Magento Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q. What is Magento?

A. Magento is a feature-rich eCommerce platform built on open-source technology that provides online merchants with unprecedented flexibility and control over the look, content and functionality of their eCommerce store. Magento’s intuitive administration interface features powerful marketing, search engine optimization and catalog-management tools to give merchants the power to create sites that are tailored to their unique business needs. Designed to be completely scalable and backed by Varien’s support network, Magento offers companies the ultimate eCommerce solution.

Q. Where can I see a demo?

A. A demo is available at http://www.magentocommerce.com/demo

Q. What does Magento cost?

A. The Magento Community Edition is available as a free download under the open source OSL 3.0 license. The premium, Magento Enterprise Edition solution is available based on an annual subscription. For pricing and additional information please visit this page.

Q. What licenses does Magento use?

A. The Magento Community Edition is licensed under the Open Software License (OSL) v3.0, an open source certified license. More information about Magento’s license can be found at http://www.magentocommerce.com/license/. The premium, Magento Enterprise Edition product is licensed under a commercial license.

Q. Why Open Source?

A. A recent report by O’Reilly Research on usage of Open Source in the enterprise, provides a number of reasons for the rise and meteoric growth of Open Source products, including: Agility and scale, reduced vendor lock-in, quality and security, cost, and innovation.

Q. What is Varien’s relationship to Magento?

A. Varien is the company behind Magento, responsible for the development and on-going maintenance of the platform. The company provides a full suite of services for Magento including world-class support, professional services, and more. Please visit the services page for additional information.

Q. Where can I get themes, extensions and other add-ons?

A. Extensions (themes, payment integrations, shipping, etc.) to the Magento platform can be found on the Magento Connect marketplace at http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect

Q. What features does Magento Support?

A. Magento’s feature list can be seen at http://www.magentocommerce.com/product/features

Q. How can I get support?

The Magento Community Edition is supported by the community (no official product support is available) through the forums, wiki, and chat. Full core product support is available to Enteprise Edition subscribers.

Q. Where can I host Magento?

Most hosting providers should be compatible with Magento (see system requirements). If you are looking for a host with Magento expertise, please visit our hosting partner directory page.

Q. Where can I see examples of live Magento stores?

You can see a list of live Magento stores in the blog under Magento Spottings or under Interviews. There is also a community maintained list of live Magento Stores on the wiki.

Q. What Payment Gateways are compatible with Magento?

You can find a list of all compatible payment gateways in the Feature list under Payment or in Magento Connect under Payment Gateways.
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