Prestashop vs. WooCommerce Compared

If you want to start an online business, the e-commerce platform you choose will determine which services you have access to. Choosing between PrestaShop and WooCommerce is difficult, especially if you’re unfamiliar with e-commerce systems.

This article compares PrestaShop and WooCommerce in critical areas to help you choose the best e-commerce platform for your business.

What is Prestashop?

PrestaShop is an open-source e-commerce platform that lets you create nearly any online business. You can install it on any web server, giving you access to a wide selection of community layouts and modules that can increase your store’s functionality.

5 benefits of Prestashop

• Free of charge -Though you may anticipate certain charges when establishing your store (fees for a domain name, site hosting, and an SLL certificate), PrestaShop is free to download and trial. The actual operating cost will be addressed below.
• Designed for e-commerce – PrestaShop is a platform designed specifically for online sales, rather than a general content management system. It focuses on the shop, items, and payment/shipment methods.
• Ongoing development – New versions of PrestaShop, including new features, upgrades, fixes, and security updates, are published regularly.
• Open source – You have complete control over the store’s files and may change them. You may also design your plugins to add functionality as needed.
• Broad functionality – All the e-commerce functionalities you may need are included out of the box.

What is WooCommerce?

If you use WordPress, you’re likely familiar with WooCommerce. It’s the most popular e-commerce plugin on WordPress. It integrates an entire e-commerce platform inside WordPress without losing any of the basic functionality of the Content Management System (CMS). The product is a hybrid system capable of launching an online store and adding practically any feature imaginable.

5 benefits of WooCommerce

• Seamless integration with WordPress – WooCommerce works well with WordPress, transforming your WordPress site into a fully functioning e-commerce store in minutes.
• User-friendly interface – Using WooCommerce, you can manage your inventory, track orders, handle shipping, and control all elements of your new online business directly from your WordPress dashboard.
• Cost-effectiveness – Running an e-commerce store doesn’t have to cost a fortune and WooCommerce proves that. Unlike many other systems, WooCommerce provides many free services to help you establish and run your e-commerce site without additional fees.
• Pay-as-you-grow – You can start with the basic features for free, and as your business expands, incorporate paid add-ons to improve your store’s functionality. This pay-as-you-grow strategy ensures that you only spend money on things you need.
• Extensive customisation options – In WooCommerce, you can choose from a wide range of themes for your store’s look. Then, there are the plugins that boost your store’s capabilities. WooCommerce offers hundreds of plugins to make your business operations run more smoothly and efficiently.

Prestashop and WooCommerce compared

Pricing

Both PrestaShop and WooCommerce are open-source applications. You can download and install either ecommerce platform on any host. Because of their accessibility, WooCommerce and PrestaShop are excellent choices for those looking to build an e-commerce site on a small budget.

WooCommerce requires an existing WordPress website to function. That implies you’ll need hosting, and a domain name and hosting fees vary significantly from business to company.

On average, if you pay for inexpensive shared hosting and a .com domain, you can create a WordPress website with WooCommerce or PrestaShop for as little as $15-20. That is the barebones method, but you could also purchase premium themes (or templates) and plugins to increase your store’s capabilities.

Installation

There are various options for installing PrestaShop and WooCommerce. First, you may download both software alternatives from their websites (or the WordPress.org repository), upload them to your server, and manually install them.

That procedure may appear daunting, but it should be straightforward if you have experience installing software on a server. The procedure is significantly easier if you’re using WordPress because you can install WooCommerce from the dashboard.

Most other web providers provide access to a software installer, allowing you to install WordPress or PrestaShop with only a few clicks, eliminating the need for manual download, upload, and installation.

Both WooCommerce and PrestaShop are extremely popular choices for new e-commerce shops. That implies that most web servers will provide simplified installation options to facilitate shop setup.

Themes and templates

PrestaShop templates and add-ons are often more costly than WordPress themes and plugins. However, WordPress users have access to a far larger number of plugins and themes.

WooCommerce and PrestaShop include free and paid add-ons, themes, and layouts. You’re not required to use them, but it’s worth considering since a good theme can significantly improve your store’s operation.

