What’s the best open source ecommerce platform out there for small to mid-sized business? There are a number of open source solutions worth considering. Each of the below solutions has a nice set of features and benefits that you will want to consider. Are you curious about best free open source ecommerce? Or about best free open source ecommerce platform? Read this article on free ecommerce platforms.
Best Open Source Ecommerce platforms are the highly customizable solutions which do come with open source code and this ensures that you are within your app like a king. This can be modified according to your business requirements no matter even if you want it to as per your brand image or like to remove codes that you don’t feel significant.
Ecommerce software is a piece of software that allows you to create and manage an online store. It is not a difficult task if I can say so. In today’s world of online businesses, this is a must-have toolkit for anyone who takes his business seriously. The market is full of options with different set of features. So choosing the right one can be hard sometimes. But having some information about most important features and characteristics can help choosing the right open source ecommerce software for your business.
Ecommerce is much of a trend now as it was in its inception days. The demands of the users are increasing day by day and it’s necessary for businesses to stay updated with the trends. Open Source Ecommerce Solutions have become a great support system in this era as they provide platform independence, cost efficiency, and rapid development.
The Pros of Open Source Platforms
Customizability & Endless Capabilities In my opinion, this is the most attractive perk of Open Source Platforms. OSS gives you complete access to the source code and the freedom to modify it. It comes with multiple themes, several uniques features, and a pool of plugins to choose from. You can give shape to your imagination by customizing the site the way you want. All you need is a creative vision and hands-on support of savvy developers. Once you’ve laid out a clear picture, your developers can bring it to life by creating a site that works best for your unique business needs. You’ll have a better control over the design and functioning of your website.
Choice of Payment Gateways Another benefit of OSS is that they do not tie your site to some specific payment gateways. OSS enables you to integrate your site with a wider range of payment gateways. This is particularly helpful if you are looking to take your business overseas, since some nations might have their own preferred gateways. You won’t have trouble integrating with any specific gateway that is preferred by a nation and compliant with their security norms.
Widespread Support Open source systems are built and monitored by a community. The developers aren’t employed for wages, they are passionate contributors. They are also willing to provide great support and continue to add new ideas and upgrades. There are several active community blogs and forums that creates a good knowledge base for OSS users. Many developers and tech savvy people take part in testing the platforms, and finding security bugs.
It makes it easy for OSS newbies to give wings to their imagination while remaining anchored with tremendous support and guidance.
PrestaShop – Best Open Source Ecommerce Platform for Startups
PrestaShop is somewhat new in the ecommerce platform game, but it’s made a name for itself with its ease of use and the beautiful interface it provides. Another thing to consider is that it doesn’t take much experience to install the plugin and get started on building your store.
Therefore, small start-up businesses will find it pretty easy to get started.
nopCommerce
nopCommerce is yet another ecommerce platform with a Russian origin. But, unlike CS-Cart Multi-Vendor, it’s a completely free open-source ecommerce platform built for online stores.
Since 2008, nopCommerce has so far attracted over 2.5 million downloads and for good reasons. If you want to join the bandwagon, you can go ahead and acquire the Microsft ASP.NET-based platform directly from its company website. There’s even a one-click install version available for download, and it comes without the source code.
But, if you’re a developer, it goes without saying that the alternative source code version is the best. You can rework it whichever way you want. Otherwise, you could also download the source code from GitHub.
Now, the subsequent setup process shouldn’t take you long, particularly if you choose to proceed with the one-click installer. Large enterprises, however, would probably take longer as they need time for tweaking nopCommerce’s underlying hood.
Whichever route you pick, you’ll ultimately discover the good reasons that have won nopCommerce many users.
Once you have it up and running, you’ll notice that it’s structured to support both beginner merchants and demanding ecommerce experts. In other words, nopCommerce is capable of serving all types of establishments- from startups and small businesses to medium-sized businesses and large enterprises.
