Magento vs WooCommerce

Both Magento and WooCommerce are free eCommerce platforms, though Magento does have a paid option aimed at large companies. But if you are a small to medium sized business, Magento’s free offerings will work just fine. Though both are free, they also both offer upgrades for a price. However, the free features are good enough to get your eCommerce site up and running.



Installation


When it comes to installation requirements, WooCommerce is simplicity itself. As an extension of WordPress, as long as your server or your host server support MySQL and PHP and you have WordPress, you’re good to go. Magento, on the other hand, has a much longer list of server requirements, and it would be in your best interests to check them out to ensure your server environment is compatible. If you are looking for an enterprise level system and have the technical know-how to set one up, Magento shouldn’t be an issue, but if you want simplicity and don’t have advanced technical skills, stick with WooCommerce.



Customization Options


If you’re already familiar with customizing WordPress, then WooCommerce will be no problem. It’s easy to customize your storefront and change its design as needed. There are many different templates you can download, or you can design one yourself. Magento has an installation wizard which makes it easy to install, but customizing it will require technical skills or a Magento certified developer to customize your store to your specifications.



Features


When it comes to features, Magento can’t be beat. It offers product comparisons, coupon codes, discounts, group pricing, and allows you to manage multiple storefronts from a single account. It’s easily integrated with Google Analytics and Google Analyzer, and it offers thousands of extensions to add additional functionality to your store. But again, without technical skills, you’ll need help installing and customizing these add-ons.

WooCommerce doesn’t have the extensive features Magento has, but it does have plug-ins that can expand your functionality, and they are easy to install. However some of the extensions you need will cost you, but then if you have few technical skills, a Magento developer will cost you as well.

So the decision comes down to what you think you’ll need later on. If your business is going to grow rapidly, Magento is what you want, but if you plan to sell a limited number of products, want something that’s easy to use, and don’t plan to expand, WooCommerce is the platform for you.