The ever-evolving landscape of e-commerce demands constant adaptation and innovation. In the realm of online store development, Magento has long been a trusted platform, empowering businesses to create and manage their digital storefronts effectively. However, as technology advances and customer expectations evolve, Magento itself has undergone a significant transformation from its first iteration, Magento 1, to the more advanced and feature-rich Magento 2.
We will thoroughly examine and contrast the main distinctions between Magento 1 and Magento 2 in this article. By reviewing the enhancements and advancements introduced in Magento 2, we aim to provide valuable insights for business owners and developers alike. Whether you’re considering an upgrade or seeking to understand the capabilities of Magento’s latest offering, this comprehensive analysis will enable you to make informed decisions.
Magento 1 End Of Life
Magento 1 End of Life refers to the date when official support and updates for Magento 1 were discontinued. This was a well-known e-commerce platform that gave companies a solid framework to create and run their online stores. However, as technology evolves and customer expectations change, software platforms need to adapt to meet the demands of the market.
On June 30, 2020, Adobe announced the End of Life for Magento 1, ceasing support, updates, and fixes. This raises security, performance, and compatibility concerns for existing Magento 1 websites. Magento 1 support was discontinued to encourage migration to the more advanced Magento 2, offering improved performance, scalability, and security.
With Magento 1’s End of Life, businesses using the older version face risks from security vulnerabilities and limited compatibility with new technology and extensions.
Magento 1 vs. Magento 2: 11 Key Differences
Magento 2 features a modular architecture, improved performance, enhanced scalability, and a more user-friendly interface compared to Magento 1. By exploring these differences and providing a comprehensive comparison, you can understand the advantages of migrating to Magento 2.
The following list highlights 11 key distinctions between Magento 1 and Magento 2:
1. Website Performance
When comparing website performance between Magento 1 and Magento 2, there are notable differences that contribute to an enhanced user experience. Here are some key aspects to consider:
- Page Load Speed: Magento 2 offers faster page load speed with default full-page caching, optimized codebase, and database structure.
- Scalability: It provides better scalability for larger product catalogues and higher order volumes through improved database management, indexing, and caching.
- JavaScript Bundling: JavaScript bundling reduces server queries, enhancing page loading speed.
- Admin Interface: The admin interface of Magento 2 is user-friendly and intuitive, simplifying backend management tasks.
2. Support
When it comes to support, there are significant differences between Magento 1 and Magento 2 due to their respective life cycles. Here’s a breakdown of the support available for each version:
Magento 1:
- Official Support Ended: As of June 30, 2020, Magento 1’s official support and updates from Adobe have ended. This means that Adobe no longer provides patches, bug fixes, or security updates for Magento 1.
- Third-Party Support: While official support has ceased, some third-party vendors and developers may still offer limited support and services for Magento 1. However, the availability and extent of such support may vary.
Magento 2:
- Ongoing Official Support: Magento 2 is the actively supported version by Adobe. In order to maintain the platform’s stability, security, and compatibility with the most recent technology, Adobe provides it with regular updates, security patches, and bug fixes.
- Long-term Support Release (LSR): Magento 2.4.x versions introduced the concept of Long-term Support Release, providing extended support and security updates beyond the regular support period. This option ensures businesses can receive updates for a longer duration without the need for immediate major upgrades.
3. Security
When comparing the security features and considerations between Magento 1 vs Magento 2, there are several important differences to note:
Magento 1:
- End of Official Security Updates: As of June 30, 2020, Magento 1’s official support and security updates from Adobe have ended.
- Increased Risk: With the discontinuation of official security updates, Magento 1 websites become more vulnerable to potential security threats.
- Third-Party Extensions: For added functionality, Magento 1 mainly relied on third-party extensions. While many of these extensions were developed by reputable providers, the security of these extensions varied.
Magento 2:
- Ongoing Security Updates: Magento 2, being the actively supported version by Adobe, receives regular security updates and patches. As a result, the risk of exploitation is decreased by ensuring that known vulnerabilities are swiftly fixed.
- Enhanced Security Features: Compared to Magento 1, Magento 2 has a number of security improvements. These include enhanced security procedures, two-factor authentication, secure payment integrations, and improved password hashing algorithms.
