HikaShop vs Zen Cart (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, HikaShop grades higher than Zen Cart: 2.4 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
HikaShop grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
HikaShop
Ecommerce extension for Joomla and WordPress sites
Which one is for you
Pick HikaShop if
- Fits if you already have a Joomla or WordPress site and want to add a shop
- Makes sense if you want a cheap yearly licence for one site
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you don't run Joomla or WordPress, as it works only inside them
- Tight if you stay free: guest checkout, wishlist and personal email support are paid
- Watch out: paid editions cover one site for one year, and extending costs €40 or €70 a year
- Watch out: prices are in euros, and EU buyers without a VAT number pay tax at checkout
Pick Zen Cart if
- Fits if you're comfortable installing PHP software and want a free cart
- Works for people who want the source code and don't mind forum support
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a hosted store that someone else keeps patched
- Not for you if you need paid support, as the pages list only community forums
- Watch out: the project's own guide tells owners to secure the site for PCI themselves
- Watch out: version 3.0 is in development, so the current release may differ from what we read
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAHikaShopFair | 2.0GPAZen CartFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AEssential is €60 a year for one site, about €5 a month, under 60% of the category's $20 cheap start. Business is €120 a year. | CFree to download, but only free if you host it, which means paying for a server. That puts it in the middle. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe Starter edition is free with unlimited products and orders, variants, inventory and tax rules. One site could run on it, with forum support. | BNo cap on the software and no ads, but hosting is on you and there's no hosted trial. |
| Features | CCatalog, inventory, international selling and marketing tools. Guest checkout and wishlist need Essential, and the API and mobile app need Business. | CA full-function cart with a PCI-certified version on offer. No built-in marketplace, subscriptions or headless side is listed. |
| Ease of use | DNo rating on record. You need your own Joomla or WordPress site on your own hosting, and the vendor says it supports MySQL only. | DNo rating on record. You install it from a zip on your own server and look after it. |
| Platforms and integrations | CRuns inside Joomla or WordPress only, with Stripe and PayPal links. The mobile app is Business only. | CWeb only, with open code on GitHub. No apps and no integration list. |
| Best for | a shop inside an existing Joomla or WordPress site | self-hosted PHP shops run by someone who likes to tinker |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: HikaShop and Zen Cart. How we grade
Price against what you get
HikaShop starts at about $5.59 a month and scores 1.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Zen Cart has no paid plan and scores 1.7.
They score the same, and Zen Cart starts $5.59 a month lower. Of the other online store builders on the chart, 5 score higher than HikaShop for less, and none scores higher than Zen Cart for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Zen Cart is open source, according to its own site.
- HikaShop also covers templates and inventory.
At a glance
| HikaShop | Zen Cart | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | €60 per year for 1 site | Free |
| Free plan | Starter edition: free, with unlimited products and orders, variants and inventory, payment and shipping plugins, tax rules, currencies and coupons, and forum support. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | HIKARI Software | Zen Cart |
| Price read from | hikashop.com | raw.githubusercontent.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
HikaShop
- It runs only inside Joomla or WordPress and needs your own hosting; the vendor says it supports MySQL only.
- Paid editions include one year of updates and support for one website; extending costs €40 per year on Essential and €70 per year on Business.
- Prices are listed in euros, and EU buyers without a valid VAT number pay a tax rate added at checkout.
- The REST API, mobile app and affiliate program are limited to the Business edition.
Zen Cart
- You provide the web server, and the project's own guide tells owners to secure the site for PCI compliance themselves.
- Support is community-driven through forums, with no paid plan listed in the pages we read.
- The project's own site was behind a bot check when we read it, so details here come from its GitHub readme.
- Version 3.0 is in development, so the current release and upgrade path may differ from the pages we read.
Key features
HikaShop
- Catalog and inventory
- Categories, characteristics, variants, options and custom fields, with stock tracking, for small or large catalogs.
- International selling
- Languages, currencies, zones and tax rules, with more than 90 payment gateways listed on the homepage.
- Marketing tools
- Coupons and discounts, affiliate programs (Business edition) and email-marketing integrations.
- Built-in statistics
- A dashboard shows revenue, orders, average order value and top products.
- Customization
- Views, checkout, fields and emails can be overridden without forking the code.
- Marketplace and auctions
- HikaMarket (multi-vendor), HikaSerial and HikaAuction are sold as separate extensions.
Zen Cart
- Full-function shopping cart
- The project describes Zen Cart as a full-function ecommerce application for a website, with storefront and admin back end.
- PA-DSS certified version
- The project says version 1.5.4 was PA-DSS certified, and later releases build on it with PHP 8 updates.
- Self-installed from a zip
- The install is a download, an upload to a web server and a browser-based setup that asks a few questions.
- Community support
- Free community-driven support runs on the project's forums, with an implementation guide and online documentation.
- Open code on GitHub
- Source code, issues and pull requests are public, and developers can fork the repository to contribute.
Plans
HikaShop
Starter$0
Unlimited products and orders, variants, inventory, payment and shipping plugins, tax rules and coupons, with forum support.
Essential€60
per year for 1 site
Adds custom fields, product options, guest checkout, multicart, wishlist, AI Commerce (UCP and MCP) and personal email support. Priced in euros.
Business€120
per year for 1 site
Adds the REST API, the HikaShop mobile app, an affiliate program, product filters and comparison, and prices per user group and zone. Priced in euros.
Zen Cart
Zen Cart$0
Free and open-source software that you download and install on your own server; hosting is your own cost.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, HikaShop or Zen Cart?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Zen Cart is cheaper to start with: it is free, against about $5.59 a month for HikaShop. HikaShop starts at €60 per year for 1 site, and Zen Cart is free.
Which has a free plan, HikaShop or Zen Cart?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both HikaShop and Zen Cart have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.