Shopware 6 vs. Magento 2 (Adobe Commerce) - the store system comparison

27.04.2023
by Meike Müller
E-Commerce
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Shopware and Magento are both very well-known store systems that can provide a good foundation for your online store. But which system is the better one? In this comparison, we would like to take a look at both e-commerce systems and examine the most important criteria. So if you are still undecided whether you should choose Magento or Shopware for you and your business, then you are in the right place. We compare both and present you the advantages and disadvantages of both systems!

 

Reading time 7 min

What to expect in this article:
  1. What is Shopware and what is Magento anyway?
  2. Shopware vs. Magento
    1. Shopware vs. Magento: The comparison
    2. Advantages and disadvantages of Magento
    3. Advantages and disadvantages of Shopware
  3. Our conclusion
  4. FAQ around Shopware and Magento
    1. How do I optimize my Magento webshop for SEO and what tools are available?
    2. Can I switch from Magento to Shopware?
    3. How can I set up my Shopware online store for different countries and languages?
    4. Do I need programming skills for Shopware or Magento?
    5. What is the difference between experience worlds and shopping worlds in Shopware?
    6. What is data set management?
    7. What do I need the source code of a store software for?
    8. Why should "internationalization" be part of the functional scope of a store software?

What is Shopware and what is Magento anyway?

Magento is a company founded by Varien, a software development company, in 2007. It specializes in e-commerce software development and provides a flexible and scalable platform for online businesses of all sizes. In 2015, Magento was acquired by Permira, a global investment firm, to expand its capabilities and global reach. Then in 2018, Magento was acquired by Adobe and has since been part of the Adobe Experience Cloud ecosystem. Magento 2, or Adobe Commerce, is an e-commerce platform that enables businesses to run online stores and sell their products and services online. The platform offers a wide range of features including management of products, orders, payments, shipping, and marketing activities. The platform is especially popular among mid-sized and larger companies that need a flexible and customizable e-commerce solution.

Shopware, on the other hand, is based in the German town of Schöppingen and also offers an e-commerce platform for online stores. The platform was first released in 2004 and has gone through several iterations since then. The current version, Shopware 6, was released in 2019 and offers an expanded feature set compared to the previous version. The Shopware platform offers an extensive feature set that enables merchants to effectively manage and grow their online stores. These include functions for managing products, customers and orders. The platform also provides extensive marketing tools, including discounts, coupons and upselling features.

Shopware vs. Magento

Which store system suits you better: Magento or Shopware? Both store systems are well-known and respected on the market. But which platform is best suited for your online store cannot be determined without a thorough analysis of both systems. After all, it all depends on your needs and those of your store and your niche. In the following, we would like to compare both store systems with each other. To do this, we will look at various criteria, which we would now like to briefly present to you:

  • Costs: It is of course important to know how expensive the systems are in each case and whether they fit into your budget or not.
  • Functions: Likewise, of course, all the functions that are important for your business should be included. This includes, for example, various payment and shipping options.
  • Ease of use: The store systems should be intuitive to use and manage. This includes that products can be added easily. Content and categories should also be able to be added without any problems.
  • Scalability: If your business grows, your store should be able to grow with it. If you strive for this, then the store system should be designed for scalability. What are the costs and possible limitations?
  • Security: Does the store system already offer all the tools and requirements needed to guarantee security for your company and your customers?
  • Installation and maintenance: How easy is the installation? How can the system be maintained?
  • Extensibility: Is there a possibility to extend the store and its functions? For example, are there plugins, integrations and interfaces?
  • Support: What about the support of the manufacturer? Is there also support from a community or agencies around the store system?

Of course, some of these criteria are subjective. We go here from our experiences. So it may be that you perceive the aspects differently and have a different experience. However, we hope that our comparison gives you a good starting point for your own evaluation.

 

Shopware vs. Magento: The comparison

Magento/ Adobe Commerce

Shopware

Costs

The license costs for Adobe Commerce are individual. It depends on the size of the online store and the annual turnover of your company. Often there is talk of about 15,000 euros in licensing costs per year.

