OpenCart vs Shopify: How To Choose The Right Platform For You

Choosing the right e-commerce platform can be a daunting task, especially with so many options available. Having personally worked with both OpenCart and Shopify, I understand the unique strengths and potential challenges of each. 

In this article, I'll share my experiences and insights to help you determine which platform is the best fit for your business needs. 

OpenCart vs Shopify: Which one should you choose?

OpenCart is a completely free open-source store management system, but you will have to do literally everything to set up your store and keep it running.

You will have to host your own website or find a host provider. You will have to buy a domain name, create a database via open-source administration, install the platform, and then set up the store all on your own.

That is a lot of work and you need to have essential knowledge to do all these things. If you can’t you need to hire someone who can.

On the contrary, Shopify is an all-in-one platform that will take care of everything to create a dream store for you. It features beautiful themes, an amazing back-end for store management, and thousands of apps to satisfy your needs. 

The initial setup of Shopify is simple and straightforward. You can customize your store by yourself easily using a built-in editor. No coding knowledge is required whatsoever.

Shopify features 4 plans ranging from $25 to $2300. There is a 3-day trial followed by a $1 deal for the first month.

Just now was the most glaring difference between Shopify and Opencart. If that is not enough for you to decide yet then here are a few more:

• Shopify’s security is much better than Opencart with two-factor authentication, PCI level 1 compliant, and more.
• Shopify has better support with 24/7 live chat and phone support, community, social media support, and more.
• Opencart lets you manage multiple stores with 1 installation while you need an account for each Shopify store.
• Opencart offers more Add-ons and theme choices with 13000+ add-ons and 1000+ themes, with a lot of great free options.

If you can afford Shopify, go for it. Spending your time doing everything by yourself to set up a store with OpenCart is simply not worth it and there will be more problems you have to deal with in the future.

OpenCart vs Shopify: Pricing Plans

As mentioned Opencart is a free open-source solution so you can get it for free. However, you cannot set up an online with OpenCart alone.

You need to buy a domain, a host, an SSL certificate,... Some themes might be free, but others are not. They can require a subscription or a one-time payment. As your needs increase, your cost will increase accordingly as well.

As for Shopify, they offer 4 core subscription tiers:

• Basic – $25/month
• Shopify – $65/month
• Advanced – $399/month
• Shopify Plus – Starting at $2,300/month

You will get a 3-day free trial, followed by a $1 deal for the first month. Of course, there are other costs such as themes, apps, and transaction fees.

OpenCart vs Shopify: Detailed Comparison

Ease of Use  - Shopify Wins

There is no debate, Shopify is built to make it easier for people to create their online stores. You just need to create a Shopify account. The rest will be spoon-fed to you by the platform. Everything is just simple and intuitive.

OpenCart on the other hand, to set up your e-commerce store, you'll first need to purchase a domain name and web hosting. 

Next, you'll create a database via open-source administration, install the platform, and configure the store on your own. This process often requires coding skills or hiring an expert, which can add to your costs.

However, many hosting providers offer free OpenCart setup or an autoinstaller to simplify the task, potentially saving you time and effort.

Features - It’s a tie

Both platforms provide all the essential features for you to build and grow your online stores. The admin panel of both are easy to use and intuitive. In there, you can manage your user permissions, extensions, themes, payment gateways, etc…

OpenCart allows you to control multiple stores from a single admin portal.The admin portal is set in English, but products can be listed with prices in multiple currencies, and add-ons for foreign languages are available. 

OpenCart supports multi-channel selling, integrates with various shipping methods, and offers guest checkouts to reduce abandoned carts. 

Additional features include access to coupons and discounts, SEO tools, reporting and analytics, and recurring payments for subscription-based products. Customers can leave reviews to boost social proof. OpenCart also includes backup and restore tools, blogging and SEO functions, customer search filters, and integration for add-ons and plugins

Shopify provides access to CSS and HTML elements, a variety of premium and free templates, and multiple payment gateways, including credit cards and PayPal.

Shopify supports global currencies and features cart recovery, customer accounts, drag-and-drop website building, dropshipping fulfillment, marketing templates, and product and inventory management. Additionally, Shopify includes advanced security with an SSL certificate, social media integrations, and access to domain names.

Themes and Apps - OpenCart Wins

It is rare to see Shopify lose in this department, but OpenCart gives you a lot more theme and app options. 

OpenCart offers over 13,000 add-ons, both free and paid along with more than 1000 themes. It also has many more free themes than Shopify.

That being said, the Shopify App Store and Shopify Theme Store aren’t bad by any means. They offer hundreds of themes and thousands of apps to accommodate any needs you might have.

Security - Shopify Wins

Since you are doing everything yourself with OpenCart, you are also responsible for security as well. There are a few simple tricks to strengthen security offered by the platform, but that’s about it. OpenCart does't offer any security measure at all. You have to take care of it yourself.

On the other hand, Shopify boasts a robust array of security features to protect its users and their customers.The two-factor authentication is mandatory for using Shopify Payments. The platform is also PCI level 1 compliant, a designation given only to large businesses processing over 6 million transactions annually, ensuring secure credit card processing. Furthermore, Shopify protects customer data in accordance with GDPR regulations.

Additionally, Shopify includes a fraud protection system that flags suspicious orders and notifies administrators for review, enhancing overall transaction security. These comprehensive security measures make Shopify a reliable choice for secure e-commerce operations.

Support - Shopify Wins

OpenCart has a big community forum, where people share knowledge and help each other. That is the only free support source it has. Otherwise, you have to pay to use some of their support services:

• Password Reset – $50 per reset
• One-time Store Backup – $50 per backup
• Update OpenCart version – starting from $300
• One-time Bug Fix – starting from $100

Meanwhile, Shopify also has a huge community, plus 24/7 live chat and phone support, social media, and email. All of them are included in every plan.

Conclusion

Both OpenCart and Shopify are great platforms to build an e-commerce store for your business. The biggest difference between them is the cost/effort ratio. OpenCart requires more effort, technicality to set up and maintain while being free. Meanwhile, Shopify provides every tool you need to run an online store easily without any coding experience at all.

In the end, it all comes down to your preference whether you want to save money or save time and work.