The open-source movement has benefited many industries, including ecommerce. The ecommerce market is no longer dominated by a handful of large players. With the emergence of open-source solutions, there are now numerous ecommerce solutions for small business owners. Some experts have even praised the benefits of open-source systems in comparison with their proprietary counterparts.
Open source ecommerce platforms can be a useful way to get a head start on an ecommerce project without cost when building your website and online store. You can take pride knowing that your ecommerce site was created using open source software that is being improved and updated by the community. Open source ecommerce software offers lower prices, in comparison to using proprietary software and permits you to have more control over your solution. In this article we are going to go through the top best free open source and open ecommerce platform which is free for everyone.
If you are planning to start an ecommerce website, you need to choose a software platform that is cost-effective and flexible. Best open source and free ecommerce platforms offer you varied features and functionalities, which is important as it helps in differentiating your store.
The best Open Source and Free Ecommerce Platforms. Our team is reviewing online stores platforms to help you find the most suitable solution for your business. We have done all technical work for you so you can concentrate on running your e-business. Open source ecommerce platforms means that the software code is open to everyone and anyone can contribute a feature or even fix a bug reported by someone else. This is great for you as an ecommerce business owner because you get free improvements to the software and free support, however it might surprise you that many businesses don’t even use the extensions created by others and instead hire a developer to build custom extensions tailored to their needs.
The Top Open-Source Platforms for eCommerce
Choosing the best eCommerce platform is as subjective and tricky as trying to find the most beautiful woman in the world. eCommerce solutions comparison shows that each of existing platforms has its own advantages and strong points suitable for some clients but totally improper for others.
Solidus
Solidus works a bit differently from the majority of eCommerce solutions on the market. It’s a fully customizable open-source eCommerce platform based on the Ruby on Rails framework. It also utilizes headless eCommerce architecture that’s regularly maintained by its developer community. For the uninitiated, this just means that your eCommerce website’s front-end is separate from its backend.
Unlike other eCommerce solutions that hand you premade designs, web design is left entirely in the hands of your software team. At a basic level, you’ll use an API from Solidus’s framework to create custom features and designs while also being able to benefit from Soldius’s in-built eCommerce functionality. All without affecting the design or user interface with any updates or edits you make.
Solidus’s basic eCommerce features focus on product management, payment options, and logistics. This functionality is packed into coding modules that you can import into your site.
For example, you can control your online and physical store inventories using the product module.
Soldius also enables you to organize how products appear on your website and within your database because Solidus provides coding options for both your store’s aesthetics and administration. In fact, you can even use Solidus to build your own backend user interface. This is especially useful for designing something specifically for your team and implementing whatever workflows/processes/UX you think would serve your teammates best.
Solidus is extensive in the sense that not only can you create an online store, but it’s also a complete management system with payment processing and resources that control:
- Shipping
- Postage
- Transactions
On top of all the modules available, you can also integrate with third-party logistics providers, payment services, and marketing platforms.
There are plenty of free extensions available that are designed and updated by other Solidus community members. However, you can also find official third-party add-ons if you want extra assurances about the integration’s validity.
Zen Cart
The whole reason Zen Cart was created was so that people without development degrees could build their own online stores.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that you don’t need any coding knowledge, but it’s pretty close.
But, I can assure you this, Zen Cart is more user-friendly than many of the other open source ecommerce platforms, so it might be worth looking into if you want to scale up quickly but you don’t have advanced developer skills.
Drupal Commerce (Drupal)
One of the most comprehensive open source ecommerce platforms available, Drupal Commerce was built by the Commerce Guys and offers multilingual, multicurrency, global functionality – making it the perfect fit for sits like Open Sesame, an e-learning language course provider.
Drupal readily integrates with numerous third-party applications. It’s currently one of the only ecommerce platforms built on a CMS (Drupal Content Management System), making it innately compatible with a strong content marketing strategy. Like many other open source platforms, it’s the support that will cost you – Commerce Guys offers Drupal Commerce application support is very expensive. That makes sense when you see their client list. Drupal Commerce is popular with large enterprises.
Who’s Using Drupal Commerce?
- Open Sesame
- Lush Cosmetics
- Cartier Jewelers
Zeuscart
Zeuscart doesn’t hide their developer-centric nature. Land on the home page, and you’ll be greeted with enough acronyms to chase off anyone who isn’t an avid programmer. MySQL. PHP. GPL license. You get the idea.
No matter how much programming knowledge you have, Zeuscart is a decent open source ecommerce solution. Their focus on the UX of their platform makes the platform less intimidating than many other open source options.
