WooCommerce vs. Magento: Battle of the E-commerce Platforms

Building an e-commerce business can only be successful if you have the right technology behind it. As you consider building, re-building, or even re-platforming your online store, you need to know what the available options are to make a decision that benefits you, your audience, and your business and revenue growth goals.

As you begin to research potential e-commerce platform options, two will likely stand out quickly: WooCommerce and Magento. Arguably among the most popular online store setups around the world, the two are similar in many ways. But it’s their differences that will help you decide which of these options is best for your needs and business.

So let’s dive in. This guide will give you everything you need to know about the nuances and decision points of WooCommerce vs. Magento.

Just the Basics: WooCommerce

At its core, WooCommerce is simple. It’s a free plug-in on the WordPress CMS that allows for flexible e-commerce solutions running within that platform. Around the world, WooCommerce powers more than 4 million websites (and 22% of the world’s top 1 million e-commerce websites).

All in all, it’s a light system. As an open-source plug-in vs. a standalone CMS, it’s user-friendly and tends to be easy to learn. At the same time, it’s flexible enough to scale with typical website and business growth as SKUs get more complex and audiences begin to grow.

Just the Basics: Magento

Unlike WooCommerce, Magento is a standalone CMS solution. It doesn’t build on anything, requiring a full migration for any WordPress user looking to change to this platform. Around 750,000 websites around the world use Magento, a market share of just above 1% among global CMS solutions and 8% among e-commerce sites.

Compared to WooCommerce, Magento is more complex. The platform sells its users on one of two basic business lines:

• Magento Community, which is free and open source. Features and scalability are relatively limited.

• Magento Commerce, which aims towards large enterprises. This option features plenty of advanced features, but requires a high learning curve and can come with a high cost.

So much for the basics. Next, let’s compare the two e-commerce platforms on three core factors: cost, usability, and features.

The Cost Differences Between WooCommerce and Magento

Pricing is a naturally significant factor for any online store looking to re-platform or re-design their backend experience. At first glance, the two systems are relatively similar: both offer free, open-source solutions that can scale up as needed.

Beyond the obvious, though, the difference emerge quickly:

• WooCommerce remains free, regardless of how it scales. The only cost factors are any hosting fees and potential extensions. Even then, pricing is typically reasonable.

• Magento’s free version is limited. The more comprehensive Commerce solution, on the other hand starts at $1,988 per month and goes up from there, with add-on prices for premium themes.

The winner: WooCommerce. Based purely on price, it requires the lower investment to create a comprehensive online store.

Magento vs. WooCommerce on Usability

Price, of course, matters little if the usability isn’t there. Put simply, you need to be able to leverage the system to its fullest degree to maximise your CMS return on investment. How do the two systems stack up in this area?

• WooCommerce, as a WordPress plug-in, is built for usability. The interface is built on a plug-and-play system, including a visual dashboard that attracts even e-commerce novices. Only minimum coding and web experience is required.

• Magento is more advanced by design. The complexity, especially of the Commerce option, tends to require professional expertise. That makes it a natural fit for large e-commerce merchants with a dedicated coding team.

The winner: it depends. If usability matters more, WooCommerce is the natural choice. Magento, on the other hand, has built a more complex interface that will only be a positive with a team of developers at your side.

Feature Differences in WooCommerce and Magento

Finally, let’s dig deeper into those features we’ve mentioned above. Both, naturally, have plenty to offer for merchants looking to optimise their online store. Does one stand out?

• WooCommerce offers a wide range of features ranging from customisation options to analytics, easy product SKU exports, and SEO as well as digital marketing integrations. Through plug-ins or custom development, you can add to its core offerings. Integrations with stock management systems, numerous payment options, quote management, personalisation and a great deal more can be achieved by a good development agency. Also, because it is WordPress, content is a breeze.

• Magento features, at least in the Commerce platform, go even beyond WooCommerce in its basic state. Examples include product recommendations, website personalisation, one-click purchase options, smart inventory management, and more. 

The winner: it depends. Most merchants will find everything they need in WooCommerce’s features, with the potential addition of an extension or two. With some custom development, it can be tailored for almost any business. Magento’s out of the box additions matter mainly at the enterprise level, where they can become useful additions to optimise the experience, but costly.

Which Solution Works for Different Business Types?

Combine the insights gained from the above breakdowns, and a clear trend emerges. WooCommerce works especially well for smaller businesses and mid-sized merchants, while Magento is carving out its niche on the enterprise level.

At the same time, it’s important to note that these lines are beginning to blur. WooCommerce has begun to position itself as a well-suited solution for larger businesses as well, and its market share among even enterprise merchants speaks for itself. That makes WooCommerce the more flexible solution across a wide range of revenue and audience volumes.

Summary

Put it all together, and you have two e-commerce platforms that have succeeded for a reason. However, despite their similarities, we find a clear winner: for any online store operator looking for a healthy mix of usability, price, and feature depth, WooCommerce takes it with the price to build and the backend technology you need.

Of course, the nuances behind that choice will depend on your individual business situation. In the end, it pays to walk through your options, and decide with all possible information available. But our recent experience with clients moving away from Magento after its move to Magento 2 reinforces our decision to declare a clear winner in this comparison.

So let’s talk. We can help you understand whether a custom-built WooCommerce store on the WordPress platform is right for your business, including estimates on costs, time spent on the conversion, and benefits. We’ve helped others migrate their store to WooCommerce, and can leverage that experience to help you do the same.