What is PrestaShop? (Complete Guide + 2025 Reviews)

PrestaShop is a leading e-commerce solution designed to help entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes create and manage their online store. It is aimed at beginners as well as technical experts thanks to its various offers.

Its promise is simple: to give you the tools to build a fully customizable and scalable online store. In 2025, PrestaShop is positioned as a key player in e-commerce, offering remarkable flexibility in the face of its competitors.

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What is PrestaShop for? (Use case)

PrestaShop is used to build, manage and develop an internet sales activity. It is a content management system (CMS) specialized in e-commerce that allows you to control your entire project, from design to functionalities.

For SMEs, it offers a robust platform to manage a complex product catalog, track orders and analyze sales. E-retailers appreciate its ability to adapt to specific needs, such as selling personalized products or managing several stores from a single interface.

The key features of PrestaShop

PrestaShop has over 600 native features to help you sell effectively. Here are the most important ones:

• Catalog management: Easily create detailed product sheets with combinations, digital products, packs and customization options. The benefit is a clear and attractive presentation of your articles.
• Store customization: Choose from thousands of graphic themes and customize them to create a store that's just right for you. In this way, you reinforce your brand identity. Discover How to customize the design of your website.
• Order and customer management: Track each order in real time, manage delivery statuses and access the history of your customers for optimized after-sales service.
• Payment and delivery: Set up multiple payment options (Stripe, PayPal, etc.) and carriers to meet the expectations of all your customers.
• Marketing and promotions: Set up discount codes, flash sales, loyalty programs or sponsorship to animate your community and boost your sales. Learn more about the Marketing Automation.
• SEO optimization: Take advantage of integrated tools to optimize the natural referencing of your pages (URLs, meta tags, etc.) and attract more visitors from Google. Read our article onSEO optimization.

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Advantages and limitations of PrestaShop

Like any tool, PrestaShop has strengths but also some constraints to know.

✅ Advantages:

• Flexibility and customization: Thanks to its open-source architecture, PrestaShop offers almost unlimited freedom of customization.
• Total ownership: With the Classic version, you have full ownership of your store and your data, without depending on a third-party platform.
• Broad ecosystem: The official marketplace offers thousands of modules and themes to extend the functionality of your site.
• Active community: A huge community of developers and users is available to help you through forums and documentation.

❌ Limits:

• Technical complexity: The open-source version (Classic) requires technical skills for installation, maintenance and updates.
• Hidden costs: Although the software is free, fees are to be expected forlodging, the domain name, the themes and the paid modules.
• Paid support: To get direct technical support from PrestaShop, you need to subscribe to a paid support plan.

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How much does PrestaShop cost? (Prices 2025)

The cost of PrestaShop depends on the solution you choose. There are mainly three offers adapted to different needs.

• PrestaShop Classic: The software is free to download and install. However, you should plan for additional costs: web hosting (between €5 and €50 per month), domain name (around €10 to €20 per year), graphic theme (between €80 and €280) and additional modules whose prices vary from €30 to several hundred euros.
• PrestaShop Hosted: It is a turnkey offer that includes hosting, installation and technical support. The rate starts from €24 excluding VAT per month for an annual payment. This formula is ideal for those who want to get started quickly without managing the technical part.
• PrestaShop Enterprise: This offer is intended for large companies with complex needs in terms of performance and customization. The price is only available on estimate, as it is adapted to the specificities of each project.

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Our opinion on PrestaShop (Test & Recommendations)

After analysis, PrestaShop confirms its status as a powerful and versatile e-commerce solution. Its greatest strength lies in its flexibility, which allows you to build a tailor-made online store, capable of evolving with your business.

The back-office user experience is intuitive, although getting started with the open-source version requires an investment of time for the uninitiated. Costs can quickly increase with the addition of paid modules, a point to be well anticipated in your budget.

We recommend PrestaShop to merchants who want to maintain total control over their store and who have a long-term vision. The “Hosted” version is a great entry point for those who prefer a managed solution.

Final grade: 4.5/5

Alternatives to PrestaShop

• Shopify : Easier to learn and fully hosted, but less flexible in terms of customization and with commissions on transactions (depending on the plan).
• woocommerce : An extension for WordPress, very flexible and open-source like PrestaShop, but which requires a good knowledge of the WordPress ecosystem.
• Magento (Adobe Commerce): A very powerful but more complex and expensive solution, mainly intended for very large companies.

Integrations available with PrestaShop

PrestaShop integrates natively with many essential services. You can connect your store to payment solutions (Stripe, PayPal), carriers, marketing tools (Mailchimp, Sendinblue), of ERP And CRM. In addition, its marketplace offers modules for hundreds of other integrations. Thanks to its API and connectors like Zapier or Make, the possibilities are almost endless.

How do I get started with PrestaShop? (Quick guide)

1. Choose your offer: Opt for the Classic version (self-hosted) if you have technical skills or the Hosted version for a turnkey solution.
2. Install the store: Follow the instructions to install PrestaShop on your hosting or let the PrestaShop team do it for you with the Hosted offer.
3. Set up the bases: Add your legal information, set up languages, currencies, payment and delivery methods.
4. Customize the design: Choose and customize a graphic theme from the PrestaShop marketplace to match your brand.
5. Add your products: Create your catalog by adding your first items, photos, and descriptions. You are ready to sell!

Do you have a PrestaShop project?

Integrating a solution like PrestaShop can seem complex. To support you in setting up and customizing your online store, do not hesitate to call on experts. The TurnK team is at your disposal to make your project a reality. Contact us to discuss.