For Shopware, the license costs for the Rise version start at 600 euros per month. For the other two versions Evolve and Beyond the price is only available on request.

Functions

  • Product management
  • Order management
  • Payment and shipping integration
  • Customization of shipping and tax rules
  • Marketing tools
  • SEO optimization
  • Multilingualism
  • Customer management
  • Coupon management
  • Reporting and analysis tools
  • Integration of product ratings and customer feedback
  • Extensibility through a wide range of extensions and plugins
  • Responsive design
  • Multi-website and multi-store support
  • Social media and marketing channel integration
  • Automated email and campaign management tools
  • Options for selling digital products and subscriptions
  • Support for B2B and B2C e-commerce models
  • Product management
  • Order management
  • Payment and shipping integration
  • Customization of shipping and tax rules
  • Marketing tools
  • Social media integration
  • Extensibility through plugins and extensions
  • Ease of use
  • Responsive design
  • SEO optimization
  • Multilingualism
  • Customer management
  • Voucher management
  • Reporting and analysis tools
  • Integration of product ratings and customer feedback
  • Newsletter integration
  • Possibility to create B2B store
  • Google Shopping integration
  • and much more

Usability

Magento is relatively complex in itself, dealing with all the features is time-consuming. How user-friendly Magento really is also depends on your previous knowledge.

High usability and intuitive operation. Basic settings are easy to select.

Scalability

High scalability for B2C and B2B projects. Online stores of any size can be created and designed.

Since there are different licenses, your Shopware store can also scale well. Whether it's a small webshop or an online store with a huge product selection.

Security

Adobe Commerce is PCI-certified as a Level 1 solution provider and offers tools such as security scans and an active developer community to protect online merchants from cyber threats. Merchants can use Adobe's PCI compliance attestation to simplify their own PCI certification process.

Because it is based in Germany, the company also complies with all legal requirements in Germany

Installation and maintenance

Installing and maintaining Adobe Commerce can be a technical challenge due to the rich features and complexity involved. The platform requires some technical knowledge to be successfully installed and maintained.

Installation requires a basic knowledge of web servers, PHP, MySQL databases, and SSL certificates.

Setting up an online store with Shopware requires very little effort. The platform offers comprehensive documentation and a German support team available to answer questions, making it relatively easy to make your own customizations and enhancements.

Extensibility

There are extensions for the Magento store system for a wide variety of tasks: Customer support, payments and security, marketing, finance, accounting, shipping and online store optimizations. These are partially subject to a fee.

In terms of customization options, the Shopware store offers many plugins that can extend the functionality of the online store. Although Shopware 6 is still relatively new on the market, there is already a considerable number of plugins on offer. The library is also being continuously expanded to meet the needs of customers. Another advantage is that some plugins are provided free of charge, which allows store owners to improve their online presence without additional costs.

Support

Community forums, documentation, enterprise-level paid support.

German support - depending on the version, more support from Shopware itself.

 

The advantages and disadvantages of Magento

For a good overview of the store system Magento or Adobe Commerce, we have still compiled all the important advantages and disadvantages that you should know before deciding on a store system.

Magento advantages Magento disadvantages
  • Internationality
  • Large community that can help with questions
  • High range of extensions and good customization options
  • SEO optimizations are possible: Meta descriptions, URL adjustments, sitemap changes and more are possible with Adobe Commerce
  • High costs: Especially for larger stores it quickly becomes very expensive with Adobe Commerce
  • Complexity: Adobe Commerce is one of the more complex store systems, which is difficult to understand for inexperienced users.
  • Maintenance, setup and updating: The maintenance of your online store with Adobe Commerce is relatively complex and can only be implemented with effort without knowledge.

