The Full Guide on the Best Magento 2 Extensions in 2021: How to Find and Develop Your Own for Your Online Store

It may seem that choosing among the 3,000+ available Magento extensions is an easy way to extend the functionality of an online store. However, the more extensions that appear on the marketplace, the more cumbersome it becomes to understand which of them will suit the needs of a particular e-commerce business. With the number of extensions continually growing exponentially, finding a suitable option starts feeling less like making a practical match for your business needs and more like the proverbial hunt for a needle in a haystack.

Today, the Magento 2 extension market comprises more than 3,300 out-of-the-box modules ready to be integrated with any Magento 2 based online store, and while the e-commerce market competition grows, so too does this number. For the last five years, the Whidegroup team has been providing businesses with comprehensive e-commerce web development services.

Our favorite examples are those that we’ve done in cooperation with Checkout, Paybear, Shiphawk, and others to create custom Magento extensions able to solve non-trivial shipping and payment processing tasks. Because of this, we have gained deep expertise in Magento extensions for the e-commerce market and have come to understand the top Magento plugins available there. We know how things work and have decided to share a bit of our expertise with you.

Popular Magento 2 Extensions Categories

All Magento plugins for e-commerce are divided into several categories, depending on the type of services to be integrated with the online store. Here are some common types of extensions.

Accounting and finance

You can consult a Magento accounting extension for more efficient and effective financial data management, exporting reports, and tracking all stages of your sales (order, payment, packaging, delivery, etc.), tax control, report creation and so on. Today, there are 52 Magento accounting extensions available in total, and their prices range from $0 to $5,100.

Customer support

An average Magento customer support extension provides online stores with functionality such as live chats, FAQ, and more. In general, Magento customer service modules are essential for personalizing the customer experience, building quality communication with customers, and increasing customer loyalty. The price for an average Magento customer service module starts at $0 and can cost as much as $650.

Payments and security

The Magento payment gateway extension is a must-have for easy and secure transactions. It grants order management on a single page in the admin panel, and allows for fast order placement. Any Magento 2 payment extension of the 367 represented in Magento Marketplace is especially useful for e-commerce websites that strive to provide multi-currency payments from any destination in the world. Some Magento 2 payment extensions represented in this category are free, and the price of the rest of them ranges from $25 to $10,000.

Reporting and analytics

E-commerce business owners can easily get online store performance reports, behavioral analytics, and other such beneficial reports by integrating one of the 42 ready-made Magento e-commerce plugins. As in any other category, here you will find both the best free Magento 2 extensions with many features, as well as ones with a price tag.

Shipping and fulfillment

To let customers choose the most convenient shipping methods and, thereby, improve the quality of user experience, Magento 2 based e-commerce platforms must include the best Magento 2 shipping extension. There are more than 290 shipping extensions available on the marketplace, each with specific features and advantages.

Marketing

You are welcome to select any Magento marketing extension from the 330 offered on Magento Marketplace. By combining Magento marketing extensions wisely, you’ll see effective tools to attract new customers and retain existing ones. They are also designed to expand the current potential of Magento 2 significantly. About a third of the offered extensions are free of charge. Prices for the rest of them range from $25 to $999.

SEO

Although Magento itself has a number of built-in SEO tools, each Magento SEO extension of the 92 represented on the Marketplace offers additional tools to expand the capabilities of the platform. The most expensive module’s price in this category is $344. However, there are free extensions too. You can peruse to find the best SEO extension for Magento 2 exclusively for your business!

We’ve listed only the main categories of extensions here, but you may also find some other interesting essential Magento extensions, such as Magento B2B extensions for free, some of the best free Magento search extensions, Magento marketplace extensions, and many more. So, it’s best not to limit yourself and always be in search of something new to implement for your e-commerce store.

