Online retail has seen rapid growth over the past few years. This seems to have led to fierce competition among eCommerce platforms for business.

It’s easy to list the most popular names in today’s marketplace, like WooCommerce, OpenCart and Magento. It’s still not easy to choose from hundreds of choices on the market.

We have compiled a comparison of 2 well-known eCommerce platforms, nopCommerce and Magento.

Are you ready? Let’s get to it.

nopCommerce vs. Magento: Brief introduction

Magento

What’s Magento?

Magento is the most popular eCommerce platform. It sounds unbelievable, but the numbers prove it.

BuiltWith’s data .

• Magento is used by over 748.000 websites
• Magento is used by around 196.000 websites.

Magento’s popularity is understandable, as it was designed from the beginning to be the best eCommerce platform. Magento, an open-source platform that includes PHP allows programmers to create multiple websites for business purposes.

Magento is a leader in professionalism and scalability. The Magento platform offers merchants incredible flexibility and a variety of customization options.

Magento 2 Primary Editions is the best way to start Magento for beginners:

• Magento Community Edition (CE),: No fee to download Magento’s source codes with certain functionalities and limitations. During the web development process, merchants still have complete control of Magento’s source codes.

• Magento Enterprise (EE), a Magento licensed plan, includes advanced eCommerce features and support from Magento’s technical staff.

• Magento Commerce Cloud is another superior cloud-hosted solution.

Here are some popular brands that use Magento

• Helly Hansen: A well-known Norwegian brand of gear and sportswear with a long history

• Ford: A giant of the automotive sector. Ford is one of the most important car manufacturers in the world

• Nestle Nespresso is a part of Nestle Group, the largest food and beverage company in the world.

nopCommerce

What’s nopCommerce?

nopCommerce is less popular than Magento. This platform hosts over 54.342 websites. This isn’t enough to say which platform is better. Let’s first look at the basics of this solution.

• Open-source solution based upon Microsoft’s ASP.NET Core framework, MS SQL Server 2012 backend database (or higher).

• Include a catalog frontend, administration backend and advanced shopping cart management capabilities

• Mobile commerce is a key focus. This allows users to create functional eCommerce apps for smartphones and tablets.

Here are some popular brands that use nopCommerce

• Hyatt is an American multinational hotel brand that franchises luxury and business resorts, hotels, and vacation properties.

• Asurion: This company offers insurance for smartphones, tablets and consumer electronics. It is based in Nashville.

NopCommerce is known for its flexibility and scalability. Magento’s popularity was largely due to nopCommerce’s security and stability.

NopCommerce vs. Magento

Magento and nopCommerce compete in the eCommerce market. It is not surprising that they will share some things.

We can give you some tips to make it easier for you to access each power:

• Both platforms offer merchants an open source edition so developers or merchants can edit, customize and download the source code free of charge. NopCommerce does not offer a premium pricing plan, like Magento.

• Both allow users to build and maintain an eCommerce website with maximum functionality.

• Magento and nopCommerce allow merchants to have complete control over the source code in order to create a customized version.

• Compatible with many extensions and plugins available on the marketplaces to improve the functionality of the store

To make a final decision, let’s answer the question: What is your best option? Let’s take a deeper look at each solution and compare them.

nopCommerce vs. Magento: Key difference

Functionalities and Features

Both platforms provide all the essential features that a primary online shop needs, such as a shopping cart and checkout or inbuilt analytics. Each feature is used to perform specific tasks for the eCommerce business.

Our view on the features of both platforms:

• nopCommerce is an eCommerce solution that offers many useful tools, including product management, SEO features and mobile commerce. So does Magento

• NopCommerce is a good option, but it might not be sufficient for scale businesses because it does not support marketing automation, conversion tracking, or review monitoring. These features are available in Magento

• Magento’s B2B features are more powerful than ever. They streamline the customer experience and improve site performance. The Request for a Quote feature and share catalogs are some of Magento’s most notable B2B features.

NopCommerce’s B2B features are not as extensive as Magento’s. Instead, they focus on multi-vendor, multistore, global multi vendor store and dropshipping.

Let’s conclude:

It’s still difficult to determine the winner using both feature lists because of certain factors.

• Magento Enterprise (paid edition) and Magento Community (open source) have different built-in features. These differences include the capabilities, limitations, user experience, and how they can be used.

• NopCommerce, the free platform, offers many of the same features as Magento’s enterprise marketing options. However, nopCommerce’s features and user experience aren’t as professional as Magento.

• For the open-source Magento and nopCommerce versions, you will still need to install third-party extensions or plugins.

• Finally, web development and long-term marketing goals are important factors.

