OpenCart vs WooCommerce: Which Is Better for Your Business?

When it comes to open-source ecommerce platforms, which is better for eCommerce: OpenCart vs WooCommerce?

If you’re choosing between OpenCart vs WooCommerce, you’re not alone. But deciding isn’t as easy as it seems, which is why we’ve created an overview of the most important features of OpenCart and WooCommerce so you can understand which is better for your ecommerce business.

OpenCart vs WooCommerce: Get To Know the Platforms

OpenCart is free and considered one of the best ecommerce platforms for open-source features. While it doesn’t have the number of users of other ecommerce platforms, its highly customizable, open-source features make it an increasingly popular choice for tech-savvy small and medium-sized businesses.  

One key feature of OpenCart is allowing users to easily manage multiple stores at once, making it an excellent choice for such merchants. While you’ll need to have an existing website before installing WooCommerce, this isn’t necessary for OpenCart which lets you set up your own store on the OpenCart site.

OpenCart is an affordable option for businesses needing a tailored ecommerce experience. Still, to tap into all of its features, you’ll need substantial coding experience or to work with a developer.

WooCommerce is a WordPress Plugin that easily gets up and running without a developer. You can easily integrate this ecommerce plugin into your existing WordPress website in a couple of clicks, making it simple to get started. Because WooCommerce is open-source, it’s more customizable for those with tech support than other similar ecommerce platforms.

The basic WooCommerce plugin is free, but additional extensions are paid and help to greatly extend capabilities, letting businesses add functionalities from payment gateways to shipping and marketing extensions. 

Comparing Pricing and Costs: OpenCart vs WooCommerce

For both of these free platforms, the costs mainly come from adding extensions (anywhere from $10 to hundreds of dollars) and payment processing fees. WooCommerce requires users to set up a WordPress site, so for businesses without an existing site, there are a couple of associated costs with setting a new one up. 

To set up a WordPress site, you’ll need to pay for monthly site hosting ($5-$100/month), a domain name from as little as $10 or as much as $500, and an SSL certificate (about $50 a year). The cost of using each platform is similar and depends more on the number and type of extensions used.

Merchant and Customer User Experience: OpenCart vs WooCommerce Comparison

Site Set-Up and Management 

WooCommerce is a plugin like any other for WordPress, and it’s simple to install with no recurring monthly fees. However, using OpenCart as a merchant gives you far more control over their site than WooCommerce. The catch is that you’ll need a developer or substantial coding experience for OpenCart to get your site up and maintain it.

OpenCart is ideal for merchants seeking a customized site or with many stores. Choosing OpenCart for your ecommerce site means you’ll need someone with technical experience to manage site operations, updates, and security. OpenCart makes it easier than WooCommerce for merchants to manage and update multiple stores from a single platform. WooCommerce comes with easy-to-use and powerful SEO features, but with OpenCart you will need to configure your site manually to optimize for search engines.  

Merchant Support 

Both OpenCart and WooCommerce have some free support. However, WooCommerce is more user-friendly for non-technical users and has robust online user groups.  You can also make use of WooCommerce’s ticket submission and receive support staff help, however, these cannot support all issues. With OpenCart, you have to pay monthly for support, but many common problems can easily be fixed by visiting OpenCart user forums.

Supported Payment Methods and Supported Countries

OpenCart and WooCommerce both let users accept a wide range of payment methods while supporting countries worldwide. You’ll need to localize your customers’ checkout experience with the payment options they prefer with both platforms. 

What Are WooCommerce’s Supported Countries and Payment Methods?

WooCommerce Payments currently supports 18 countries in Europe and Asia-Pacific. Merchants in the rest of the world will need to use a third-party payment plugin for WooCommerce.

WooCommerce supports numerous payment methods among its core payment options. These include Cash on Delivery (COD), check payments, direct bank transfers and some credit and debit cards. WooCommerce’s native payments solution, WooCommerce Payments.  If you’d like to support more popular local payment methods, you will need to add a payment extension. 

What Are OpenCart’s Supported Countries and Payment Methods?

OpenCart supports merchants around the world and has 239 countries available in their country section. Your customers can use these countries to estimate shipping and taxes when customers enter their location. It is up to you to decide whether or not to support these countries. OpenCart provides a variety of payment methods, from bank transfers to online payment gateways. 

To access most payment methods, you’ll need to select from one of OpenCart’s third-party payment plugins. Your fees will vary depending on the payment method, countries and transaction risk. Rapyd lets you accept credit cards plus local payment methods for OpenCart to increase conversions and grow sales worldwide.

The Final Verdict: Which is Better When Comparing OpenCart vs WooCommerce?

Between OpenCart’s high-customizability and WooCommerce’s easy-to-use features, which is best for ecommerce merchants? For small and medium businesses without a developer, WooCommerce is the winner. WooCommerce is also a smart choice for sites already using WordPress, which can get set up and go right away. On the other hand, for businesses where site customization is key or for those with multiple stores, OpenCart just might be the perfect solution.

Sources

The Digitial Merchant. OpenCart vs Shopify: Key Differences to Consider.https://thedigitalmerchant.com/ecommerce/opencart-vs-shopify-key-differences-to-consider/ 

Lit Extension. OpenCart vs WooCommerce. https://litextension.com/blog/opencart-vs-woocommerce/