Arastta: Cloud Hosted, Open Source & Free eCommerce
Launched in 2015, Arastta is a free and open source eCommerce solution that traces its roots back to the history-steeped Istanbul.
But Arastta isn’t just free to download and tinker with, it’s also totally free to host in the cloud.
Arastta Cloud is a feature-packed solution, boasting; total design customization, a drag-and-drop layout manager, advanced statistics, mail and bulletin features, multilingual support and Facebook Store compatibility. It even has a basic and advanced mode to cater for both newbies and eCommerce veterans.
Here’s a video introduction to get us started:
As for the latest version of Arastta, which brings about a range of new features, here’s another video:
Arastta Cloud: “It’s Open Source & All Yours”
One area of Arastta that particularly excites me, is the freedom they afford their cloud customers:
“[You can] manage your files and database. It's open source and all yours.”
Unlike other free cloud-based solutions, Arastta puts no restrictions on what files you can access and modify. This freedom to customize the already feature-filled platform is complemented further by extensions; all of which can be found on the Arastta Marketplace.
For a product that’s so young, their marketplace is well populated with extensions, themes, and other resources are available for download and purchase. What’s more, the quality of the themes on offer actually look pretty good, while the price isn’t extortionate.
Arastta has also thought about the user experience here, making it easy for their users to install apps and themes from within their admin panel, removing the need to leave and visit the main Arastta website.
Furthermore, it’s a community driven marketplace, where developers can build and sell their own digital wares to other Arastta users across the globe. I’ll touch more on that Arastta community later.
A Slick Interface, A Growing Community
I signed up and started a store with Arastta in minutes, and I was welcomed by a very pleasant interface.
The home page of the dashboard is inviting, yet laced with store information, from recent visitor reports to the total amount of sales made.
I had a peek around, and found it to be a very quick and easy interface to use. I even came across a Customizer feature, that WordPress users will find familiar:
I also explored other areas, discovering the function to create affiliate accounts for users who wish to market your products for you, for a percentage of the sale.
But as well all know, open source projects rely heavily on their communities to survive and thrive – and thankfully for Arastta, their community is doing their part.
The community section is one big discussion, where any registered user can share their issues, create discussions, make friends, build a user profile, join groups, and much more. It’s not just a forum like other open source software vendors tout – it’s a fully fledged online community.
On the other hand, if it is a forum you’re looking for, Arastta has that, too, with over 1,000 registered members. They also have a dedicated section for the community to voice their ideas, To check if their ideas were accepted, Arastta posts up a guaranteed roadmap which enables users to forecast future updates.
Arsatta gives back to their community through dedicated support. Free members can of course refer to the community, while Premium members get ticket support, while Business members can also reach out via live chat.
As for the downloadable version of Arastta, that’s just as compatible with the extension and themes on the marketplace, and can be hosted anywhere that runs PHP 5.3.10 or higher.
From what I’ve seen from Arastta, it looks like a relatively new product with lots of potential. There aren’t many free cloud-hosted eCommerce solutions out there, so if you’re looking to open an online store with minimal overheads, it’s worth your time to give Arastta a whirl.
To start your free Arastta Cloud store today, head over to their website.
This post is sponsored by Arastta. Find out more at arastta.com.