PrestaShop vs. Magento vs. Shopify

PrestaShop or Magento or Shopify?

Shopify offers reliable hosting, unlimited storage, and a user-friendly store builder to help you build your own ecommerce store.

Try Shopify free for 3 days, no credit card required. By entering your email, you agree to receive marketing emails from Shopify.

Why choose Shopify over PrestaShop and Magento

Key features
Free trialPrestaShop
Magento
Shopify
24/7 supportPrestaShop
Magento
Shopify
Sell online and in-storePrestaShop
Magento
Shopify
Business capitalPrestaShop
Magento
Shopify
Custom domainPrestaShop
Magento
Shopify
SEO featuresPrestaShop
Magento
Shopify
HostingPrestaShop
Magento
Shopify
Sell worldwidePrestaShop
Magento
Shopify
Multi-currency supportPrestaShop
Magento
Shopify
Mobile-friendlyPrestaShop
Magento
Shopify
Fraud protectionPrestaShop
Magento
Shopify
Integrated checkoutPrestaShop
Magento
Shopify
Integrated fulfillment networkPrestaShop
Magento
Shopify
Email marketing toolsPrestaShop
Magento
Shopify
App StorePrestaShop
Magento
Shopify
Mobile app for merchantsPrestaShop
Magento
Shopify

Start selling with Shopify today

Try Shopify for free, and explore all the tools and services you need to start, run, and grow your business.

Try Shopify free for 3 days, no credit card required. By entering your email, you agree to receive marketing emails from Shopify.

7 things Shopify can do vs. PrestaShop and Magento

Provide a code-free platform

PrestaShop and Magento allow you to build an online store. However, you’ll need some coding know-how to create one on either platform. Shopify, on the other hand, is incredibly accessible to beginners. With a no-code website builder, Shopify makes it extremely simple to build and launch an online store. Plus, Shopify provides tutorials on how to add your first product, try a few different themes to see which best suits your store, and configure a domain for your website.

Help you extend your reach

When comparing PrestaShop and Magento, you’ll find that PrestaShop requires you to use a set of paid add-ons to access multiple sales channels. Magento, too, offers omni-channel selling via integrations. By comparison, Shopify allows you to promote and sell on multiple channels, all from within its platform. You can reach new shoppers on Amazon, Walmart, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, and more to boost sales for your business.

Allow in-person selling

Want to sell at a retail location? It’s possible with PrestaShop and Magento. However, both platforms require a third-party integration to connect them with POS software. With Shopify, you get an integrated point-of-sale solution that lets you accept payments in-person, offer mobile checkout, sell gift cards, and more. You can also leverage Shopify POS to offer customers easy returns, flexible shopping, and personalized service.

Enable blogging

It’s possible to use blog extensions on both PrestaShop and Magento. However, the best ones carry a price tag and may not be affordable for every merchant. Shopify has a built-in blog CMS to help you run and manage your own blog. Shopify’s blog editor lets you change typeface, modify headers, include images, add links, and more. Utilizing these options, you can publish optimized blog content that increases exposure and revenue for your business.

Provide email services

One of the differences between PrestaShop vs. Magento vs. Shopify is that Shopify has its own email marketing service, called Shopify Email. From branded email templates to campaign tracking, Shopify Email gives you the ability to build lasting customer relationships. Shopify also lets you send emails from your domain to help avoid spam filters. On PrestaShop and Magento, you’ll need to configure code if you want to send emails directly from their platforms.

Minimize gateway fees

While PrestaShop and Magento both sync with international payment processors, there’s no way to avoid the transaction fees that third-party processors charge. In contrast, Shopify has its own proprietary payment processor called Shopify Payments. It lets you accept most payments and offers a 0% transaction fee for payments processed through its gateway. Moreover, you can enable local currencies in Shopify Payments to provide smooth checkout experiences to customers worldwide.

Protect your business

Shopify offers anti-fraud protection, provides SSL certificates, and is PCI DSS compliant. The company also invites merchants to report any potential security threats, so issues can be analyzed and fixed in a timely manner.

Why merchants choose Shopify over PrestaShop vs. Magento

Custom code or no code

Shopify lets you build and launch your online store without touching a single line of code. But it also gives you the freedom to edit CSS and HTML for more control over features and design, whether you hire a developer or do it yourself.

Fast-loading website

Shopify is committed to making sure your website loads quickly by hosting it on fast, global servers and compressing all your images to the WebP format. Additionally, Shopify offers a reliable CDN to ensure your store loads quickly in every location.

Comprehensive app store

The Shopify App Store has over 6,000 apps to support the different needs of ecommerce stores. Options range from product sourcing and marketing tools to shipping and delivery apps.

Detailed analytics

Shopify offers detailed analytics information to all its users, including an overview dashboard, product reports, finance reports, and many more. You can also customize and filter the reports to display only specific data.

24/7 support

Shopify support is available 24/7, no matter which plan you’re on. You’ll also have access to help docs, webinars, blog posts, and online courses to guide you along the way.

Automatic updates

Shopify automatically seeds all updates to its users. This way, layout improvements, feature upgrades, and other changes are made at the same time to ensure your online store is secure and your visitor experience improves.

We’ve been able to build something in 3 years that a lot of brands haven’t actually gotten to in 10 years.

  • Cee Cee’s Closet NYC
  • Chioma

Learn More About Shopify

Compare Shopify

See how Shopify compares to other platforms

Shopify Community

Learn from business owners on the Shopify forums

Shopify Help Center

Find answers to all your Shopify questions fast

Start selling with Shopify today

Try Shopify for free, and explore all the tools and services you need to start, run, and grow your business.

Try Shopify free for 3 days, no credit card required. By entering your email, you agree to receive marketing emails from Shopify.

FAQs

Which is better: PrestaShop or Magento?

If you’re looking to scale your business, Magento is a better option than PrestaShop. However, PrestaShop is easier to use and offers more features required for an ecommerce setup. When it comes to building and launching an online store, Shopify is an excellent choice. The platform is fully hosted, has powerful commerce features, and offers unlimited bandwidth to support the needs of growing businesses.

Which is cheaper to run: PrestaShop or Magento?

Although PrestaShop and Magento are free to install, there’s still the expense of running an online store, such as an SSL certificate, hosting service, and any additional extensions needed for your website. Shopify’s pricing starts at $19.00 USD/month when paying yearly for Shopify Basic, which includes the features required to run an online store.

PrestaShop vs. Magento: which has the better uptime?

PrestaShop and Magento’s uptime is dependent on your hosting package. On shared hosting, other websites getting a large amount of traffic can cause the server to crash, negatively affecting your website’s uptime. By comparison, Shopify has a reliable uptime that is trusted by many big merchants, stores, and celebrities. With Shopify, your online store is hosted on a cloud server, making it less likely for you to experience downtime.

Page last updated: January 24, 2022

What’s the best commerce platform for you?

Learn why thousands of businesses migrate to Shopify every year.