PHP open-source shopping carts: OpenCart and Magento

written by Craig, 13 November 2007

I’ve been evaluating both of these shopping cart systems for a project I’m working on. Here are my opinions after a few hours testing…

OpenCart (v0.7.7 tested)

OpenCart looks great and is simple to setup and use. It’s probably aimed at smaller online shops, but is stable, fast, and caches pages. It’s new, so there aren’t many mods or themes just yet. Custom templates look straight-forward though.

My main concerns:

1. It uses MySQL MyISAM tables (fast with full-text indexing, but no foreign keys or transactions). I’d really expect InnoDB to be used for a shop.
2. URL aliases/mod-rewrites don’t work and there are few SEO considerations - descriptions and keywords can’t be entered. This should be fixed in the next version, but mod-rewrites need easier implementation (there’s currently a lookup table that must be manually populated with the real and aliased URL for every page).
3. Template values are inserted using global variables. It feels dirty, and problems could occur with that approach. The current templates use transitional HTML, but I think standards-based versions should be possible.

It’s worth keeping an eye on the project and it’s definitely one I’d consider as it matures.

Magento (v0.6.1360 tested)

A serious amount of effort has gone into Magento. It’s huge, can run multiple shops, and has an Amazon-like plethora of features. The interface is nice, support is excellent, and there’s lots of help including video tutorials. InnoDB tables are used, mod-rewrites work, and SEO is well implemented.

My main concerns:

1. It has high system requirements and could get slow with lots of users. The system could benefit from page caching.
2. It’s a seriously complex piece of software and has a steep learning curve. It’s one for large companies rather than one-man stores (I couldn’t get a product to appear on the home page!)
3. Templating is very flexible and uses XML to define multiple HTML page layouts and sections. But, it’s complicated: there are dozens of files in multiple locations, and the documentation appears to be wrong or out of date. It also seems to embed page-specific JS form validation code in the page head - not great.

Only a few people appear to be using it so far … that’s a little worrying given the positive press it’s had. Magento is very promising, but I would suggest waiting until it’s out of beta before using it.

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12 comments:

1. 17 November 2007 Daniel Kerr commented

   Template values are inserted using global variables

   OpenCart Does not work using global variables!

   Thnaks for the good review though!

2. 18 November 2007 Craig commented

   Hi Daniel.

   I was referring to the use of global variables within the templates. It’s not a huge problem, but people creating templates would need to be careful not to override your variable names (e.g. $header).

   OpenCart is still a great product though, and I suspect downloads will increase exponentially as developers become aware of it.

3. 13 January 2008 Opensourcer commented

   Any reason why you did not consider Zencart?

4. 13 January 2008 Craig commented

   I looked at ZenCart a couple of years ago, but it always concerned me that templates had to be table-based. However, I’ve just read a recent article that says it’s fully standards-compliant so I’ll try it again.

   I’ve also used CubeCart - it isn’t open source, but it’s very good and worth looking at.

5. 24 January 2008 Israel commented

   I have tried to install magento a few times and I have not been able to install it, yet. You are right about the high system requirements, I’ve been talking to my web hosting service and they say the do not support Magento, because of the “PHP Extension “pdo_mysql” must be loaded” error I get. This is a major hold back fro a lot od users trying to install magento, I FEEL YOUR PAIN. I mean I’ve worked woth osCommerce, Zen-cart, opencart and others and zen-cart has been easier to work with so far

6. 24 January 2008 Craig commented

   To be fair to Magento, PDO is a good way to go since it offers an abstract database layer and does not necessarily tie you to MySQL. Unfortunately, few hosts install it by default. Some allow you to modify php.ini settings, so you might be able to fix the problem.

   But installation was easy compared to building custom templates! Magento could be great, but it’s overly complicated and few people are using it.

7. 5 April 2008 Chuck Miller commented

   We’ve just started looking for an open source shopping cart. I see Magento is out of beta. Any new views on it or others?

8. 7 April 2008 Craig commented

   I’ll certainly be taking another look, but it’s apparent that they have not simplified the template system. There are still very few live stores and most of the examples are basic cosmetic makeovers of the default template.
   However, the documentation appears to be better, so perhaps it’ll be a little easier now.

9. 28 May 2008 Brad commented

   I’ve been trying to use Magento for the past week now, and after I FINALLY got it installed (had to haggle with my hosting company to get the pdo_mysql installed for me), I’ve been trying to template it. Not only do you have to modify XML files AND phtml files, you also have to make sure you set the template within your XML. It’s extremely over-complicated, and I really am struggling to get this shop up and running. I would stick with Zen Cart overall.

10. 28 May 2008 Craig commented

    Thanks for your comments, Brad. It’s a shame that Magento’s templates are so overly complicated because the product has a lot of potential. Please let me know if you manage to get your shop working.

11. 25 June 2008 Terry commented

    Does anyone know how I can replicate the http://www.tshirthell.com website? Essentially the products are on the home page, which has been merged with the home page, and clickable through to individual products page. I have Magento, and I am just checking this in advance

12. 26 June 2008 Craig commented

    I’m sure Magento can handle it, but I doubt that it’ll be easy. Please let us know how you get on.