Its comprehensive toolset includes a flexible shopping cart (complete with all the corresponding ecommerce features), an administration panel for managing and tracking your online business, as well as a storefront-end for hosting customers.
The default nopCommerce platform also comes with a host of SEO-friendly features to make your online marketing easy. Its product pages, for instance, are well-optimized for SEO URLs and search engine-friendly content.
Moving forward, it turns out nopCommerce doesn’t restrict you to just one online store. It’s flexible enough to support multiple stores across different domains, all of which are managed from one central admin panel. That essentially means it’s perfect for large enterprises handling an extensive portfolio of ecommerce stores.
Interestingly, nopCommerce doesn’t stop there. It goes ahead and offers marketplace integrations that basically transform your store into a virtual online mall- very much like CS-Cart Multi-Vendor. Consequently, all your vendors’ products are displayed collectively, with the subsequent sales proceeds being directed to the respective merchant accounts.
X-Cart
X-Cart has helped to create over 35,000 online stores, and this has been growing rapidly over the past few years. As with all of these ecommerce platforms on the list, it’s free, open source and self-hosted.
X-Cart is often considered one of the fastest open source platforms on the market, and it also has an incredible number of features for you to sink your teeth into. There’s also a free trial for the premium plan, which goes for $495 (one-time payment).
OpenCart
Well aware that appearances matter, OpenCart offers more than 2,700 themes. The platform is used by 576,862 ecommerce sites, but 4,841 of these are in the top 1 million sites on Alexa.com – not a bad number for a relatively small ecommerce platform.
The OpenCart community is welcoming and very active. Although the platform was created in Hong Kong, the majority of users are in the United States. OpenCart is multicurrency, multilingual, and offers more than 20 payment gateways as well as eight shipping methods.
One feature many OpenCart users enjoy is the turnkey nature of this open source ecommerce platform – there’s no need to mess with code at the start.
Who’s Using OpenCart?
- Cilantro: The Cook’s Shop
- British Red Cross (UK)
osCommerce
The frontend of this open source ecommerce platform’s demo feels a bit like a dated version of Amazon. After 16 years in business, osCommerce should be performing stronger in the market than it is – especially considering the availability of more than 7,000 add-ons and two spinoff projects that have claimed a strong place in the ecommerce platform field.
Maybe os stands for old-school?
Unfortunately for osCommerce, only 13,300 stores currently use this platform, despite an active community with more than 285,720 members and more than 1.6 million posts. In major need of an update, osCommerce has a loyal open source developer following but little ability to compete in the modern ecommerce field without some major changes.
Who’s Using osCommerce?
- Ubuntu Shop
- Melbourne Kitchen Renovations (Australia)
- SoundControl4Less
- Parsiaco (Iran)
Zen Cart
Originally based on osCommerce’s code, the two parted ways in 2003 when Zen Cart decided to place a heavier focus on templates. Today, this free ecommerce platform provides users with a 390+ page user’s manual and a host of features – not to mention more than 1800 add-ons in 16 different categories. The related community is large, too. There are more than 150,000 members in the Zen Cart community.
Who’s Using Zen Cart?
- US Armorment
- Health Cabin
- The Hobby Shop
- Pipe Divan
VirtueMart (Joomla)
Designed for use with Joomla 2.5 and 3 (with a version for Joomla 4 on the way soon!), VirtueMart boasts more than 500 features, stores around the globe, and an engaged and active developer community. The platform boasts 348, 487 users, of which only 995 are in the top 1 million sites. The vast majority of ecommerce websites using VirtueMart are based in the United States or Russia.
The core system of VirtueMart is very small, with only 3-5 developers working actively on it. On the other hand, input from the developer community is openly accepted and there are 316,371 members. This open source PHP ecommerce solution isn’t a newcomer to ecommerce – VirtueMart is a German company that’s been around since 2004. The platform isn’t friendly to the nontech crowd – you’ll need a developer who is well-versed in the Joomla CMS system and PHP software to really be able to use this platform. It’s also easy to spend a small fortune on plug-ins and add-ons for this platform. Watch your wallet.
