OpenCart vs WooCommerce: Side-by-side Comparison in 2024

Do you want to start an eCommerce website and get confused between OpenCart vs WooCommerce? Then this blog is perfect for you.

You get surprised when you know that OpenCart and WooCommerce are not the same types of ecommerce platforms. And that’s why none of them is the worst or the best. 

Both software has very different features and aims to serve their tools to users. Additionally, both have separate targeted audiences and features, so when choosing between these software, you must understand which tool is suitable for your requirements. 

In this blog, I have mentioned all the pros and cons of OpenCart and the details of WooCommerce. Thus, you can clearly understand which one you have to choose and why.

So without wasting your time, let’s start.

OpenCart vs WooCommerce: Best eCommerce Platform for Business

When we talk about OpenCart, it is an open-source platform for an e-commerce solution that merchants often choose to sell their products without owning a website. On the other hand, WooCommerce is the perfect destination for all WordPress users to convert their websites into e-commerce websites. 

To get a clear idea about the difference between OpenCart and WooCommerce, let’s take a closer look at what they are:

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is a free and open-source e-commerce plugin for WordPress. It allows users to turn their WordPress website into an online store with features such as product management, shipping, and payment gateway integration.

WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin for implementing all the Ecommerce features in your WordPress website. It helps develop and handle your product’s complex information in the WordPress database with several reasonably vital features and flexibility, such as inventory management, payment gateways, tax management, Shipping integration, and so on. 

Apart from this, there are the following reasons that make WooCommerce the leader of the ecommerce trend:

• Because it’s a WordPress plugin, all WordPress users automatically consider this tool for building their eCommerce store. And we all know that the numbers of WordPress users are a giant in today’s website market.

Stats says 63% of all CMS users are using WordPress. Considering the massive popularity of WordPress, you can easily imagine the potential number of WooCommerce users.

• The initial cost of purchasing and installing is zero for all the users who are WordPress website owners. But if you are a new user, you must take the domain and host and install WordPress to build a virtual store with WooCommerce.

• This Plugin uses a WordPress User interface, making this ecommerce solution easy to use. So, anyone can use this Plugin without having a piece of coding knowledge. 

• You can use so many themes designed by WooThemes to enhance the look of your Online store. At the same time, so many WooThemes are designed in the market specifically for WooCommerce.

You can choose any WordPress theme or Install from another third-party theme to create the best match for your virtual store. 

OpenCart Introduction

Now let’s dig into the OpenCart; it is an Open Source of ecommerce software primarily aimed at newbies and one of the most user-friendly solutions for an ecommerce store.

What is OpenCart?

OpenCart is a free and open-source e-commerce platform that allows users to create and manage their online store. It offers various features such as unlimited products, multi-currency support, and a wide range of payment gateways.

Additionally, OpenCart is filled with many online store features that help you grow your business speedily. When we talk about the features of OpenCart, we should keep these points in mind.

• OpenCart offers standalone e-shops, so you do not need to buy any website to sell your product online. 

• This Platform is the best match for all Ecommerce sellers who want to sell their products online and do not plan to own a website from any platform. 

• As an Open Source Software, this platform serves free services for everyone that wants to start selling through the internet. 

• You can Manage Multiple stores in OpenCart with the help of a single interface. That interface helps you manage all your online stores, products, and other details in one place. 

• When we talk about the cost of installing and maintaining OpenCart, then it is more affordable even for novice users. It offers a robust set of Inventory management features and an elegant order processing mechanism.

• You can enhance the performance of the OpenCart store with the help of several extensions. These extensions are easy for customization and lag in performance terms. You can solve your many problems by adding extra extensions to your online OpenCart store.

What are the main differences between OpenCart and WooCommerce?

The main difference between OpenCart and WooCommerce is that OpenCart is a standalone e-commerce platform, while WooCommerce is a plugin that is added to a WordPress website. OpenCart is built specifically for e-commerce, while WooCommerce is built as a general plugin that can be used for various purposes. Let’s understand more about OpenCart vs WooCommerce.

Installation process: 

The installation process of the OpenCart store is straightforward and convenient. First, create a MySQL database, Log in to your cPanel, and download the latest version of OpenCart installation files from the official store of OpenCart.

