There are several ways to set up a Magento Progressive Web App store. Merchants can consider using Magento 2 PWA extensions, purchasing a PWA theme, or having a bespoke PWA designed and developed based on their business’s requirements.
Among the three mentioned options, applying PWA plugins is the cheapest method. Although they cannot offer the best result like the other two options, there are still some Magento 2 PWA extensions that are worth our consideration.
1/ Setubridge’s Magento 2 PWA Extension
This is an affordable Magento 2 PWA extension that can offer merchants some key functions of a Progressive Web App. It supports Magento 2.1.x to 2.4.x.
Cost
The extension has a price of $59 (installation included), which is relatively cheap compared to other modules on the market.
Function
This Magento PWA extension provides the store with essential PWA functions and some customization capabilities:
- Splash screen: Once the PWA is installed, the shopper will get a splash screen displaying the store logo and name. Splash page customization is possible through the backend.
- Push notification: Merchants can create and manage the message they want to send to customers.
- Offline mode: Admin can enable or disable PWA offline mode in the backend. Moreover, the admin can select certain CMS pages for offline usage.
- Add to home screen: This makes the website installable. The new PWA will appear just like any other native app on the device.
Others
This PWA extension for Magento gets good reviews from past customers and it is reported with stable performance.
To be assisted by the Setubridge team after buying its plugin, you will have to pay $39 or $59 for 6 months/ 1 year of support.
2/ Webkul’s PWA Extension For M2
Webkul also provides a PWA extension for Magento 2, which offers an array of PWA functions and good performance.
Cost
Merchants need to pay $199 to get this Magento PWA plugin and an additional fee of $39.8 for installation.
Function
The extension provides firms with core PWA features.
Compared to Setubridge’s extension, Webkul’s has some differences, for example:
- PWA Orientation: Admin is able to choose among four types of screen orientations including Any, Natural, Landscape, or Portrait.
- Workbox: is used to enhance store performance and speed. It will incorporate the cache strategy to save assets in the first-page load, and restrict time for data storing.
- Track number of PWA installation: The admin can view the stats by dates and in a graph.
Others
The average score from customer reviews is nearly 5. This shows the high satisfaction from merchants of the final result that the extension brings.
Webkul offers free 3-months-support for customers who buy their extensions. For 6 and 12 months of support, the cost would be $79.60 and $99.50 respectively.
3/ Magetop’s Magento PWA Module
Magetop’s product differentiates other Magento PWA extensions in the list by providing a simple mobile template.
Cost
The price of this PWA extension is $199, which is equal to Webkul’s but its installation price is higher ($49).
Function
Similar to the preceding modules, the Magento PWA extension of Magetop includes some PWA features such as adding to the home screen, offline capability, splash page, and push notification.
The available template is both a pro and a con of the extension. First, it covers only the home page, category page, product detail page, and shopping cart page. Second, the design is still too basic and many Magento core features are missing. Therefore, it seems to be unrealistic to be applied for a real store.
Others:
You will get three months of free support after purchasing the Magetop module. The charge would increase to $50 and $100 for a 6 and 12-month period.
4/ Elsner’s Magento PWA Extension
The most outstanding benefit when choosing this PWA extension for Magento is the low price and fast installation. However, the downside is that the PWA features are also limited. Also, Elsner’s plugin only supports Magento 2.1.x and 2.2.x.
Cost
Merchants need to pay $49 for buying the Magento PWA extension, $35 to have it installed in the store, and $99 for additional customization. This is also the cheapest module on the list.
Function
In comparison to the two first PWA extensions, Elsner’s provides fewer features and less flexibility in configuration.
Others
The store performance after installing this extension is not impressed with a recorded score of only 42 (in Google Lighthouse).
Also, 30-day support is free, but if you want to extend the support period to 60/ 90/ 180/ 360 days, the extra charges would be $60/ $80/ $140/ $220.
Final Thoughts
Using Magento 2 PWA extensions is the easiest way to add some features of Progressive Web App to Magento websites. However, it’s clear that the capabilities of those are still limited. The website speed and storefront see almost no changes after having the module installed.
Therefore, if you only want to experience some PWA functions while having a small budget, Magento 2 PWA extensions are the choice. On the contrary, if you need to build a comprehensive PWA with full features, you had better look for other solutions such as ready-made Magento 2 PWA themes or custom Magento PWA development services.
