Online shopping has become the new normal today as more and more ecommerce businesses are popping up in the market. Similarly, unprecedented growth in web development technology has also led to an increase in ecommerce websites. A lot of ecommerce platforms are now available that one can use to develop full-fledged ecommerce websites. Even many of these platforms let you create websites without touching a single line of code. Magento, PrestaShop, and Shopify are the shining stars in ecommerce website development.

However, when it comes to developing an ecommerce website, you have many choices like whether to hire Magento developer or PrestaShop developer, or Shopify developer to create your website. But which of these platforms is the best fit for you? Choosing the right ecommerce developer is important to ensure that you will get the best output. We will discuss the various advantages and disadvantages of hiring different developers here to help you find the right fit for you.

Pros and cons of hiring Magento developer

Magento is one of the best ecommerce platforms that exist in the market. It has become very popular due to its flexibility and advanced features. If you hire Magento developer, then you can take advantage of this ecommerce platform along with the developer’s skills to create a unique and feature-rich ecommerce website for your business. Below are the pros and cons of Magento for your project.

Pros

Flexible platform

Since Magento is an open-source ecommerce platform, you can modify the source code as per your desire and wish. And it is available for free that makes Magento development cost-friendly. So if you can hire Magento developer, you can create an advanced ecommerce store with excellent functionalities that too on a lower budget.

Set of unique features

Magento offers a wide array of features that are not available in many other ecommerce platforms like multi-website management, multi-language & multi-currency support, multi-pricing, and so on.

Large community support

Magento is available in different variations to meet the needs of different businesses. The open-source version of Magento is one of these variations that comes with the huge support of developers and varied enthusiasts. They not only keep providing updates and new solutions for this platform but also provide helping hands to users.

Cons

It’s expensive

Though the community version of this ecommerce platform is free, the enterprise version of Magento can really break the bank. The premium enterprise version of Magento costs thousands of bucks and it is mainly suitable for large businesses that have a big budget.

Difficult to find authentic developers

Magento has a large community of users and developers that makes it cumbersome to find the right developer for your project.

Time consuming

Magento is slow and makes customizations pretty difficult. Also, migration from other ecommerce platforms to Magento is not easy to set up and important data due to slow import speed. However, only the community version is slow.

Bad support

You cannot find reliable and good customer support and it’s too expensive when available from developers’ ends.

Pros and cons of hiring PrestaShop developer

PrestaShop is another popular ecommerce platform that comes with many exciting features that allow developers to build functioning online stores. PrestaShop is free and open-source that gives businesses the flexibility to create excellent ecommerce websites irrespective of the budget. Hence you can hire PrestaShop developer to build and set up a robust ecommerce website for your business.

Pros

 Easy to install & set up

It is easy to install and set up PrestaShop because it is a user-friendly ecommerce platform. You just need to download it on your host. It is a lightweight ecommerce platform so websites built on it load quickly.

Free and open-source

PrestaShop is an open-source and free ecommerce platform that offers great potential for website development. A PrestaShop developer and take advantage of the flexibility of this platform to create unique and excellent ecommerce websites.

User-friendly interface

The ease of store management and user-friendly UI are the key advantages of choosing PrestaShop for ecommerce development. Quick processing and easy navigation has added to the amazing user experience with PrestaShop.

Minimum system requirements

 Running a PrestaShop store doesn’t need heavy system requirements.

 Economica choice

Since it is a free ecommerce platform, developing websites using PrestaShop is economical. You can also quickly create and set up your online store.

Cons

 Limited scalability

Though PrestaShop is an alluring choice for small to medium-sized businesses, it is not a great option for those looking to expand their business due to limited scalability.

Unprofessional design

The platform provides a decent design to run a low-budget or startup business, but as your business grows your needs will also arise to have more professional-looking websites.

Paid functionality

Many of the functionalities that are available with other ecommerce platforms are not available straightforward with this platform. Only basic features are available to run a decent store. You will need to pay for more functionalities that might be expensive in the long run.

No product support

This is the major downside of PrestaShop that there is no official support available for this platform.

Pros and cons of hiring Shopify developer

Shopify has become one of the most popular ecommerce platforms around the world. One thing that makes Shopify a sought-after platform is the ease of creating and setting up online stores. You can hire dedicated Shopify developer to create an advanced and complex ecommerce website for your business. It is hosted and comes with a lot of useful functionalities that let you build enriching stores.

Pros

 Easy to use and setup

Shopify is quite user-friendly which makes it easy to set up and use an online store. It is a great solution for those who want a complete ecommerce solution without any technicalities.

Appealing online stores

It offers a wide range of website templates that allow users to create attractive websites.

App integrations

It offers integration of apps just like plugins that let you customize your site by adding new features.

Reliable & secure

Shopify is a fully reliable and highly secure ecommerce platform to be used for creating and running ecommerce websites.

Dependable support

Product support is very dependable and is available 24/7 through varied channels like chats, emails, and phone calls.

Cons

 It can be expensive

Shopify users heavily depend on third-party apps that are available on the Shopify marketplace that might cost as low as a few pennies or as high as hundreds of dollars. Thus Shopify websites can be expensive in the long run.

Limited customization

The key downside of Shopify which is often debated is limited customization options. Even if you hire Shopify developer, you cannot customize your site more freely as you do with open-source platforms.

Apps can be incompatible

Many of the apps you use on your Shopify store may not be compatible with your theme or require modifications to use.

The verdict

We have seen varied pros and cons of Magento, PrestaShop, and Shopify platforms. Each of these platforms has some advantages and some disadvantages. Which ecommerce developer is the best fit for you depends on the type, scale, budget, and requirements of your business. Thus you can hire Magento developer if you think Magento fits your needs, or hire PrestaShop developer if you think it is appropriate for your business. You can hire Shopify developer if Shopify fulfills all your needs and requirements.