Akeneo vs. Pimcore: The Ultimate PIM Comparison
10 May 2021 / 7min
Are you sifting through countless PIM solutions to find the right fit for your company? This article compares two top PIM systems - Akeneo and Pimcore - to help you make the most informed decision. Read a comprehensive expert analysis and download a brief summary of both PIM's main functionalities.
Akeneo PIM Features Overview
Over the last ten years, Akeneo has established a leading position and attracted thousands of users. Its open architecture and cutting-edge technologies make it a knockout, product information management system with a wide range of integration possibilities. Therefore, you can quickly extend it with new functionalities without incurring additional costs. Among its many other advantages, this makes Akeneo PIM widely used by global brands such as Sephora, Shop.com, and Auchan.
Let’s explore the most important strengths and features of the Akeneo PIM system.
User-friendly Interface
Operating Akeneo doesn't require any technological expertise. With an intuitive, user-friendly interface and clear information architecture, everyone can learn how to manage product information effectively. A brief onboarding training will teach your employees how to use this PIM in their daily tasks.
Akeneo Teamwork Assistant
The Teamwork Assistant feature helps various teams to collaborate effectively. It constantly monitors the quality and completeness of product data. If any issues arise, it immediately notifies the person in charge of this information. As a result, the amount of incomplete or incorrect data published on sales channels is decreasing (i.e., it practically doesn't occur anymore).
Intuitive Automation
Akeneo PIM has an intuitive Rules Engine that makes product information enrichment faster. Thanks to this, your marketers can define their automation and smart attributes. They can build new rules with a variety of conditions to trigger several actions. It makes this feature helpful for not only boosting employee productivity but also for improving customer experience.
Ready-to-use Integrations
No PIM is a single, existing system: it needs to connect with your whole e-commerce stack to best serve the needs of the business. As Akeneo PIM is an open-source product, it offers an extensive ecosystem of integrations. You can integrate it quickly and easily with the most popular e-commerce solutions, such as:
- e-commerce platforms (e.g., Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Magento, Shopify, Shopware, WooCommerce)
- Marketing support systems (like nBetween, PIM2Catalog, PRIINT: SUITE)
- Digital Assets Management systems (such as Cloudinary, Widen, and Ephotodam)
A wide range of Akeneo Connectors makes it effortless to customize and tailor the design to your needs. So, rather than dealing with complicated technology, you can focus on ensuring the consistency and accuracy of your product information across all sales channels.
Akeneo PIM Software License Type
Akeneo PIM offers two types of software licenses:
- Community Edition (CE): a free on-premise community edition,
- Enterprise Edition (EE): a paid version of SaaS that’s distributed as an annual subscription.
Technical Support
If you choose the free Akeneo Community Edition, you get to enlist the help of a large community of programmers involved in creating open-source code. Subsequently, there are over 3,000 Akeneo PIM enthusiasts on Slack, Twitter, and other online forums.
The paid license (covered by the SLA agreement) guarantees access to professional Akeneo Enterprise Support. A dedicated technical team supports customers in their daily work with the PIM, answers questions, and solves any problems on an ongoing basis. You can use their professional help from the day you purchase a license, so you are fully covered even before the deployment stage. Thus, you can address any issues that may appear during the configuration and preparation of Akeneo PIM.
Technology
Proven open-source technologies standing behind Akeneo PIM ensure high system flexibility and performance. Akeneo is written in PHP (based on the Symfony3 framework) and offers the Open Software License 3.0 (OSL-3.0).
Backend technologies:
- Memcached,
- Doctrine 2 as ORM
- MySQL
- Elastic Search
Front-end technologies:
- BEM
- jQuery
- Backbone JS
- React JS
Akeneo Success Stories
Akeneo already has a portfolio of over 300 companies worldwide, where you’ll find a lot of case studies of successful implementations resulting in KPI improvement.
- Myer, the Australian retail giant, accelerated time-to-market by 400% thanks to Akeneo PIM.
- Frankfurt Airport Shopping implementation of Akeneo enabled the establishment of e-commerce for all retailers operating at the airport.
- Midland Scientific is a leading vendor of laboratory equipment in the US market. The implementation of Akeneo PIM allowed the company to enrich ten times more products per week and decrease catalog creation time by 50%.
Pimcore PIM Features Overview
Pimcore is not only a PIM but an MDM system (Master Data Management), so it allows you to manage more than product information. You can use Pimcore to gather and process all kinds of data related to clients, partners, networks, financial information, price listings, and more.
Pimcore provides several additional features that effectively automate time-consuming, routine tasks and support omnichannel sales models. Just like Akeneo, Pimcore offers an open-source license. Thanks to this, you gain complete control over the software and access to lots of free integration possibilities. Over 100,000 companies in 56 countries already use Pimcores, with this both including both small businesses and global brands such as Audi, T-Mobile, Burger King, Ikea, and TUI.
