If you want to run an online shop or e-commerce, you need the right e-commerce platform. A shop system is a useful helper for anyone who wants to set up and manage their own online shop. The shop system should be easy to use even for beginners and have a number of useful functions. Shopware is often used, a system that is suitable for medium-sized businesses.
There are also various other shop systems. This article provides information about the features of Shopware and the differences to other shop systems.
Shopware – what is it?
Shopware is an open source software from Germany that operates on an MIT license. More than 100,000 online retailers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland now rely on Shopware, including well-known brands such as Schwan-STABILO and Melitta.
The Shopware 6 version is now available. Shopware 5 was completely discontinued in July 2024. An upgrade from Shopware 5 to Shopware 6 is not possible due to the different structure of the two systems.
As an open source software and modular system, Shopware offers extensive customization options when creating and managing online shops.
Self-hosting is just as possible as cloud hosting. With various marketing and design functions, the shop system can contribute to a pleasant customer experience.
When creating an online shop, interface development is important. The company DATANAUT, for example, specializes in interface solutions specifically for connecting to Shopware.
Advantages and disadvantages of Shopware
Shopware offers its users a number of advantages. However, possible disadvantages should also be taken into account before purchasing.
Advantages:
- developed in Germany, therefore German-speaking support team and documentation in German
- specifically tailored to the German market
- Suitable for projects of various sizes
- Basic version already with high performance
- More than 4,000 official extensions possible
- Integration of external providers with open API possible
- Little training required due to clarity and intuitive operation
- also suitable for complex pages
- Attractive marketing and customer experience with storytelling and design features
Disadvantages:
- with a proprietary license the system is partially encrypted
- For higher-level administration, client capability is restricted
- Limited functionality of the Community Edition
- Difficult customization because there are fewer templates available
- Maintenance and repair costs may apply
Shopware compared to Shopify, WooCommerce and Magento
If you are looking for a suitable platform for e-commerce or an online shop, you should familiarize yourself with the possibilities of different platforms and compare them. Shopware is suitable for companies of all sizes.
The shop system can be used by beginners as well as experienced shop operators with high demands.
However, there are other systems that may be suitable.
Shopware compared to Shopify
The table shows the most important differences between Shopware and Shopify:
| Characteristics | Shopware | Shopify |
| Hosting | Selfhosting und Cloudhosting | nur Cloudhosting |
| Care effort | Maintenance as a time and cost factor | low maintenance because the focus is on selling and scaling |
| Extensions | with plugins and development effort, officially more than 4,000 extensions | Holistic app ecosystem with more than 8,000 extensions |
| Scalability | Migration effort for upgrades | no effort, as the shop system grows with you |
| Alignment | DACH region | for 175 countries, focus is on the DACH region |
| GDPR compliance | guaranteed | not guaranteed for all apps |
| Free trial | not available | available |
Shopware compared to WooCommerce
Shopware and WooCommerce differ in that Shopware is a real shop system and WooCommerce is actually not a shop system, but a free plugin for WordPress. The advantage of WooCommerce is that it is basically free. Shopware has different costs.
The disadvantage is that WooCommerce can only be used for WordPress.
At Shopware, various documentation is available in German.
The documentation for WooCommerce is only available in English. Shopware is designed for the German market. WooCommerce sometimes causes problems when adapting to the German market. The extensions and marketing functions with Shopware are significantly more extensive than with WooCommerce.
Shopware compared to Magento
Shopware is a German shop system, while the Magento shop system is the market leader in the USA. The table shows the differences:
| Characteristics | Shopware | Magento |
| Internationality | aimed at the DACH region | multilingual and international, originally developed for the US market |
| Support | German-speaking customer support and official community forum, training, documentation | Support portal, support only in English |
| Usability and user-friendliness | Easy to use and intuitive design, user-friendly even for beginners | Often too complex to use for beginners |
| Development effort | low development effort | high development effort due to the complexity |
Suitability of Shopware for German medium-sized businesses
The comparisons of Shopware with other shop systems show that Shopware is ideal for German medium-sized businesses. It is user-friendly and available in German.
Shopware offers German-speaking customer support and is aimed at German-speaking countries.
There are different packages with different costs. Medium-sized companies can expand Shopware as they wish to suit their needs. The usability is easy to understand even for beginners.
Medium-sized companies can decide whether they want to self-host or use cloud hosting.
Costs, scalability and flexibility: What makes Shopware so attractive for e-commerce
Shopware is attractive for e-commerce due to the costs as different packages are available. There is a free community edition for beginners and small businesses. With the Rise tariff for medium-sized companies, the costs are manageable at 600 euros per month. For large online shops and e-commerce companies, tariffs are offered in which the costs are calculated according to the gross merchandise value.
Shopware is scalable and can be adapted to the size of the company. Because it is flexible, it can be expanded. Beginners can start with the basics and later expand the system according to their needs. With the many expansion options, Shopware offers a high degree of flexibility.
Source: https://www.blog.de/e-commerce-plattformen-vergleich/