Who’s Using VirtueMart?
- Produtti Herbalife (Italy)
- DPModa (Bulgaria)
- 3D Puzzle Welt (Europe)
- U Can Fix It (Canada)
Magento
Since it was first developed, Magento has powered around 740.000 websites; of which there are more than 200.000 live websites at present. This figure is still at the top in terms of the number of eCommerce platform users.
Magento is the best eCommerce platform for large businesses handling much traffic and looking for great technical, installation, and troubleshooting support. Magento can be called the industry standard regarding eCommerce CMS. The number of Magento 2 features and configurations seems nearly endless.
With Magento, you can have easy and clear website navigation, and your site will be SEO-ready, and your customers will find you easily on Google.
Speaking of sports jargon, running a store on the Magento platform is the same as running a marathon. It takes a lot of preparation and effort, it is more time-consuming, and support from the partner (eCommerce agency) is essential. But in the end, it all pays off because the feeling is priceless, and you are in the company of industry leaders.
However, it does not suit all companies. There are different plans on this platform. After being taken over by Adobe, Magento began profiling itself for large enterprise retailers that require the platform to carry a heavy burden on its back. Using different currencies and supporting multiple languages, managing multiple stores, complex B2B workflows, and multi-tier integrations is something that Magento can handle the best.
WooCommerce
And while Magento offers more features, and in general, is geared towards more complex businesses, WooCommerce can be a great option for those just starting out, as it is much simpler to set up and start using.
Merchants can also achieve many custom things that could also accomplish with Magento or Shopware; however, they still need the same professional support to achieve the necessary workflows and for the store to perform well. We’d even say that with WooCommerce, it can be a little more challenging to find high-quality partners who can cover all areas and support you beyond website development.
Upcomers – Shopware and Sylius
In the last few years, Shopware and Sylius have become a good alternative for smaller businesses that want to grow in the future.
Considering today’s technologies’ rapid growth and development, Shopware provides its customers with a sustainable solution. With a good foundation and a new technical base that offers less complexity and more flexibility, Shopware is well prepared for the future technical challenges of the eCommerce world. Due to the culture of transparency and openness, the company provides a comprehensive overview of its product development, specifically what is currently being worked on and what will be worked on in the future.
Sylius is tailor-made for e-commerce solutions, which means that no matter what you need, you can shape it the way you want, with no technical debt. And thanks to its fully decoupled architecture, you can only use the bundles you actually need in your project.
Compared with Magento, Shopware and Sylius are better for small and medium businesses. But they come with fewer functionalities, and merchants are limited to the basic ones.
Choosing something well-known like Magento may be obvious, especially if you’ve already worked with Magento 1, and you want to use a familiar CMS. Still, popularity is variable, and new platforms have plenty of attractive benefits that give it a solid chance to become as popular as Magento.
The Cons of Open Source Platforms
Complications of Building and Maintaining the OSS Unlike proprietary platforms, OSS platforms do not include hosting, a website builder, plugins, marketing tools, and inventory options. Although it provides a lot of flexibility, OSS users are also required to have more advanced coding knowledge to be able to build and maintain a functional site. From building a site to its maintenance, security, and optimization, much is left to the discretion of business owners who are forced to hire developers and tech experts.
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
The best open source ecommerce software can allow your business to grow. But which one should you use? In this article, we will make the difference between open source software and an enterprise ecommerce platform so you can decide for yourself. If a particular platform you are interested in is not described below just look at its documentation or contact the developers directly.
The ecommerce industry keeps growing and it is becoming more important to have an online store. Entrepreneurs who have been operating only retail businesses now want to start selling online too. Many of these entrepreneurs are concerned about cost and the fact that they may need to handle all their own technical support and website management.