Four shop platforms, four different appetites. The question “which is best” has no answer; the question “which fits my hosting” does. Here is what each one asks of the server, lightest to heaviest, from what you see when installing in cPanel. For the exact size of your plan, always check the plans page.
Side by side
| Platform |
Weight |
What it asks for |
Who it suits |
| OpenCart |
The lightest of the four |
A current PHP version and no extra extensions. See installing OpenCart. |
Small shops, from dozens to a few hundred products. |
| WooCommerce |
Light to medium, depending on plugins |
WordPress plus a plugin. Asks for current PHP, a page cache and attention to PHP limits. See what it is and what you need. |
Those already on WordPress, or who want the widest choice of plugins and themes. |
| PrestaShop |
Medium |
PHP extensions that arrive switched off (such as intl and fileinfo), turned on in Select PHP Version. See installing PrestaShop. |
Mid-sized shops that want shop features built in. |
| Magento |
The heaviest |
Recent PHP, several extensions to switch on, a mandatory scheduled task and a lot of memory and files. See installing Magento. |
Large catalogues and technical teams; on a small plan it is heavy. |
Two notes on what the table does not say. The real weight depends on the number of products, the extensions installed and the traffic, not only on the platform. And all four need the same basics: https on every page, tested backups, a current PHP version and whatever scheduled tasks each one asks for.
Deciding
| 1 |
Count the products and visits you expect in year one, not year ten. Choose the platform for that size.
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| 2 |
Ask who will maintain it. WooCommerce shares the dashboard with the rest of the site and there is a lot of help around. Magento needs someone who knows it. A platform nobody knows how to update is a shop growing old.
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| 4 |
Confirm against your plan. The same platform runs on a small shared plan or calls for a VPS depending on the catalogue. See shared hosting vs VPS.
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Changing platform later costs a lot. Products, customers, addresses and Google positions all have to be carried over, and never all of them arrive. See changing platform. Choose with time.
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According to its own documentation, Magento 2.4 asks for a search service of its own (OpenSearch or Elasticsearch). On a large shop that is one more reason for a VPS where you control it. Before choosing it, read its own article and the VPS page. On a VPS the commands and the installation are yours: see how far our support goes.
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Not sure which fits your plan? Tell us how many products you have and how many visits you expect, and we will tell you whether it is enough or whether a VPS makes sense.
Open a support ticket
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