This is a list of some of the free open source shopping carts (in no particular order) available to incorporate in to your e-commerce website. I have mainly worked with osCommerce and CRE Loaded but I have been doing some research in to my options for new projects in the future.
———————————————————-
osCommerce
Website: http://www.oscommerce.com
Programming Language: PHP
License Type: GPL
Demo: http://www.oscommerce.com/shops/demonstration
osCommerce is built in PHP and has been around since 2000, although at that time it was known by the name The Exchange Project. My first e-commerce project in 2000-2001 was based on osCommerce and at the time, it was the best and most flexible open source option that I could find. The flexibility and ease of PHP with the thousands of community contributed addons made a big impression with me and I have developed many e-commerce websites based on osCommerce since then.
From the osCommerce website:
“osCommerce has attracted a large growing e-commerce community that consists of over 201,600 store owners and developers who support each other and extend osCommerce Online Merchant with add-ons being contributed on a daily basis. To date there are over 5,200 add-ons that are available for free to customize osCommerce Online Merchant online stores and to help increase sales.”
I don’t want to bash osCommerce but I personally think the development on osCommerce is a bit slow and although I still like what the software has to offer, I find myself looking for something a bit more feature complete and up to date. This wouldn’t be a big problem if osCommerce had all of the features I generally need, but I often find myself installing addons for functionality that is already present in other e-commerce software.
———————————————————-
CRE Loaded
Website: http://www.creloaded.com/
Programming Language: PHP
License Type: GPL
Demo: http://www.creloaded.com/main/products/demos/
CRE Loaded is based on osCommerce but has undergone significant development. There is a free “standard” download and several premium versions that will cost you. Personally, I would recommend Zen Cart or osCommerce over CRE Loaded, but CRE does have the advantage of having many of the most popular osCommerce contributions already installed.
From the CRE Loaded website:
“CRE Loadedis a fully functional ecommerce application with shopping cart functionality and content management capability. You can organize, manage, and ship your products, and you get the support and security that comes from the backing of an established ecommerce provider.”
Check out the demos and decide for yourself.
———————————————————-
Magento
Website: http://www.magentocommerce.com/
Programming Language: PHP
License Type: OSL 3.0
Demo: http://www.magentocommerce.com/demo
Magento is relatively new on the scene and I have not yet worked with it, although I am looking forward to doing so in the near future. I have heard many good things about Magento and based on the feature list, I can see that the Magento community has been hard at work.
From the Magento website:
“Magento was a direct response to the emerging new needs of today’s online merchants. More than any feature or functionality what our clients really needed was “flexibility.” Our primary goal with Magento was to develop a platform that put the control back in the hands of the online merchant and placed no constraints on business processes and flow.”
Based on the buzz in the web development community, I’m excited about Magento and I haven’t even had a chance to take it for a test drive. I hope it doesn’t let me down!
———————————————————-
AgoraCart
Website: http://www.agoracart.com/
Programming Language: Perl
License Type: GPL
Demo: http://www.agoracart.com/demos.htm
AgoraCart is an open source Perl shopping cart and offers added features if you opt for a lifetime gold membership. Many may not have heard of AgoraCart, but I can assure you that it has been around as long as I can remember and I believe longer than any other shopping carts that I have listed.
From the AgoraCart website:
“AgoraCart - The powerful “Free” Open Source ecommerce shopping cart software solution offers you a very wide range of features that allow you to setup an online storefront or shop ranging from a simple template based store for novices to the integration of complex web design concepts created by your web designer. “
AgoraCart was actually my very first experience in e-commerce development but my inexperience with Perl at the time was a factor that drove me to PHP solutions. If Perl is your language of choice, then AgoraCart may just be the best option for you.
———————————————————-
ZenCart
Website: http://zencart.com/
Programming Language: Perl
License Type: GPL
Demo: http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?main_page=showcase…
Zen Cart is another cart originally based on osCommerce but has since developed in to it’s own powerful e-commerce solution. There are many open source projects that have forked from the osCommerce code base but this one is worth mention.
From the Zen Cart website:
“Zen Cart™ truly is the art of e-commerce; free, user-friendly, open source shopping cart software. The ecommerce web site design program is being developed by group of like-minded shop owners, programmers, designers, and consultants that think ecommerce web design could be and should be done differently. “
I’ll be honest I originally had no interest in Zen Cart but it has been recommended to me many times by ex-osCommerce users as a good solution that I finally had to check it out. With the slow development of osCommerce and the problems I have had with CRE Loaded, Zen Cart is a good osCommerce alternative.
———————————————————-
Obviously, this list just barely scratches the surface of open source e-commerce solutions. Feel free to comment and tell us your favorite.
Loading ...
Subscribe to our RSS feed!
Firebug is a web development extension for the Firefox browser that aids in formatting, debugging and tweaking your code for optimal load time and display. Developers using FireFox for testing and/or general browsing (which should be all of you), will find this extension useful for nearly every aspect of web development, especially for those pesky CSS formatting issues.