Magento vs Shopify: Which E-Commerce Solution Should You Choose?

Online shopping model has firmly established itself as the central component for the retail business today. With this, the companies have at hand abundant software packages for creating unique e-Commerce solutions. They help reach their target audiences, no matter where they are.

Though with so many available options it becomes difficult to select the solution, the fact remains that businesses and merchants must carefully evaluate their choice since it plays a crucial role in deciding the success of their venture. Magento and Shopify lead this race. Consistently rated among the top options in the industry, both platforms come loaded with various features and provisions aimed at fulfilling the varying requirements of businesses and merchants of all sizes.

As a result, it can be understandably challenging to decide which one of the two best fits your needs. So, we put together a handy comparison between Magento and Shopify so that you can make an informed decision.

1. Hosting: Since Magento does not offer to host, one must figure out suitable arrangements before setting up the online store. Though this is somewhat of a drawback, it does mean you can use a hosting solution that meets all your business needs. Now, on to Shopify -- this one does get hosting, and the associated costs get included in the payment plans. Now, this is understandably convenient, but it does not guarantee that it will meet the unique hosting requirements for the business'.
2. Development and customization: Magento is an open-source platform, which translates into unlimited opportunities for customization and set up the platform per the business's unique needs. Deploying and managing Magento necessitates PHP expertise as well as the mastery of its architecture. On the other hand, Shopify uses Liquid; it's Ruby-based template language that is extremely easy to use and exceptionally intuitive. So, you can launch a Shopify-based e-commerce website with rudimentary HTML and CSS knowledge but will need an expert's assistance if you want to make changes to the source code.
3. Functionality: Both these platforms offer powerful out-of-the-box features. Magento offers robust product management, agile attribute management, along with customer segmentation, merchandising, multi-lingual, and marketing abilities, thus tending to the needs of most e-commerce businesses. Though Shopify's list functionality is at par to that of Magento's, its catalog management functionality is more intuitive. Moreover, unlike Magento, Shopify makes it quite easy to configure most of these features.
4. Support: Magento's Community edition does not offer official support, which means businesses have to rely on the platform's community, which includes myriad experts and developers, for any assistance that they might need. That is not the case with Shopify; in fact, it offers a perfect support experience, which includes 24x7 support via a variety of channels.

Though choosing a platform to serve as the bedrock of your online business is a tough decision, it is made easier by analyzing the pros and cons of both these platforms and factoring in the business' unique needs. Nonetheless, the fact remains that both Magento and Shopify are excellent platforms capable of fulfilling the different requirements of online store worldwide. Moreover, remember, it is a good idea to engage the service of an expert, who can provide high-quality Shopify or Magento eCommerce development solutions for the platform of your choice.

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