eCommerce Tycoon

**Kasala** · 01-15-2009, 03:26 AM

There are two types of shopping carts. One is open source(free) and the other type is closed source(paid). Someone think open source shopping cart software is better, someone not. Which one is better? What do you think?

**blue-dreamer** · 01-15-2009, 09:08 AM

Neither is necessarily better - you use the best one for the job in hand, irrespective of the cost.

**editme** · 01-15-2009, 12:49 PM

Closed vs. open source is most important if you're a programmer and you'll want to go in and be able to fix bugs and make changes (or if you'll want to pay a programmer to do this for you). With closed source software you'll need to wait for the company who sells it to get around to implementing any new features.

Second consideration is support - if you want to be able to call or email someone for help and get a timely response, you should pay for a commercial license. In my experience, open source software is geared more towards the developer who doesn't mind getting their hands a little dirty in the setup/configuration process. Some are more point-and-click than others, but that's a general observation.