The e-commerce world is dominated by a small number of platforms. Among them are BigCommerce and Magento. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. The question for you, as an e-commerce operator, is whether one of the platforms is better than the other.
Bearing in mind that what is right for one may not be right for another, the point of this post is to give you a basic heads-up on both BigCommerce and Magento. For starters, BigCommerce is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform built around e-commerce from the ground up. It currently powers about 100,000 online stores.
Magento is an open source software project that, until recently, did not offer the cloud options necessary to make it a true SaaS platform. Using it requires at least some coding knowledge. Magento currently supports some 250,000 online stores.
1. Ease-Of-Use
Prior to June 2020, you could have made the case that Magento was as easy-to-use as BigCommerce with a little bit of coding knowledge under your belt. That may not be the case any longer. Why? Because Magento 1 has been officially discontinued, meaning that users no longer get any sort of support. No updates, security patches, etc.
Magento users must upgrade to version 2 to stay current, which is no small undertaking. Magento 2 is a completely different platform from start to finish. It comes with a fairly steep learning curve, too. Anyone who struggled with Magento 1 is likely to struggle even more with Magento 2.
On the other hand, BigCommerce is a true SaaS product designed around ease-of-use. You spend less time configuring and maintaining the platform and more time marketing and selling. Everything works as it should because the BigCommerce team works behind the scenes to keep the platform safe, secure, and operational.
2. Maintenance and Support
Magento doesn’t cost users anything because it is free and open source software. However, free also means you have to install and maintain it yourself. There is a very large community offering free support, so that’s good. But you still need to know what you’re doing.
Since BigCommerce is a paid product, you get support with it. BigCommerce users get 24/7 technical support alongside supplemental support for account management, project management, and more. Such support is invaluable if you lack the coding knowledge to keep your own platform up and running.
In terms of security patches and updates, everything is automatic with BigCommerce. There are never any worries that the platform is not up to date. Magento must pay close attention to the maintenance side of things to make sure all updates and security patches are applied.
3. Budgeting and Financials
Finally, it is impossible to evaluate e-commerce solutions without talking financials. Again, the community addition of Magento is free to use. But that does not mean it can be used without incurring expenses. Users still have to pay for web hosting services. They still have to pay for the apps they want to integrate.
These extra costs could wreak havoc on a user’s finances if they are not properly budgeted for. And the more expenses involved, the more likely the budget could suffer. With BigCommerce, the entire package is all-inclusive. Users can account for their platform subscriptions in their budgets and know exactly what their costs are from month-to-month.
Both BigCommerce and Magento are viable e-commerce options. We recommend BigCommerce to anyone who wants a turn-key solution with known costs and solid support. E-commerce operators who want to maintain total control over their online environments, and who know some coding, might be happier with Magento.