OpenCart vs. Wix Stores

Looking for ecommerce software? Here's how OpenCart and Wix Stores stack up.

Daniel Adams

Daniel Adams

Last updated 2o July 2020


OpenCart

4.0  Stackupp rating


Pricing from

N/A

Free Plan?

Yes


Best for

Opencart is ideal for small and medium-sized retailers that have web development experience.

Wix Stores

4.3  Stackupp rating


Pricing from

$ 4.50 / month

Free Plan?

Yes


Best for

Wix is a versatile solution. Even though it seems targeted at small businesses, a powerful feature-set and high level of customizability make it a viable choice for larger retailers too, though full-fledged enterprise stores will struggle.

OpenCart or Wix Stores: Which is best?

Can't decide between OpenCart and Wix Stores?

Find the best platform for you with our side by side comparison of OpenCart and Wix Stores. See how each platform stacks up across ease of use, design, support and value for money.

Let the comparison begin. Don't worry, we'll guide you.

Is OpenCart right for you?

OpenCart occupies a unique space in the eCommerce platform market. It’s a free and open-source solution that’s ideal for small and medium retailers that want to exercise full development control on their own servers.

Immediately, this excludes two groups. First, small retailers that want a fully-hosted solution and don’t have coding skills will struggle with OpenCart. Secondly, larger stores, or stores expecting to scale, may find the feature-set somewhat limited. OpenCart doesn’t have the same functionality and scalability as other open-source platforms like Magento.

If you’re not in either group, however, OpenCart is well worth giving a go. As an open-source solution, it’s fully customizable. The feature set is pretty solid, and the interface is very intuitive for a self-hosted solution. You’ll also have access to a large user community and extensions library. Oh, and it’s probably worth mentioning the key selling point again: it’s free.

Advantages

  • The platform itself is free.
  • Open-source and fully editable for those with web development skills.
  • Intuitive and easy to use for a self-hosted platform.

Drawbacks

  • Costs for dedicated support and extensions can quickly add up.
  • Requires development and IT knowledge to be used effectively.
  • Few native marketing and SEO features.

Use OpenCart if you’re a small or medium-sized retailer looking for a self-hosted solution that isn’t going to break the bank. OpenCart is a streamlined platform with an intuitive dashboard, a solid feature-set, and a friendly, active community of users.

Is Wix Stores right for you?

Wix is a comprehensive ecommerce solution for retailers of all sizes. It comes with a fantastic set of features, including multichannel selling, a library of nearly one hundred templates, real-time shipping estimates for customers, and (of course) Wix’s fantastic website builder.

While enterprise stores will likely need a bigger “engine” to manage large amounts of sales, employees, and multiple languages, medium-sized retailers may find the ease-of-use of Wix attractive.

Because of its powerful website builder, Wix is an excellent choice for retailers without any advanced coding skills that still want full control over the look-and-feel of their store.

Advantages

  • Lots of customization features for users without any coding experience.
  • A wide set of features - like “Related Products”, abandoned cart retargeting, and templates - at a relatively low price.
  • Multichannel sales and global shipping options.

Drawbacks

  • POS is not available in all countries.
  • The apps and integrations library is a little sparse.
  • The Wix editor, whilst easy-to-use, does require getting used to.

Use Wix if you’re an individual or small business that requires a feature-rich solution that’s easy to use without any coding abilities. Because the website builder is suitable for all types of websites, Wix is also a good solution.

Ease of Use

Our first comparison criteria, ease of use. Why? Because it’s the most important.

Think about it. You don’t want to invest a lot of your precious time setting up an online store and tweaking the design only to find out that it’s a pain in the butt to manage day to day.

We take a look at how simple the OpenCart and Wix Stores platforms are to run.

How easy is OpenCart to use?

Rated 4/5 for Ease of Use

There are two sides to the ease of use question when it comes to OpenCart.

On the one hand, users have access to an intuitive dashboard (which is slightly unusual for an open-source, self-hosted solution) and a large library of extensions.

On the other hand, installing, maintaining, and running a store built on OpenCart requires a certain degree of development experience.

If you’re not comfortable handling backend tasks, then it’s probably not the option for you.

What OpenCart customers are saying...

Very good. Takes a while to get it setup to your own taste/needs, but worth the effort. Loads of online help for the most common stumbling blocks.
Having tried numerous e-commerce platforms opencart is by far my favourite.
I love that you can easily buy modifications from the marketplace for niche use case scenarios, and if not there are developers that are very knowledgeable of the product so custom functionality isn't a problem.

How easy is Wix Stores to use?

Rated 4/5 for Ease of Use

When it comes to ease-of-use, there are two sides to Wix.

Updating your product catalog, managing orders, and running email marketing campaigns through the central dashboard is straightforward.

The star of the show, however, is the Wix website editor. Users can make a myriad of changes to their site’s look-and-feel (along with individual pages)via a wide array of customization features.

The only issue is the sheer number of features. There’s a lot! So while Wix’s editor is intuitive and easy-to-use once you’ve wrapped your head around the feature-set, there is a small learning curve initially.

What Wix Stores customers are saying...

“Great website builder! I think a lot of people writing reviews are inexperienced and haven't put the time into learning how to use Wix extensively and as a result I see a lot of frustration.” Tobi
“I love Wix! I’ve never once had a problem with Wix. The SEO has improved over the years and the ease of duplicating and creating new pages is unbeatable. The mobile response is fantastic.
“It is the easiest, most equipped, most high quality website builder ever. I asked for customer support's help three times and have always received an answer within 24 hours (in English).”
It's a draw!