The Best Magento 2 Extensions Available On the Market

Now we recommend that you take a look at some solutions that are considered most popular Magento extensions in each category! Let’s see which of them are topping the list and who knows, maybe you’ll find your own must-have Magento 2 extensions there! We open the list by defining the best Magento accounting extension.

Accounting and finance

Top Magento 2 customer support extensions

Payment and security

Top Magento extensions for shipping and fulfillment

Best Magento 2 SEO extensions

Magento 2 best extensions for marketing

We mentioned only the main groups of extensions. You can search for other types of extensions, such as the best blog extension for Magento 2, extensions to customize products on your store, and many more.

Each of the listed top Magento 2 extensions benefits the end user. They improve the customer experience and speed up workflows for the e-commerce business owner.

At first glance, the market is already filled with the best Magento plugins to match every taste and need. However, user priorities are continually changing. New trends are constantly emerging and e-commerce businesses that want to not only stay afloat but also beat the competition, have to adapt. Thus, never stop exploring which solutions are considered the best Magento modules to date, and you can rest assured that you will provide your users with top user experience!

The Best Magento 2 Extensions We’ve Worked With in 2020/2021

To begin with, we would like to share a list of the most helpful extensions we use often in our projects.

• 1. Algolia Instant Search helps online store customers easily and quickly find what they are looking for.
• 2. M2E – Magento 2 native integration for selling on eBay and Amazon.
• 3. Layered Navigation for Magento 2 by Aheadworks provides customers with the best UI/UX, including handy filtering and navigation.
• 4. MailChimp is a tool for implementing email marketing strategy.
• 5. Slider Revolution Responsive Magento Extension – one of the best extensions that help create sliders within your website. It includes dozens of transition effects, and makes the sliders mobile responsive.
• 6. Magento 2 SEO Extension by Mageplaza – a tool that provides numerous features to improve the website’s search rankings.
• 7. Magento 2 Google Tag Manager integrates Google Tag Manager and helps to manage Google Analytics, Adwords, remarketing campaigns and other events in one place.
• 8. Wyomind Simple Google Shopping. This module connects the product data with the Google Shopping tool.
• 9. Wyomind Cron Scheduler should be used for creating and managing predefined tasks within your Magento 2 based online store.
• 10. Mageworx SEO Suite Ultimate Extension for Magento 2 provides opportunities to organize all SEO activities in the most convenient way ever.
• 11. Mageworx Advanced Product Options Suite Extension for Magento 2 allows you to create, customize, and manage product options for Magento 2 based stores.

If you are looking for extensions that provide the functionality we mentioned in the list above, then there is no need for you to continue the search. We’ve done the research for you, so all you have to do now is simply choose one and integrate it with your Magento 2 based online store.

A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Choose the Best Magento 2 Extensions

If you didn’t succeed in finding the right existing solutions to expand your Magento 2 store functionality from those listed above, you can consider the option to choose an extension on your own. Below you will find a step-by-step guide on how to find the best option without getting lost in the sea that is the Magento extensions list. It was created by our developers who use the same approach. So, let’s look at how you can make the right choice.

Step 1: Define the needed functionality

To narrow your search in finding the best extensions for Magento, first, you need to clearly understand and list the features you want to integrate into your online store. Then, take this functionality as an example and every next step will take us closer to the desired result.

Step 2: Study the Magento extensions Marketplace

At this stage, you will see that there are dozens, if not hundreds of extensions offering similar functionality. Whether you need the best Magento 2 blog extension, best Magento search extension, best Magento 2 marketplace extension or something else entirely, Magento Marketplace has the largest database of extensions from all the best Magento 2 extension providers.

Go to the categories and choose “Sales” > “Marketplace feeds”. You will see that this category includes more than 190 extensions, each of which fully or partially provides the requested functionality. To figure out which of them may be useful, take the next steps:

• • 1. Sort extensions by relevance. This will help you see which of the listed modules are Magento’s most popular extensions among customers.

