---
description: Compare Zen Cart vs OpenCart for South African businesses. GetApp provides a side-by-side comparison with details on software price, features and reviews.
image: https://gdm-localsites-assets-gfprod.imgix.net/images/getapp/og_logo-94fd2a03a6c7a0e54fc0c9e21a1c0ce9.png
title: Compare Zen Cart vs OpenCart | GetApp South Africa 2026
---

Breadcrumb: [Home](/) > [Shopping Cart Software](/directory/97/shopping-cart/software) > [Zen Cart \<span\>vs\</span\> OpenCart](https://www.getapp.za.com/compare/103179/106127/zen-cart/vs/opencart)

# Compare Zen Cart vs OpenCart

Canonical: https://www.getapp.za.com/compare/103179/106127/zen-cart/vs/opencart

> Detailed comparison between Zen Cart and OpenCart. Check ratings, reviews, pricing, and features to make the best decision for your business.

-----

## At a Glance

| Metric | Zen Cart | OpenCart |
| **Overall rating** | 4.4/5 | 4.3/5 |
| **Total Reviews** | 14 | 153 |
| **Starting Price** | - | - |
| **Free Trial** | - | Yes |
| **Free Version** | Yes | Yes |
| **Deployment** | Mac (Desktop), Windows (Desktop), Linux (Desktop) | Cloud, SaaS, Web-based, Mac (Desktop), Windows (Desktop), Windows (On-Premise), Linux (On-Premise), Android (Mobile) |
| **Support** | FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base, Chat | Email/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base, Phone Support, Chat |
| **Training** | Documentation | Documentation |

## Key features

### Zen Cart

- API
- Abandoned Cart Saver
- Access Controls/Permissions
- Catalog Management
- Credit Card Processing
- Discount Management
- Electronic Payments
- Multi-Currency
- Multi-Language
- Product Catalog
- Refund Management
- Returns Management
- Tax Management
- eCommerce Management

### OpenCart

- API
- Abandoned Cart Saver
- Access Controls/Permissions
- CRM
- Catalog Management
- Credit Card Processing
- Discount Management
- Electronic Payments
- Email Templates
- Multi-Currency
- Multi-Language
- Product Catalog
- Refund Management
- Returns Management
- Search/Filter
- Shipping Management
- Shopping Cart
- Social Media Integration
- Tax Management
- eCommerce Management

## Links

- [View Zen Cart Profile](https://www.getapp.za.com/software/103179/zen-cart)
- [View OpenCart Profile](https://www.getapp.za.com/software/106127/opencart)
- [View Original Comparison](https://www.getapp.za.com/compare/103179/106127/zen-cart/vs/opencart)

-----

## Structured Data

<script type="application/ld+json">
  {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"name":"Compare Zen Cart vs OpenCart | GetApp South Africa 2026","description":"Compare Zen Cart vs OpenCart for South African businesses. GetApp provides a side-by-side comparison with details on software price, features and reviews.","url":"https://www.getapp.za.com/compare/103179/106127/zen-cart/vs/opencart","about":[{"@id":"https://www.getapp.za.com/software/103179/zen-cart#software"},{"@id":"https://www.getapp.za.com/software/106127/opencart#software"}],"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://www.getapp.za.com/compare/103179/106127/zen-cart/vs/opencart#breadcrumblist"},"@type":["WebPage","CollectionPage"],"@id":"https://www.getapp.za.com/compare/103179/106127/zen-cart/vs/opencart#webpage","publisher":{"@id":"https://www.getapp.za.com/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-ZA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://www.getapp.za.com/#website"}},{"name":"Zen Cart","description":"Zen Cart is an open source, free, GPL2 licensed solution for adding powerful eCommerce shopping cart management to websites. The software can be installed on private or third party host servers, plus local LAMP stacks running PHP, Apache and MySQL. Supported by a dedicated global community of programmers, Zen Cart offers a high level of customization alongside an array of additional training, store front templates and plugins. Designed to put merchants and shoppers first, Zen Cart attempts to make installation and configuration simpler for those users with adequate web building skills. Deeper customization may call for specialist PHP/MySQL knowledge, although standard features such as product/catalog creation tools require no HTML editing whatsoever.\n\nProvide customers with 24/7 access to live stores, list detailed product attributes or pricing structures and add entire product categories in a matter of clicks. Layouts and product ordering can be tweaked in fine detail using an Admin area rich with settings, making it quick and intuitive to reconfigure the look and feel of pages and enable or disable elements. Add multiple product descriptions and images, with popups for larger views, or setup product-only “brochure” showcases free of any pricing details. Easily implement customer access restrictions and offer a variety of shipping options while supporting discount coupon codes, advertising banners, email communications and much more.","image":"https://gdm-catalog-fmapi-prod.imgix.net/ProductScreenshot/dfa63d7f-5eba-479d-9816-6d831f0e460b.png","url":"https://www.getapp.za.com/software/103179/zen-cart","@type":"SoftwareApplication","@id":"https://www.getapp.za.com/software/103179/zen-cart#software","applicationCategory":"BusinessApplication","publisher":{"@id":"https://www.getapp.za.com/#organization"},"aggregateRating":{"@type":"AggregateRating","bestRating":5,"ratingCount":14,"ratingValue":4.4},"operatingSystem":"Apple, Windows, Linux"},{"name":"OpenCart","description":"OpenCart is an open source e-commerce platform used by merchants to promote and sell products online. With the tool, merchants can create an e-commerce store and scale up their business by adding more products. OpenCart’s built-in SEO feature helps merchants to understand page rankings and keywords in order to optimize their webpages and increase web traffic.\n\nOpenCart helps merchants manage their products and customers by monitoring customer behavior and providing data on the products which customers are viewing on a regular basis. This data helps merchants in creating customized marketing campaigns offering discounts and coupon codes. The OpenCart marketplace provides merchants access to free and paid themes to develop their webpages and integrate their websites with social media profiles.\n\nMerchants can set advanced user privileges and separate access for users and user groups. For example a user could be authorized to make changes to product profiles and add new themes, but not to alter pricing details. The tool’s administrator dashboard gives a holistic view of total sales in a day, marketing spend on each product and the demographic profiles of customers visiting the website. The dashboard also allows users to export sales data in excel or PDF format for advanced analysis.\n\nOpenCart allows merchants to set-up multiple online stores in different languages, all administered through a single account. The software is integrated with prominent gateways and shipping methods such Paypal, Amazon Payments, Authorize.net, Skrill, FedEx and the United States Postal Service.","image":"https://gdm-catalog-fmapi-prod.imgix.net/ProductScreenshot/896360b7-a044-4c68-8d93-3e4c04c3c501.png","url":"https://www.getapp.za.com/software/106127/opencart","@type":"SoftwareApplication","@id":"https://www.getapp.za.com/software/106127/opencart#software","applicationCategory":"BusinessApplication","publisher":{"@id":"https://www.getapp.za.com/#organization"},"aggregateRating":{"@type":"AggregateRating","bestRating":5,"ratingCount":153,"ratingValue":4.3},"operatingSystem":"Cloud, Apple, Windows, Windows on premise, Linux on premise, Android"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"name":"Home","position":1,"item":"/","@type":"ListItem"},{"name":"Shopping Cart Software","position":2,"item":"/directory/97/shopping-cart/software","@type":"ListItem"},{"name":"Zen Cart vs OpenCart","position":3,"item":"https://www.getapp.za.com/compare/103179/106127/zen-cart/vs/opencart","@type":"ListItem"}],"@id":"https://www.getapp.za.com/compare/103179/106127/zen-cart/vs/opencart#breadcrumblist"}]}
</script>