{"id":5181,"date":"2015-06-18T16:48:34","date_gmt":"2015-06-18T13:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.cs-cart.com\/?p=5181"},"modified":"2025-12-16T14:22:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T10:22:31","slug":"five-reasons-to-prefer-self-hosted-ecommerce-software-over-saas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cs-cart.com\/blog\/five-reasons-to-prefer-self-hosted-ecommerce-software-over-saas\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Reasons to Prefer Self-Hosted Ecommerce Software over SaaS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why people might want switch from SaaS ecommerce solutions to downloadables like CS-Cart. Here in CS-Cart, we actually offer the both, so we do have expertise on the topic. Besides, there are clients who come to CS-Cart from Shopify<\/a> and Bigcommerce, and they share their reasoning with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are five points<\/strong> I find most important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>Bigger Projects Need More Control<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The more the sales, the more the responsibility. Large stores with thousands of users can’t risk to rely on a third-party service. However unlikely, should anything happen to the service, and all the reputation, customer base, order history is gone. Depending on someone else’s professionalism is no fun when huge business is at stake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>Security<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most popular SaaS nowadays are secure enough to prevent data leaks (then again, you have to trust them), but the service\u2019s employees usually have the access to your data. Of course, it\u2019s an exceptional case, but your private commercial data can leak through this channel. Choosing Self-Hosted eCommerce Platforms<\/a> allows businesses to define their own security policies, access levels, and data storage rules without relying on third-party internal processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, if you store is served in another country, there\u2019s no guarantee that that country\u2019s laws will protect your data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>You Need Significant Modifications<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Even the best SaaS (like Merchium) can only offer you modifications restricted by their API. This restriction is in the very essence of SaaS; it just can\u2019t function the other way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your store needs a customization that\u2019s outside of this particular SaaS\u2019s API, you\u2019re practically stuck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>Integration with Third-Party Services and the Offline<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Often, a store is not the only thing in online business. There\u2019re blogs, sites, services, and offline stores that are all part of your business network. If you want them deeply integrated, there\u2019s a chance the SaaS API doesn\u2019t support your particular service combination. In this case, like in point 3, you\u2019re stuck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>Features You Need Are Always with You<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

SaaS is a mass product, and it has to offer the features most users will appreciate. If your business has a specific need that is not quite popular among other users, you just deal with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In even worse scenario, the service can freely take features from their product if they are not popular enough. Imagine if the unpopular feature happens to provide an essential part of your workflow. You wouldn\u2019t want to be in that position at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With self-hosted software, you pick the features, you decide what remains and what is removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What of these two models suits your business best? What pros and cons do you see in both solutions? Share your opinions here in the comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow us on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a> to know CS-Cart and Multi-Vendor<\/a> news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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