• 2. If the price and associated costs are more important to you, sort the results by price and start exploring extensions from the ones with the lowest price tag. However, keep in mind that even if the extension is free, it does not mean that its further usage is also free.

Step 3: Pick several extensions and research them

The next step to answer the question “how to add an extension in Magento 2” is selecting several of the most suitable ones and doing a thorough research on them. We recommend that you select 3 – 5 Magento e-commerce extensions which provide the necessary features. Let’s imagine we need to choose some Magento 2 security extension from the listed above, namely Smart One Step Checkout by Aheadworks, Magento 2 Two Factor Authentication by XTENTO, and Sage Pay & by Magenest.

Smart One Step Checkout by Aheadworks

Magento 2 Two Factor Authentication by XTENTO

Sage Pay & by Magenest

Step 4: Study reviews

When choosing the best Magento extensions from the Magento extensions store, pay attention to the extension providers. Look at the user reviews. However, also keep in mind that you should not take reviews on the extensions provider’s website too seriously. We have found it is best to search for them on independent 3rd party platforms and forums. Unfortunately, on the Magento Marketplace most extensions have either very few reviews or none at all. Fortunately, you can visit related forums and Magento communities for information, and ask questions in one of the discussion threads.

Smart One Step Checkout by Aheadworks

Magento 2 Two Factor Authentication by XTENTO

Sage Pay & Subscriptions by Magenest

Step 4: Check the extension update frequency

It is essential to pay attention to the frequency of the extension updates. Given that new updates to the Magento 2 platform are released often, every third-party integration should always meet the latest Magento 2 requirements, and cause no conflicts with the platform. Some providers release a new module to the market, then immediately cease support. Thus, after one or several Magento 2 platform updates, the module stops performing its functions. For you, this results in a loss of time and investment, a need to search for a new extension, and additional costs to pay for a Magento 2 developer’s work.

Smart One Step Checkout by Aheadworks

Magento 2 Two Factor Authentication by XTENTO

Sage Pay & Subscriptions by Magenest

Step 5: Look for available support

Reliable free support from the extension provider is critical during the first months after the integration of the module. It is especially vital if you do not have an experienced developer who can define and replace any potential issues independently. Some providers guarantee 3 months of free support. Others are ready to help up to 6 months after you buy Magento modules from Magento extension stores. Still, others may not offer a free support period at all, and you’ll have to pay for these services from the start.

Smart One Step Checkout by Aheadworks

Magento 2 Two Factor Authentication by XTENTO

Sage Pay & Subscriptions by Magenest

Step 6: Request a money-back guarantee

Even when opting for a Magento bestsellers extension from trustworthy providers such as Magestore, Webkul, Mirasvit and so on, you can’t really be sure that everything will be fine with it. That’s why it’s always a good idea to check the money-back guarantee policy and confirm the period it is granted for. If, after integrating with your online store, a module doesn’t perform well, you can always request your money back. If the seller won’t guarantee a refund during at least two weeks after purchase, it is better to bypass the extension. After all, why should you be expected to buy into a product if its own creator won’t stand by it? Read the provider’s Terms and Conditions to check this info.

Step 7: Analyze results and choose the best option

Based on the analysis of the selected extensions, we are fairly certain about which one you would likely want to try first. Considering the three chosen extensions for a Magento 2-based store’s integration with Amazon and eBay, we see that this kind of market research does not require much time, and helps the eager entrepreneur to easily navigate in a highly competitive environment and confidently proceed to the extension’s purchase.

Final steps

When the time has finally come and you have chosen the extension, it’s time to learn how to install the extension in Magento 2 and make sure it really meets all your requirements. You may also be interested in considering options on how to install extensions in Magento 2 manually to control the process fully.

This is the time for quality assurance. We recommend you start working with a new module on the test server to check whether it:

• successfully performs the promised functionality
• causes any conflict with other third-party integrations.

If testing has shown that the extension is bug-free and that there are no threats to the correct operation of the store, you can safely implement it on your live store and start using the needed functionality.