- Emphasis on Secure Coding Practices: Magento 2 encourages secure coding practices, providing guidelines and best practices for developers to follow. This helps developers build more secure extensions and customizations for the platform.
4. Cost
When considering the cost implications of Magento 1 versus Magento 2, there are several aspects to take into account:
Magento 1:
- License Costs: Magento 1 offered both a free Community Edition and a paid Enterprise Edition. Small and medium-sized organisations often utilise the Community Edition, whereas bigger businesses typically use the Enterprise Edition.
- Extension Costs: To add functionality, Magento 1 mainly relied on third-party extensions. Some of these extensions were free, while others had varying fees that could be one-time or ongoing.
- Maintenance Costs: Ongoing maintenance costs for Magento 1 include server hosting, security monitoring, and general website upkeep.
Magento 2:
- License Costs: Magento 2 follows a similar structure as Magento 1, offering a free Community Edition and a paid Enterprise Edition (now known as Magento Commerce). The pricing for the Enterprise Edition/Commerce varies based on the specific requirements and the level of support and features needed.
- Extension Costs: Similar to Magento 1, Magento 2 relies on third-party extensions to enhance functionality. The costs associated with extensions can vary, and some extensions may require additional licensing or subscription fees.
- Migration Costs: Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration requires a lot of work and money. This includes transferring data, redesigning the website, developing customizations, and ensuring compatibility with Magento 2. The Magento 2 migration costs can vary depending on the complexity of the existing Magento 1 store and the desired features and customizations for the Magento 2 store.
5. Admin Interface
The admin interface, the backend or admin panel, plays a crucial role in managing and maintaining an e-commerce store. When corresponding to the admin interfaces of Magento 1 vs Magento 2, there are notable differences in terms of design, usability, and functionality.
Magento 1:
- User Interface: The admin interface of Magento 1 has a more dated design compared to Magento 2. It features a traditional layout with multiple tabs and sections for different settings and configurations.
- Navigation: Navigating through the admin panel in Magento 1 might require more clicks and scrolling to access various settings and functionalities.
- User Experience: While operational, the user experience in Magento 1’s admin interface can sometimes feel complex and overwhelming, especially for new users.
Magento 2:
- User Interface: Magento 2 introduces a more modern and visually appealing admin interface compared to Magento 1. With an emphasis on enhancing accessibility and user experience, it has a cleaner design.
- Streamlined Navigation: The admin panel of Magento 2 is designed to offer a more streamlined navigation experience. It includes a responsive sidebar menu that provides easy access to key sections, reducing the need for excessive scrolling or multiple clicks.
- Enhanced Usability: Magento 2’s admin interface emphasizes usability and ease of use. It offers improved organization of settings and configurations, making it easier to find and manage various aspects of the e-commerce store.
- Responsive Design: Magento 2’s admin interface is built with responsive design principles, meaning it adapts well to different screen sizes and devices. This allows administrators to access and manage the backend on desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile devices more effectively.
6. Extensions
Magento 1:
- Availability: Magento 1 has a vast marketplace with a wide range of extensions available.
- Compatibility: The compatibility of Magento 1 extensions can vary depending on the version of Magento 1 and the specific extension.
- Support and Updates: While Magento 1 extensions have been developed by different third-party providers, the level of support and frequency of updates can vary.
Magento 2:
- Extension Marketplace: Magento 2 has its official extension marketplace, known as the Magento Marketplace. It provides a large selection of extensions that can improve the features and functioning of your Magento 2 store.
- Improved Compatibility: Magento 2 provides improved compatibility standards for extensions compared to Magento 1. Extensions built for Magento 2 are expected to follow these standards, ensuring a higher degree of compatibility across different versions of Magento 2.
- Support and Updates: Extensions available on the Magento Marketplace undergo a review process to ensure quality and compatibility. Extension providers are expected to offer support and provide updates to address issues and compatibility with new Magento 2 releases.
Migration Considerations:
Migrating from Magento 1 to Magento 2 provides an opportunity to reassess the need for extensions and explore new options available specifically for Magento 2. Some extensions may have been updated or improved for Magento 2, offering enhanced features and functionality.
