Shopware 6 vs OpenCart: cheap now, expensive later?

Why people choose OpenCart

It installs in minutes on the cheapest shared hosting, the admin is simple enough for anyone, and there are thousands of low-cost extensions. For a very small catalogue with simple prices and a founder doing everything themselves, that is a rational choice and we would not argue with it.

Where the ceiling is

The extension quality varies wildly, many rely on modifying core behaviour, and the architecture was never designed for the kind of integration a B2B business needs. Once you want ERP sync, per-customer pricing and a search that handles part numbers, you are writing most of it yourself against a codebase that does not want to help you.

The real cost of 'cheap'

We have migrated shops off OpenCart where the accumulated custom patching cost more than a Shopware licence would have over five years. The platform did not cost money; the workarounds did. That bill arrives slowly and nobody notices which line item started it.

When OpenCart is right

Under 500 products, one price for everyone, no ERP, no team, and a business that is not planning to double. If any one of those is false in your three-year plan, do not start here — the migration later costs more than the difference today.