Magento vs Shopify – Platform Comparison

Are you thinking about changing your e-commerce platform? Some of the most popular choices for online stores are Magento and Shopify. Both systems give users many possibilities, and the final choice should depend on what a specific online store needs and the entire business. So, let’s compare Magento and Spotify so that you can make a fully informed and thought-out decision about which platform to choose for your store.

Magento vs Shopify: Key Features

First, let’s compare both systems’ cost, ease of use, and scalability.

Costs – Magento or Shopify?

The most significant difference between Magento and Shopify is the payment model. Magento is an open-source platform, which means that it is free in itself, but costs may arise during implementation and maintenance. Shopify, on the other hand, is a CMS based on a subscription starting at €27 (billed annually). Advanced versions of Magento (Magento Commerce and Magento Commerce Cloud) are already paid and often individually priced.

Ease

Shopify is known for its intuitive admin panel, which requires no technical knowledge. Users can easily create pages, manage products, and monitor sales. Many people also appreciate the drag-and-drop system.

Magento is a more advanced platform—to fully take advantage of its capabilities, you need to know programming or work with an experienced developer. But it’s definitely worth it because Magento offers more flexibility in content management and store expansion, which is discussed below.

Flexibility and scalability

Do you need maximum control over your store? Select Magento. Thanks to the open-source code, you can customise every platform aspect and expand its functionalities without additional plugins. Magento also offers several thousand extensions that allow you to optimize your sales and warehouse management.

See also: Magento 2 modules — what should you know?

Shopify also offers many applications (equivalent to modules and plugins). However, the lack of open source means that users are limited to the functionality offered by Shopify and the available apps; scalability is limited.

What about technical support and security?

It is very important to compare Shopify and Magento regarding technical support and security levels. Magento distinguishes itself by having a high level of security (it also allows customisation thanks to the open-source code). Additionally, the platform allows you to use a dedicated IP address and a wide selection of plugins for payment and data protection. On the other hand, Shopify provides SSL certificates and PCI and GDPR compliance in every subscription plan.

Regarding support, Shopify offers round-the-clock technical support (chat, email, phone). Magento does not have official technical support, but users can count on free help from an active community. However, it should be considered that in case of problems, it is good to have your IT team.

Magento vs Shopify – SEO & Marketing

Finally, let’s look at another thing: which platform will help you be more visible online? In fact, both Magento and Shopify offer a wide range of SEO optimisation options (editing titles, meta descriptions, headings, or the robots.txt file). Shopify’s simplicity distinguishes it, while Magento is ideal for SEO for large stores.

To sum up, Magento is an ideal solution for large e-commerce or companies that plan to grow quickly in the future and require high scalability and many possibilities from their platform. Shopify is much more limited but easier to use, so if you don’t have a technical background or want to set up a small store, this will most likely be the choice for you.

Remember, Exorigo is an official Adobe partner. We have a certified team that deals with Magento implementations. Please work with us to develop your customer-centric omnichannel.