Are you looking to set up an online store but can't decide between Magento and Shopify e-commerce development company?

Shopify and Magento may be a powerful and flexible foundation for your business, but you should not invest your money until you have thoroughly weighed your choice.

Choosing the best platform for your online store is incredibly essential. It helps to create the base your store is built and sets the stage for a successful e-commerce business.

To help you find the best suitable for your business, we are bringing some points like the ease of use, features, pricing, and more to select the best option between Magento and Shopify. 

Magento vs. Shopify: A Summary

Magento is an open-source e-commerce website development platform like WordPress that is free to install on your personal computer/laptop. However, you have to pay for web hosting (approx $10 per month), security, and extensions which we will explain in more detail below.

Shopify is an easy-to-use platform designed for building online stores. You must pay a monthly subscription and get easy-to-use Shopify e-commerce development services for small to mid-sized online stores with attractive templates and layouts.

Here, you'll get each platform's features, pricing, and ease of use. Next, you will catch a selection of apps and themes that can significantly improve your website's design and functionality. 

Let's start!

1. Pricing & Costs

When choosing a shopping cart, the cost is an essential thing to consider. How much budget do you set for your store? Magento vs. Shopify, which one offers the best price for you? See the difference in setting the price process of Magento vs. Shopify.

• Magento cost

Magento does not require any monthly subscription. This platform offers you to download, install, and set up your store without any cost. But, you will have to pay for a domain and a hosting provider to publish your website. Therefore, the cost of Magento e-commerce development services depends on your selection.

Besides, if you want to expand your store's capabilities, you may consider adding some integrations to your website. These apps can be found on Magento App Market and cost around $15,000.

• Shopify cost

Unlike Magento, Shopify's cost is subscription-based. There are 5 pricing plans that you can pick from $9 to over $2000 per month. Fortunately, this plan includes domains and hosting, so you don't worry about purchasing these elements.

Shopify also offers a more affordable set of themes and website templates. While the maximum cost for a theme on Magento may be up to $499, Shopify only charges $180 for its best website template.

2. Easy to use

The majority of e-merchants who start an online business and they are not web designers or developers. Even users who are aware of basic principles want an easy-to-set-up-and-operate platform. So, let's explore how Shopify vs. Magento compare in terms of usability.

• Is Magento easy to use?

From a usability point of view, Magento is not as user-friendly as Shopify, especially for non-tech users. Although this platform gives users complete control over their website, it requires a comprehensive knowledge of technology to install and set up their online business.

• Is Shopify easy to use?

On the other hand, Shopify is simpler and easier to use than Magento. It is built for everyone–both laypeople and tech users. You'll develop your online store without any trouble.

You can see that Shopify wins this round. Being more accessible to use than Magento, Shopify is the perfect option for those who do not have enough technical knowledge. 

3. Themes & Templates

One of the first things many companies are concerned about is their platform's appearance. Therefore, the first impression of customers is a significant factor. Themes provide you to reflect your stunning brand and individuality. Let's look out for the valuable themes of Magento vs. Shopify!

• Magento themes

Magento scored a 3.5 rating in this category, offering readymade themes that do not need any coding customization and custom themes that demand the skills of a professional developer.

The average cost for the readymade theme is around $100, and custom themes may cost from $600 to $25,000. The custom themes are only suitable for large businesses with high budgets.

It offers customization, animations to make your store engaging, a product slider on your homepage, newsletter options, and "cross-selling blocks" on your product pages.

• Shopify themes

Shopify Offers an extensive range of themes with 13 free and 73 premium themes. Even for the price point, these could be a little costly for some people since Shopify owners need to pay about $150 – $350 to buy a theme for their mesmerizing storefronts.

Here you can easily use features such as a drag-and-drop editor, which allows you to add, switch, remove and resize elements of your Shopify theme. You can easily add or create new pages and change the color palette and images according to your business; it also allows you to add social media feeds easily.

4. Apps & plugins

Magento and the Shopify development company offer libraries of third-party apps, plugins, and integrations that can help you significantly improve your online store in various ways.

• Magento Apps

Magento e-commerce development provides more than 3,500 free and paid extensions. These extensions cover various categories, including customer support, marketing, website optimization, analytics, and anything else you could need to make your store your own.

• Shopify Apps

The Shopify e-commerce development contains over 3,200 apps for online merchants to choose from, and most of them are free to install. If you want to level up your store experience, install some of the best Shopify apps.

Both platforms provide a vast collection of add-ons. You should be able to search an app for anything on both Magento and Shopify.

5. Marketing Features

Both Magento and Shopify have a set of marketing features to promote your online business. Magento allows users to create flexible coupons for different purposes, create a landing page for other categories, or manage newsletters.

On the other hand, Shopify provides a built-in email tool to promote your products and share updates. This tool also has many stunning email templates to customize but can maintain professionalism.

Shopify and Magento provide SEO features. You can easily edit the page title and description to define how your store displays in the search results pages and add alt text to images to help Google understand what they are all about.

Magento vs. Shopify: Final Word

At the end of the above discussion, the choice between Shopify and Magento as per your needs.

If you are looking for an easy-to-use and powerful B2C e-commerce platform that helps you save time on managing your online store, Shopify is your best choice. Shopify is more user-friendly and easy than Magento. 

On the other side, if you operate a large online store that you want to make your own and have some technical knowledge and resources, you will probably want to go with Magento e-commerce development company.

At GlanceSys, you will find various mobile and web development services, including eCommerce Web Development services. Bring your business ideas to us and relax for the outcome; you will find the best solutions out of your basic ideas.