7. SEO
When comparing the SEO capabilities of Magento 1 vs Magento 2, there are several critical characteristics to consider:
Magento 1:
- Basic SEO Features: Magento 1 provides some essential SEO features out of the box, such as customizable URLs, meta tags, and sitemaps.
- SEO Extensions: Magento 1 has a wide range of SEO extensions available in its marketplace. These extensions offer additional features and functionalities to enhance your website’s SEO performance, such as advanced metadata management, canonical tags, rich snippets, and more.
- Customization Options: Magento 1 allows for customization at the code level, giving you the flexibility to implement specific SEO techniques or integrate third-party SEO tools as needed.
Magento 2:
- Improved Performance: Magento 2 is designed with performance optimization in mind, which indirectly benefits SEO. Better search engine rankings may be a result of the updated architecture and faster page loads.
- Enhanced Metadata Management: Magento 2 introduces an improved admin interface with enhanced metadata management capabilities. It offers more advanced options for setting page titles, meta descriptions, and other SEO-related metadata elements.
- Built-in XML Sitemap: Magento 2 includes a built-in XML sitemap feature, allowing you to generate and submit sitemaps to search engines more easily.
- Mobile-Friendly Design: Magento 2 incorporates responsive design principles, making websites built on this platform more mobile-friendly. Because search engines give preference to mobile-optimized websites in their rankings, mobile friendliness is a critical component of SEO.
Migrating from Magento 1 to Magento 2:
- Migrating to Magento 2 presents an opportunity to reassess and improve your website’s SEO strategies and practices.
- During the migration process, you can review and optimize your website’s structure, URLs, metadata, and content to align with the latest SEO best practices.
8. Architecture
The architecture of an e-commerce platform plays a crucial role in its performance, scalability, and flexibility. When comparing the architecture of Magento 1 vs Magento 2, there are significant differences:
Magento 1:
- Monolithic Architecture: Magento 1 follows a monolithic architecture, where the core functionality and modules are tightly coupled within a single codebase. This means that any modifications or customizations made to the system can potentially affect the entire application.
- Code Structure: The code structure of Magento 1 can be complex and challenging to navigate, making it less modular and harder to maintain and upgrade.
- Performance Challenges: Magento 1’s architecture can lead to performance challenges, particularly when dealing with high traffic and extensive product catalogues. The monolithic structure can result in slower page load times and limitations in scalability.
Magento 2:
- Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA): Magento 2 introduces a service-oriented architecture, which decouples the core functionality into separate modules and services. This modular approach allows for easier customization, maintenance, and scalability.
- Improved Code Structure: Compared to Magento 1, Magento 2’s code is better organised and more modular. Developers will find it simpler to comprehend and expand the platform’s functionality as a result.
- Extensibility and Scalability: Magento 2’s architecture provides better extensibility and scalability options. The separation of core modules allows for more flexibility in adding or modifying functionalities without affecting the entire system. This makes it easier to upgrade and maintain the platform over time.
9. Checkout Process
When comparing the checkout process between Magento 1 vs Magento 2, there are notable differences:
Magento 1:
- One-Page Checkout: Magento 1 features a default one-page checkout, which consolidates the checkout steps into a single page. However, the one-page checkout can be lengthy and overwhelming for users, especially if there are many required fields and sections to complete.
- Limited Customization: Customizing the checkout process in Magento 1 can be challenging, as it requires working with complex code and templates. Making significant changes to the default checkout process often requires extensive development efforts or the use of third-party extensions.
- Guest Checkout: Customers can finish a transaction using Magento 1’s guest checkout option without creating an account. For new customers who would rather not make an account, this speeds up the checkout procedure.
Magento 2:
- Streamlined Checkout: A more streamlined and user-friendly checkout experience is included in Magento 2. It simplifies the default checkout into two steps: Shipping and Review & Payments.
- Customization Options: Magento 2 provides improved customization options for the checkout process. It offers a drag-and-drop layout editor, allowing merchants to configure and modify the checkout steps, fields, and appearance without extensive coding knowledge.
