Magento 2 Commerce and Shopify Plus are the two most preferred platforms for budding entrepreneurs to start their online stores. But, most individuals often find themselves in a dilemma to choose one among the two!
Both of these platforms have enticing features and functionalities to operate a successful eCommerce store. But ultimately, you ought to choose one and get along with your eCommerce journey.
So, this is an in-depth guide for you to compare the efficacies of Magento 2 and Shopify Plus to decide what’s best for the requirements and expectations associated with your online store. Read along till the end to find out!
What is Magento 2 Commerce?
Magento 2 commerce is one of the best enterprise platforms that exists for helping entrepreneurs build their online stores rapidly and with less expenses. This platform is popularly recognised for its high-scale enterprise performance, efficient business tools and outstanding functionalities.
People know Magento 2 as an open-source eCommerce platform, but it offers two versions for business owners to choose the one that fits their requirements. There’s a free Magento 2 Open Source version and a paid Magento 2 commerce version. The free version is also positively impactful for online store owners but has certain limitations that is revoked in the paid version.
What is Shopify Plus?
Shopify Plus, just like Magento Commerce, is the paid version or enterprise edition of the popular eCommerce platform, Shopify. It enables the users to avail a lot of integrations and features, more than that of the free version of Shopify. Not only that, but you also get dedicated support solutions to improve your store’s experience for the customers.
Shopify Plus offers its users with hosting option, which makes the platform ideal for both mid-sized businesses as well as large-scale enterprises. Beyond this efficacy, Shopify Plus is also known for its quicker launch times and easy usability. Furthermore, you also have the liberty to implement custom Shopify app integrations through dedicated APIs.
What are the Two Crucial Comparison Factors Between Magento 2 and Shopify Plus?
Are you confused about whether to go with Shopify Plus or Magento migration services to move your store to a new platform? Or do you want to use either one of these platforms to create a new store? Well, irrespective of what you intend, being aware of the most crucial differences that will help you decide better.
So, here are the two crucial comparison factors between Magento 2 and Shopify Plus for you to count on:
1. Pricing Variations
Before taking anything else into account, pricing is one of the most crucial considerations that will help you decide on choosing between Magento 2 or Shopify Plus. Every store owner would intend to avoid any unnecessary charges or overpriced service packages from an eCommerce platform.
Shopify Plus enables you to get your custom price quotation by filling in the contact form over the platform. The pricing of Shopify Plus is not enlisted publicly because you will be able to negotiate the rates depending on the overall sales volume or the specific features you want to avail.
But still, some of the obvious costs that you will have to bear on Shopify Plus is, a minimum platform fee of $2000. However, the method of how the fee would be charged will be changed after you attain a specific amount of sales volume over the store. There will be no more charges for hosting.
On the other hand, even Magento 2 commerce’s pricing is also negotiable. What you need is to submit the select business information to get the exact pricing plan for starting your store. Some of the charges you will incur upon choosing Magento 2 are platform or license fee, which will vary depending on your company size and GMV (Gross Merchandise Value).
Beyond that, you won’t be provided with any hosting service over Magento. So, you will be required to hire third-party hosting solutions, which would come at an additional fee.
The development costs will be levied for both Shopify Plus and Magento 2, and that will vary depending on your design and feature preferences.
2. Apps and Extensions
The next big thing while comparing the efficacies of Magento 2 and Shopify Plus is the availability of add-ons, modules or plugins for the store. Shopify Plus enables store owners to develop specific apps and install them in their stores to add new functionalities or features to the platform.
On the other hand, Magento 2 extensions are integrations for your respective store to introduce new performance enhancements to it. ERPs, payment gateways, order fulfilment, speed boosters and a lot of other apps or extensions are available for both Shopify Plus and Magento platforms.
So, you must compare the performance benefits of some of the top apps and extensions of Shopify Plus and Magento 2, respectively, in order to decide what’s best for you. You might get the demonstrations for most of these add-ons.
Some of the top Shopify Plus apps that are trending and are being used commonly by most store owners are:
- Shopify Flow
It is the automation platform for your eCommerce store that will help you set most of your operational tasks of the store on automation to help you drive your focus on other core aspects.
- Script Editor
It is a popular application that is tailored for all Shopify Plus users, loaded with shipping scripts, payment scripts, line item scripts. With the use of scripts, you will be able to streamline the checkout process for your customers.
On the other hand, some of the Magento 2 extensions that are being praised among the eCommerce businesses immensely are:
- Magento 2 PWA Extension
PWA extension for the Magento store enables businesses to enhance the user experience of the site. Magento 2 PWA extension helps integrate features such as push notifications, offline browsing and others to improve customer retention and user engagement.
- Hyva Theme Extensions
Hyva theme extensions are considered among the top front-end themes for all the Magento 2 stores. It is more like a toolset that offers the best UX and site performance for your site without any additional cost.
Take demonstrations for extensions or apps of Magento and Shopify Plus altogether to see what can replicate a better performance for the store. Check out the Magento marketplaces of the Shopify app store to explore other add-ons available for your store to see the level of functionality enhancements you can make to your store.
Parting Words
Flexibility, scalability, management and other such features are most likely the same for both Shopify Plus as well as Magento 2 commerce. Both are best in several ways to help you run a very successful online store. But, the pricing and availability of add-ons are the two crucial factors that can change your mind on either of these platforms.
So, take these factors into consideration, or connect with ideal professionals to help you with the right advice on which platform would suit your eCommerce business idea the most.