Magento Enterprise and Community have many similarities, but they're not the same thing. These two versions are designed to meet different needs.
Choosing one or the other should be based on what your business needs to accomplish.
If you're not sure what the differences are or which one would work better for your particular business, you're in the right place.
This guide covers Magento Enterprise vs. Community— what makes each one different so that you can choose the one that works best for your situation.
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Magento Enterprise vs. Community
Magento is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms available. It's easy to use, flexible and has many features that make it an excellent choice for your business.
Magento offers two editions of its platform: Enterprise and Community.
Magento Enterprise
Magento Enterprise is a premium e-commerce platform designed for large enterprise businesses. It's built on the same code base as Magento Community but has more features and support than its free version.
It offers everything you need to run your business online: store manager, store builder, shopping cart integration, payment gateway integrations and more.
Enterprise stores have unlimited opportunities to grow, with no limits on the number of products or customers they can have.
Plus, Magento provides 24/7 access to skilled technical support specialists who will work with your team to ensure your needs are met.
Who Needs Magento Enterprise?
If your business has a lot of traffic and products, then Magento Enterprise is probably the best option.
This version offers more features than the community version, including:
- Better scalability and performance
- More out-of-the-box functionality
- More support options (such as 24/7 live chat)
- The Magento Enterprise Edition is costlier as it comes with additional features like:
- Marketing tools (including multichannel marketing)
- Vertical content personalization
- Advanced product recommendations on homepages based on registered customer behavior
- Advanced product bundling functionality
With such features in your e-commerce store, you can expect more conversions from your existing customers and attract new ones.
Enterprise has been designed for large enterprises with deep pockets willing to spend money on their businesses.
It also requires skilled developers who know how to use these advanced features effectively so that they don't cause any issues later on down the line when using them in production environments.
Magento Community
Magento Community is an open-source e-commerce platform that you can use to build your online store. It's available to download for free, and the code is open to everyone.
The Magento Community website has forums, blogs, and wikis that you can use to ask questions or share information with other developers.
It also has a knowledge base where users can find technical articles, such as instructions on installing or configuring Magento Community.
In addition, you can access files like Magento extensions, themes, and sample data sets that allow you to test out different features before making them live on your website.
The community website has a blog where developers share news about Magento products. This blog is also available through RSS feeds, so it's easy for readers everywhere to access updates from the company without having any account.
Who Needs Magento Community?
Magento Community will be a good fit for your needs if you are a small business or startup with less than 50 employees.
Community is designed for low to medium-complexity e-commerce websites. It offers a good range of features, but the platform doesn't include certain functionality that larger businesses may need.
Functionality
Magento Enterprise has advanced CMS capabilities, while Magento Community does not. Magento Enterprise includes a graphical interface builder to help design, while Magento Community does not.
The former includes complete site-building functionality that allows for HTML changes to be made quickly and without coding knowledge, while the latter does not.
Lastly, Magento Enterprise is built on the same platform as other enterprise-level systems from Adobe and Oracle, while Magento Community is based on open-source technology.
Marketing
Magento Enterprise and Community differ in many ways, but marketing is one of the most notable.
When you use Magento Enterprise, you can leverage built-in tools that include content management and conversion optimization to help drive traffic and boost your sales.
Magento Community does not offer these functions but allows for easy future expansion through third-party plug-ins.
You may find that this works best for your business if you have time to develop conversion strategies and do not intend to use the pre-existing marketing features.
Otherwise, if speed or effectiveness matters to you, then Magento Enterprise might be a better option.
Performance
Magento Enterprise offers stability and reliability in terms of uptime, plus enterprise-level features that make it easier to run scalable large stores and high-volume web shops.
Meanwhile, Magento Community offers the tools you need to start any store quickly. For example, responsive design templates make creating a beautiful, mobile-ready storefront easy.
Scalability
Magento Enterprise provides a higher level of scalability and automation to suit the needs of larger stores.
It can make scaling or adjusting your website to meet demands much more straightforward than with Community.
The tools available are also generally more robust, which may be necessary if you're working with e-commerce on a large scale.
Magento's documentation is more precise, simpler and more detailed in Enterprise, making it easier to manage your site and keep up to date with changes.
In terms of customization, Community offers many third-party extensions that you can install alongside the system without compatibility issues– this can give you better control over features when there are limitations from the out-of-box functionality.
Security
Enterprise provides a more secure environment because it's installed on your server.
The Community version can be run from any device with an internet connection, which means it could be accessed by people with no authority over the site.
Additionally, the Enterprise edition includes features like SSL encryption and Magento-branded development tools to help you manage the site efficiently.
Support
With Enterprise, it's all taken care of. You have a dedicated support team that will answer questions within an hour and schedule 1-on-1 meetings with them at least once every quarter.
You'll also receive bug fixes within 2 hours of being reported most times, with patches coming out weekly. These are just some of the benefits that come with using Enterprise Edition.
With Community, it's a bit more of an open-ended situation. There is no dedicated support team for you, but there are a lot of free resources online and forums where you can get help from other users.
You can also hire Magento companies to work on your site. You can use third-party providers for support, but this will come at a cost.
Companies like Magesolution offer 24/7 live chat and phone support for Magento Community, but this will cost an additional $50 per month on top of your current hosting fees.
How Much Does Magento Cost?
It's essential to consider the costs of Magento before choosing a plan. While Enterprise starts at $22,000 per year, this price will vary based on your needs.
It's also important to note that Magento Enterprise is scalable; it can grow with your business.
On the other hand, Magento Community is free and has the same core functionality as Enterprise but lacks advanced features, such as marketing automation and multichannel selling capabilities.
Is Magento Good for Small Businesses?
Magento is an excellent choice for small businesses looking to build an online store. It offers many features that help you grow your business and increase sales.
Magento's flexibility and customization options allow you to create a unique shopping experience tailored to your customers' needs.
It's also a great choice for small businesses that want to expand beyond their local area. You can easily set up an online store globally, allowing you to sell products and services to customers worldwide.
The Magento Marketplace provides access to thousands of extensions, themes and other features that let you tailor your e-commerce website even further.
Magento Enterprise vs. Community: Which One Should You Choose?
Magento Enterprise
If your business is looking to scale its e-commerce operations, the Magento Enterprise platform is likely the best choice.
The Enterprise edition includes all of the features with Community, plus additional tools and functionality that allow you to grow your online store and provide your customers with an exceptional shopping experience.
This version also comes with 24/7 support from Magento's expert team of developers and engineers.
Magento Community
Magento Community is an excellent option for small businesses that want to get started quickly and don't need much support.
It offers many of the same features as its more robust counterpart, including SEO capabilities, but at a lower cost.
This version is free to download and install, but you will need a paid developer's license if you want to change the code.
If you don't have a development team, Magento offers several third-party partners who can help with this process.
With Community, you can easily set up a storefront that integrates with social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
Magento Enterprise vs. Community: Bottomline
Enterprise trumps Community, but only if you have the budget, staff and infrastructure to support it.
Investing in Magento Enterprise shows commitment to your e-commerce project and guarantees your store will grow with your business.
Businesses that need to sell complex and high-value goods will find they have much to gain with Magento Enterprise.
Those that need to generate insight from their data, track customers, and segment their audiences will be best served with Community.
With information on both platforms, businesses can anticipate how each version can help them reach their goals, which sets them up to make an informed decision when it comes time to choose.
Magento Enterprise vs. Community FAQs
1. Can an enterprise software company develop Magento solutions?
Yes, an enterprise software company can certainly develop solutions based on the Magento platform. Enterprise software companies often provide services related to Magento development, customization, integration, and support.
