We’re going to have a look at how WordPress currently stacks up against Magento in 2013. There are so many eCommerce platforms available these days, which makes choosing one to develop your website with very difficult. The two that stand out for us are the long-standing Big Dogs, ‘Magento’, and the Up and Comers, ‘WordPress’. Of course, this is simply our opinion and there’s no right or wrong answer. You should weigh up what’s on offer across various platforms and see if your requirements are going to be fulfilled.
Ok, Magento, why are you so well known as being top dog in the eCommerce world? Well, Magento is definitely one of the world’s most powerful open-source eCommerce solutions. Whilst being cost effective, there are also a mass of extensions available for free or to purchase. With various payment integration options and custom pricing functionality, Magento is specifically developed for eCommerce.
WordPress is famous for it’s blogging domination. With millions of websites choosing to run Worpress, it’s gone from being a very strong platform for blogs to being a choice favourite for developing entire websites. It’s easy to use content management system makes managing posts and pages simple for any level of user.
What do they have in common?
- Both are Open Source platforms
- Both are available for free
- Both are capable of having blog functionality (albeit WordPress is the absolute master in this area)
- Both are adaptable to be customised with hundreds (or thousands) of themes
- Both are available with masses of extensions / plugins
- Both are SEO friendly
- Both are powerful enough to help you take over the world!
So which should I use??
It depends. Both WordPress and Magento are heavies in the web world. WordPress is friendlier (or let’s say less intimidating) to the inexperienced. Magento is currently more powerful as an eCommerce platform. If you’re looking for a small to medium online shop, which looks good and works smoothly, then WordPress is amazing and will run great. If you’re going to be developing a shop that has hundreds of different products, offers, vouchers and users then Magento is the one for you.
