Zen Cart 2026: Benefits, Features & Pricing

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Overview
Pricing and Plans
Features
Integrations
User Reviews

Overview

Zen Cart

4.4

(14)

Pricing

Pricing available upon request

About Zen Cart

Zen Cart is an open-source shopping cart software for eCommerce businesses. It can integrate with existing payment gateways and allows users to build custom payment modules or use community-contributed options. The software can be tailored to meet unique business needs and can be installed by users with basic computer skills.

On top of category and product navigation features, the software allows businesses to highlight featured and special products. After a product is added to the shopping cart, the checkout process will collect address information, shipping selection, payment selection, and final order confirmation.

Zen Cart is free to download. Support is provided via an online forum, tutorials, and FAQs.

Zen Cart Screenshots

Zen Cart Pricing and Plans

Starting price: Connect with an advisor for pricing

Free Trial

Free Version

Basic

Pricing available upon request

No plan information available

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Zen Cart Features

Popular features found in Shopping Cart
Abandoned Cart Saver
Catalog Management
Credit Card Processing
Discount Management
eCommerce Management
Order Management
Tax Management
More features of Zen Cart
Access Controls/Permissions
API
Customizable Templates
Electronic Payments
Multi-Currency
Multi-Language
Product Catalog
Refund Management
Returns Management

Zen Cart Integrations

authorize.net

PayPal

Zen Cart User Reviews

Overall Rating

4.4

Ratings Breakdown

71%

14%

Secondary Ratings

Ease of Use

4.2

Value for money

4.8

Customer support

4.0

Functionality

4.5

Darwin O.

Verified reviewer

Marketing and Advertising

11-50 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed May 2022

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

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

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.

Michael R.

Verified reviewer

Marketing and Advertising

2-10 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed October 2019

Excellent ECommerce Solution

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

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

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.

Reasons for switching to Zen Cart

I used Event Zilla for a few months before I had Zen Cart up and ready to go. Event Zilla (was fee based) and it wasn't appropriate as a long-term solution. Zen Cart does utilize our PayPal account and so we do have to pay a fee for credit card transactions.

Verified

Reviewer

Used daily for less than 12 months

Review source

Reviewed March 2018

Great cart, but not very beginner friendly.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

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.

Verified

Reviewer

Computer Hardware

5001-10000 employees

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed December 2021

Free and Highly Customizable, but Needs Advanced Setup

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

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.

DAVID L.

Verified reviewer

Retail

2-10 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed August 2019

Review of Zen Cart

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

It's FREE! and it's powerful. Does everything I need plus more. So much better than the 1and1 online eCommerce software I use to use. So many add ons can do just about anything.

Cons:

Nothing at all to dislike. it's free and powerful.

Reasons for choosing Zen Cart

highly recommended by a good friend who helped me set it up.

Reasons for switching to Zen Cart

1and1 overpriced and very limited in what we could do.

Stacy W.

Verified reviewer

Retail

2-10 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed January 2017

Great Option for Managing Product!

I think my favorite and best user experience was discovering Zen Cart. Operating on a very tight budget, this software offered me an affordable option to maintain products in my store! Works great with WordPress templates.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

I was able to launch a web store with a functional shopping cart with Zen quite affordably!

Cons:

N/A

Dave L.

Verified reviewer

Retail

11-50 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed October 2018

Best shopping cart software around

Great software. I use it on several sites. There is pretty much a plugin for anything you want to do. Highly reccomended.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

Easy to use . Many plugin features. Pretty much anything you want to do , there is a plugin.

Cons:

Somewhat hard to figure some things out at times.

Rebecca P.

Verified reviewer

Mental Health Care

51-200 employees

Used daily for less than 12 months

Review source

Reviewed August 2023

Zen Chart

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

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

The ease of navigating from one task to another.

Cons:

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

Melanie W.

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed June 2017

Great Open Source Shopping Cart!

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

Once you have it downloaded & set up. Functionality is fantastic. You can see behind the scenes. If a potential customer calls and wants to know if their order went through online (because in reality it did not), you can actually see where the breakdown happened & what they had in their cart even if they were shopping as a guest. The program definitely requires a learning period but it is worth it.

Cons:

Requires a good amount of tech knowledge. If you are not tech savvy or don't have someone that is, then this is not the way to go. You will only get support through the forums & "tickets". There is no phone support.