Magento 1 or Magento 2?
One important question before a new Magento shop project is: Magento 1 or Magento 2. Since one year, we discover this essential question very often and there is no clear answer to it. I give you a short background information on how to choose the right option for your shop.
Magento 1 or Magento 2?
As developer, it is clear to me to start each new shop project with latest available Magento version. It is modern, fast and has no security leaks. Reality is different, because there are many things to consider. A big issue is always connectivity and available plugins, so the environment in which this new shop lives decides which version to prefer. But why? Why isn’t it possible to start each shop project with current version?
Things to consider
Most vendors do not only use a Magento shop. If a bigger company wants to sell products online, they want to build a shop on top of their business economy. The shop should be automated and each order should run into existing processes. So you need to consider:
- ERP systems
there are hundred different systems out there. Sometimes they are known (for example SAP) but there are also often unknown. Sometimes they are commercial products, sometimes they are Open Source. As shop developer, it is not possible to know all of them – and it is not mandatory. If it has a Magento connector, you do not think about it. The problem: most ERP systems only have Magento 1 connectors. You have the choice in using it and only build a Magento 1 shop or to use other techniques to connect to this ERP. Sometimes it is as easy as creating CSV or XML files, sometimes you have to build complex middle ware. That can be time consuming and expensive for your customer! - Payment services
For our first Magento 2 shop we had only some Payment providers with available Magento 2 modules. Currently the situation is much better, but problems with new software can also influence payment. Things may not work as in Magento 1 and my be very time consuming to debug. - Bugs
Magento 2 has some bugs. You find many articles of weird things I discovered. Magento 2 gets better every day, but if you are looking for a ready to use proofed software – take Magento 1. Especially if there is a risk, that additional hours of work won’t be paid! - Server
Magento 2 is fast and modern. This advantage is also a minor disadvantage, because you need special server configuration. If you use shared web servers like on managed hosts, you may not be able to adept them. Often there is not yet PHP 7 or MySQL 5.6 installed. - and so on…
It is not possible for me to show you all possible problems you may discover. Take your time and study differences before you choose your option.
Which one
Deciding to choose the right version can be hard. You need experience. We did our first shop with twice the amount of time valued and it was not enough. We did many hours overtime, but know have enough experience for second Magento 2 shop. Now we are able to build a shop in both versions for the same amount of time. Remember this! A freelancer may not have this experience or an agency too. Magento 1 and Magento 2 are VERY different.
Conclusion
Magento 1 or Magento 2 is a difficult question. As developer I suggest Magento 2, because it is modern and better to update. For some reasons it is not possible to choose it yet. Not all needed modules are ported to Magento 2 or not as good. Magento 2 has also some weird bugs. You need to be an expert if you want to give appropriate support to your customer / shop owner / vendor.
