Another competition between CS-Cart Vs Magento that you should take into much consideration.
At the time when Industrial Revolution 4.0 is booming as today, the development of eCommerce channels to serve the demands of consumers is essential. For that reason, a series of eCommerce platforms have appeared.
Such platforms are considered optimal solutions to keep businesses operating and simultaneously help customers access products without going directly to the store. This also has a significant impact on users’ habits when gradually switching to online shopping activities, leading to more and more businesses tend to invest in eCommerce solutions.
In the world today, there are many providers of eCommerce platforms such as Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, OroCommerce, CS-Cart, etc. Two of them should be mentioned as CS Cart vs Magento, 2 open-source platforms that are extremely popular in developing a lot of eCommerce websites.
So, between Magento vs CS Cart, which is the better solution? Let’s find out in this post!
Other competitions you can take into consideration:
- Magento vs Shopify vs BigCommerce
- Magento vs SAP Commerce Cloud
- Magento vs Shopify
- Magento vs NopCommerce
- Magento vs PrestaShop
About CS-Cart Vs Magento
Table of Contents
Magento
Magento is one of the leading open-source eCommerce platforms, which has supported approximately 260,000 merchants to succeed in their business fields. Initially published over a decade ago, for 13 years of development, Magento has gained a reputation among eCommerce businesses.
This is a powerful and flexible tool with many excellent and complete features for running an eCommerce website. With Magento, users can effortlessly customize the content and archive in the management section.
Besides, to add more features that are not available at default, Magento has an unlimited number of extensions, which will be mentioned in detail later, from the Magento community that makes this platform popular and chosen by many large businesses.
Magento is the most potent application in developing e-commerce web apps with a series of major brands globally, such as Nike, Coca-Cola, Heineken, etc.
CS-Cart
CS-Cart is also an open-source platform, which has been in development since 2005 when the first version was released. There are more than 35.000 online stores and marketplaces using CS-Cart software so far.
With CS-Cart, businesses can manage a full-scale e-commerce site from small to multi-vendor virtual shopping mall. Besides, CS-Cart also supports more than 70 online payment gateways, including Paypal, Webmoney, EWay, etc. and allows ordering by phone and some other traditional methods.
Notably, CS-Cart is well-known as a B2B platform, mostly a Multi-vendor Marketplace platform. It has won many precious prizes such as Customers’ Choice by Software Suggest in 2020, Leader SourceForge in 2020, Quality Choice by Crozdesk in 2020, etc. CS-Cart is a partner of various major eCommerce websites like Amazon, Booking.com, Uber, and many more.
CS-Cart Vs Magento – Detailed Comparison
In this section, we will compare CS Cart vs Magento in detail, in many aspects, to help you understand the differences between these 2 platforms deeply.
B2B Features
In terms of CS Cart vs Magento features, there is a similarity between these two. Both are feature-rich platforms that help to optimize eCommerce websites. As CS-Cart is also famous for its B2B features, we want to compare 2 platforms’ B2B features.
Magento’s Features
Magento is a popular platform for both B2B and B2C businesses. Regarding B2B eCommerce, it contains countless brilliant features that help B2B enterprises succeed in their business field, generate more revenue and get more profits. Besides, to add more features than the default, there are many extensions in the marketplace, which we will mention later in the blog.
However, we have to note that only Magento Enterprise Edition supports B2B features at default. If you are using the Community Edition, you need to use some B2B module Magento 2 to create a B2B online store.
Magento’s B2B feature list:
- Self-service tools to manage company accounts, purchases, quotes & credit
- Roles & permissions
- Payments on account
- Custom catalogs & pricing
- Quote requests management
- Price terms negotiation
- Quick order
- Expedite restocking
- Quick reordering
- Exceptional support
- Large orders handling
- B2B-focused reports
DOWNLOAD this Magento B2B Starter Guide for essential knowledge to build your own B2B online business!
CS-Cart’s Features
Comparing CS Cart vs Magento, CS-Cart B2B platform is familiar among B2B businesses. It has powered an enormous number of B2B websites, handled more than 100 000 products without customization. CS-Cart might be a good choice for manufacturers and wholesale companies with various B2B features.
CS-Cart’s B2B feature list:
- Close storefront & hide prices
- Personal prices for customers
- Easy integration with third-party services
- Multiple storefronts
- Multiple users in one customer account
- Inventory tracking in various warehouses
- Set different levels of access to the admin panel
- Fast order creation
- Easy re-ordering
- Product variations
- Price list downloading
- In-stock notifications for customers
- Personal manager information block
- Add products to cart in bulk
- 45 product parameters
- Automatic invoice generation
- Order status notifications
So we have to say that this is an equal competition. Both platforms include all necessary features to create a B2B eCommerce site. Hence, it is hard to decide who is the winner in this aspect. Let’s check out other perspectives to find the most suitable one for you.
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Hosting
Both CS-Cart and Magento are self-hosted eCommerce solutions, which means that the users will have to search for a hosting company for their website. Nowadays, it is relatively simple to find a hosting service with just several clicks.
However, you should keep in mind to find a trustworthy and reputable provider, one who can provide good speed, constant uptime, multiple server locations, good services, etc., to ensure an enjoyable customer experience.
Architecture
For Magento, it is built based on the Zend Framework, which provides an object-oriented library of code, ensuring high security and scalability. Magento uses MVC architecture, which separates the code into three different blocks: Model, View, and Controller.
This architecture helps with code management, and thanks to Magento’s own addition, it helps with large-scale web developments. Upon downloading Magento, the user will have access to three directories: the core, the local, and the community. The core of Magento is essential functions premade by the Magento development team. It is editable but not recommended.
To ensure the core code is intact, users can customize through the local and community folders for local extensions and community contributions. These two folders will contain all of the extensions and modules without interfering with the core.
