eCommerce Platforms
There is no best eCommerce platform. There is the one that fits your catalogue, your staff and your appetite for maintenance, and there are the others. Choosing wrongly is expensive because the cost appears late, when the shop is already trading.
This guide describes five options as we find them in daily work. It gives no prices, because vendors change them and any figure here would go stale. Read each vendor's current price list, then weigh it against the effort described below.
Five platforms, described plainly
Each description names the kind of business it suits and the work it demands after launch.
Shopify
A hosted service. The vendor runs the servers, security patches and checkout. It suits merchants who want to sell rather than manage software. You pay a subscription, app fees add up month by month, and deep checkout changes are limited to the higher plan. Effort after launch is low.
WooCommerce
A free, open-source plugin for WordPress. It suits shops where content and commerce sit together, and owners who want full control of code and data. You arrange hosting, updates, backups and security yourself. Effort after launch is moderate and never ends.
Magento / Adobe Commerce
Magento Open Source is free to download. Adobe Commerce is the licensed edition. Both suit large catalogues, several storefronts, and complex pricing for trade buyers. They need capable hosting, a search service and experienced developers. Effort is high at every stage.
OpenCart
A light, open-source PHP store. It suits a small catalogue on modest hosting with a limited budget. Extension quality varies widely, and upgrades between major versions can break them. Effort is low while the shop stays simple.
Headless
The storefront is a separate application that talks to a commerce back end through an API. It suits teams that need unusual front-end behaviour or one back end feeding several channels. You maintain two systems, and features that themes provide for nothing must be written. Effort is the highest of the five.
Questions that settle the choice
Feature lists look alike across platforms. The answers to these questions do not.
How many stock lines, and how do they vary
A few hundred simple products run anywhere. Tens of thousands of lines with many attributes narrow the field quickly.
Who will look after it
If nobody on your side wants to think about servers and updates, a hosted service removes that work. If you have developers, open source gives them room.
How odd is your pricing
Customer-specific price lists, quotes, tiered discounts and credit limits are native in some platforms and bolted on in others.
What must it connect to
Accounting, warehouse and marketplace links depend on the connectors available for each platform. Check that the one you need exists and is maintained.
Where do you sell
Several currencies, languages and tax regimes are handled very differently. Some platforms need a separate store per market.
How much will you change the checkout
Hosted checkouts are dependable and restricted. Open-source checkouts can be altered freely, and you carry the testing.
Costs that are not on the price list
Compare platforms on the total of these, not on the subscription or licence alone.
- Monthly fees for apps and extensions
- Payment processing and any platform transaction fee
- Hosting sized for your busiest day
- Developer time for updates and security patches
- Theme changes each time the platform moves on
- Staff time to learn the admin screens
- Connector subscriptions for accounts and warehouse
- The cost of leaving, if you ever need to
Hosted or self-managed?
A hosted service fits when
- Your products and pricing are conventional.
- Nobody in the business wants to manage servers.
- You accept the platform's checkout largely as it comes.
- You prefer a predictable monthly bill to occasional large ones.
Open source fits when
- Your pricing, catalogue or checkout rules are unusual.
- You want the data and code on infrastructure you control.
- You have, or will pay for, developers to maintain it.
- The site is already WordPress and the shop is one part of it.
Platform questions we hear
Which platform do you recommend most often?
None by default. The recommendation follows from your catalogue, staff and integrations. We set out the reasoning in writing so you can challenge it.
Is open source really free?
The software is. Hosting, extensions, developer time and upkeep are not. Over several years a free platform can cost more than a subscription, or less. It depends on how much you change.
Do we need headless?
Probably not. A well-built theme on a standard platform is quick enough for most shops. Headless is justified by a specific requirement, not by fashion.
Is Magento too big for us?
If you have a small catalogue and no developers, yes. Its strengths only pay back when you use them.
Can we change platform later?
Yes, at a cost. Products, customers and orders can be moved, and addresses redirected. Our migration page describes what is involved.
Get a written recommendation
Tell us your product count, the systems the shop must connect to, and who will run it day to day. We reply within one business day.