Performance and scalability

An e-commerce store’s success depends on its speed. That means pages in the shop must load quickly, and the software should not seem sluggish when updating the website.

Because PrestaShop and WooCommerce are both open-source software, your hosting platform primarily determines the performance you receive. You won’t get good performance if you use shared hosting for a shop with hundreds of goods and high traffic.

There are several manual approaches for optimizing performance in WooCommerce and PrestaShop stores. Your hosting provider and package will greatly influence your performance options.

In terms of scalability, PrestaShop and WooCommerce can manage hundreds, if not thousands, of products. However, such expansion is only achievable with the proper hosting infrastructure and setup.

Integrations

PrestaShop and WooCommerce may function independently in terms of functionalities. In either case, the underlying software allows you to build a fully functional online store that hosts hundreds of products.

If you want access to more functionalities, you can always use extensions and add-ons. WooCommerce extensions can also be installed as WordPress plugins – they’re more commonly referred to as e-commerce software extensions.

Search the WordPress.org plugin repository and the official WooCommerce website for hundreds of extensions. The official WooCommerce plugin catalog has more than 700 options.

It’s vital to understand that we’re discussing WooCommerce-specific extensions. Over a thousand WordPress plugins are available. Many of these plugins are unrelated to e-commerce, yet they can nevertheless help you add new features to your shop.

PrestaShop is no slouch in terms of add-ons and modules. There are over 4,000 free and paid PrestaShop modules, all in the official add-ons database. Prices for PrestaShop modules vary greatly. Annual licenses for add-ons typically start at $80. However, depending on the capabilities desired, they might cost up to $250.

Ease of use

It’s quite straightforward to install both WooCommerce and PrestaShop. However, you should also examine how simple it is to configure and use these platforms to publish items.

PrestaShop and WooCommerce both offer setup wizards to make it easier to get started with the platform. PrestaShop’s wizard will lead you through creating your first product, designing your shop, and configuring it.

When you publish a product with PrestaShop, you get an editor that allows you to alter every part of the item. You may include product photographs, descriptions, variants, features, delivery choices, etc.

Similarly, WooCommerce provides a sophisticated product editor. If you’re comfortable with the WordPress Classic Editor, designing WooCommerce items should be second nature. WooCommerce and PrestaShop allow you to customise products to the smallest detail.

SEO tools

PrestaShop, by default, provides more choices for e-commerce Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) than WooCommerce. The product editor allows you to create custom meta names and descriptions for each product. You can also configure product redirections, which helps unify your catalogue.

Installing a WordPress SEO plugin can add comparable capabilities to WooCommerce. Yoast SEO, for example, allows you to specify meta descriptions and titles. You can also preview how items will display on social networking platforms and use schema markup on your websites.

Support

WooCommerce and PrestaShop are both popular open-source platforms, so plenty of documentation is available. You can discover troubleshooting tips for practically every issue you can think of. The same documentation is provided for implementing features.

If you like to do things yourself, that setup can be ideal. However, if you need specialist help, both platforms provide a few possibilities.

The WooCommerce homepage may connect you with specialised e-commerce developers. PrestaShop has direct support options, which start at $280 per month for up to three hours of help.

Security

Given the popularity of WooCommerce and PrestaShop, it’s no surprise that both software alternatives are prime targets for cybercriminals.

Looking at publicly known vulnerabilities for both systems over the last few years, PrestaShop has had more security problems than WooCommerce. PrestaShop has 114 vulnerabilities reported, compared to only 59 for WooCommerce (source: CVE)

Another essential aspect of security is the frequency with which updates are provided. Outdated software is more likely to be susceptible, exposing your business to possible assaults.

In this regard, PrestaShop and WooCommerce receive near-perfect scores. Both software alternatives regularly issue updates and fixes.

Wrap up

There is no one-size-fits-all e-commerce platform for any store. PrestaShop and WooCommerce are low-cost and highly customisable choices for small and large businesses. Both offer simple installation, many add-on possibilities, and user-friendliness.

However, WooCommerce excels in extensibility thanks to its vast array of plugins and themes for customizing your business.

If you’re curious to learn more about WooCommerce hosting, contact us. We have over 20 years of hosting experience and can ensure the best performance, security, and stability for your WooCommerce store.

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