Design

Powerful features are great, but we all know first impressions count. So, do OpenCart and Wix Stores templates actually look any good? See for yourself. We outline each platforms design options, plus showcase a few real life examples.

How good are OpenCart's themes?

Rated 4/5 for Design

OpenCart comes with a straightforward, minimal theme that’s already installed. Users that want to change the design have two options: buy a theme from the marketplace or edit the source code directly.

The themes in the marketplace are relatively well-priced - most cost around $20 - and this is a definite plus. There are lots of options on offer, tailored for a variety of online sectors, so you’re certain to find one that fits your needs.

OpenCart doesn’t provide a site-builder for users. If you’re not comfortable editing code directly, then you’ll struggle to make small design changes. Again, development experience is a must.

OpenCart Examples

  • Schtinky Dog
    Schtinky Dog
Item 1 of 3

How good are Wix Stores's themes?

Rated 5/5 for Design

Few other website builders on the market offer the same level of design flexibility as Wix. For retailers that want a high level of design freedom without the need to interact with any code, Wix is a no-brainer. Because of the broad feature-set, retailers can control the branding and look-and-feel of their store to a very precise level.

All of that said, Wix isn’t limited to “non-developers”. Code-savvy webmasters can make deeper backend changes and take advantage of a powerful set of APIs. So the platform isn’t just limited to people without coding experience.

Users also have access to a library of nearly 100 free templates.

Wix Stores Examples

  • Plastic Freedom
    Plastic Freedom
Item 1 of 3
Wix Stores is our winner for design

How much do they cost?

Everyone’s favourite topic - pricing. Let's dive in to see if OpenCart or Wix Stores offers better value for money.

How much does OpenCart cost?

Rated 4/5 for Pricing

It’s difficult to fault a free platform. So why only eight out of ten?

First, let’s take a look at the positive side of things. The OpenCart feature-set is superb for a free, open-source platform. Users can take advantage of unlimited products and categories, multilingual and multi-currency support, product reviews, a shipping calculator, analytics reports, and more.

Where OpenCart starts to flounder a little is in regards to extensions and support. Dedicated support is $99/month. And extensions which provide extra functionality, such as integrations with third-party platforms, regularly run into the hundreds of dollars. Finally, retailers will have to take care of all hosting and maintenance costs themselves.

How much does Wix Stores cost?

Rated 4.5/5 for Pricing

Wix is very competitive on price. The basic plan costs $20/month and includes access to the online store builder, shopping cart with multiple shipping rules, multichannel sales, and Wix payment gateway.

Wix also offers a handful of sweeteners, including a free domain (for one year), ad credit, and professional logo design.

The whole ecommerce feature set is available on all plans. The more expensive plans - “Business Unlimited” and “Business VIP” - provide extra storage and (in the case of the VIP option) first-in-line customer support. If you need more than 50GB of storage, you’ll have to speak to Wix directly.

Wix Stores is our winner for cost

Help and Support

If things go wrong (and they often do) you need to know someone’s there to help get you back on track. So, how does OpenCart's and Wix Stores's support measure up?

How good is OpenCart support?

Rated 4/5 for Help and Support

OpenCart support comes in three forms. Reviews of the quality of support are generally positive.

First, users have access to a free community forum. The forum is active and has over 110,000 members.

Second, a one-off paid option is available. For $99 you get a one-time technical fix with a 30-day bug-free guarantee.

Finally, a subscription option for $99/month provides you with a monthly maximum of five extension installations and three bug fixes.

How good is Wix Stores support?

Rated 3.5/5 for Help and Support

While the quality of support provided by Wix is generally excellent, users only have the option of submitting a support ticket or requesting a callback. No live chat options are available.

English-language support is available 24/7 and support is also offered in a limited number of foreign languages during business hours.

VIP support, which essentially pushes you to the front of the line, is available on the Business VIP plan.

OpenCart is our winner for support

The Bottom Line

The final say. Let's wrap up our thoughts on each platform.

OpenCart: Our Verdict

We liked OpenCart. It’s a great free solution for retailers that want to manage backend tasks themselves. If you have a small or medium store, and don’t want to deal with the complexities of a platform like Magento or PrestaShop, then it’s well worth giving a go.

Where OpenCart stumbles a little is in regards to paid extensions and support. Add-ons often run into hundreds of dollars. And for the amount you pay for monthly support, you might as well opt for a fully-hosted plan like Shopify or BigCommerce that comes with support included.

Just remember, if you don’t have development and IT skills, you’ll likely struggle with OpenCart. If, on the other hand, you’re more of the DIY orientation, you’ll certainly value the intuitive dashboard and extensive, easy-to-use features.

Wix Stores: Our Verdict

One of the big positives about Wix is that it provides all necessary core ecommerce features, including multichannel selling and shipping rules, on all of its plans. You don’t need to sign up to the most expensive package to get the functionality you need.

What’s more, many secondary features are offered. Related product listings, cart abandonment emails, and access to Modalyst dropshipping (to add extra products to your store) are available to all users.

But the standout feature is the drag-and-drop website builder. While there is a slight learning curve, this powerful tool enables you to customize your store without any previous coding experience.

So if you’re looking for a comprehensive solution with a high degree of design freedom, Wix is the way to go.

Overall, we found Wix Stores to be the better ecommerce platform.

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