OpenCart or WooCommerce? Comprehensive comparison

Both Woocommerce and Opencart are two open source content management systems targeting e-commerce, or what are known as online store management systems.

They are currently the two most used systems by companies that want to market their products and brands.

Many users are confused between these two systems when creating their online stores, so in our article today we will help you choose the most appropriate system, provide you with a full explanation of the advantages and disadvantages of each system, and show you the full difference between them.

OpenCart system

OpenCart is a free, customizable system for managing online stores. It is open source, based on the PHP language, and uses a MySQL database and HTML components. It offers support for many currencies and languages ​​and provides many templates.

OpenCart features

The OpenCart platform contains a long list of features, most of which depend on the fact that this platform is open source, as the internal codes of the platform can be modified and any features required for the online store can be provided.

Other features are available due to the availability of add-ons and templates, which helps in designing the store easily, and adding many features to it through add-ons, whether free or paid. Below we provide you with the most prominent features of Open Cart.

1- A completely free store creation and management system

The most important feature of this system is that it is completely free from its launch to this day, and it is available for download without any restrictions. All you need is a domain and hosting to upload the OpenCart system to it. After installing the system, you will have a complete store and you can set it professionally and easily, as Open allows you The ability to adjust shipping, payment, and currency settings via the main control panel (admin interface) and create a multi-store store, so your store is ready to operate with all standard features. 

2- The ability to modify the store interface

With hundreds of different templates in OpenCart, you can create a website that is uniquely customized for you, as you can choose any template and modify it easily. You can also modify it on the platform itself because it is open source, which makes it easy for you to customize your site in the way that you deem appropriate for you.

For this reason, we find that the stores designed with the OpenCart platform are completely different from each other, and it is not even possible to see any sites that are close to each other in the same form and performance, and this is something truly special.

3- Multiple languages ​​and currencies in the store

Through OpenCart, you can make your store support multiple currencies. You can choose from hundreds of different currencies around the world and add them to your store. You can also create a store that supports working in more than one language, with the ability to customize the language you want in an easy and simple way without the need for any programming experience. And publish products on it.

4- Payment gateways integrated with the platform

OpenCart supports more than 20 different payment gateways integrated within it to provide customers with the advantage of paying online with the appropriate gateway, and it also supports the sale of digital products. You can view all payment gateways supported by OpenCart at the following link.

5- There is an Arabic version of the OpenCart platform

OpenCart itself does not support the Arabic language, but a version of it was Arabized through a partnership between a Saudi software company and OpenCart to issue a version of OpenCart in the Arabic language through the  platform , which is based on completely Arabizing the OpenCart system, its add-ons, and templates. You can purchase Any template through the site in a simple way.

Disadvantages of OpenCart

Despite the many advantages of the OpenCart content management system, it contains three disadvantages that may make merchants not prefer it and resort to another alternative to manage their online store, such as WooCommerce or other e-commerce platforms.

1- Difficulty in modifying the design

Although OpenCart is completely free and open source, it is difficult to modify the design without programming experience, like other content management systems or electronic store management systems. However, this defect can be avoided by choosing a template that is suitable for you and does not require modifications, whether a paid or free template. From the list of many templates available on the platform.

2- OpenCart is not search engine friendly

By default, the OpenCart system faces problems with search engines, most notably obtaining data from OpenCart, which forces you to manually adjust it to make it compatible with the Google search engine and other engines. It is not like other store creation platforms that are automatically compatible with search engines. different.

3- OpenCart slow

The OpenCart system is noticeably slow when publishing a large number of products, and this problem clearly appears if you rely on shared hosting and not on your own server. Technical malfunctions can also occur in the hosting as a result of the slow response of the site script.

Second: WooCommerce system

WooCommerce is an add-on integrated within the content management system ( WordPress ). WooCommerce enables you to create and modify an online store and provides you with more than 50 other add-ons that are compatible with it, giving you a long list of features starting from automatic calculation of the shipping price and integration with international shipping companies. Various, determining the value of the tax on products and other features..

WooCommerce features

1- Compatible with all shipping companies

Perhaps the most important feature of WooCommerce is that most international shipping companies allow adding WordPress sites to integrate their shipping with WooCommerce, which allows the buyer to track his shipment directly, and also allows the shipping company to track the products that are ordered directly and the shipping address to which they will be delivered. Products are manufactured automatically without the need for manual modification by the store owner.

2- Controlling the e-mail sent to the buyer

You can create custom designs for your website’s email that the buyer receives immediately after he orders any product from your store, and which follows up with the customer on the status of his product whether the order is in progress, out for shipment, under delivery or has been received.