 

The advantages and disadvantages of Shopware

Likewise, we do not want to deprive you of the advantages and disadvantages of Shopware. Therefore, we have also compiled the most important here:

Shopware Advantages Shopware disadvantages
  • The store system is flexibly adaptable and new functions can be implemented easily and quickly, because the code is open source and there are many extensions in the Shopware Store.
  • Shopware follows an API-first approach, so there is an interface for data and function exchange
  • There is a German support
  • Close collaboration with Pickware, so integrations of ERP systems and merchandise management systems are no problem
  • Shopware is mainly focused on the German and European market, which of course does not have to be a disadvantage if you are mainly active in DE and Europe anyway
  • In the better versions Shopware is not cheap

 

 

Our conclusion

But what is better now? The decision between Shopware and Magento depends on the individual requirements of the online store. Both platforms offer extensive features and tools to run a successful online store. As an online store agency, we like to use the Shopware store system when it comes to creating high-performance web stores for our customers. We are also happy to be your implementation partner and help you uncover individual needs and requirements in an initial consultation!

 

FAQ about Shopware and Magento

The decision for the right store system is of great importance for online merchants, as it can significantly influence the success of the online store. Shopware and Magento are among the best known on the market. In this FAQ we would like to answer all open questions about the two systems. If you still have questions, you can of course contact us at any time. We will be happy to help you!

  • How do I optimize my Magento webshop for SEO and which tools are available?

    If you want to optimize your Magento webshop for search engine optimization (SEO), there are some tips you should follow. Use the marketing features of your store software to increase traffic to your website. For example, use Magento's own promotions module or use affiliate or banner advertising. Use an SEO-friendly URL structure. Magento offers a feature that allows you to customize the URL structure of your products and categories. Optimize the meta information like title tags and meta descriptions for your products and categories. Magento offers a function to edit this information for each page. Create an XML sitemap for your webshop and submit it to search engines. Magento offers a function to automatically create a sitemap for this. Optimize the load times of your webshop for better usability and higher search engine rankings. Magento offers a variety of settings and extensions to improve loading times. Use Google Analytics or other web analytics tools to measure and monitor the success of your SEO efforts. These tips will help you optimize your Magento webshop for SEO. It is important to monitor and adjust SEO optimizations on an ongoing basis to achieve continuous improvement in search engine rankings.

  • Can I switch from Magento to Shopware?

    Yes, it is possible to switch from Magento to Shopware. This is referred to as a "switchover". However, switching from Magento to Shopware requires careful planning and preparation, as there are differences between the two platforms and data migration plays an important role. It is important to consider the specific requirements and needs of the business to ensure that the switch is successful and that all important data and functionality is transferred to the new platform. It is recommended to involve an experienced e-commerce developer or agency to make the transition from Magento to Shopware a smooth one.

  • How can I set up my Shopware online store for different countries and languages?

    To set up a Shopware online store for different countries and languages, store owners need to consider various aspects of internationality. One important factor is setting up sales channels for each country in which the store will operate. This includes implementing payment and shipping options that are appropriate for each country. The complexity of the setup depends on the number of countries and languages for which the store will be set up. Some of the steps required include:

    1. set up language and currency options: It is important to customize the store for the languages and currencies of different countries to increase usability and conversion rates.

    2. Consider country-specific legislation: In some countries, there are specific rules for the sale of goods and services that store operators must follow. These should be included in the store policies and terms of use.

    3. Provide localized content: Store operators should ensure that the store content is customized for each language and country to provide a better user experience.

    4. Configure sales channels and payment options: Sales channels and payment options need to be customized for each country to enable smooth order processing.


    Overall, setting up a Shopware online store for different countries and languages requires some complexity and requires a thorough understanding of the internationality and requirements of each country. It is important that store owners take their time and plan carefully to ensure that the store is optimally adapted for each country and that conversion rates are maximized.

  • Do I need programming skills for Shopware or Magento?

