Does your online shop use the open source e-commerce platform Magento? You’re not the only one! Magento is one of the most used platforms by e-commerce companies. Developers have created an incredible number of Magento extensions (plug-ins). Use them to add new features to both the front and back end of your online shop.
Magento 1 has long been one of the most popular e-commerce platforms. But the end of 2015 saw the launch of the updated version. Magento 2 was a huge step forward with an entirely new architecture. It’s faster and safer and offers a better user experience.
Since Magento 2 is an entirely new platform, many online shops still use Magento 1. That’s why we’ve made a list of the very best Magento extensions that are available for both Magento 1 and Magento 2.
What are the Best Magento Extensions?
Make your online store even better with the help of Magento extensions. Plug-ins can increase your conversion and make your shop faster, safer and more user-friendly.
Many Magento extensions cost money or include links to an external paid tool. But luckily there are also free extensions that can take your shop to a higher level. This list contains the best paid and free Magento extensions.
An important note before you go further!
You cannot run a good Magento shop without using some extensions. But be careful when installing new ones. Having too many extensions can slow down your shop and the wrong extension can even shut it down.
That’s why it’s important to always check the source of an extension. Make sure to read online reviews from users before installing it. Also always test the extension in a separate environment with a backup of your shop before installing the extension.
Customer support extensions for Magento 1 & 2
1. Best Live Chat Extension for Magento: Smartsupp live chat (free basic version)
Smartsupp is an external live chat tool that allows you to communicate with visitors. The plug-in has an attractive and user-friendly interface. The free version gives you all the important functions of a chat tool, including a mobile app and the option to add a logo or profile photo to the chat box.
Do you want more than three employee profiles, detailed statistics and automatic messaging? Then you need to upgrade to a paid subscription.
A paid subscription allows you to capture video recordings of visitors’ movements on your website. This gives you insight into customers’ user behaviour that you can use to further optimise your online shop.
Since last year, Facebook has had a Messenger chat plug-in for online shops. It lets you communicate in real time with visitors to your website via your Facebook business profile. The big advantage is that conversations are saved in Facebook Messenger. This means you can keep chatting with visitors even after they’ve left your shop.
It also offers new targeting possibilities via Facebook Ads. Set up personalisation features and automatic answers through your Facebook Business Environment. Find out more information about the Facebook Customer Chat plug-in here.
There are various advanced customer contact and ticket systems that link to Magento 2. Smartsupp and Facebook Chat offer free solutions, but they are mainly suited to smaller online shops.
If you have a lot of customer contact, you can opt for the paid version of Smartsupp. Or choose one of the other popular tools; LiveChat, Intercom or ZenDesk. The best fit for your shop depends on your specific needs.
Make sure to compare the various tools. Use the free trial periods to discover which platform offers you the best value for money.
Marketing extensions for Magento 1 & 2
3. Poptin Smart Popups (free version)
Popups are an effective way to grab your visitor’s attention. They can help increase conversions, collect e-mail leads and reduce shopping cart abandonment.
But make sure you use pop-ups the right way. A negative experience for user experience will guarantee they leave your shop.
Fortunately, Poptin Smart Popups has extension options for different types of popups. And you can use A/B testing to see which popups contribute to a better conversion rate. The free version includes up to 1000 popup views per month. If you need more, you can get 10,000 views per month for $19.
Do you want to increase your CTR and make the links to your online shop stand out even more in Google or in social media feeds? Then use the Rich Snippets Suite from Magmodules.
It lets you add specific information to your online shop or product page links. This draws more attention to your links on Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, ensuring you get more visitors.
Email marketing is still one of the most effective marketing channels. But timing is extremely important. That’s why a good tool for sending personalised email at the right moment is a real must-have for every online shop.
6. Best Blog Extension for Magento: Better Blog from Mageplaza (free)
Adding a blog to your online shop is not only a good marketing strategy to promote your products and shop, but it’s also an excellent SEO strategy. With the free Better Blog extension, you can easily add articles to your blog platform with SEO-friendly URLs.
You can also add social share buttons to your blogs and link the blog comments to Facebook comments. Are you already using another blog platform? No problem! Better Blog has an import feature so you can transfer blogs from WordPress or other Magento 1 extensions.
Online shopping, especially when it comes to fashion, is increasingly done via social media. This is because social media is where people are active and get new inspiration. That’s why it’s smart to connect your online shop and social media channels in various ways.
