If you are in the market for an eCommerce website or you want to integrate the e-commerce functionality into your website, you would have to learn about WordPress vs Magento.
These two are the best in this case, so choosing the right option for you is a bit hard. To clarify, there are so many factors to take into consideration, and that’s what I will try to help you do in this article.
Comparing them in multiple categories and then choosing the best among the two will help you look at the differences each platform has from one another. Consequently, you can make an informed decision about where you want to host and maintain your new business.
Before we go into that much detail, you have to know for sure what you want from your online store. That is to say, you should have a clear plan as to what functionalities should be available.
Additionally, think about what you are going to do in the future with the website. Figuring out these things will help you reach a final decision and it will make your job way easier.
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What’s Your Website’s Purpose?
Like I said previously, choosing what your website’s purpose is, is really important. Because after you know that, you also are going to think about what technologies to use in developing it. Certainly, it’s a bit of a hard question.
However, it will help you shape up a plan for your business if you don’t have one already. If you are choosing to sell only virtual products then your job is straightforward. To sum up, you don’t have to worry about shipping or managing inventory.
Additionally, there is also no package tracking or anything that would make the whole process complex. The best option for your online store in this case is WordPress. With this platform, you can develop a website easily.
Additionally, there are a lot of free themes for an online store in their marketplace. In short, all you need to do is to install a plugin like Easy Digital Downloads or WooCommerce, and you can sell digital products.
The setup is not hard at all. In fact, you can start within only a few hours of tweaking the website and customizing the plugins. However, if you are choosing to establish a multi-vendor Marketplace, then this will take a lot more work.
In other words, it’s a difficult process since there are many systems in place. In addition, you need to customize all of them so they’ll work with the idea of your online store. That’s why, for this complex website, I suggest you use Magento.
However, there are some options that make this available on WordPress as well. Overall, Magento has a better flow of work and it will feel more smooth to operate on that platform. Through years of developing and working on this feature, they have made it almost perfect.
Moreover, if you are considering offering company services then you are in for a treat. That’s because both these platforms can perform what you are asking for, but they are not the same in some aspects.
It’s important for you to know that this isn’t something you can easily do and especially where there is a shopping cart integrated. Magento has built-in functionality to help you with these kinds of websites and the product types you are looking for.
On the other hand, with WordPress, you have to use additional plugins to achieve this kind of functionality. If you want a platform that’s going to be more accommodating to you as a beginner then you can go with Magento.
However, if you are hiring a professional to do the job, then I think WordPress would be a great choice. Now we’re getting to the most important type of an online store, that is to sell physical products.
This is probably the reason most of you have searched for this article in the first place. Physical goods are great, and selling them online opens you up to a greater audience than you could ever imagine with a local store.
Developing an online store can be done with both platforms and it’s only a matter of which one you prefer more. While Magento is more suited and aimed at creating online stores, the same thing can be done with WordPress.
Moreover, it can be done at the same level of customization also. If you choose the Magento option, then you should know that it requires more work and it’s fairly difficult. In short, you need to have extensive knowledge and skills to arrange your website to your liking.
Also, it costs way more money to maintain than with WordPress. On the other hand, if you go with the WordPress option, then you will have a number of plugins to choose from. All of those will help you with orders, tracking, inventory management, payment integrations, and a lot more.
Finally, WordPress also is fairly simple to use and will not cost you that much.
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What Are WordPress and Magento?
Before figuring out which of these platforms is the best for you, first, you need to know what they are. Magento and WordPress are both Content Management Systems or CMS for short. Most importantly, these platforms help you create, administer, and change the contents of your websites.
This is done without needing extensive knowledge on this particular matter and both are fairly simple to use. To clarify, you don’t need to create your website from scratch. Instead, you can use these platforms which will make your life much simpler.
That is to say, you can create a website easily, have a ready-made content management system and start posting out content as quickly as you can.
WordPress
WordPress first came to the market around 2003, and it was launched as a blogging platform. After many changes and upgrades during the years, WordPress is now the biggest and most popular CMS out there.
Above all, WordPress allows you to create any type of website you want which has certainly helped in its rise to the top.
