Zen Cart

4.4 (14)
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Open source shopping cart software for website developers

About Zen Cart

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.

Provide 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.


Key benefits of Zen Cart

  • Zen Cart is free to download and install on servers running PHP, Apache and MySQL, promising easy setup and limitless customization options.
  • Re-skin and redesign eCommerce storefronts with a template-based system and built-in WYSIWYG editor for modifying pages.
  • Integrates with popular payment gateways such as Authorize.net, PayPal and First Data, while accepting global cash currencies and credit cards.
  • Compile broad product catalogs with rich descriptions and pricing details, listing whole categories and configuring layouts via Admin panel.
  • Provide shipping estimates and configure international tax rates, while managing discount codes, coupons and group pricing rates.
  • Accept customer product and service reviews, with Administrator-level approval before publishing.
  • Zen Cart scales from small to medium business requirements, with global currency support and international language packs available.

  • Images

    Zen Cart Software - Hosted Zen Cart installation showing account statistics
    Zen Cart Software - Hosted Zen Cart installation showing Google Base Export
    Zen Cart Software - Hosted Zen Cart installation showing Mailbeez email module
    Zen Cart Software - Hosted Zen Cart installation showing My Store setup parameters
    Zen Cart Software - Zen Cart example of a free eStore template
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    Zen Cart video
    Zen Cart Software - Hosted Zen Cart installation showing account statistics
    Zen Cart Software - Hosted Zen Cart installation showing Google Base Export
    Zen Cart Software - Hosted Zen Cart installation showing Mailbeez email module
    Zen Cart Software - Hosted Zen Cart installation showing My Store setup parameters
    Zen Cart Software - Zen Cart example of a free eStore template

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    US$29.00
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    Reviews

    Overall rating

    4.4 /5
    (14)
    Value for Money
    4.8/5
    Features
    4.5/5
    Ease of Use
    4.2/5
    Customer Support
    4/5

    Already have Zen Cart?

    Software buyers need your help! Product reviews help the rest of us make great decisions.

    Showing 5 reviews of 14
    Darwin
    Darwin
    Overall rating
    • Industry: Marketing & Advertising
    • Company size: 11–50 Employees
    • Used Daily for 2+ years
    • Review Source

    Overall rating

    • Value for Money
    • Ease of Use
    • Customer Support
    • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

    Zen Cart is an easy to implement ecoomerce solution to companies fo any size

    Reviewed on 2022/05/13

    Pros

    The implementation process is really easy, support is on point and it really solves most of ecommerce needs for companies of any size.

    Cons

    It could have better tracking capabilities but there are always work arounds to get that fixed.

    Alternatives Considered

    Wix, WooCommerce and Shopify
    Rebecca
    Overall rating
    • Industry: Mental Health Care
    • Company size: 51–200 Employees
    • Used Daily for 6-12 months
    • Review Source

    Overall rating

    • Value for Money
    • Ease of Use
    • Customer Support
    • Likelihood to recommend 5.0 /10

    Zen Chart

    Reviewed on 2023/08/11

    Its got the job done that I was assigned to do.

    Its got the job done that I was assigned to do.

    Pros

    The ease of navigating from one task to another.

    Cons

    There are more specific things that can be charted on similar software systems

    Verified Reviewer
    Overall rating
    • Used Daily for 6-12 months
    • Review Source

    Overall rating

    • Value for Money
    • Ease of Use
    • Customer Support
    • Likelihood to recommend 2.0 /10

    Great cart, but not very beginner friendly.

    Reviewed on 2018/03/10

    Pros

    The cart is open source, so it is perfect for those on a budget. Once you get it set up, adding categories and products are fairly easy, just a bit time consuming.

    Cons

    I run my own social network, and I couldn't set up ZenCart myself. I had to pay a friend to do it. There's just so much work involved with settings and criteria that needs to be done that it was overwhelming for a first timer. A clearer, more concise back end would be a wonderful thing.

    Michael
    Overall rating
    • Industry: Marketing & Advertising
    • Company size: 2–10 Employees
    • Used Daily for 2+ years
    • Review Source

    Overall rating

    • Value for Money
    • Ease of Use
    • Customer Support
    • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

    Excellent ECommerce Solution

    Reviewed on 2019/10/31

    It has been an excellent ecommerce solution for our campground and I am very happy.

    It has been an excellent ecommerce solution for our campground and I am very happy.

    Pros

    I have used this software for over 5 years with a client and it has served us well. Each year, I load in the new events for the summer camping season and add links to the separate website. It is quick, provides a quick and easy way for our customers to pre-register. I am so glad I decided to go with this 3rd party software than trying to set up my own system.

    Cons

    I have not found any cons. I have had to troubleshoot customer orders or different features but there is a rich and diverse support system from other having similar issues.

    Verified Reviewer
    Overall rating
    • Industry: Computer Hardware
    • Company size: 5,001–10,000 Employees
    • Used Weekly for 2+ years
    • Review Source

    Overall rating

    • Value for Money
    • Ease of Use
    • Customer Support
    • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

    Free and Highly Customizable, but Needs Advanced Setup

    Reviewed on 2021/12/02

    Pros

    The software is completely free, and also not too difficult to install.
    It is also completely open source, so the customization options are endless.
    The developers do update it regularly.
    It includes everything necessary to start your online store/ecommerce business.
    There are many modules you can add to it, to apply any feature your business might need.
    Once set up, it is easy to use by anyone

    Cons

    Broken code requires time intensive debug, and once in a while things may not work perfectly together.
    Some of the features that can be added with modules could just be part of the default experience, in my opinion.
    Setup requires some technical skill, but again, it is free.

    Showing 5 reviews of 14 Read all reviews

    Zen Cart FAQs

    Below are some frequently asked questions for Zen Cart.

    Zen Cart offers the following pricing plans:

    • Pricing model: Free Version
    • Free Trial: Not Available

    Zen Cart is available to download free, with plugins and add-on available separately.

    Zen Cart has the following typical customers:

    Self Employed, 2–10, 11–50, 51–200, 201–500

    Zen Cart supports the following languages:

    Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Ukrainian

    Zen Cart supports the following devices:

    Zen Cart integrates with the following applications:

    PayPal, authorize.net

    Zen Cart offers the following support options:

    FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base, Chat

    Related categories

    See all software categories found for Zen Cart.