Virto Commerce vs. Optimizely B2B Commerce

There are three well-known vendors in the .NET ecommerce market. They have been developing solutions based on the Microsoft framework for 10+ years. These companies are Virto Commerce, Optimizely (formerly Episerver), and nopCommerce. 

In this article, we will compare Virto Commerce and Optimizely B2B Commerce, which is specifically designed for B2B, much like Virto. 

A special highlight in this comparison is that at the beginning of its development, both Virto Commerce and Episerver platforms were created by the same team. Virto Commerce CEO and founder Alexander Siniouguine was the Chief Product Architect for the first versions of Episerver Commerce. So, if you're looking for an in-depth analysis of their development roadmaps and key features, you’re in the right place. 

1. THERE IS NO WAY TO AN IDEAL ECOMMERCE, THE ECOMMERCE IS THE WAY
2. VIRTO’S PRODUCT ROADMAP — THE BID ON DEVELOPMENT
3. EPISERVER — THE WALL STREET WAY
4. PRODUCT LINE CONSISTENCY FOR VIRTO AND OPTIMIZELY
5. OPTIMIZELY'S COMPREHENSIVE SUITE VS. VIRTO COMMERCE'S INTEGRATION FLEXIBILITY  
6. TECHNOLOGY STACKS FOR VIRTO COMMERCE AND OPTIMIZELY B2B COMMERCE
7. VIRTO COMMERCE FEATURE LIST
8. VIRTO COMMERCE STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS  
9. OPTIMIZELY B2B COMMERCE: STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS  
10. BUSINESS FEATURES COMPARISON 
11. HOW MUCH DO OPTIMIZELY B2B COMMERCE AND VIRTO COMMERCE SOLUTIONS COST? 
12. CONCLUSION  

Let’s refer to the famous saying of Buddha, "There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way.” Although this relates to a much broader topic, the same can be said about ecommerce. No matter how perfect the solution you build, you will have the road ahead to improve and further develop your ecommerce platform. So, first, a few words about the development journey traveled by the Virto and Episerver teams. 

The core Virto Commerce team was formed in the early 2000s. From the very beginning, its members were engaged in the custom eCommerce development of large ecommerce projects. In particular, they made the MediaChase eCommerce Framework platform, which was bought by Episerver in 2012. In fact, the modern cloud platform for EPiServer Commerce in some parts is still based on the early solutions of the Virto team. 

Even though both Virto Commerce and EpiServer Cloud products were created under the same concepts prior to 2011, their approaches to product roadmap development have diverged since then. 

Back in 2011, Alexander Siniouguine and the team incorporated Virto Commerce, headquartered in Los Angeles, which had already released version 1.0 of its own platform. Now in 2025, Virto has more than a hundred employees who work on every continent except Antarctica. Most customers are in Europe and the U.S., with some projects in Asia. We are trusted by global brands like HEINEKEN, Cadillac, Lavazza, and Bosch, and combine future-ready technology with a partnership approach that supports your digital journey. 

We have remained dedicated to scalability, extensibility, and modular architecture. Unlike Optimizely B2B Commerce, which has undergone multiple repackaging and acquisitions, Virto Commerce follows a cohesive, innovation-driven roadmap. 

Virto’s offering includes: 

• A truly composable, API-first architecture for maximum flexibility. 

• Integrated B2B marketplace features without third-party extensions. 

• Multi-cloud deployment options for Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, and private cloud hosting. 

• Cost-predictable pricing with stable innovation costs. 

While Virto has been focused on developing its core ecommerce offering without becoming distracted by other business opportunities, Episerver’s strategy has been acquiring companies with pre-built solutions. 

Over the past decade, Episerver has acquired almost ten companies that mainly focus on digital content. The Episerver company has been buying up various businesses to strengthen its content-oriented and digital experience. In 2015, they merged with Ektron (development in CMS), then in 2016 acquired Peerius, known for personalizing users' webpages using data analytics techniques. 

