Prestashop vs Magento vs Opencart Security Compared
Updated on: June 27, 2023
Mahima Maheshwari
6 mins read
Article Summary
One of the most important parts of website development is choosing a secure and efficient Content Management Software (CMS) because a job well begun is a job half done. While there are many options to choose from the best ones in the market are- Prestashop, Magento and Opencart. This article gives a security comparison of PrestaShop vs Magento vs Opencart.
Many companies are looking for a suitable CMS to develop their own online store. While an online store can save you the trouble of setting up a physical shop it still requires a lot of effort to efficiently utilize the benefits of the internet age and safeguard oneself from its hellfire. One of the most important parts of website development is choosing a secure and efficient Content Management Software (CMS) because a job well begun is a job half done. While there are many options to choose from, the best ones in the market are- Prestashop, Magento and Opencart. In this article we will do the security comparison of PrestaShop vs Magento vs Opencart.
Related article: PrestaShop vs WooCommerce: All You Need To Know
Know Your CMS
Each CMS has its own merits and demerits. The choice of CMS depends on several factors like the business scale, budget constraints, security, ease of use etc. Let’s get to know more about the features that each CMS provides
Magento
Magento is the leading open source e-commerce platform. With its extensive features it provides users complete autonomy over their online stores. Top features offered by Magento are:
- Efficient SEO and marketing tools
- More than 1500 plugin available
- Large community of developers
- Highly customizable
- Easy installation and upgrades
- Free version available
Opencart
Opencart is a free open source e-commerce platform, again offering a host of features. It offers an all-in-one package of everything that you would need to run your own business website. Top features offered by Opencart are:
- Efficient SEO
- Offers more than 9000 plugins
- Low monthly maintenance cost
- Sales report and error logging
- Multiple language support
Prestashop
PrestaShop is an open source e-commerce platform with a huge online community of developers. It has easy to use site administration features and effective site management tools. Top features of PrestaShop that make it a hit are:
- Useful marketing and SEO tools
- Easy site management
- More than 2500 plugins
- Market Analytics
- Localization and taxes
Security Comparison of PrestaShop vs Magento vs Opencart
To make a security comparison of PrestaShop vs Magento vs Opencart on basis of past vulnerabilities are given below. The types of vulnerabilities found in each of these CMS between the year 2015-2019 are as follows:
Security Risks of Open Source CMS
While open-source software is admired for being flexible & customizable, it also brings many risks with it too. Developers as well as hackers benefit from the availability of codes online. This becomes a major point of concern when sites are not regularly updated with the latest security patches released.
Magento
It is important that you hire professionals to work on your Magento based website. The development team must be well versed in PHP Frameworks or Java, as they will take some time to understand Magento and to utilize the platform without leaving vulnerabilities on the way.
Related Article: The Ultimate Magento Security Practices and Malware Removal Guide
Opencart
With the increasing popularity of the e-commerce platform OpenCart, the cases of malware infections have also risen. Multiple vulnerabilities have been uncovered in OpenCart core. These vulnerabilities have lead to admin panel getting hacked in several Opencart business websites around the world.
Related Article: The Ultimate Opencart Security Practices and Malware Removal Guide
Prestashop
All three CMS are PHP based and PHP comes with its own set of security vulnerabilities like SQLi, XSS, remote file inclusion etc. Prestashop has also been a victim to such attacks in the past.
Related Article: The Ultimate Prestashop Security Practices and Malware Removal Guide
Third Party Plugins
In the security comparison of PrestaShop vs Magento vs Opencart it is important to consider the risks posed by the third party addons as they are also a vital part of the e-commerce ecosystem. Extension vendors more often than not hide vulnerabilities for the fear of loss of reputation. Be mindful while installing third party extensions on your business website.
Magento
Magento modules were observed to be the main source of security breaches for Magento sites in 2018. A group of Magento professionals released a repository of insecure Magento modules. It currently lists 63 insecure extension versions (and counting).
Related article : Magento extensions that could leave your business website vulnerable
Opencart
Opencart offers a large number of plug-ins and themes for easy customization the need for third party extension reduces but even these extensions were found to be vulnerable at times so keep all your softwares-core and addons up to date.
Prestashop
Themes and modules available at PrestaShop Addons are tested and approved, so you can use them safely. But watch out for third party plugins. Download only those extensions that are regularly updated with security patches.
Related Article: Prestashop Addon vulnerable to Cross-site Request Forgery
Team of Security Experts
Open-source platforms tend to attract more tech-savvy users and have less consistent official support, they typically gather large communities around them. The members of these communities actively explore it for issues, warn users of possible threats and even release unofficial fixes.
Magento
Magento Security Center, regularly releases updates and security patches for both Magento 1 and Magento 2. You can be a part of the vast Magento community of developers and contributors. The latest version of the Magento CMS is the 2.3.2.
Opencart
Opencart has also hired a team of security experts that are paid to keep the platform secure and running. OpenCart has a smaller community, undeveloped compared with PrestaShop and Magento, with around 120,000 members. The current version that OpenCart has pushed is 3.0.0.0.
Prestashop
Prestashop also releases regular security patches for its software. PrestaShop has a strong community following with 1,000,000 members actively working to keep Prestashop safer. The updated PrestaShop version is 1.7.6.0.
In the security comparison of Prestashop vs Magento vs Opencart it should be noted that the latter two also run their own Bug Bounty programs for developers and security experts to responsibly report bug and thereby help them improve their product.
To Sum Up…
Ofcourse, having a secured CMS is crucial to a business. However, I feel the security of a website depends much more on the admin than on a CMS. It is the admin’s decision and effort put into securing a website that decides the security of a website.
It is always advised to follow the best configuration measures to protect your sensitive files. In addition to that, installing in a good Web Application Firewall(WAF) can add your website’s security. Astra firewall is one such firewall which provides a continuous monitoring to your website.
Mahima Maheshwari