Problems that may arise

Unfortunately, integration with extensions from the marketplace do not only entail advantages. Rather, they can sometimes present issues as well. The worst thing that can happen is the total outage of the website (front/back-end). Among the less dangerous problems are conflicts with existing functionality. In this case, it can be a partial or total failure with either an existing extension or your new custom extension.

Depending on the functionality the module is responsible for and the information it processes, it can cause damage to various data. For example, if the new feature is related to cookies processing (or other personal information from your customers), then a glitchy module can violate the user’s rights, thereby violating the GDPR.

How to Solve Problems with Extensions

If the quality assurance detected any errors, the first thing to do is to contact the provider’s support team. This is when that free support period will prove useful!

First, you should inform the provider about the problems occuring. If the provider can’t eliminate the issues, you can try to fix them yourself. However, sometimes all attempts to rectify the situation end up in vain. If this turns out to be the case, you have to look for another extension to replace the problematic one or develop a custom module yourself.

Magento custom extension development can be justified if:

• 1. The project requires non-standard functionality.
• 2. Out-of-the-box functionality offered by the platform does not satisfy your needs.
• 3. Available extensions have too many unneeded extra features.

Examples of Custom Extensions Built by Whidegroup

We often face the situation when none of the ready-made solutions is a perfect fit for the needs of our clients, and the very best decision is to create a custom one. And this is exactly what we’ve been doing for our clients through our Magento extension development services.

HawaiiHangover

This retail company that specializes in designing and manufacturing Hawaiian-style clothes, wanted to modify the catalog filtering in exchange for a more convenient sorting of their products by patterns and colors. The catalog contains sets of matching garments for the whole family and separately for mother and daughter, father and son, mother and son, and so on. We implemented the required functionality via custom module implementation, which helped Hawaii Hangover’s customers enjoy a more pleasant and convenient journey through the store.

ZOR

We created one more Magento custom extension for a photo lab, which prints non-standard sized photos on non-standard materials. We implemented a complex JS-frontend, and the main feature of the extension is its ability to determine the quality of uploaded images and, as a result, to identify and display the maximum size of the image that needs to be printed.

ShipHawk

A worldwide shipping company, whose main clients are e-commerce businesses with oversized and non-standard goods, addressed us with the need to develop a Magento e-commerce plugin so that online stores running on this platform could use their services. We’ve successfully accomplished the task, and today Shiphawk services can be integrated with any Magento based e-commerce platform.

Checkout.com

We also have experience in building a custom payment plugin for a payment processing platform. This Magento 2 plugin is for easier on-boarding of new e-commerce businesses. The main feature of the extension was a native token-based JavaScript payment processing integration embedded in the checkout page, which did not require the website/server to pass through PCI Compliance (payment card industry data security standard).

Savvy.io

A task similar to Checkout.com’s, we accomplished a cryptocurrency payment service for Savvy. Cryptocurrency transactions are not instant and require delayed transaction notifications. Processing of crypto payments is different from credit cards or e-wallet payments. That’s why, in this case, we couldn’t apply standard methods of module development.

All the Magento 2 extensions we developed for our customers meet the following requirements:

• Interact with other modules without causing conflicts
• Available for any updates or modifications
• Fully meet client expectations.

Final Thoughts

Choosing a needed module from those available on Magento Marketplace, as well as considering Magento extension development services to expand the functionality of your store, are both complicated and responsibility-heavy tasks. We hope that our guide will help every e-commerce business owner that is wanting to make specific improvements to their online store eliminate the pitfalls this process implies.

Our last piece of advice? If you decided to start the development of a custom Magento 2 extension, but are not tech-savvy enough to complete it, there is no better option than to hire experienced professionals who are able to help you at all stages of the development process. Feel free to drop Whidegroup a line if you have any questions. Our support team will gladly address all concerns you may have.