Trying to decide between Magento and OpenCart

I'm trying to make a decision between Magento and OpenCart.

Hoping to get a little input to help me make up my mind.

Depends, whats important to you, what features you need, how technical you are, who your current web host is, how much of a learning curve you want to ensure and how quickly you want to get up and running.

We use both Magento and Opencart.

So fire away

Which is easier to change templates/themes?

Would be nice to have social media notifications when new items are added.

I use Siteground hosting, and have used Magento before, but it's been a while.

Onlinemarketer, don't know your name, but being that you use both, what differences do you see between the two?

What do you like about each and what would you wish each had that they don't?

I'm going to be working on these a little at a time. So time really isn't a factor.

Which is better at helping with SEO?

From my experience Opencart is much easier to theme/template.
Siteground should support opencart if it does magento.
I wish Magento was simpler to operate!
I wish OpenCart had Inventory management/paypal express as standard! (But modules are available)
In terms of SEO theyre both the same.

In all honesty from from you want, Opencart is the best solution, pretty much everything Magento can do is in an opencart module. Opencart is faster to deploy, faster to manage, fewer files in the installation.

The main thing we used Magento is for extended Multi-store features which are fast becoming available in OpenCart. And other things like Auto-Adding a product to the cart without the user clicking on add to cart and things like passing Aweber form variables direct to the one page checkout so that users details are captured for automated follow up sequences, recurring payments etc. We also used it to implement multivariant testing for conversion optimisation.

Another thing is if you don't know why you would need Magento, then you probably don't need Magento!

Thanks

What is the size of your shop?
Do you have your own server?

If the answers are, huge and multi-core and loads of ram go with magnento.

If you can handle that then you should be expecting to have staff that knows their way around zend and how optimization works. Without these skills and a small shop magnento's enterprise level is overkill and a waste of resources otherwise it's probably the current go to solution among opensource projects.

Opencart is good for those on shared hosting and limited budgets but yet realize that opensource will cost money in the long run.

We use both Magento and Opencart.

Opencart is definitely easier. I worked with Magento on and off for about 2 months and couldn't figure out how to set up multistores in it. Took me an hour to setup Opencart. And I'm not a novice - been running online stores since 2001.

If you have the time to invest in learning Magento - they have tutorials and training webinars, it is probably a bit stronger. But if you want to get stores up and get to selling, Opencart is faster.

Also if you have a full head of hair, its best to go with OpenCart because if you choose Magento, by the end of it you'd have ripped it all out!

Thanks to everyone. This post clear out lots of doubts.

I am using opencart from last 2 years, do not want to learn Magento from ABC..

But i love Magento's feature "Shop by Category, Shop by Price, Shop by Etc Etc.. like this http://www.next.co.in/

Is there any module for Open Cart to navigate "Shop by Fabric, Shop by Color Etc Etc..??

Although I am brand new to the Open Cart Community here - this topic question is DEAD ON what I am currently working through right now ... Open Cart v Magento.

I have a little (basic) experience fiddling around with Magento - though have never yet operated a live store.
Also, I've been working with Joomla based templates for several years, so working with CSS (and some PHP) is not an issue.

One of the primary issues (for me) with Magento is that - while there are quite a number of free extensions available - most of the better third-party developed extensions and themes are (in my opinion) ridiculously expensive. Conversely, during my research this past weekend, I'm finding that most of the comparable extensions available for OpenCart (that I was able to find, anyway) are very reasonably priced - most within the $10-$20 range. So that is definitely a PLUS for OpenCart.


The ONE THING that is holding me back from pulling the proverbial trigger and going with OpenCart is that I have yet to see/find a truly decent/dynamic/robust version of a MEGA MENU navigation system for OpenCart. YES, I KNOW there are a handful of "mega menu" extensions available .... but from those I've been able to find/see, they are severely lacking in their dynamic capacity - i.e. the ability to integrate various modules, video and custom-html (if desired).

As an example of what I am referring to . . . . .
See the following examples of both a Magento theme and an OpenCart theme - developed/offered by the same theme developers (albeit different company/domain names relative to their Magento and OpenCart themes). The particular theme is based on the same concept, but notice the difference in the "mega menu" navigation between the Magento based theme and the OpenCart based theme . . . .

- MAGENTO Based "EM Supermarket" Theme --> CLICK HERE

- OPEN CART Based "Supermarket" Theme --> CLICK HERE

I actually much more like the way they styled the mega menu items within THIS THEME (Magento), but I think you will see what I am referring to in terms of the ability to integrate much more dynamic content into the mega menu structure for Magento based theme(s) than (as I've been able to currently research/find) the OpenCart based theme(s). The "more dynamic" mega menu structure is widely utilized with Joomla as well.



I am quite sure that some of you may want to say to me "why does it matter so much?" I simply find the options available through a more robust/dynamic mega menu system to be very important in today's ecommerce marketplace - in terms of the capacity/options for dynamic content.


So, my question at this point is . . . .
WHY does it seem that the ability to develop and/or utilize a much more dynamic mega-menu structure for OpenCart based themes is so limited?

Is it a particular coding barrier or restriction?



I look forward to any comments/thoughts, insight, direction and/or resources related to my issue/question above.



TOM

greymatters wrote: But i love Magento's feature "Shop by Category, Shop by Price, Shop by Etc Etc..

Having spent quite a number of hours researching though the hundreds of OpenCart extensions, I DO KNOW that there are several extensions available that provide the same kind of filtered search and/or layered navigation as you see in Magento sites. This was definitely a PLUS (for me) for the OpenCart side - as I am right there with you in very much liking that feature with Magento.

FURTHER, I believe you can configure (at least some of) the OpenCart extensions for whatever filter category you want - i.e. by "fabric," by "color," etc.


Although the layered/filtered navigation is an "out of the box" feature with Magento, the relative OpenCart extensions are (in my opinion) very reasonably priced/affordable ... so having to purchase the extension for this function for OpenCart is not a deal-breaker for me.

Any additional thoughts on this

I actually much more like the way they styled the mega menu items within THIS THEME (Magento), but I think you will see what I am referring to in terms of the ability to integrate much more dynamic content into the mega menu structure for Magento based theme(s) than (as I've been able to currently research/find) the OpenCart based theme(s). The "more dynamic" mega menu structure is widely utilized with Joomla as well.

This is a bad example of a mega menu and would me put off buying from that shop!

JNeuhoff wrote: This is a bad example of a mega menu and would me put off buying from that shop!

Well, each to his own opinion .... I happen to like the versatility inherent within the linked example in terms of the variety of dynamic content that can be integrated.


The point is that I am looking for/wanting the ability/options for such a structure available within an Open Cart compatible mega menu.

Of course OpenCart! It has a lot of different features that can make your store profitable.
Moreover, OpenCart doesn't need so much programming skills to handle the store.
Check this article to read the comparison of OpenCart and Magento.