’re looking for an online store having unlimited potential features, scalability, and customization, Magento 2 is perfect for you. Magento is packed with incredible built-in features and endless possibilities by using extensions. These reasons are sufficient to select Magento 2 for an E-commerce business.