The last platform we will be looking at in our series is Magento. Like the other entries in our series Magneto is a front runner in website hosting. However, unlike the other hosting platforms, Magento specializes in e-commerce. Magento is mobile ready, and comes ready with multiple SEO optimizations built into every website. Magento offers many additional services that other hosting platforms do not such as marketing tools as well as smaller features like variable product prices and multi-shop support.
These extra features are not available in the free community version of Magento though. Most features and other forms of support require you to purchase one of their enterprise versions of the platform which starts at $15,000. This is generally aimed at larger companies who require a platform with the robustness that Magento can supply. Because of all of the features Magento has available the platform itself is very large and takes up a large amount of hosting power and many hosting providers have issues hosting Magento due to it’s size.
Also due to it’s size, it can be difficult to find capable Magento developers if there are any customizations you want to make to your website. Magento is so large that a developer needs to be familiar with the platform beforehand to really be effective. However, if there are any smaller issues that come up, the community forums are a great place to get other support you may need with the platform. But this again comes only with the Enterprise versions of the software.
Magento is a very robust software with a lot of features at it’s disposal. It’s community version is a great start for smaller businesses but if you want the full power of Magento behind your website there is a large price tag attached. Despite that if you’re looking for a great e-commerce solution for your website and aren’t in need of many customizations Magento is a great choice due to it’s user friendly interfaces and unique features.