After Files Installation, extract the compressed archive and upload the files via an FTP client. After that, proceed with the installation. Once you complete the installation process, you can select your template to design your store and add products. in the end, start selling the items in your store. 

On the other hand, to install the WooCommerce store, you must set up your WordPress website before starting the WooCommerce Plugin for the online store. This fact makes the installation process of WooCommerce more time-consuming than the OpenCart installing process.

Store management process: 

Store management is a fundamental process for any ecommerce business owner. Both platforms provide a highly efficient and user-friendly store inventory management system.

Apart from this, WooCommerce allows you to monitor your online store performance with the help of statistics from your WordPress dashboard. On the other hand, the OpenCart Software provides an intuitive admin interface to control the stores’ users completely.

Inventory management system: 

Like store management, Inventory management is also an essential aspect of your store. That is why you get an excellent Inventory management system on both platforms.

You can categorize your product and list unlimited goods for sale and corresponding details on the OpenCart and WooCommerce stores.

Well, there are various types of products you can sell online, like Physical goods and digital products. You are happy to see that both platforms support various product types.

​Physical products

All the goods that include some kind of physical delivery required all come under the Physical goods. So many business people are selling this type of product online.

In these categories, they must maintain inventory, price your products, manage order status and tax, and calculate the delivery cost. You feel happy that all the required features for physical product selling activity are available on both platforms (OpenCart and WooCommerce).

Digital products

Many software, softcopy of any book, Musical cassette, application, digital artwork, and so on, can be sold by someone. Still, you can not touch products that are called Digital Products. 

There are many e-commerce platforms available that want to sell both types of products. That’s why both platforms support digital and physical products.

Store designing features

On the WordPress site, you can use all the templates designed by WooThemes. And OpenCart also offers various themes to grab your customers’ attention.

Both platforms offer you the fastest uploading theme implementation features. And most importantly, you can customize these themes according to your requirements. 

Advanced e-shop features

Initially developed as an eCommerce platform, OpenCart provides advanced features such as multi-store, which allows you to manage several stores from a single back office.

And also, you can use multiple languages, different currencies, and tax rates to calculate the prices for your different audiences.

Once you install one OpenCart store, you can create multiple stores directly from the admin panel without going through the installation process again and again. 

On the other hand, WooCommerce lacks some store features. This platform gives you the advantages of enjoying all the features of CMS, like an image gallery, FAQ page, forum, the ability to add a blog, use rich SEO tools, etc. 

Marketing tools

OpenCart and WooCommerce help increase your customers with a flexible discount coupon system.

When creating an online store or blog, it would be best to keep SEO in mind. SEO is the process of increasing your store’s visibility on search engine rankings. When we compare WooCommerce vs Opencart, then it is a tie between both of them. 

Apart from SEO, Several additional extensions are available for each solution. However, OpenCart has many more add-ons and modules to enhance its functionality.

Website security

Sucuri provides the highest website security standards, so you can be sure that your data will be safe. OpenCart is PCI compliant, which guarantees the security of proprietary information.

OpenCart has several advanced features that you will definitely like as a trader. WooCommerce works on a different principle. Allows you to sell products within your WordPress site.

So if you look for just online store solutions with maximum functionality and features, OpenCart is the perfect match for your needs. If you want to add the opportunity to sell something through your WordPress website, then WooCommerce is what you are looking for.

Conclusion

When it comes to OpenCart vs WordPress, it all depends on the purpose of your website. If you plan to sell goods, OpenCart is perfect for you. WordPress has minimal e-commerce functionality and was designed for websites and blogs.

WooCommerce and OpenCart are very different eCommerce store builders; some features are common. WooCommerce is more scalable, has a steeper learning curve, and offers more themes and modules. OpenCart is suitable for beginners who want to create online without spending much time and effort.

If you are still suffering from selecting the best for your Online store you can get consultation from Best Web Development company, Pixlogix Infotech PVT. LTD. They have an experienced team of Website developers and web designers. 

And also have an advanced marketing team that helps you in finding the best platform and you can also get some most amazing extensions from their OpenCart Development team. So, hurry and get ultimate guidance on the best place for you to do business online.