Instagram is the most popular platform at the moment. The Instagram Integration extension lets you link your products to social media images. You can also show your Instagram feed on your website to encourage visitors to follow you.
Download the Instagram Integration extension for Magento 2 here or download this alternative for Magento 1 ($25, another developer).
Conversion enhancing extensions for Magento
8. Featured Products from Magebees (free)
Spotlight your best products with the Featured Products extension and sell more of them! Highlighting promotions or popular products on your homepage can ensure that customers buy more. This extension is easy to add to your online shop and can be customised to meet your needs.
9. Automatic Related Products from Aheadworks ($149 or $299)
Customers have short attention spans. It’s important to show them interesting products as quickly as possible. With the Automatic Related Products extension, display related products on category, product and shopping cart pages.
This makes customers less likely to leave your shop and more likely to find a product they want. It also offers new upsell options. Triggers and rules are easy to set from your back end and you can decide what it looks like.
Download the Automatic Related Products extension for Magento 1 or Magento 2.
10. Product Image Enhancements ($25)
Do you want to improve your customers’ experience, increase conversion and reduce returns? You can do that with the Product Image Enhancements extension. This simple module adds zoom and carrousel options to your product photos. This can increase your conversion and reduce the likelihood that customers will order the wrong product and return it later.
Download the Product Image Enhancements extension for Magento 1 or Magento 2.
11. Best Search Extension for Magento: Sooqr Search (free basic version)
Are your products difficult to find or does it take too much effort for customers to shop on your site? If so, customers will leave your shop without a second thought. That’s why a search function is an indispensable tool. Visitors who use a search engine on a website convert three to five times more often on average.
Those visitors know exactly what they are looking for and are ready to buy. It’s up to you to offer the best search experience. There are various solutions, but which is the best? A good search function offers the following: speed, relevance and ease of use.
Sooqr Search is a site search solution. It ensures that all your products and content are searchable and displays relevant search results quickly. You have complete control over how the search function works while the tool corrects spelling errors on its own.
This gives your online shop a relevant, fast and user-friendly search engine. Let the conversions come pouring in!
Reviews are an important touch point in your customer’s journey. They serve as social proof for your online shop and give potential customers more information about products. A big selling point of Yotpo is that customers can leave a product review directly from the body of an email. This increases the likelihood that they will leave a review.
Yotpo is a super comprehensive marketing tool, but it also has a free plan for small online shops. That allows you to post reviews in various places and easily moderate them from your back end.
If you have more than 50 orders per month, you will quickly need to switch to the premium version of Yotpo. It starts at only $29 per month and grows with your online shop. Find out more information about the free and premium versions of Yotpo here.
A good review platform is extremely important for the reliability of today’s online shops. More than half of consumers check reviews before they buy from a new online shop.
Trustpilot is an independent, user-friendly review platform and is very well known. You can start collecting reviews on Trustpilot for free and can show the scores on your website from €115 per month.
Find out more information about Trustpilot’s packages and prices here. The Magento 2 Trustpilot extension gives you an easy way to add your review score to your online shop.
Smart One Step Checkout is by far the most commonly used extension for improving checkout. That’s unsurprising because a shorter checkout process leads to more conversion. This plug-in reduces the standard six-step Magento checkout to a single step.
Prices are immediately updated when a customer selects shipping and payment methods. The plug-in is also mobile responsive, which is important given the increase of m-commerce.
This may seem like a lot of money to pay for a plug-in at first. But its advantages and extra options like automatic address completion make this plug-in great value.
15. Best Cache Extension for Magento: Full Page Cache Warmer ($149)
Speed is an important part of your Magento shop. Does your site take more than three seconds to load? If so, there’s a good chance that visitors will leave your page before it finishes loading.
Magento 2 supports full page caching by default. This means a page is added to the web server’s cache (temporary memory) when it is loaded for the first time. That means that loading the page a second time takes almost no time at all. Caching ensures that your online shop loads quickly for your visitors.
The Full Page Cache Warmer extension offers an improved version of the standard caching in Magento 2. It prevents the cache from being cleared by automatically loading new pages. This makes your online shop faster and your score higher because the Google bot always loads a cached page.
Download the Full Page Cache Warmer extension for Magento 1 or Magento 2.
16. Two-Factor Authentication (free)
Safety is super important for your online shop, so you should always set up a double login for your back end. With 2FA (two-factor authentication), you not only enter your login information but you also have to enter a six-digit code generated by an app.