Customization

Open-source platforms offer users the ability to customize their platform in an amazing way. The source code of the provider is available for download, editing and modification. You can use the source code to build any web-based you want.

You can also customize and update your eCommerce site with a variety of extensions and plugins available on the marketplaces.

This is true for merchants who choose Magento Community edition or nopCommerce. This aspect is not for everyone.

Let’s conclude:

Both share similarities in open-source solutions:

• Developers can use the Application Programming Interface (APIs), to interact with databases, product feeders, etc.

• No subscription required to download or customize a web-based website based on the provider’s source code

• Advanced plugins and integrations can enhance the functionality of in-built functions. These can be found on the marketplaces

• Magento and nopCommerce both have extensive marketplaces that can be used to fulfill merchants’ needs. You can offer both paid and free plugins and extensions to suit different levels of use

The most difficult issue is the need for technical knowledge to create, maintain, and update Magento/ nopCommerce-based websites. This is why we aren’t the clear winner.

To launch your website and complete other web development tasks, you will need to either be a professional developer yourself or have an in-house technical staff. For startups and small businesses, this can be a costly endeavor.

Security

Similar to nopCommerce, Magento is PCI-DSS compliant. Rest assured, the software that powers your store securely handles your customers’ payment and billing information.

However, Magento and nopCommerce are vastly different in terms of security.

• NopCommerce uses ASP.NET – Microsoft’s open-source web framework that allows you to create web apps and services. It’s also hosted on a Microsoft server.

• Magento is written in PHP, a common open-source scripting languages that is widely used for web design and can be embedded into HTML

Magento’s framework uses the PHP language. This language is community-driven and is typically hosted on a Linux server. NopCommerce, on the other hand, is hosted on a Microsoft service that uses ASP.NET.

Magento users are more likely to find the best-rated security extensions for Magento 2 sites than nopCommerce.

Let’s conclude:

Both allow for high levels of web development and aim to be flexible and extensible. NopCommerce is still more secure. Why?

• NopCommerce is based upon ASP.NET – there has been only one security update since its inception. Users are less likely to be concerned about security and vulnerabilities by using multiple patches and updates.

• Magento users must update security patches every day, unlike nopCommerce.

• ASP.NET is a highly productive environment that requires fewer resources, lower hosting costs and allows for easier customization based on the source code.

• NopCommerce offers default support for SSL certificates in all shopping carts. Magento does not require manual configuration.

NopCommerce is a better choice than Magento in terms of security.

Support

Both Magento and nopCommerce offer support to their customers:

• Large user community of developers and users

• Forum where developers and merchants can exchange valuable information as well as receive support from other members

• You will find detailed product documentation that provides you with basic to advanced knowledge about how to use each platform. These posts were created for two specific user groups: developers and merchants. It is extremely convenient for users

• To get professional involvement, here is a list of certified partners for the platform.

Magento support has many great points

• This FAQ addresses the most frequent issues that users face during web development.
• Merchants will find valuable advice and solutions on a separate web page called Troubleshooting.
• An Announcements page that informs users about the most recent updates and patches.
• Magento Commerce customers get professional support 24 hours a day from Magento’s technical staff via their ticketing system and by phone

NopCommerce support has many great points

• Two packages of premium support services are available: 499 for 3 month support and $999 for 1 Year.

• The support page has many categories that are organized, structured, and simple to navigate. The support page is easy to navigate and search.

Let’s conclude:

This category is won by Magento. Many offer a wide range of support options for users, including extensive documentation and large forums. Still:

• There are 248 Magento partners. This covers a broad range of industries, including Travel & Hospitality and Luxury. This number of nopCommerce partners is just 136

• Magento’s documentation system is more diverse and includes posts on its official forums. They cover everything, from basic to advanced topics.

• Magento does better in building its support page into different categories. All customer information is available on one page. This step is more time-consuming than the Announcements or Troubleshooting pages.

nopCommerce vs. Magento: Pricing comparison

Magento and nopCommerce, as mentioned previously, are open-source platforms that don’t require any upfront subscription fees.

It’s still important to emphasize the word “Free”, as the open-source option always involves specific expenditures.

• Hosting Websites: $3.75 to $730/month
• Web domain: $0.99 – $12/month
• SSL Certificate : $0 – 849
• Template or theme: $0 to $499
• Extensions and Plugins: $0 to $1000
• Optional Magento specialist: $17-$200/hourly rates Vary between different countries

Condetiburon: Hourly rate for Magento developers per country

The charge for advanced skills such as the ability to fix bugs or configure web functions, and other tasks that require code is not included. It will be based on your requirements.