Magento
Magento was introduced to the market in 2008, and since then has become one of the biggest players in the eCommerce website development world. Since its main focus is eCommerce websites, most of its features are aimed towards creating a better environment for those types of pages.
One thing to keep in mind is that Magento has two versions which names is Magento 1 and Magento 2, with the latter being the new and improve one. Certainly, the Magento 2 is superior when it comes to performance compared to the first one. Therefore, if you do go for Magento, be sure to select that instead of the other one.
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Similarities Between WordPress and Magento
There are quite a few similarities between these two. The biggest ones are these:
Customizability
When making a new website, no matter what it will be, you will want to be able to customize any aspect of it. Both of these platforms allow you to change everything or at least most of the things that you want. That way you can truly make your website feel unique.
The Community
This might seem like a weird thing to put here, but considering how important the community is for products like this, it definitely deserves a place. Since these products are so popular, you are sure to find whatever information you are looking for.
In short, if you are having trouble with a specific issue, probably someone has already had the same problem before. Therefore, there’s a big chance that you will find the solution online. This might be one of the best reasons to use one of these platforms.
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Differences Between WordPress and Magento
Just like I showed you the similarities between these two platforms, I will take a look at the differences. There are some that are minor and others that really make a difference.
Here you will see which of the platforms will work best for your business and which one you should pick to develop your online store. First of all, let’s start with one of the most obvious ones: Their purpose.
Magento
Its entirely focused on building an eCommerce website. Certainly, this is not an entirely bad thing. Because if you want to have one of the best platforms to build a website like that, Magento is the one you’ll need.
Almost all the tools in your possession are made to provide you with the best experience possible regarding the creation of an eCommerce website.
WordPress
on the other hand, is not focus only on a specific website type. Whatever kind of website you want to build, WordPress can do it. Making an eCommerce website with WordPress can be done with the use of WooCommerce plugin or others.
One of the biggest reasons WordPress is able to create websites for any type of website is mostly because of the extensive collection of themes and plugins.
Most importantly, all of those themes and plugins are sometimes make for specific niches, which makes creating a website in that niche even easier.
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WordPress and Magento Pricing
WordPress
pricing is more complicated than just the pricing that is given on their website. First, let’s talk about the prices that are shown there. It’s important to notice that WordPress has a free version, which is perfect for anyone who wants to give WordPress a try before deciding on which CMS is better for them. Also four paid plans on WordPress.
The first is Personal one which is the cheapest goes for $4 per month, the other tier after this is called Premium and costs $8 per month, the next one’s Business with a price of $ 25 per month, and lastly, the eCommerce plan with a price of $45 per month.
Meanwhile, all of these plans are billed yearly so be on the lookout for that. However, that is not the only thing that you need to pay for. In order to have a website online, you will also need hosting. You can either get the hosting from WordPress itself, or you can take a look for it elsewhere.
There are a lot of hosting providers out there, with some offering special prices for the WordPress platform. Depending on what you are looking for and what you actually need, among the cheapest prices, you can find around $2.50 per month.
As for these cheap bundles, you should expect to be billed annually or biannually. Similarly, the price can vary if you want a shared or dedicated hosting. As you can see, the pricing on WordPress is not what it seems at first.
While you can do without getting some of those pro versions, buying them will give your website a professional look. Sometimes, WordPress might even offer you features that will be great in the long run.
Magento
is quite more expensive when compare to WordPress. Magento also has a free version, this is the open-source version of it, which you can download, and customize yourself, and also host yourself.
As for the paid plans, things become expensive real fast. For the Commerce Starter plan that Magento offers, the prices can start at $1,600 a month and go as high as $2,200 a month. Therefore, unless you know exactly what you are doing I don’t suggest you go for this option.
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Closing Thoughts
Both these content management systems can help you create the perfect online store that you want. In conclusion, it all depends on what needs you have for your e-commerce and how much money you are willing to spend on it.
The functionality will be similar to either platform that you choose and they will both be fast, reliable, and great options for your new business. To sum up, Magento is the better and most efficient platform to sell products online but is way costly.
As these platforms continue to evolve, you are going to see better and better solutions added that’s help you achieve your dreams. If you have any questions or suggestions for the article, don’t hesitate to leave a comment in the section down below.
