Hosted, with themes and payments ready, so the build is mostly setup and theme work.
Shopify vs WooCommerce vs Magento vs OpenCart: which fits your store?
Four platforms, compared on cost, control, speed to launch, scale and effort to maintain. Change the weights to match what matters to you and see the ranking update, with the reasoning shown.
- 1Shopify71Strongest on speed to launch; loses most on running cost.
- 2OpenCart66Strongest on up-front cost; loses most on large catalogues and b2b.
- 3WooCommerce63Strongest on control and ownership; loses most on low upkeep.
- 4Magento54Strongest on control and ownership; loses most on up-front cost.
Shopify: 3×4 + 3×2 + 3×2 + 3×5 + 3×3 + 3×5 + 3×4 = 75 of 105 = 71Shopify leads by 5 points over OpenCart. A clear lead on these weights.Ratings are my editorial judgements from building on all four platforms, not measurements. Platform prices and plan limits change: check current pricing on each platform's site. Ratings last reviewed owner to confirm date
Three-year cost of ownership
The build is the smallest part of most stores' cost. Put in your own figures for each platform; every field starts with an example value, not a quote or a list price.
- Build
- Platform and hosting
- Apps and licences
- Transaction fees
- Upkeep time
Shopify costs least over 3 years on these figures, €4,220 below OpenCart. Its biggest cost is upkeep time.
| Platform | Build | Platform and hosting | Apps | Fees | Upkeep |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify | €2,000 | €1,440 | €2,160 | €0 | €6,840 |
| OpenCart | €1,900 | €720 | €360 | €0 | €13,680 |
| WooCommerce | €2,200 | €1,080 | €900 | €0 | €13,680 |
| Magento | €9,000 | €5,400 | €1,800 | €0 | €34,200 |
Card processing fees are left out: you pay them on every platform and they depend on your provider's contract. Shopify adds its own transaction fee when you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments; check the current rate on Shopify's site and enter it above.
Your ranking and your costs disagree? That is the useful part. Send me both and I will tell you which I would pick.
Get a platform recommendationWhen I would not recommend each one
I build on all four, so I have no reason to push one. Each has a situation where I would talk you out of it.
Shopify
When you need to change how checkout or the server behaves at a deep level, or you sell something its policies restrict. You rent the platform; some decisions are never yours.
Suits: owners who want to sell, not administer.
Shopify developer and store setupWooCommerce
When nobody will update WordPress, WooCommerce and plugins and test them on a staging copy first. An unmaintained Woo store gets slow and then gets hacked.
Suits: owners who want full ownership and have help on call.
WooCommerce developer and store tuningMagento
For a few hundred products and a small budget. Hosting, search services and developer time cost more than the flexibility is worth at that size.
Suits: large catalogues, many store views, B2B.
Magento developer for large cataloguesOpenCart
When the plan depends on many extensions or fast growth. Extensions vary in quality, and moving between major versions often breaks themes and add-ons.
Suits: lean stores that want low running costs.
OpenCart developer for lean online stores
Questions about choosing a platform
Which platform is cheapest overall?
It depends on who does the upkeep. OpenCart and WooCommerce usually cost least to run if you or a developer handle updates; Shopify often costs least in time because hosting and security are included. Magento is rarely the cheapest. Put your own figures into the three-year calculator above to see your answer.
Which is best for a small catalogue?
For most small catalogues, Shopify or WooCommerce. Choose Shopify if you want to run the store without a developer, and WooCommerce if you already use WordPress or want full ownership. OpenCart suits a lean store on a tight budget. Magento is usually too heavy below a few thousand products.
Which scales to very large catalogues?
Magento is built for very large catalogues, many store views and complex B2B pricing, provided it has proper hosting and a developer team. Shopify also handles large volumes, with limits on how far you can change checkout and data. WooCommerce can grow large too, with careful hosting and engineering.
Get a platform recommendation
Tell me what you sell, roughly how many products and who will run the store. You get a written recommendation and a fixed build price within one working day.
Leader on your weights: Shopify. It is preselected in the form; change it if you disagree.
Pikselipolku is an independent studio and is not affiliated with Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, Adobe Commerce or OpenCart.
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