Magento Community versus Magento Enterprise
Magento has been helping set up ecommerce websites since 2008. The platform has two main editions, Magento Community and Magento Enterprise. Each comes with a range of different features and benefits. While business owners will prefer one over the other, you’ll have to take your needs into account when choosing the right one for you.
1. Cost
Magento Community Edition is free and can be downloaded anytime. It’s probably the best choice for a first-time entrepreneur since it’s built for small businesses with small inventories. On the other hand, Magento Enterprise Edition comes with a subscription and a Service Level Agreement. Its added features and server capacity make it worthwhile for large organizations with extensive catalogues.
2. Features
Magento Community more than meets the basic needs of an online business. It’s also faster than the paid version, something many users don’t know. Magento Community is open-source software so everyone can take part in its development. You’re free to make changes and also adopt the extensions made by others. For advanced features there’s Magento Enterprise, which offers options the free version lacks. These include robust backups, advanced search, and security updates, as well as coupon generation, return management, and call centre software. Magento Enterprise takes businesses to a higher level with these exclusive enhancements.
3. Support
Magento Community isn’t officially supported. However, there’s always the support forum, which hosts an active community of fellow users. It’s full of tips and tricks but does involve some digging on your part. You have to get the information yourself and you’re not guaranteed timely answers—or correct ones. Since downtime can be expensive for even a moderately-sized online store, this can be a problem. When just two days of lost business could be worth more than a year’s worth of professional support, a quick and efficient fix is the economical choice. That’s why Magento Enterprise includes a full-service support package. The Magento team is available 24/7 and responds quickly.