E-commerce hosting has expanded as a market due to the pandemic and forcing stores to sell their products online to stay competitive.
Because of this, there is renewed interest in e-commerce software such as WooCommerce and Magento, but it can be difficult for new online business owners to decide which might be the best option for their store.
In this article, we’ll compare WooCommerce and Magento, listing their key features and differences, cost, and ease of use to make sure you choose the right plan for your business.
WooCommerce vs Magento Quick Comparison
At InMotion Hosting, we give our customers access to multiple eCommerce hosting solutions; Therefore, we want to provide you with the information you need to make the right choice for your company.
Note: Please note that the information presented below relates exclusively to the programs themselves, is different from our hosting plans and comes from their respective parent companies.
| characteristics | WooCommerce | Magenta |
|---|---|---|
| E-Commerce Market Share % | 20% | <1% |
| A hosting tier is required | Shared + | VPS+ |
| the price | Free module | free * |
| Software location | WordPress plugin | Server installation |
| Themes / Extensions | is available | is available |
| Drag and drop builder | Yes | Yes |
| Licensing | Public source | Public source |
| The parent company | Automatic | Adobe |
What is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce, now known as Woo, is an e-commerce platform plugin designed for WordPress hosting websites.
First founded in 2008 as WooThemes, the company released the first iteration of their plugin in 2011 and was acquired by Automattic in 2015.
Today, the plugin has over 5 million active installs, making it one of a kind Most used e-commerce platforms in the world.
Main features
As a WordPress plugin, WooCommerce integrates seamlessly into the CMS platform. Additionally, their entire process is simplified with their setup wizard, an interactive form that guides users through the setup of their store. The wizard also recommends compatible plugins or extensions, then takes website owners to a dashboard where they can further customize their online store.
Other features that make Woo stand out are:
- Ease of use – WooCommerce offers an intuitive and easy-to-use interface that makes it accessible to beginners without sacrificing advanced features for more experienced users.
- scalability – Woo makes it easy for users to scale their store right from their dashboard.
- Extensions and additions – It’s over 840 extension And 80 themes designed to be compatible with WooCommerce, an excellent foundation for most e-commerce website owners.
- safety – As a plugin, WooCommerce is constantly patching and maintaining the latest versions of their products. We recommend connecting your WooCommerce store with one of our recommended WordPress security plugins.
- Community support – As one of the most popular WordPress plugins, the Woo community extends far and wide across the globe. There are forums, blogs, and other documentation to help users with whatever their problem is.
Additional costs
Although the WooCommerce plugin is free to download and use, there are several settings and options that users can consider to get the best experience for their customers.
Extensions
The price of WooCommerce extensions can vary depending on the developer and the usage of the plugin. We recommend checking out the extension marketplace to learn more about extensions that may be right for your company’s needs.
Wu Express
Woo users can purchase premium packages known as Woo Express, which are hosting plans offered through WordPress.com. These plans offer a variety of features enhanced by the Automattic platform at a premium price.
- essential plan: Starts at $36/month
- execution plan: Starts at $70/month
Users also have the option to contact Woo’s sales team for enterprise option hosting packages tailored to larger organizations, focusing on their e-commerce department.
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what is magento
Magento and WooCommerce share a similar past as Magento was acquired Adobe in 2018.
This software comes in two main editions: Magento Open Source (formerly Community Edition) and Magento Commerce (formerly Enterprise Edition).
Magento open source It is free for users to download, use and run the software with no licensing fees. This release empowers users to modify code, create custom extensions, and customize their online stores to meet their unique needs.
Magento Commerce is a premium version of the e-commerce platform that requires a license fee to use. The cost of this software will vary based on your business needs and requirements. This version also offers other advanced features such as increased performance, scalability options and database optimization.
Main features
Unlike WooCommerce, which is a WordPress plugin, Magento is a fully-rounded e-commerce platform. This means that your website is completely designed specifically for selling products; However, this is not the only thing that Magento can do. Magento can also be used for additional website purposes, such as hosting your blog, pages, and tracking your analytics from one place.
Other features that make Magento stand out are:
- scalability – As your eCommerce store grows, Magento can handle the growing number of products, transactions, and customers without compromising performance.
- It is fulfilled – Magento includes features like full page caching, optimized code, and support for technologies like Varnish and Redis to improve website speed.
- Multi-store capabilities – Magento supports the creation and management of multiple online stores from a single backend.
- Community support – There is an active and passionate community for Magento open source and commerce
- safety – As an Adobe product, Magento is included Adobe Secure Product Lifecycle standards and provides resources for store owners to better protect their customers’ data.
Additional costs
As discussed above, Magento Open Source is completely free for website owners to use and is available for installation on VPS servers; However, Magento Commerce will require a license from Adobe, which will vary depending on your needs.
Extensions
with the help of Adobe Commerce Extension library, users can add or purchase various extensions for Magento. It has a wide range of filters and categories, and the extensions have a wide range of prices, some of which include monthly or annual subscriptions.
We recommend taking a look at the extension library to learn more about a plugin that might be right for your business needs.
Hosting requirements
Ensuring that you tailor your hosting infrastructure to the specific needs of your eCommerce CMS lays a solid foundation for a reliable, efficient and user-friendly online shopping experience.
The e-commerce platform includes dynamic features, multiple product listings and high transaction volumes, powerful server resources, and optimal performance.
WooCommerce Hosting Requirements
WooCommerce, as a WordPress plugin, generally has more modest server requirements compared to standalone e-commerce platforms such as Magento. However, the ideal server specifications can still vary depending on the size of your store, traffic volume and additional features.
Here is a typical one server requirements For a WooCommerce site:
| Hosting server level | Shared, VPS, Dedicated |
| PHP versions | 7.4*+ |
| PHP extensions | curl, dom, gd, JSON, mbstring, openssl, fsockopen and XML |
| RAM | 1GB+ recommended |
| Database | MySQL 5.6+ or MariaDB version 10.1+ |
| Server type | Apache or NGINX is recommended |
| save | SSD |
Magento hosting requirements
Because Magento is a powerful and feature-rich e-commerce platform, it can require significant server resources to run optimally.
While exact server requirements may vary depending on the size and complexity of your Magento site, here are general recommendations for ideal server requirements:
| Hosting server level | VPS or dedicated |
| PHP versions | 8.1+ |
| RAM | bc-math, ctype, curl, dom, gd, intl, mbstring, openssl, PDO/MySQL, SimpleXML, soap, spl, libxml, xsl, zip and JSON* |
| Database | MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB version 10.6+ |
| Server type | Apache or NGINX is recommended |
| save | SSD or NVMe is recommended |
| Caching | Redis 6.0+ or Lacquer 6.4+ |
| other | Elasticsearch |
InMotion Hosting boasts an array of hosting plans designed to meet the unique needs of WooCommerce and Magento website owners. Our customized Shared, VPS and Dedicated plans are designed to perfectly fit the scale and requirements of your business.
WooCommerce vs Magento: Conclusion
In conclusion, the choice between WooCommerce vs Magento should come down to the unique needs and goals of your business.
WooCommerce, seamlessly integrated with WordPress, provides a user-friendly experience and flexibility suitable for different business sizes.
On the other hand, Magento stands out for its robust architecture and advanced customization options that cater to the needs of larger enterprises.
As you weigh your options, remember that we’re happy to help you make the best decision for your business every step of the way. Do not hesitate to contact our sales team with any questions.