The estimated fees will vary depending on the business’s financial situation, resource allocation and development goals. 

Magento website costs average

A Magento-based website usually costs

• Small businesses who need a quality, scalable eCommerce website to establish an online presence and drive sales.

• A custom site (Enterprise and Cloud versions) is $22.000 to $70.000 _ This price range applies to an eCommerce company already in existence that wishes to migrate or upgrade an existing site (with many products)

• Enterprise site (Enterprise and Cloud versions): $70.000 _ For large companies that have a strong financial foundation and plan to tap into all Magento features

Complex requirements will result in a higher cost. Magneto 2 offers superior cloud-hosted performance on a large scale.

Below is an estimate of the cost for 2 Magento premium versions. The merchants receive a complete solution that includes all the functionality needed. Magento will then charge a percentage of gross sales revenue for the merchants.

Average cost of a website with nopCommerce

We have only mentioned the average cost to build an eCommerce website. It does not include nopCommerce or Magento. Your cost to launch a nopCommerce site will include: 

• Hosting Charge: $3.75-100/month or More

• NopCommerce Copyright Removal Key (optional): $250.000-3.500.00 for Multiple Sites_ License Removal Cost You Need to Pay to Remove the “Powered by nopCommerce” link at the bottom of your footer

• Custom themes available from $100 to $400

• Plugins: $0 to $300/ a plugin/extension

• Premium Support Services (optional: $83.25- $166.33/month or $499- $999/year

• Web developers (optional: $17-150/hour

NopCommerce for your eCommerce website will cost you between $700 and $400 per month. This is the price for a fully-functional and well-designed nopCommerce-based website.

If your site has more than 1000 SKUs, it can increase to around $1000 or even $4000 for an enterprise nopCommerce website.

Let’s conclude:

Modern merchants will find that nopCommerce and Magento are great options to help them scale their online presence. They can be expensive to maintain and launch the website over the long-term.

NopCommerce actually costs less than building a Magento site when we combine both platforms.

We recommend that you have a budget and be flexible before investing in any platform.

NopCommerce vs. Magento – Which is the best choice?

The best choice between nopCommerce or Magento?

Short verdict

You are the one who will decide which investment is best for your company’s situation and needs. Let’s take a look at what criteria we use when comparing Magento and nopCommerce.

• Functionality and features are the only two things that matter.
• No one wins with customization
• Security: nopCommerce
• Support: Magento
• Pricing: nopCommerce

Considering the above criteria, nopCommerce appears to have more advantages than Magento. We also consider the difficulties that users may experience on each platform in order to make informed decisions.

NopCommerce vs. Magento – Difficulties For Users

Users face difficulties with nopCommerce

• Users must be proficient in.NET, CSS and HTML to get the most out of the framework.

• It is difficult to find customer service. Professional technical support is expensive beyond the forums.

• NopCommerce is slower than Magento because its foundation architecture does not support load balancing

• The community support is very limited

• Optimal mainly for SMEs and thus limits store growth

• NopCommerce Marketplace does not offer advanced and high-quality plugins

Magento users have difficulties

• The price is significantly higher than other marketplace platforms

• The structure of Magento is more complicated than nopCommerce. This platform is more complex than nopCommerce and requires a professional team of developers. It also takes more time to create the custom functionality.

• Because it is written in PHP, Magento sites use more memory and disk space. This problem can be solved by a dedicated server, or you could face many difficulties when launching your website online.

• Businesses with limited product ranges and tight budgets are not able to use this service.

NopCommerce vs. Magento – Your final choice

Magento and nopCommerce share many things in common.

• Both provide rich functionality and allow merchants to grow their online business.

• You will need to be able to learn quickly and have a high level of technical knowledge about HTML/ CSS for web design and customization

Magento is still a popular eCommerce platform and has been for longer. Magento has a wider network of partners and an extension marketplace. Magento is also certified by more developers than nopCommerce.

SimilarTech data

Magento is the best choice if you are looking to build an eCommerce site that offers more features, customization options, and scalability.

NopCommerce offers affordable pricing for small and startup businesses. It is not optimized for large businesses with thousands of SKUs.

The final decision on the best eCommerce solution for your business is entirely up to you. It all comes down to the features that you believe your business will most benefit from.

If you are a startup with limited financial resources or a small business, nopCommerce is a better option. To make the best decision, keep your head clear and do a thorough analysis of your business requirements and availability.

Bottom line

NopCommerce and Magento are strong and scalable options that businesses should consider when it is time to enhance their online presence.

This article covers most of the information you need about Magento and nopCommerce. Now it’s your turn to pick the right software for you.

Thank you for reading!