Shopware vs Magento

What to choose – Shopware or Magento? Which platform is better? Which one is cheaper? Which one is the king of large e-commerce, and which one is a contender for the throne? There are more and more discussions like these in the industry, so it’s time to delve into the topic.

Why are we comparing Shopware vs Magento?

At Satisfly, we primarily work with medium and large clients for whom subscription solutions are no longer sufficient (or start to suffocate with costs), and dedicated solutions discourage them due to vendor lock-in. Both Magento and Shopware can be the right answer to the business needs of this target group.

Magento vs Shopware – how do they differ?

Let’s look at the basic differences that we discuss with clients during initial project discussions.

Price

We have already extensively answered the question about the cost of Magento in a separate article. But what about Shopware?

Here too, you will find several versions to choose from. The open-source version can be downloaded and modified for free. If you need support and advanced out-of-the-box features (such as B2B), choose one of the paid editions: Rise ($600/month), Evolve, or Beyond (prices determined individually). You can find the pricing details here: https://www.shopware.com/en/pricing/ 

Technology

Magento 2 is written in PHP. If you opt for a headless solution with a separate frontend, React can also come into play. On the other hand, Shopware is based on Symfony (a PHP framework) and Vue.js.

Performance

In terms of performance, Shopware has a slight advantage over Magento. This applies to both PageSpeed metrics and factors such as fully loaded time and the final size of the page.

Usability

Magento has earned a reputation as a system that requires some knowledge and skills to operate from the admin panel. This can be intimidating for some users. In this aspect, Shopware outshines Magento. Almost all elements on the store’s website can be changed within the CMS panel or through snippets. It is evident that the platform was built heavily inspired by drag and drop functionalities (such as Wix).

Developers availability

There are significantly fewer specialists with experience in implementing Shopware on the market. In Poland, a Magento agency is a common sight, while there are not many software houses specializing in Shopware. This directly translates into the size of the community, with Magento boasting a community several times larger. It is worth noting that the Shopware community is predominantly German-speaking.

Shopware vs Magento – what do they have in common?

Despite the mentioned differences, both systems compete in the same category, targeting similar clients. Let’s look at the inevitable similarities.

Scalability

In this category, the battle between Shopware and Magento stores usually ends in a draw, with a slight advantage for the platform that has more competent programmers on board.

Multistore

Multiple stores, one panel? No problem. Shopware calls it Sales Channel, while Magento uses the term multistore. This is one of the features that make both platforms a good choice for an ambitious e-commerce store aiming for international expansion.

PWA

Both platforms support the implementation of PWA (Progressive Web App) principles, although it must be admitted that Shopware has a better solution in this regard than Magento. Shopware can be integrated with the modern Vue Storefront PWA.

B2B functionalities

Shopware is a good alternative to Magento B2B solutions. Both platforms allow for the implementation of typical B2B sales features, either through additional (and paid) extensions or by creating them from scratch in the open-source versions.

Abundance of Modules

Despite the differences in community size between Shopware and Magento, you can find a wide range of extensions and plugins for both platforms, both paid and free.

Promotion and SEO Support

In this category, it’s a tie. Both Magento and Shopware strongly support marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) through built-in features and available extensions. Shopware’s Shopping Experiences feature deserves special recognition as it allows for building product stories..

Who uses Shopware?

According to estimates from builtwith.com, there are over 90,000 Shopware stores worldwide. Of these, more than a quarter, or 24,000, are located in Germany. For comparison, there are 707,000 e-shops using Magento (in various versions).

Shopware has many well-known brands in its portfolio, primarily in the B2C sector. Some examples include the drugstore Douglas, the Bijou Brigitte store, and in Poland, Coffeedesk. Interestingly, the German retailer Intersport also uses Shopware, although its Polish edition operates on Magento 2.

Shopware celebrates its greatest triumphs in Germany. In 2022, the news of Magento being dethroned circulated within our industry. However, it was not about the overall statistics of Shopware vs. Magento but about the market share among the top 1000 entities. Shopware won with a 12.2% share compared to Magento’s 11.8%.

Magento vs. Shopware – what to choose?

Choose a platform that meets your business needs. I know – it’s an (apparently) vague answer that we repeat multiple times. But that’s the truth. No elegantly written ranking or comparison will give you as good an answer as analyzing your own needs with an implementing agency.

There are numerous reasons why a company may choose Shopware or Magento development. It is important to remember not to be solely guided by the allure of well-known brands. The availability of Shopware developers could have had a significant impact, particularly in the German market. On the other hand, psychological factors come into play when it comes to Magento, as it has long been the reigning king of large implementations.

If you are still undecided between Shopware and Magento, we invite you to a non-binding consultation at Satisfly.