This prevents people who only have your login data from getting into the site and makes your website more secure. Two-Factor Authentication allows you to use the well-known Google Authenticator app and to whitelist devices that do not have to use 2FA.
Download the Two-Factor Authentication extension for Magento 1 or Magento 2.
17. Advanced Reports from Aheadworks ($499)
This plug-in is not the cheapest extension. But it’s one of the most valuable because without good data there is no marketing! The standard statistics module in Magento only offers limited insight into your data.
Advanced Reports is a user-friendly solution that gives you insight into all important data related to your online shop. From conversion numbers to sales forecasts, this extension shows you exactly which pages are scoring highest and which parts of your shop require attention.
Extension builder Aheadworks is repeatedly mentioned in this list. They are one of the largest extension builders for Magento. The one-off prices for lifetime access to their extensions make them especially appealing compared to many other extensions and online tools that need a monthly subscription. Over time, this can be more expensive than a one-off purchase.
Business model extensions for Magento 1 & 2
18. Subscription commerce from Aheadworks
More and more products are being offered in subscription form. Consumers want the option to buy consumables like food and beauty products on a recurring basis. The Subscription commerce extension allows you to offer product subscriptions.
This can automatically increase your sales by allowing customers to buy new products more often. It also decreases the chance that a customer will switch to another provider. Having a subscription means that their products are already in ordered from you.
This extension also lets you set a discount for customers who choose to buy products with a subscription. That’s great for you and your customer!
Download the Subscription commerce extension for Magento 1 or Magento 2.
19. Affiliate marketing from Aheadworks (M1 $99, M2 $249)
Affiliate marketing is super popular and can be a lucrative marketing strategy. Companies that use affiliate marketing offer partners a reward for sales or leads. You can use this form of marketing with influencers or to encourage customers to share their purchases with an affiliate link.
Are you thinking about using affiliate marketing? Then the Aheadworks affiliate marketing extension is a fantastic solution. With it, you can create multiple campaigns with different commissions and conditions.
Logistics is the largest expense for online shops and good logistics can stimulate conversions. To be competitive, use a shipping platform that helps automate and personalise your shipping process.
Sendcloud allows you to connect your online shop to your preferred couriers. Use multiple carriers and special shipping options like letterbox packages and same-day delivery.
Sendcloud also helps you streamline the shipping process and makes it more personal. Create tracking emails with your own branding and set up a return portal to offer customers a worry-free return experience.
The Sendcloud extension allows you to link your Magento checkout to the Sendcloud platform. This automatically sends orders to your back end and lets you print shipping labels. You can even send automated Track & Trace emails with one click of the mouse.
With Sendcloud Business, use the advanced order picking solution to automate your entire shipping process.
In conclusion: decide for yourself which extensions you want
You don’t need to completely fill your Magento online shop with extensions. Instead, you should decide for yourself what your goals are and which extensions will help you achieve them. The extensions above can help you optimise your online shop and make running it a little easier.
Are you using another extension that is an absolute must-have for your Magento online shop? Then share it with us and your fellow Magento users by leaving a comment below. We want to hear about it!
Nice collection! Thanks for preparing this fantastic list.
You can add one more extension in your list which is known as Instagram Widget Magento 2 Extension. It’s an effective way to integrate Instagram with Magento 2 store and display Instagram on your online store.
Hi, Thank you so much for your response and we’re happy we’ve been able to provide a good list of tools for you. Thank you for adding to this by sharing your tool suggestion with our readers in your comment!
Thanks for the great article. The article are well knowledgeable. You can also add Magento 2 Product Attachments extension in this list. This extension allows attaching PDF to product which give detailed information.
Nice collection! Thanks for preparing this fantastic list.
You can add one more extension in your list which is known as Instagram Widget Magento 2 Extension. It’s an effective way to integrate Instagram with Magento 2 store and display Instagram on your online store.
Know more here: http://bit.ly/2GORxw8
Hi, Thank you so much for your response and we’re happy we’ve been able to provide a good list of tools for you. Thank you for adding to this by sharing your tool suggestion with our readers in your comment!
Thanks for the great article. The article are well knowledgeable. You can also add Magento 2 Product Attachments extension in this list. This extension allows attaching PDF to product which give detailed information.
More details visit here:- https://bit.ly/3iZ4wN2
Hi Tim, So glad you enjoyed the article, and thanks for sharing another great tool for our readers!