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8 Open-Source E-commerce Apps Reviewed

Posted on March 12, 2010 by kehlers

I standardized on osCommerce for all my clients in 2006, and have become steadily LESS satisfied with that product ever since. In fact, I have recently stopped a project that is near to roll-out because I just can’t bear to have another client on this shopping cart. Instead, I’ve been reviewing popular and well-rated shopping cart software applications, and I have some preliminary results to share. I’ll have more details soon, including an in-depth feature comparison for the top 8, and a way for you to rate it yourself! If you would like me to email that to you in Excel right now, just post a comment and I’ll send it out.

Top-rated: CS-Cart, digiShop

These ecommerce apps really had the “wow” factor. So many valuable features are in the base package, the price is reasonable, and the support is great.

Still Good, but don’t quite cut it: SunShop, X-Cart

These shopping carts had a lot going for them, but were missing some key features. Mainly, they would be decent options if I didn’t have anything better. (but I do)

No, thank you: CubeCart, OpenCart, osCommerce, PrestaShop

These carts are mostly free, which is always nice, but you will more than pay for it with the amount of headache. A number of important features are not in the base package, which means you (or someone else you may have to pay) must find and install a plug-in for it. If I was really trying to save money… I’d go with CS-Cart. If you can’t raise $285 to buy a cart for your business, you should strongly consider using eBay, etsy, or some other free option.

Cart Cost My Score My Thoughts
digiShop $999 160 Nice!
CS-Cart $285 153 Wow!
SunShop $549 135 Decent, but not as good as my top 2
X-Cart $115 127 Decent, but not as good as my top 2
CubeCart $180 125 Hassle to find plugins
PrestaShop - 111 Not ready for the big-time
OpenCart - 82 No thank you
osCommerce - 59 Forget It.

