To design and manage an online store in order to sell your products or market your services, you have different platforms available. Of the options you currently have for this, Prestashop and Shopify are two very effective alternatives.
If you are thinking of setting up an online store and you still have doubts about which platform to choose to create it, in this article we show you a complete comparison between Shopify and Prestashop .
Personally, we are fans of Prestashop and thanks to this article you will find out why. At Innovadeluxe we can help you design your online store.
Table of contents
Shopify vs Prestashop for your online store
Every online project to achieve success must seek to be unique and unrepeatable. Therefore, it is vital to choose a CMS (Content Management System) that meets the needs that your business demands.
Before starting the comparison between the two programs, it is necessary to define them to know exactly what we mean. Both are platforms to create and manage online stores, but they have big differences.
what is Prestashop?
Prestashop is one of the most used free programs for ecommerce nowadays. With this software it is possible to manage all the processes of your online business in a simple way.
It is a platform that does not include hosting, so you can install it on any server. This way, you won’t be tied to the same provider forever, since you can try different options until you find the one that best suits your needs.
what is Shopify?
Shopify is also an ecommerce platform, with which you can set up your online store in a few simple steps. The main differences it has with its competitor Prestashop, is that it is a paid software and it does include hosting.
Its use is quite easy and intuitive, useful for those entrepreneurs who are starting in the universe of online commerce. If you do not mind the restrictions that this platform may have, it could be a good option for you.
Complete comparison Shopify vs Prestashop Which option to choose?
Once we have defined the essential features of each of these eCommerce platforms, it is possible to start a deeper comparison regarding the most important elements of an eCommerce software.
Initial Investment
As we mentioned before, Prestashop is a free software with which you can set up your online store in a matter of minutes. You only need to find a domain and a server, which will depend largely on the speed and performance that your online store requires.
With Shopify from the beginning, you will have to choose a payment option according to the levels that the platform offers. Although, the positive thing is that you have the whole package in one package, the initial investment is much more expensive with this platform.
Therefore, in this round we give Prestashop as the winner.
Ease of Use
In this section we can say that between Prestashop and Shopify we find the first tie. Both platforms are easy to use through an intuitive, practical and simple interface.
Shopify especially uses this point as one of its main competitive advantages, although both can really boast about this. Perhaps Prestashop, in comparison to Shopify, in appearance is a bit more complicated, but in reality it just offers greater customization and configuration options from the start.
Customization
Most ecommerce platforms nowadays offer numerous customization options in order to create a unique project. Both software have extensions and modules to create online stores with different themes and templates.
However, Prestashop is once again the winner, as it offers more than 3,000 modules and hundreds of different themes to customize your store. Figures that exceed the options offered by Shopify.
Added functionality
One of the most important elements of an online store is its ability to scale or expand, either by increasing the product catalog, increasing the customer base, international expansion, among others.
To do this, it is necessary to add extra features such as ”multi-language” store or ”multi-store” option (manage multiple stores) that allow you to manage your business in an integrated way.
Although Shopify has been around longer (2004) than Prestashop (2007), the latter has had a more accelerated development in terms of new features. Therefore, this round is won by Prestashop.
Internal management of the online store
Both Shopify and Prestashop offer the management options you need to manage each section of your online business. While Prestashop seems to be more complex, due to the wide collection of modules it offers according to your needs, it all depends on the type of business you have and the functionalities it requires.
That is why we are going to score a tie between both ecommerce platform options, since they fulfill their function in terms of the internal management of an online store.
Performance
The performance of your online store depends largely on the hosting you have contracted. In this regard, Shopify takes the cake, as it offers the same performance power with any plan you choose.
With Prestashop, on the other hand, it will depend on the hosting you have chosen. That’s why we recommend hiring an option that is optimized for this platform and that allows you to manage your store as it grows.
This does not mean that Prestashop by itself does not offer a good performance as an ecommerce platform, but it will depend on the hosting. In addition, this software offers numerous module options that allow you to improve the elements associated with the performance of your online store.
SEO
It is known that in relation to SEO, Prestashop is one of the best platforms to facilitate search engine optimization. It allows you to determine keywords, customize meta descriptions, optimize content and many other options that influence the ranking of web search engines.
So, without further explanation, we give Prestashop as the winner of this round in this Shopify vs Prestashop comparison.
Technical support
Technical support is another element to take into account, since the goal is to keep our online store open 24 hours a day, selling for us.
Shopify has a community where you can constantly exchange information, a section with video tutorials, telephone support and online chat.
For its part, Prestashop has a system of plans for technical support that you can choose, depending on the needs of your store. You can contact them online or call them on the support phone number.
In this aspect, both ecommerce platform options offer similar functionalities, so we declare a tie again.
Perhaps Prestashop wins extra points for the amount of options it offers and the flexibility it gives to online business administrators when customizing both the store and the service.
Conclusion
In relation to the parameters that we have measured on the design and management of an online store between Prestashop or Shopify, we have to give the first one as the winner. Undoubtedly, it has earned that position on its own merit, beating its competitor by a landslide.
While Shopify may be ideal for those who are starting out because it is less complicated when it comes to creating and managing ecommerce, Prestashop is also very simple in this regard.
On the surface, it may be more complicated than Shopify, but the reality is that it just offers more customization and management options, making it much more flexible. At the end of the day, what it comes down to is creating a different, unique and unrepeatable online business in the digital universe and Prestashop is what you need for that .
If you have used any of this ecommerce platform, tell us about your experience. Likewise, do not hesitate to tell us your doubts, evaluations or questions, as we will be reading and answering all comments.
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