3- Complete control over the shape and arrangement of the product page

You can add a photo or video gallery, or specify the arrangement of items on the product page however you want. WooCommerce developers provide you with a Documentation page that explains all the details of the add-on and shows you how to modify it. It also explains how to control and modify the product page and control the rest of the add-on features.

4- An open source and responsive system

WooCommerce is also an open source system, like OpenCart, and it is adjustable and expandable based on its basic code. It is also faster than OpenCart in terms of response, as it does not cause any speed problems no matter how many products are on the store.

5- Search engine friendly and quick to archive

The WooCommerce system is widespread in most online stores, as about a third of online stores around the world use it. It provides automatic compatibility with all search engines, especially the Google search engine, so the product name, price, and all data about it appear in the first search results. It can also appear in the Shopping from Google box due to its compatibility with all Google policies.

Disadvantages of WooCommerce

Although WooCommerce is the best way to create a professional online store for those who are not proficient in programming, it is actually not the cheapest. In order to create a store with all the features, you need to pay for each add-on you want from the list of WooCommerce add-ons available on the official store. Some of the add-ons are not cheap and prices for some reach close to $100.

As for the admin interface, it is a little more difficult than other available content management systems, as you will need some time to train your employees and product publishers on how to use the platform and publish products on it, but this problem can be solved through the many explanation videos available on YouTube for how to publish products on WooCommerce. .

Comparison between WooCommerce and OpenCart systems

1- Ease of use and installation

WooCommerce: Very easy to use, and does not require any programming experience to install it on your hosting. All you have to do is install WordPress, then go to Add-ons > and search for the WooCommerce add-on and install it.

OpenCart: It cannot be installed with the click of a button on all hosts (this can only be done on hosts that support CPanel), and it requires programming experience in the PHP language in order to be able to add and control it on your hosting. It is also more difficult to use and customize than WooCommerce for the average user.

2- Prices

WooCommerce: It is a free add-on that can be added to the free WordPress system. You can create your store with a large group of free templates and add-ons. There are also paid add-ons whose price starts from $16 to $100 per add-on, and templates whose price starts from $30 to $100 per template.

OpenCart: It is a content management system in itself that is completely free, but it contains a group of paid add-ons and templates, but most of them are available in the English language. The price of Arabizing any template from the official website is $150 per template, and the prices of Arabic templates start at $54. As for add-ons, they start. Prices range from $10 to $80.

3- Control panel and inventory management

WooCommerce: Its control panel is a little more difficult and contains many options that you must learn how to use, but it does not require any programming experience. It allows you to manage the inventory of each product individually and notify you if any product you have runs out of stock, while supporting the feature of sending an email to the customer immediately after ordering the product, and following up on the product’s status through it. It also gives you the advantage of paying via PayPal and cash on delivery for free.

OpenCart: The basic interface of the OpenCart content management system shows you quick insights into your sales, today’s purchases, and profits, with the ability to add multiple merchants within the system and specify more than one currency for your store. It also supports more than one language without any additions, and supports more than 20 portals. Different payment options you can include in your store.

4- Compatibility with search engines

If you want your store to rank high on search engines, then WooCommerce will be the best choice for you. This is because it supports many add-ons that you can benefit from to improve your site’s rank in search engines, such as the Yoast SEO add-on , which is considered the most popular add-on for search engine optimization. 

As for OpenCart, although it is an SEO-friendly platform, as stated on its official page, it has some restrictions regarding SEO, such as restricting users’ ability to make certain modifications that are important for improving search engines. In order to be able to modify the meta titles and keywords, you will need to modify the system code. Also, 301 redirects are very complex and require programming knowledge in PHP.

 Below is a table summarizing the most important basic differences between the WooCommerce and OpenCart systems.

Conclusion

We can consider that WooCommerce is better than OpenCart in terms of SEO, and in terms of its support for many templates, add-ons, and tools that make many things easier for us. It also provides multiple free templates, in addition to its official support for the Arabic language.

On the other hand, OpenCart is better than WooCommerce in terms of the professional control panel it provides, its support for setting several different currencies for products, and it also has the ability to make the store in more than one language easily.

For this reason, the use of WooCommerce predominates over any other competitor, with up to 26% of online store users relying primarily on WooCommerce, while only 4% of them, in contrast, use OpenCart.

In all cases, in order to be able to determine the system that is most suitable for you, compare the features of each system well, and choose from among them the system that is most suitable and compatible with the requirements of your online store