OpenCart vs WooCommerce: Which One Should You Choose

Posted by JackBudd on March 8, 2024

Are you grappling with the decision between OpenCart and WooCommerce for your online store? In our recent article, we delved into a comparison between OpenCart and Shopify. Now, we're turning our focus to the battle between OpenCart and WooCommerce, to help you make an informed decision. You can take a look at our quick comparison table below, or read on for further details!

Aspect	OpenCart	WooCommerce
Ease of Use	User-friendly admin panel. High level of customisation and flexibility.	Learning curve for non-WordPress users, technical setup.
Customisation	OpenCart offers unparalleled control, allowing for extensive design and functionality customisation.	While many themes do come with built-in support for WooCommerce, there's a significant number that don't, leaving you with the default WooCommerce appearance unless you opt for customisation.
Cost	"One time investment" to set up your store, with the additional fees of hosting the website. Non-technical users may require help from developers, resulting in further costs.	Upfront costs can be significant, especially for complex or customised websites. Costs also include hosting, security, plugin costs, and more.
Scalability	Ideal for small to medium-sized businesses.	Limited scalability for large and complex stores.
Themes and Templates	Diverse range of themes fostering creativity. Custom theme development available for a very high level of customisation.	Themes and plugins will become outdated if you don't keep them updated, but there's are many up-to-date options available.
App Ecosystem	Large app marketplace with lots of custom extensions. Most OpenCart extensions can also be further customised to match the your exact requirements.	Relies heavily on third-party plugins with varying quality.
Payment Options	Supports various payment gateways, providing flexibility.	Multiple payment gateway integrations. The wrong payment options, however, can limit your reach and lead to lost sales.
SEO Features	Solid, easy to use SEO features for optimising online visibility.	Relies on WordPress SEO plugins. WooCommerce generates URLs dynamically, which can sometimes result in complex and non-SEO-friendly URLs, especially if not configured properly.
Community Support	Active community support and forums with various professional OpenCart developers.	Comprehensive documentation and tutorials.
Security	Security depends on hosting and updates.	Security reliant on WordPress ecosystem, may require additional plugins. It has been reported to be less secure and more vulnerable to hackers. Your website data could be compromised with WooCommerce.
Hosting	Allows for more control with the option for separate hosting.	Hosting requirements may be specific to WordPress platform. The cost of hosting can range from £100 to £500 per year, depending on the size and traffic of the website.

WooCommerce vs OpenCart: Side-By-Side Comparison

Installation

OpenCart boasts a straightforward installation process, followed by template selection and product addition, facilitating quick setup for merchants. Conversely, WooCommerce requires ownership of a WordPress website beforehand, extending the installation process slightly. Some users have also reported that WooCommerce takes up a lot of space. You will may experience issues when you configure your hosting plan with it.

Store Management Process

Both platforms offer user-friendly store management interfaces, with WooCommerce leveraging the familiar WordPress dashboard for oversight. OpenCart provides an intuitive admin interface, ensuring comprehensive control over your store's operations.

Design

While WooCommerce offers templates primarily from WooThemes, OpenCart provides a diverse range of themes to captivate your customers.

Multiple Features

OpenCart shines with advanced features like multi-store management, accommodating diverse languages, currencies, and tax rates. While WooCommerce integrates seamlessly with WordPress, it may lack certain e-commerce functionalities. Nonetheless, WooCommerce leverages WordPress's strengths in content management and SEO.

Marketing Tools

Both platforms offer flexible discount systems and SEO capabilities to attract and retain customers. However, OpenCart boasts a broader array of add-ons and modules, enhancing its functionality and marketing prowess.

Support

Both OpenCart and WooCommerce provide comprehensive documentation and community forums for assistance. Additionally, professional support is available for a reasonable fee, ensuring merchants receive timely help when needed.

Payment Gateways

OpenCart supports over 20 payment gateways, offering merchants flexibility in transaction processing. In contrast, WooCommerce supports a limited number of gateways, albeit with the option to develop custom modules.

Security

OpenCart ensures PCI compliance, guaranteeing the safety of proprietary information. WooCommerce, backed by Sucuri, adheres to stringent WordPress security standards, providing merchants with peace of mind regarding data security. However, it has been reported to be less secure and more vulnerable to hackers than other platforms.

OpenCart vs WooCommerce: Bottom Line

In conclusion, OpenCart emerges as the superior choice for merchants seeking a robust and feature-rich e-commerce platform. With its user-friendly interface, advanced features, and affordability, OpenCart stands as the optimal solution for businesses aiming to thrive in the competitive online marketplace.

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