Magento Open Source Edition (previously known as Magento Community) is a free edition which is perfect for small sized e-commerce business with turnover below $500,000. It has excellent functionalities like: Catalogue Promotional Pricing, Multi-Tier Pricing, Flexible Coupons, Product Videos and there is vast Magento extension marketplace where you can find & download all the free and paid extension.
Commerce Edition (formerly Enterprise Edition) is the paid edition of Magento which is designed for medium-to-large sized e-commerce businesses with turnover above $500,000 annually. Commerce Edition also has access to Magento Extension marketplace to download all free as well as paid extensions from there.
If you have your own dedicated team you probably will be able to develop everything by yourself, but this will cost you a lot of money not including maintenance, bug fixes etc …
With Magento Commerce You will receive technical support from Magento. At least your developers receive that support. Especially useful in the case of technical challenges that are solved more efficiently. You also have a permanent account manager at your disposal. This will keep you informed of important releases.
Think about it as more like buying a products which already well tested with all of its out-of-the-box features, instead of developed it by yourself. More than that, One of the main differences is that the B2B module, is available for Magento Commerce, although it’s possible to get a Magento Open Source B2B implementation but you should evaluate all the features, support and costs to try to be sure about which option fits better for your requirements.
Before getting any decision, think about your long-term business plans. Spending the money is always a risk, but if the platform enables you to grow exponentially, it can become an investment.
The above table compares between the two versions.
Functionality | Open Source | Commerce |
| Foundation | ||
| Open, flexible platform | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Modern technology stack | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Modular Code base | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| New efficient APIs for integration | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Reliable scalability | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Support for database subsystems | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Minimized and bundled JavScriptfor imporved performance | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Varnishing caching tool | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Full-page caching | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Cached images and content | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Payment integrations | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Database sharding support | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Slave Database support | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Database clustering support | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Elasticsearch for in-store and Admin use | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Cloud hosting options powered by AWS, platform.sh, NewRelic, Blackfire.io and Fastly | ✖️ | ✔️ |
|
| ||
Efficiency and Maintenance | ||
| Magento Marketplace for apps and extensions | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Modern Theming | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Simplified content and layout Variations | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Faster time-to-market | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Automated testing | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Automated notifications | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Automated code merge | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Support for concurrent updating | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Easier maintenance and upgrades | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Quarterly updates | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Diagnostic and analysis tools | ✖️ | ✔️ |
|
| ||
Admin tasks | ||
| Improved admin panel | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Mobile-friendly admin panel | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Modular Admin tools | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Customizable admin dashboard | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Improved product uploading | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Product creation tool | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Faster product import | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Product positioning control | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Variety of sorting options | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Easy-to-set websites rules | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Configurable parameters for return and exchange resolution | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| More granular permissions for admin users | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Admin log Access | ✖️ | ✔️ |
|
| ||
Visitor perks | ||
| Completely responsive layout | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Engaging experience | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Easy-to-use navigation | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Integrated video for products | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| One-click account creation | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Registered users | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Email lookup for easy login | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Guest Checkout | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Improved two-step checkout | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Comprehensive chckout page | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| In-Site checkout | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| 50% faster load times across catalog and checkout | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Improved payment security | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Wishlist and gift registry capabilities | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Virtual and physical gift card capabilities | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Store credit options | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Gift Wrapping and messaging options | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| My account screen customization for customers | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Ability for customers to initiate their own return | ✖️ | ✔️ |
|
| ||
Marketing | ||
| Integrated marketing tools | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Advanced staging and page content preview | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Content campaigns and grouping | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Unlimited content scheduling capacity | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Customer segmentation for targeting | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Buily-in logic for automated segmentation | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Customizable registration fields | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Segmented marketing campaigns | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Multiple site views for different customer groups | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Rule-based segmentation and pricing | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Automated reminder emails for abandoned carts and wishlists | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Reward programs with customizable criteria | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Link rewards to promotions | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Privatre sales and flash | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| CMS | ✖️ | ✔️ |
|
| ||
B2B | ||
| Self-service tools to manage accounts, purchases, quotes and credit | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Defined roles and permission for buyers | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Payments on account | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Custom catalogs and pricing | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Quoting | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Quick order per SKU or file upload | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Requisition list | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Quick reordering from previous orders | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Create and troubleshoot orders for clients | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Handle Orders up to 300 lines of items OOTB | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Over 25 B2B focused reports | ✖️ | ✔️ |
|
| ||
Advanced Analytics and reporting | ||
| 100 predefined reports | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Easy reports creation with visual and SQL report building tools | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Connect to GA Natively | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| 10 user accounts with advanced permissions | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Send email summaries of key reports to team members | ✖️ | ✔️ |
| Export raw data to CSV and Excel | ✖️ | ✔️ |
Contact us today and learn which of the version above will be the best choice for your business needs.