Zeuscart was built with Bootstrap and is designed with small and medium businesses in mind. It is feature rich and marketing friendly, boasts a decent community, and offered free support for the first 30 days with paid support from that point on. This could have been an ecommerce platform worth watching. Unfortunately, the website and social media feeds seem to have been abandoned in 2014, although you can still download the ecommerce platform from the Zuescart website.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is one of the best free ecommerce platforms that’s based on PHP programming language. It is an extension of WordPress CMS made by Jigoshop. WooCommerce commands more than 30% of the global market share. It can be easily installed even by a beginner while setting it up on any PHP Host is just a matter of seconds.. If you are using Cloudways, WooCommerce can be installed with just a single click. you can also make a WooCommerce multi-vendor marketplace with powerful SEO features. As it is used by more than 4 million retailers, it offers a huge repository of themes and plugins.
Of course, you will also need fast WooCommerce hosting for your WooCommerce website to improve traffic.
Magento
Magento is one of the most trusted ecommerce platforms and shopping carts available for individuals and enterprises alike. The ecommerce system is based on a PHP-based framework that lets you build scalable online businesses with ease. It comes with multiple extensions allowing easy integration of relevant third-party apps with the ecommerce store. However, as Magento is initially developed for developers so they don’t have to start from scratch, building an ecommerce store on this platform would require a certain level of expertise in PHP programming. Magento is the third most used ecommerce store builder and has over 10 percent market share.
Bagisto
Bagisto is an open-source eCommerce platform powered by PHP’s Laravel framework. Bagisto offers a wide range of basic to advance eCommerce enabling features that are making it a go-to platform for startups, and entrepreneurs. With Bagisto, you can make a multi-vendor marketplace with RTL Support and powerful SEO features. You can control multi-channel inventories from a single website, link your store with multiple inventory sources, and easily monitor your product stock in a given inventory.
Drupal
Drupal commerce is a PHP opensource ecommerce solution that is used by more than 600k websites.. Drupal commerce keeps an organized track of orders, receipts, payments, and invoices along with the integration of different options for shipping and payment methods. Drupal is based on a Drupal content management system and offers a complete administration system including checkout form and multi-currency. It also offers third-party integrations for social networks, fulfillment, and accounting services.
Joomla
Joomla has an almost six percent market share that shows its moderate popularity among ecommerce users. It is a content management system and is mostly used by schools, churches, and individual ecommerce store owners. It has a thriving community of developers and designers and hosts more than 1.5 million ecommerce stores and websites.
OpenCart
OpenCart is a very popular free PHP ecommerce shopping cart and platform. OpenCart has a very strong and helpful community of professionals. OpenCart has an easily manageable interface with more than 8 methods of shipping, 20 gateways for payment, and hundreds of gateways and shipping methods in the directory. You can customize your store by choosing any one of the 2500+ attractive themes. Its interface is not only visually appealing but also easy to use. You can find the complete guide for using OpenCart by clicking here.
Prestashop
Prestashop is a PHP-based ecommerce shopping cart and platform that is built on the Smarty template engine. Prestashop offers hundreds of features, including on page-checkout, downloadable products, features cross-selling and one-page checkout. Prestashop is used in 160 countries and has been translated into 63 different languages. This has helped build Prestashop a strong community around the world with more than 300k community members. Prestashop also comes with customizable themes and feature add-ons.
OsCommerce
OsCommerce is one of the oldest opensource ecommerce builders with more than thirteen thousand stores that are built using the software. Stores built on OSCommerce can be customized using thousands of add ons. The community around OsCommerce has more than 350k members and is suitable for use with PHP and MySQL-based servers.
The Cons of Open Source Platforms
Hidden or Unpredictable Costs Many open source software providers give free access to the source code. It becomes an attractive option for many who want to jump right in and start exploring the endless possibilities. But amidst this excitement of free and easy onboarding, you should be aware of all the hidden and unpredictable expenses. As you move ahead with the launch of your ecommerce site, you’ll have to take into account other expenses such as maintenance costs, hosting charges, IT staff costs, and support fees.
Prone to Hacking Most open source software are open to be downloaded and modified by anyone. It exposes also expose them to hackers and pose a threat to their security. Complete archetype of your ecommerce site’s make and operation can be hacked, making it vulnerable to theft and security breaches.
Although, more reputable OSS providers regularly release new security updates to combat this threat, it’s an added responsibility for business owners to catch up with the latest upgrades. They will have to invest in hiring a team of tech-savvy individuals who’ll ensure timely implementation of security features. to safeguard their company’s as well as customer’s data.
Hosting Hassle While some high-tech companies might prefer to self-host their ecommerce site, it may be a hassle for others. It’s a task to find a trustworthy hosting provider, bandwidth packages and overall cost are important factors to be considered.
Conclusion
Ecommerce is a billion dollar industry that is growing every day. As an online entrepreneur, you’re likely thinking about how you can start your own online store. You’ll have to register a domain, design a website or blog theme, and then try to find the right platform(s) to host your ecommerce website.
The best free and open source ecommerce platform gives you complete control over your business and your website, meaning you can create an ecommerce store that fulfills your specific needs and budget.