- Guest Checkout Enhancements: Magento 2 enhances the guest checkout experience by minimizing required fields and simplifying the registration process. It offers the option for guests to create an account after completing their purchase, encouraging customer retention and engagement.
10. File Structure
The file structure of Magento 1 vs Magento 2 differs significantly due to architectural changes introduced in Magento 2. Here is an overview of the file structure in both versions:
Magento 1:
- app: The “app” directory contains the core code and configuration files for Magento 1.
- code: The “code” directory houses the modules and extensions, organized by their respective namespaces.
- design: The “design” directory contains theme-specific files, including templates, layout XML files, and skin assets.
- etc: The “etc” directory stores configuration files, such as module configuration, system configuration, and XML-based layouts.
- locale: The “locale” directory includes language-specific translation files.
- skin: The “skin” directory consists of CSS, JavaScript, and image assets associated with the frontend theme.
- var: The “var” directory contains various cache files, logs, and session data generated by Magento.
Magento 2:
- app: The “app” directory in Magento 2 holds the core code and configuration files.
- code: The “code” directory contains the modules and extensions, organized by their respective namespaces.
- design: The “design” directory stores theme-specific files, including templates, layout XML files, and frontend assets.
- etc: The “etc” directory holds configuration files, similar to Magento 1, including module configuration, system configuration, and XML-based layouts.
- i18n: The “i18n” directory includes language-specific translation files.
- pub: The “pub” directory contains publicly accessible files, such as static assets (CSS, JavaScript, images) and generated content.
- var: The “var” directory houses various cache files, logs, and session data, similar to Magento 1.
11. Frontend Design
The frontend design in Magento 1 vs Magento 2 differs in terms of technology, customization options, and user experience. Here are some key points to consider when comparing the frontend design between the two versions:
Magento 1:
- Technology: Magento 1 primarily relies on the Prototype JavaScript framework, along with jQuery and script.aculo.us libraries, for frontend interactions and effects.
- Themes: Custom themes can be used with Magento 1 to modify the front end’s look and feel. Themes consist of template files (phtml), CSS files, and images.
- Responsiveness: Out-of-the-box, Magento 1 lacks built-in responsive design capabilities. To create a responsive website, additional efforts and customizations are required, such as using third-party extensions or implementing custom coding.
Magento 2:
- Technology: Magento 2 adopts modern frontend technologies like RequireJS, jQuery, and KnockoutJS for enhanced performance and modularity.
- Themes: Magento 2 introduces a more organized and intuitive theme structure. Themes include separate directories for templates (phtml), CSS, JavaScript, and images. This modular approach simplifies theme customization and allows for better separation of concerns.
- Page Builder: Magento 2 includes a built-in visual design editor called Page Builder, which allows merchants to create and customize pages using a drag-and-drop interface. This feature simplifies the process of building and modifying page layouts without extensive coding knowledge.
Why Everyone should migrate to magento 2
Migrating to Magento 2 offers several compelling reasons for businesses to make the transition. These are some fundamental explanations for why everyone should think about migrating from Magento 1 to Magento 2:
- Enhanced performance: Magento 2 performs faster with technologies like Full Page Cache, optimized queries, and improved indexing.
- Improved admin interface: The admin interface in Magento 2 is user-friendly and efficient for managing products, orders, and content.
- Rich feature set: Magento 2 offers advanced features including an improved checkout process, advanced search, a page builder, customer segmentation, and more.
- Security enhancements: Enhanced security features protect against vulnerabilities in Magento 2.
- Long-term support: Migrating to Magento 2 ensures ongoing support, future enhancements, and access to bug fixes and security patches.
- Extension ecosystem: Magento 2 has a growing ecosystem of extensions and integrations that can enhance the functionality of your online store.
Bottom Line
To sum up, upgrading from Magento 1 to Magento 2 is an essential step for companies trying to maintain their competitiveness in the ever-changing e-commerce market. The numerous advantages offered by Magento 2 make it a compelling choice for everyone. From enhanced performance and scalability to a user-friendly admin interface and responsive design, Magento 2 delivers a host of features that contribute to a seamless and engaging online shopping experience.