The acquisition of InsiteCommerce in 2019 strengthened its ecommerce product line, providing the Episerver Commerce solution with the many marketing tools of InsiteCommerce. Finally, 2021 saw Episerver changing the company name to Optimizely after acquiring this digital experimentation company. 

Building a cohesive and scalable product line requires architectural consistency, long-term vision, and seamless evolution. Virto Commerce follows this approach, ensuring that every new version of the platform inherits core design principles, maintains compatibility, and evolves without disrupting existing implementations. This approach enables businesses to scale without unnecessary re-platforming or costly integrations. 

In contrast, Optimizely (formerly Episerver) has expanded through acquisitions, integrating various third-party solutions into its ecosystem. While this strategy provides access to pre-built functionality, it often leads to inconsistencies in architecture, overlapping capabilities, and integration challenges. Instead of a unified platform, businesses must navigate a fragmented landscape of applications, each with its own logic, APIs, and dependencies. 

A clear example of this fragmentation is Optimizely’s dual-platform approach: 

• Optimizely B2C Commerce – Developed internally by Episerver. 

• Optimizely B2B Commerce – Originally Insight Commerce, acquired and integrated into the Optimizely ecosystem. 

For businesses operating in both B2B and B2C segments, this means purchasing, maintaining, and customizing two separate platforms—an approach that is neither cost-efficient nor technologically streamlined. 

Beyond integration challenges, acquisition-based development models often disrupt internal development teams. With each acquisition, companies must reorganize teams, align product strategies, and reconcile differing technology stacks. This can result in talent loss, slower innovation cycles, and increased technical debt—all of which impact platform stability. 

For companies looking for long-term consistency, Virto Commerce’s unified, modular, and extensible product line offers a clear advantage over Optimizely’s fragmented ecosystem. 

Optimizely and Virto Commerce offer distinct approaches to digital experience platforms (DXPs), each catering to different business needs. 

Optimizely's DXP Suite 

Optimizely has evolved from a content management system provider to a robust DXP vendor. Its flagship product, the Content Cloud, offers advanced CMS capabilities, enabling businesses to manage and deliver personalized content. Beyond content management, Optimizely's DXP provides a range of integrated tools: 

• Asset Management: Serves as a centralized repository for multimedia assets, including images, videos, and audio files, facilitating efficient storage and retrieval. 

• Customer Data Platform (CDP): Tracks and analyzes customer interactions to build personalized experiences and foster long-term relationships. 

• Analytics and Intelligence: Utilizes advanced analytics to monitor user behavior in real-time, providing actionable insights for marketers. 

In 2023, Optimizely introduced Optimizely One, a unified operating system designed for marketing teams. This platform integrates content management, commerce, data, personalization tools, and experimentation functionalities into a single, AI-accelerated workflow. Notable features include a no-code Visual Builder for designing and modifying layouts within brand guidelines, and Optimizely Graph, a GraphQL-based content search and aggregation engine supporting headless CMS scenarios. Additionally, Optimizely has embedded AI-powered features through Opal, its co-pilot for marketers, enhancing content creation and customer engagement strategies.  

Virto Commerce's Integration Flexibility 

While Virto Commerce doesn't offer a native DXP suite, it excels in integration capabilities, allowing businesses to incorporate best-of-breed solutions tailored to their needs. Built on a composable architecture with modular components, Virto Commerce facilitates integration with third-party systems, including CMS, CRM, ERP, and PIM platforms. This flexibility enables businesses to select and integrate tools that align with their unique requirements. 

Virto Commerce supports two primary integration methods: 

1. Asynchronous Integration: Utilizes middleware solutions like Azure Logic Apps to synchronize data between systems, ensuring consistent information across platforms without real-time dependencies.  

2. Synchronous Integration: Involves real-time communication between Virto Commerce and external systems via APIs, suitable for applications requiring immediate data exchange. 

