Magento 1 & 2 - Free, great features, but very complex
May 25, 2021
Magento 1 & 2 - Free, great features, but very complex
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Magento Open Source
Vitasalus, Inc. uses Magento 1.9.0.1 for the frontend sites of vitasalus.net and nu-gen.net. I've also done extensive work on a migration of the sites to Magento 2,3.2, not live yet, pending further adjustments, corrections and extensions necessary to the new platform. I've handled the html--formatting to responsive design.
The best thing about Open Source is that it's free. Also that it is very inclusive and powerful. But it does come with a cost: a very high degree of study, and, in my case, trial and error. I've often sometimes thought that this is the reason Magento experts can charge such exorbitant fees--the complexity can be beyond the reach of the overwhelming majority of companies' webmasters. (Even wonder if that's done on purpose, to create an upper tier of programmers...)
The best thing about Open Source is that it's free. Also that it is very inclusive and powerful. But it does come with a cost: a very high degree of study, and, in my case, trial and error. I've often sometimes thought that this is the reason Magento experts can charge such exorbitant fees--the complexity can be beyond the reach of the overwhelming majority of companies' webmasters. (Even wonder if that's done on purpose, to create an upper tier of programmers...)
- Significant flexibility
- Information online for troubleshooting
- Cost-effective (free)
- Complexity can be prohibitive
- Can require accessing skill sets outside of company
- Magento 1 - retired - no flash support for uploading, editing pics
- More efficiency
- But came at a significant time-cost
In looking at a different platform to migrate to from Magento 1, we looked primarily at Big Commerce, Shopify and Shopify Plus. Our host was very negative about Magento 2, but we determined after a couple years it was due to the fact it had even more complexity (and very different) than Magento 1. Shopify Plus was attractive, but the cost factor for two sites led us back to Magento 2.
Do you think Magento Open Source delivers good value for the price?
Yes
Are you happy with Magento Open Source's feature set?
Yes
Did Magento Open Source live up to sales and marketing promises?
Yes
Did implementation of Magento Open Source go as expected?
No
Would you buy Magento Open Source again?
Yes