Magento vs PrestaShop: Comparison & Pros and Cons

1. Magento vs PrestaShop debate doesn’t seem to end anytime soon. As per W3Techs, Magento backs up 1.2% while PrestaShop powers 0.8% of all CMS-based sites. Both eCommerce development platforms are going neck to neck with each other. In this blog, we’ll help you decide which one is the best choice for your business website. Read further to know the advantages and disadvantages of both and decide it yourself. Magento vs PrestaShop Magento: Merits  Flexible: Magento is known to suit almost all kinds of projects. As it’s open- source, and if you’ve got the skills, you can make as many modifications as you like.  Extensive features: Magento offers a wide range of features even with its free version. This saves a lot of time and money that you’ll otherwise spend on the installation of extensions.  Third-party integration: Magento allows easy integration with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. This characteristic makes the job really easy for Magento support services.  Mobile-friendly: After its release in 2015, Magento 2 came with many enhancements. The major one being its responsiveness. The websites built with Magento respond equally well for desktop as well as mobile devices.

2.  Supportive community: The popularity of the platform has made the Magento community a strong and helpful one. It consists of experts in the field who are there to assist you with the solutions you need.  SEO-friendly: Magento is considered to be the most SEO-friendly eCommerce platform because of its extensive SEO-friendly features.  Highly scalable: High scalability is one of the main reasons organizations prefer Magento. It is equipped to process thousands of transactions each hour letting your online store grow without worrying about the load. Magento: Demerits  Cost: Magento’s premium version requires you to pay a hefty amount. Even if the price varies with each project, monthly bills can still cross four figures.  Complex: Working with extensive features of Magento core can be tricky for some programmers. Look for renowned Magento development servicesif you want customized features for your website.  Not convenient: Magento is as simple or tricky as it can prove to be because of its extensive features. Getting the hang of its versatility is not something that comes easy. PrestaShop: Merits  Free: PrestaShop is freely available for use. It can be used for multiple projects by a PrestaShop development company. Furthermore, its open-source nature allows you to edit its source code for customizing its functions.  User-friendly: Other than the fact that PrestaShop is easy to install, it is also easy to work with. Even someone with less experience won’t find difficulty in working with it.  Extensive add-ons: PrestaShop offers more themes and modules in comparison to its counterparts. This gives you more options to customize your online store.  Nominal hardware requirements: PrestaShop has no particular specifications for its respective server. For beginners, it allows you to develop a website with an inexpensive hosting service.  Simple default installation: This platform’s core doesn’t contain as many features and tools as Magento. Thus, reflects in its performance and stability.  eCommerce analytics: eCommerce website development companies prefer PrestaShop because of its built-in tools which enable them to assess the behavior of the visitors on the website. It provides an in-depth analysis of crucial metrics such as traffic volume and conversion rates.  Multilingual capabilities: The platform is accessible in more than 70 different languages and supports multiple currencies. PrestaShop: Demerits

3.  Limited scalability: PrestaShop is more suitable for smaller and mid-size projects. It is not recommended for websites with high traffic.  Design limitations: The platform permits limited customization of themes. When compared with other eCommerce development platforms, it provides less flexibility in design cases.  Costly templates and modules: As PrestaShop doesn’t contain many built-in features, you will need to spend more on the additional plug-ins. Final Thoughts Both Magento and PrestaShop are great platforms to start with. After a thorough evaluation, PrestaShop seems to be a good option if you have a low budget and want a simple website. While Magento is more suitable if you want a highly aesthetic website loaded with personalized features. But for this, you might need a professional from a Magento eCommerce consulting company to leverage its functionalities.