Magento Open Source vs Magento Commerce?
There are two different versions of the Magento ecommerce platform available—Magento Open Source and Magento Commerce. Understanding which one is best for you depends on the size of your business and your unique needs. Let’s break down each below.
Magento Open Source
Magento Open Source is a free version of the Magento ecommerce platform that includes several of the same features as Magento Commerce. Until recently, Magento Open Source was known as Magento Community Edition.
Magento Commerce was initially released in 2007 as a public beta version. The full version was released in 2008.
Because Magento Open Source is built on open source technology, developers are not locked into the provided software — meaning they can make changes to the application and incorporate other technologies. This also means developers can mold Magento Open Source into something customized to meet their needs. This is something developers aren’t as free to do with Magento Commerce.
There’s an impressive base feature set with Magento Open Source, yet where it shines is in the additional features offered through the countless extensions currently available. Right now, there are thousands of extensions available on the Magento platform.
To use Magento Open Source, retailers can choose a Magento hosting provider that will provide the servers, bandwidth, and support a retailer needs to build their ecommerce store. This also allows retailers to focus on their business and leave background processes to a team of Magento experts.
Magento Commerce
At the heart of the Magento ecommerce platform is Magento Commerce, which is the company’s commercial version for developers. It’s an all-in-one cloud solution that includes support and additional features for enterprise retailers such as dedicated Magento account management.
The self-hosted version of Magento Commerce, previously known as Magento Enterprise Edition, was initially released in 2016. It has since grown to become a staple in the Magento community as bigger ecommerce businesses are looking for more functionality as their sites become more complex and they acquire a more prominent global presence.
If you’re an enterprise-level ecommerce business, Magento Commerce is likely the best platform for your online store. You can also implement this platform as an on-premises solution or a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) cloud-hosted solution.