Full Comparison

Note: Hover over feature name for description

CS-Cart CubeCart digiShop OpenCart osCommerce PrestaShop SunShop X-Cart
v.2 v.4 7.x v.1.4.x 2.x 1.x v.4.x v.4.x
$285 $180 $799 - - - $549 $115
wow plugins $$ nice/wow no, thx terrible plugins $$ not quite boring
146 116 150 77 59 110 125 126
Administration
Store Owner Tools 2 2 3 2 2 2 3* 1
Admin Levels -1 2 2 2 -1 2 2 -1*
WYSIWIG Editing 2 2 2 2 0 2 2 2
Backup 2 2 -1 2 2 1 2 2
Information Pages 3* 2 3 2 2 1 2 2
Inventory 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Import Products 2 2 2 -1 1 2 2 2
Vendors 1* 1* 2 2 2 2 2 2
Product Code 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Sales & Discounts 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 1
Newsletters 2 2 2 2 0 0 2 2
Ads 2 1 1* 1 2 1 -1 1
Standard Reports 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Custom Reports 2 2* 2* 0 1 -1 -1 -1
Quickbooks 2 1* 3 -1 1 -1 2 2
Export 2 1 2 -1 1 1 2 2
Product Information
Categories 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 3
Product Options 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Option Weight 2 1 2 1 1 2 2 -1
Configurator 2 1 1 -1 1 1 -1 1
Tags 2 -1 -1 1 -1 2 -1 2
Alcohol Handling 1* -1 -1 1* -1 1* -1 -1
Image slideshow 2 2 1 1 1 2 2 1
Image thumbnails 2 2 3 3 2 3 3 3
Image Zoom 2 -1 2 2 0 2 2 2
Compare 2 -1 2 1 -1 1 -1 1
Reviews 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Related Products 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Tell a Friend 2 2 2 -1 2 1 2 2
Checkout
Wizard Checkout -1 2 2 2 1 2 2 2
One Page Checkout 2 -1 2 2 1 1 2 -1
Pay without Account 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2
Sales Tax 2 1 2 1 0 -1 2 2
Virtual Products 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2
Shipping
Shipping Modules 2 2 2 1 2 0 2 2
Custom Shipping 2 2 3 1 2 1 2 2
Fedex 2 1 2 1 1 1 2 2
UPS 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 2
USPS 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2
Package Tracking 2 2 2 -1 -1 2 2 2
Shipping estimates 2 1 2 -1 -1 -1 3* -1
Multiple Addresses -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1
Delivery Date -1 -1 -1 1 -1 1 1 -1
Gifts 1 -1 2 1 -1 2 1 2
Payment
Payment Modules 2 2 3* 1 1 2 2 2
Authorize.net 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2
Virtual Merchant 2 2 2 -1 1 -1 2 2
PayPal 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2
Google Checkout 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 2
Credit Card Security 2 1 2 1 1 1 2 3
CVV2 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2
Coupons 2 2 2 2 -1 2 2 2
Gift Certificates 2 2 2 -1 -1 2 2 2
Recurring Charges 2 -1* 2 1* -1 -1 -1 1*
RMA 2 1 1 -1 -1 2 -1 1
Credit to Bank Card -1 -1 1* -1 -1 -1 -1 -1
General
Wish List 2 1 2 -1 -1 2 2 2
Reward Points 2 1 2 -1 1 2 2 1
Affiliates 2 1* 2 -1 1 2 2 1
Search 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2
Log Search Phrases 2 2 2 -1 -1 2 -1 2
Social Media -1 1 2 1 1 1 2 -1
Product Feeds 2 2 2 1* 1 1 2 1*
Analytics 2 2 2 1 -1 2 2 2
Foreign Languages 2 2 3 2 2 2 1 2
Anti-SPAM 2 2 2 -1 0 1 2 2
Orders
Manual Orders 3 2 1* -1 1 -1 2 2
Edit orders 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 2
Order Emails 2 2 3 2 -1 2 2 3
Order Status 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Order History 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Owner Notification 2* 2* 2* -1 -1 2 1 -1
Packing Slip/Invoice 2 2 2 2 2 2 2* 3
Back-end
PHP & MySql 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2
Mature 2 2 3 1 2 1 2 3
Rated Highly 2 2 2 2 -1 2 2 2
Product Support 3 2 3 1 0 0 2 3
Pluggable 1 1 1 2 0 0 1 1
Templates 2 2 2 2 -1 2 2 2
W3C standard 2 3 2 0 -1 3 2 1
SSL Support 2 3* 2 2 2 2 2* 2
Performance 2 2 2 -1 1 1 2 2
Search Engine Friendly 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2
Sitemap 2 1 2 2 1 1 2 -1
Documentation 3 1 3 1 -1 0 1 1
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7 Responses to 8 Open-Source E-commerce Apps Reviewed

  1. Hayley

    I’d be interested to see your spreadsheet please. I’d thought OpenCart would do the job for us but it’s becoming increasingly problematic so we might just have to shell out.

    Also, have you considered TradingEye at all? I’m giving it some serious consideration.

    3-14-2010 | Reply
  2. jules.maas

    Very helpful list! I don’t have any experience with shopping cart applications, so I’m definitely going to bookmark this for my next learning cycle. Thanks!

    3-18-2010 | Reply
  3. sherry

    I’m definitely interested in learning more about how these can help our business!

    3-26-2010 | Reply
  4. Sanjuana Voisin

    I love opencart, I think its one of the best opensource carts around.

    6-21-2010 | Reply
  5. Susan

    Thank you for sharing this! I also am looking at carts. Have outgrown my current cart, and hosting. I am missing features that would make life easier. Right now I have about 4000 products. Plan on many more, So I need to make the right choice. Well as right as possible! I am also looking at shopsite and CS-Cart, the complaint I read about on the cs-cart forums is the size, and slow,, also hosting can be a problem because of the size. something to consider. Is there a reason, you do not look at shopsite? Looking forward to reading more…

    7-10-2010 | Reply
  6. kehlers

    @Susan: You’re welcome: :) I did look at Shopsite, because it is affiliated with Bluehost, and I use/recommend Bluehost for hosting. I had two reasons I didn’t go with them: (1) It’s written in C programming language, and thus would be difficult for me to make any necessary adaptations as time goes on and (2) The features I really wanted were in Manager and Pro, which are pretty costly ($35 – $125 a month).

    I also saw those complaints. I chose and am now working with CS-Cart, and I like it so far. I won’t be able to comment on the quantity of products for a bit, though, as the first store I’m bringing online has high volume, but only two products. :)

    7-10-2010 | Reply

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