Shopify vs OpenCart

Posted by Paul Feakins on September 13, 2012

What is Shopify?

Shopify is a hosted shopping cart solution that can be set up by almost anyone with basic IT skills and an internet connection. It’s easy to set up and has some well-designed themes. The idea is that everything can be set up and managed through a web browser, right down to the domain name.

What are the pros?

• Very easy to set up.
• Simple and easy to use.
• Customisable design.
• Payment gateway included.
• Relatively low fees.
• Lots of nice themes available.

What are the cons?

• With simplicity comes inflexibility - unable to change anything other than the design.
• Lacking of some quite basic features.
• Not suitable for custom functionality.
• Not suitable for complex bespoke shops.

Feature	Shopify Basic	Shopify Professional	Shopify Business	Shopify Unlimited	OpenCart
Setup Cost	£0	£0	£0	£0	[1]
Monthly Cost	£18	£37	£61	£111	[2]
Yearly Cost	£216	£444	£732	£1332	[2]
Fees	2%	1%	1%	0%	[4]
Number of Products	100	2,500	10,000	Unlimited	Unlimited
Space	1GB	5GB	10GB	Unlimited	[2]
CMS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Blog	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Extensions	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Downloadable Products	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Discount Codes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Advanced Search					Yes
Open Source					Yes
Multi-Language					Yes
Multi-Currency					Yes
Product Reviews					Yes
Product Ratings					Yes
Related Products					Yes
Sub Categories					Yes
Blog Social Sharing					[3]
CMS Sub-Pages					[3]

Conclusion

For simple ecommerce websites that sell a small range of simple products, Shopify is great. For any ecommerce website that requires custom functionality, OpenCart would be a better option.

[1] Setup costs depend on requirements and range from £500-£5000.
[2] Hosting costs depend on traffic and range from £5-£300 per month.
[3] Available with an extension. 
[4] Depends on your payment gateway. 

Sources 
Shopify Pricing
http://www.shopify.com/pricing
OpenCart Features
http://www.opencart.com/index.php?route=feature/feature