This approach allows businesses to maintain their existing systems while enhancing their ecommerce capabilities through Virto Commerce's platform. 

To learn more about integration capabilities, refer to our articles on:  

• How to Integrate a Customer-Owned CRM into the Virto Commerce Platform 

• How to Integrate a Customer's PIM with the Virto Commerce Platform 

• How to Integrate an External CMS to the Virto Commerce Platform 

Each approach — having your own CRM, CMS, or PIM or integrating third-party ones — has its strengths and weaknesses. You can decide what you are most comfortable with, but we believe Virto’s approach is more flexible, because if you do not like a particular vendor’s application, it can be replaced with any other solution on the market without damaging the main functionality of the ecommerce platform. 

Choosing the Right Approach 

The decision between Optimizely's comprehensive DXP and Virto Commerce's integration-focused platform depends on organizational needs: 

• Optimizely: Ideal for businesses seeking an all-in-one solution with integrated tools for content management, analytics, and personalization, benefiting from a unified platform with advanced features. 

• Virto Commerce: Suited for organizations preferring to leverage existing systems and integrate specialized third-party solutions, offering flexibility and customization to build a tailored digital experience ecosystem. 

Both platforms provide robust solutions, and the choice hinges on whether a business prioritizes an out-of-the-box integrated suite or a customizable, integration-friendly platform. 

Both Virto Commerce and Optimizely B2B Commerce leverage ASP.NET Core, but their architectures and approaches to scalability, extensibility, and integrations differ significantly. 

• Virto Commerce is a fully open-source, API-first, modular, and headless platform built for high performance. 

• Optimizely B2B Commerce follows a monolithic SaaS-based approach with closed-source components, limiting deep-level customizations. 

The table below provides a side-by-side comparison of the core technology stacks powering Virto Commerce and Optimizely B2B Commerce. 

Core Capabilities 

• Enterprise-oriented – Supports all types of ecommerce businesses, regardless of size. 

• Open-source & Transparent – Open codebase and development process, with a community on GitHub. 

• Headless – Decoupled content presentation layer from business logic and functional layers. 

• API-driven – Provides full functionality via REST API. 

Architecture & Development 

• Modular – Fully modular architecture, enabling agile development in multi-dev team environments. 

• Evolutionary – Supports independent feature development with frequent small releases, leveraging CI/CD processes. 

• Extendable – Custom development without modifying the core platform; multiple extensibility levels. 

Technology & Performance 

• Modern Tech Stack – Uses ASP.NET Core, EF Core, HTML5, Elastic Search, Vue.js, Bootstrap, and PWA. 

• Cloud-oriented – Optimized for MS Azure with deep integration into Azure-native services. 

• Scalable – Supports both vertical and horizontal scalability by design. 

Integration & Usability 

• Seamless Integration – New modules and features can be added without errors or complications. 

Strengths: 

• Modular and Composable Architecture: Virto Commerce's modular design, powered by the proprietary Virto Atomic Architecture™, allows businesses to easily extend or adjust features by installing specific modules. This architecture accelerates the delivery of new functionalities, enabling deployments in days rather than months.  

• Headless and API-First Design: Supports rich omnichannel capabilities and seamless integrations, providing flexibility in frontend development and compatibility with various channels and devices. 

• Extensibility: Offers a plug-in-based extension model with numerous out-of-the-box extensions and integrations, facilitating customization to meet unique business requirements. 

• Cloud-Native Deployment: Optimized for cloud environments, particularly Microsoft Azure, ensuring performance and efficient resource utilization. 

• Upgradability: Maintains backward compatibility in new versions, allowing for straightforward updates when extension guidelines are followed, thus reducing the risk of disruptions during upgrades. 

• High Scalability: The flexible architecture supports multiple databases, enabling effortless scaling to accommodate business growth and varying workloads. 

