17 October 2016

Should you select Magento 1.9 or immediately go for Magento 2.0?

You want to launch a new webstore based on Magento. Which choice is better, should you select Magento 1.x or go for Magento 2.0 right away? Something can be said for both versions. We help you make the best selection in this article.

New standard

Magento 2.0 brings with it a new standard in e-commerce innovation. The new platform helps brands, retailers and organizations involved in B2C and B2B realize a professional omni-channel shopping experience quickly and relatively  inexpensively.

Magento 2.0 offers strongly improved performance, scalability, productivity improvement and new features to increase conversion.

However, it is a completely new version and not an update of version 1.9. The architecture has been completely rebuilt including the Application Programming Interface (API).

The 6 advantages of Magento 2.0

  1. More advanced web technology
  2. Improved performance and scale can be increased more easily
  3. Easier to customize
  4. Themes and modules are built differently so that it is easier to adapt
  5. You can turn off functions during installation so that it works faster
  6. Improved test framework (convenient for Magento developers)

The most significant differences with Magento 1.9

  • User interface has been improved considerably
  • Speed has been dramatically improved
  • Upgrading from Community to Enterprise is a lot simpler

When should you select Magento 1.9

Pros Cons
  • API (web services) is complete, an advantage when integrating applications such as ERP.
  • It uses technology that is less advanced.

 
  • Many extensions are available.
  • Little or next to nothing will be developed for it in the future.
  • Development will be less expensive.
  • Support will be discontinued within 3 years.
  • Developers are already familiar with the system.

 

When should you select Magento 2.0

 

Pros Cons
  • Support will remain available for quite some time.
  • A switch will cost time and money.
  • Faster code and therefore improved performance.
  • Few extensions are compatible for 2.0. This can increase costs for the store.
  • It is user friendly for webstore owners (user interface).
  • API has been completely changed and does not yet have the same functionalities as API 1.x (a disadvantage for integrating applications such as ERP).

 

Conclusion

If you’re lauching a new store, make an informed decision. Despite its disadvantages, Magento 2.0’s advantages can offer you more. In addition, support for Magento 1.x will expire soon. Once this happens, you’ll have to upgrade anyway.

Be prepared to invest more in development. Many well-known Magento 1.x extensions are not yet available for Magento 2.0. This means Magento 2.0 will have to be customized. This disadvantage will gradually disappear because more and more extensions will be built as support for 2.0.

Do you need help making a selection? Tinx-IT is here to help you.