Below, you will find a summary of Pimcore PIM’s main functionalities.
Wide Range of Additional Tools
Pimcore offers more than just a PIM: the Pimcore Platform allows you to use many additional tools for managing digital data and customer experiences. Among the others, you can have access to the following:
- Master Data Management (MDM),
- Product Information Management (PIM),
- Digital Assets Management (DAM/MAM),
- Customer Data Platform (CDP),
- Content Management System CMS,
- e-commerce.
Furthermore, Pimcore is compatible with many PaaS cloud service providers like Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud. It can also be deployed locally (on-premise).
Integrated Image Editor
The integrated image editor (based on miniPaint) lets you perform basic graphic processing directly in the PIM. The feature has an intuitive WebDAV interface. It allows you to manage files in the same way as you would on your local drive.
Mobile Optimization
Pimcore PIM is mobile-friendly and well-optimized for the omnichannel customer journey. Its smart preview feature lets you present product information across multiple sales channels and screen sizes. It helps to provide a consistent digital experience for all your users.
Extended Free Pimcore Version
The free Pimcore PIM license successfully meets the needs of most enterprises. It provides access to all essential software features that enable efficient management of:
- Product data (PIM/MDM)
- User experience (DXP/CMS/UX)
- Digital assets (DAM)
Additionally, you get an unlimited number of users and data processing, so your employees can freely:
- Create models of products and other related objects
- Import and export product data via CSV files
- Modify data in the intuitive administration panel
- Submit products in sales channels
Pimcore PIM Software License Type
Pimcore PIM offers three types of software licenses:
- Community: free version, provides all basic functionalities with unlimited data under the GPLv3 license.
- Enterprise: commercial version, includes access to all enterprise extensions (e.g., integration with Microsoft and Adobe marketplaces, translation management, and stat tools), long-term LTS and SLA support, and a package of additional training.
- Unlimited: extended Enterprise version, includes additional technical support, unlimited system installations, and cloud solutions customization.
Technical Support
You can purchase an additional package of fixed support hours from the Pimcore software developers at any time, regardless of your license. The packages start from 20h per month, and this time can be used for application support or advisory consultations. This allows you to fully utilize Pimcore's capabilities even when using the Community version. Furthermore, you can always rely on the free assistance of Pimcore PIM’s ever-growing developer community, e.g., on the GitHub forum.
Technology
Pimcore is an API-based, open-source system covered by the GPLv3 license. Like Akeneo, it was written in PHP/Symfony using proven and widespread technologies such as MySQL, Elasticsearch, Redis, and Varnish. Thanks to this, developing and implementing new components is quick and cheap. You can install Pimcore PIM on your servers (on-premise) or in the cloud (PaaS). Additionally, a SaaS version will be available soon.
Pimcore Success Stories
Hundreds of satisfied customers confirm Pimcore's PIM effectiveness in product information management:
- Implementing Pimcore PIM at Iglotex, which manages over 7,000 products (each of which has an average of about 50 attributes), has transformed a standard product catalog into an attractive e-commerce offer and a functional tool for traders.
- Thanks to Pimcore PIM, Intersport launched 265,000 sports equipment rentals and allowed the company to increase sales by 50%.
- Audi used Pimcore PIM to optimize logistics and establish a centralized supply platform for all its showrooms worldwide.
Akeneo or Pimcore? Which PIM should you choose?
The right system choice always depends on what you're looking for in a product management system.
Akeneo is a complete, transparent, user-friendly PIM with many integration possibilities and a marketplace of extensions. You can be sure that it will work smoothly with top e-commerce platforms, marketing management tools, DAM, etc. Akeneo PIM is easily configured and quick to implement and provides a ready-made product template that you can expand as needed. Also, it mainly focuses on product data rather than master data, when compared to Pimcore.
Pimcore offers more built-in functionalities, compared to Akeneo. The Pimcore Platform delivers many other tools like MDM, DAM, and simple e-commerce, which you can use as an online product catalog or CMS. As a result, Pimcore can be a centralized tool for managing digital experiences across multiple sales channels. What's more, it provides more configuration options than Akeneo, as you can build from scratch and freely modify all data models. Unlike Akeneo, however, Pimcore doesn't support automated filling in missing data while creating product rules.
A lot of additional functionalities make using Pimcore more complicated and, subsequently, you must conduct advanced employee training to take full advantage of the system. All this affects the time of software implementation and makes the time to market for Pimcore longer than for Akeneo. Therefore, if you care about quick implementation and an easy-to-use system, and your expectations are limited to product information management, choose Akeneo. However, if you need something more than a simple PIM (e.g., you want to build a dedicated website or you need a tool for a product catalog presentation), Pimcore will be a better choice.
Do you require additional information to decide between Akeneo and Pimcore PIM solutions? We've gathered all of the essential details about both PIM systems into a simple and handy PDF table. Download our comprehensive comparison to make an informed decision.