Now that you have decided to start off on product development, and Hire Web Developers: the first thing to decide on is the platform to use for developing the product. PHP framework provides many platforms for this purpose including Magento and Opencart. Both are open platforms that are ideal for any eCommerce product or app. Moreover, these platforms are rich in resources such as extensions, add-on products and plug-ins; supporting multiple languages with equal popularity in the developer community. This article aims to have a one-on-one show-down between the two and help in evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of both platforms.
As a general statistic, 30% of websites are built on Magento so when you are about to Hire Web Developers for your project, you are probably going to meet many Magento experts but the demand for Opencart is also visible. Let’s evaluate the two platforms:
Let’s talk about Features and Usability
In terms of usability and the overall capabilities, Magento is highly customizable; offering unlimited design options, extensive SEO resources, plugins as well as integrations. The support for Magento platform is tremendous. But with so much in offering, there has to be a downside: the platform is complex and only expert level Developers know the ins and outs of it.
Opencart is easier to program but has a smaller community. Many start-up companies prefer it because it provides ease of use without much integration.
It’s about the Budget
Magento consumes a lot of resources; requiring a stronger hosting plan in terms of storage. You cannot afford to plan shared hosting with Magento. Consider a quality web hosting service if you are going with Magento while if you are opting for Opencart, you will find hosting to be a lot cheaper because it’s light weight and works well for small to medium sized stores.
The Community Support Matters
This again is based in terms of popularity. The more popular platform has a bigger community which in this case is Magento. Although both communities have an established set of developers who are willing to offer support and advice fellow programmers but with Magento you can probably get certified programmers making the entire platform and its community more credible than that of Opencart’s.
The SEO Perspective
An essential aspect to look at these days, when it comes to the SEO: Magento takes the lead because OpenCart is not SEO-friendly. Making modifications in the metdata and performing 301 referrals etc can be a cumbersome task while such actions in Magento are relatively easier and straight-forward. It even offers title optimization, images and URL’s and even connecting a store to a WordPress blog.
What to choose?
We recommend Magento if you have a large project with a big budget as the platform provides scalability to support the project and any extensions in the future. However, Opencart is a preferred choice for a start-up especially if you are not sure of the direction of your business. Still figuring out what platform to go for? Talk to us. At Techliance, we have a highly talented pool of resources to meet your project needs. Looking to Hire Software Developers for creating the next big product in the market? Let us help you achieve your goal in 2017. Contact us today for a free discussion or a project quote.