    Basically, you do not need extensive programming knowledge to use Shopware or Magento as a store solution. Both store systems are programmed in such a way that they can also be operated by people with basic IT knowledge. However, both systems require a certain amount of training and experience in dealing with the respective platform in order to use them effectively. This includes learning the various functions and configurations available in the administration interface. In certain cases, however, it may be necessary to have basic programming skills in order to make individual adjustments or enhancements to the store solution. This can be, for example, the adaptation of the design, the creation of new functions or the integration of external systems. Overall, however, it can be said that you generally do not need extensive programming knowledge to use Shopware or Magento as a store solution. However, a certain amount of familiarization and experience with the respective platform is recommended in order to be able to operate the store effectively and successfully.

  • What is the difference between worlds of experience and shopping worlds in Shopware?

    In Shopware 5, the function was called Shopping Worlds, while in Shopware 6 it was renamed Experience Worlds. Experience worlds are a flexible and powerful tool for creating engaging and interactive content on different pages of the online store. With Erlebniswelten, online merchants can customize the design of landing pages, category pages, product pages and more according to their preferences. Various elements such as images, text, videos, products, banners and more can be freely placed and designed to create a unique shopping experience for customers.

  • What is record management?

    Data set management refers to the management of data sets stored in a system. This typically includes the creation, updating, storage, and retrieval of data. In e-commerce, for example, records can include information about products, customers, orders, and payments.

    Shopware and Magento 2 are both popular store systems that offer extensive data set management features. In Shopware, for example, merchants can manage products, customers and orders easily and efficiently. The platform also offers third-party application integration features that can help manage records from multiple sources. Magento 2 offers similar functionality and has powerful record management tools. For example, the platform allows merchants to manage products, track orders and manage customer accounts. Moreover, using Magento 2, merchants can seamlessly integrate data from various sources, including external systems and applications.

  • What do you need the source code of a store software for?

    The source code of a store software is the heart of the application and contains all the programming instructions necessary to run and manage the store. Some of the reasons why you might need the source code are:

    1. customizations: You may need customizations to the store software to add certain features or change existing ones. With the source code, you have access to all the programming instructions and can change them accordingly.

    2. extensions: You may want to add third-party extensions designed specifically for your needs. With the source code, you can integrate these extensions into your store software.

    3. troubleshooting: if an error occurs in the store, the source code can help you find and fix the error. Without the source code, it can be difficult to find the source of the problem.

    4. Security audits: By reviewing the source code, potential security risks can be identified and fixed before they can be exploited.

    5. migration: if you want to upgrade your store software to another platform or to a newer version, the source code can help you simplify the process by serving as a starting point for migration.

    However, it is important to note that accessing the source code is usually recommended only for experienced developers who have the necessary knowledge to make changes or fix problems without affecting the store's operation.

  • Why should "internationalization" be part of the functionality of a store software?

    Internationalization is an important factor in the development of store software, as it allows the store to be used in different countries and regions. Here are some reasons why internationalization should be part of the functional scope of a store software:

    1. expanding the market: internationalization allows a store owner to expand its market to customers in different countries. This means that the store has access to new customers and can thus expand its business.

    2. customer convenience: internationalization allows customers from different countries to use the store in their own language, which leads to a better user experience. Payment methods and currencies can also be adapted to local conditions.

    3. Adaptation to local laws and regulations: Different countries have different laws and regulations that can have an impact on the store. Through internationalization, the store software can be adapted to meet these requirements.

    4. increase in credibility: internationalized store software shows that the store operator strives to meet the needs of customers in different countries. This strengthens the credibility of the store and increases customer trust.

    Overall, internationalization offers an opportunity for store operators to expand their reach, improve customer convenience and increase the credibility of their store. For these reasons, internationalization should be part of the functional scope of a store software.

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Meike
Meike
from 27.04.2023

Hello, my name is Meike. I take care of the EXWE back office and am responsible for our social media channels. All of our articles are meant to make your life easier and help you make decisions. Nevertheless, it can happen that something remains unclear, so: If you have questions about this article you can easily reach me at +49 231 93149827.

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