CS-Cart is built using advanced AJAX development technologies on the PHP and MySQL platforms. CS-Cart uses a modular architecture, which means its most basic functions are stored in its core.
The controllers, schemes and other core functions are grouped and implemented into the core. To extend and override it, you can use PHP hooks. Additional functions and add-ons can be built around it using API tools.
CS-Cart’s API is RESTful, which uses the basic HTTP authentication based on admin email and API key. You might find several tools to include cURL to send HTTP requests easily across platforms or REST Console extension for Google Chrome.
CS Cart vs Magento – Ease of Use
Ease of use is one of the most important factors to decide whether to choose the platform or not. It is not happy at all if you choose a platform that you cannot use.
Magento is quite challenging to use if you are a newcomer. It requires a lot of careful investigations, high technical skills. Therefore, if you want to deal with this platform, you need to go over all the related documents and gain practical skills.
On the other hand, CS-Cart is a lot easier to use. So in terms of this aspect, CS-Cart might be the winner. The developers of CS-Cart have configured it to make things as the most simple as possible.
In case you run into problems when operating the website, there are always easy-to-understand documents and tutorial videos that you can investigate and timely solve such issues.
Performance
With simpler architecture than its rival, CS-Cart is easier to implement and faster to operate. Therefore, it can be hosted on simpler servers and help to reduce the cost.
Magento, however, is more complicated and not known for its performance amongst eCommerce platforms. This can be solved by hosting providers with competent servers from reputable providers such as HostGator, SiteGround, etc.
Extensions
CS-Cart and Magento share the same point here, which is the extension marketplace. Both platforms have their own marketplace that contains a massive number of extensions to add more features to the default. However, the size is different.
In terms of extensions, we guess that Magento is undoubtedly the winner. Currently, Magento’s marketplace has nearly 4,000 extensions and integrations, not to mention there are thousands of modules developed by many other Magento service providers worldwide.
Nevertheless, CS-Cart’s marketplace is more miniature in the number of modules, with only more than 1,500 extensions in its marketplace. Although there are other plugins by third parties, CS-Cart cannot compete with Magento in this aspect.
Support
When it comes to supporting, both CS-Cart and Magento provide exceptional help both from the service provider and the community. This is an essential aspect for any store owner because setting up an e-shop is not simple, and help is always appreciated.
CS-Cart commercial license includes credits for technical support services. This includes help on CS-Cart functionalities, setting up CS-Cart, solving the issues that may happen during the software operation, and other simple modifications of CS-Cart. Also, the community forums for CS-Cart are beneficial for business owners to seek assistance from others.
It is safe to say that, without a doubt, Magento is one of the best platforms when it comes to supporting during the software operation. It is the oldest and arguably the most widely known PHP development platform; therefore, the developers are abundant in numbers and exceptional in skills.
They are always willing to help to answer questions on multiple major communities and forums. Any issues you encounter can be resolved through community support. However, keep in mind that due to the nature of Magento being more complicated, it can take more time for developers to answer your questions on Magento than CS-Cart.
Pricing
| Gross Sales Revenue | Magento Commerce (Enterprise Edition) | Magento Commerce Cloud |
| Less than $1 million | $22.000 | $40.000 |
| $1 million – $5 million | $32.000 | $55.000 |
| $5 million – $10 million | $49.000 | $80.000 |
| $10 million – $25 million | $75.000 | $120.000 |
| $25 million – $50 million | $125.000 | $190.000 |
Magento offers three different pricing plans based on the size and needs of your business. For SMEs, where only basic functions are needed, the free Magento Community Edition is ideal to set up an online and mobile presence.
For more functions and long-term scalability, the Magento Enterprise Edition and Magento Commerce Cloud is the perfect solution for your needs. The details about the two are listed in the table below.
CHECK OUT Magento B2B pricing to get prepared for your wholesale business soon.
Based on your company’s size and needs, CS-Cart offers several different price plans.
CS-Cart for multi-vendor software is a one-time-payment with three different pricing plans:
- Multi-Vendor at $1,450
- Multi-Vendor Plus at $3500
- Multi-Vendor Ultimate at $7,500.
For B2B and B2C eCommerce software, CS-Cart offers three choices:
- B2C software at $385
- B2B software at $390/month
- Combination of B2B and B2C at $790/month
CS-Cart vs Magento – Which One?
All in all, we have to answer the question: “Which one is the most suitable for your business, CS-Cart or Magento?”. It’s hard to have a fixed answer when it’s primarily based on your demand to build an online business.
Both platforms are suitable for SMEs and large-sized enterprises with different price levels. They contain robust features to build a website and effectively run the online business, regardless of the business field and type.
However, starting your business based on Magento is a good start. Magento, especially Magento Enterprise Edition, supports all business types, B2B, B2C, or even the marketplace. Therefore, you don’t have to buy any other plan to run multiple business types.
In brief, we highly recommend using the Magento platform if you are new in the market and not yet decide on the business field. Once choosing the most wanted area, using either of the 2 platforms is fine.
Besides, in case you’re considering Magento vs Shopify vs BigCommerce – three giants in the eCommerce world, then fill in the form below and the most detailed resource will be delivered to your email in the blink of an eye!
Final Thoughts
In general, above is our detailed comparison between CS-Cart vs Magento in various aspects, including features, performance, architecture, pricing, etc. We hope that you can quickly find the most suitable one and successfully run your business.
If you’re ready to migrate from CS-Cart to Magento, BSS’s Magento 2 Web Development Service is here to help. Plus, explore our Magento extension store to elevate your store’s functionality and improve your business potential.
If you are planning to build a B2B website, leave us your information in the following form and we will contact you soon to give you the best consultation.