• Modern Technology Stack: Utilizes the latest technologies, including .NET 8.0 and Vue 3.0. 

• Cross-Platform Compatibility: Supports deployment on various operating systems, including Windows and Linux, offering flexibility in hosting environments. 

• Open-Source Platform: The open-source nature allows developers to understand, customize, and enhance the platform without vendor dependency, fostering innovation and rapid development. 

Limitations: 

• Cost Considerations: Only offering a free tier for businesses with annual sales below $1M. However, you can learn how to evaluate long-term costs, including innovation and scalability with our brand-new Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Guide! 

• Limited Built-In CMS Features: The proprietary PageBuilder CMS offers basic content management; integrating third-party CMS solutions may be necessary for advanced content management needs. 

• Documentation Lag: Occasionally, documentation updates may not keep pace with software releases, necessitating direct support from the Virto team to access the latest information and guidance. 

• Steep Learning Curve: Developers may experience a learning curve due to the platform's comprehensive features, but its composable extensibility offers long-term benefits and flexibility. 

Strengths: 

• Personalized Customer Experiences: Leverages AI-driven product recommendations and dynamic pricing based on contracts and customer segments. 

• Advanced Account Management: Provides self-service portals for order history, quotes, and invoices, along with multi-user roles and approval workflows, facilitating account management for B2B clients. 

• Seamless Integration with ERP and CRM Systems: Automates order processing and inventory management, provides real-time data synchronization. 

• Search Functionality: Partnering with Google, Optimizely has introduced advanced search capabilities, including improved algorithms, personalization, complex query handling, and improved filtering, currently available in private beta.  

• Mobile Accessibility: The Mobile Flutter App enables businesses to reach their audience through mobile devices, offering features like barcode scanning, list management, quick order, and inventory counting for Vendor Managed Inventory. 

• Scalability: Designed to grow with businesses, accommodating increasing demands and expanding operations through flexible deployment options. 

• Analytics: Offers advanced analytics tools for strategy formulation. 

Limitations: 

• Monolithic Architecture: The legacy monolithic design may pose challenges in meeting modern requirements for flexible cloud scalability, potentially limiting agility and responsiveness. 

• High Initial Costs: Implementation may involve significant upfront investment in hardware and licensing, which could be a barrier for smaller enterprises. 

• Platform Dependency: Primarily supports Windows platforms, limiting cross-platform deployment options and potentially increasing dependency on specific technologies. 

• Database Scalability Constraints: Lacks support for horizontal database scaling, which could become a performance bottleneck as data volumes and transaction rates increase. 

• Customization Limitations: Requires changes through plug-ins, which may complicate processes and restrict functionality, potentially limiting the ability to tailor the platform to your needs. 

• Support Requirements: May necessitate direct access to technical support for issue resolution and customization guidance, potentially leading to additional costs and reliance on vendor support. 

• Developer Documentation: The improvements are needed to improve the comprehensiveness and accessibility of developer resources to make sure that development teams can utilize the platform. 

In summary, Virto Commerce offers a flexible, scalable, and open-source solution suitable for businesses seeking extensive customization and control. Conversely, Optimizely B2B Commerce provides robust content management and marketing features but may present challenges in scalability and customization due to its monolithic architecture. 

Let’s note the factors that are important for decision-makers. Here we summarize the business features of both platforms. 

• AI & Personalization: Virto Commerce includes built-in AI/ML capabilities, while Optimizely requires paid add-ons. 

• Cryptocurrency Support: Virto Commerce now supports crypto transactions, Optimizely does not. 

• Marketplace Features: Virto Commerce has built-in multi-vendor marketplace support, Optimizely requires third-party tools. 

• Headless Architecture: Virto Commerce is fully headless, while Optimizely's headless setup requires additional configuration. 

• Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Optimizely's pricing increases over time due to add-ons and licensing costs, while Virto Commerce offers more predictable pricing. Explore our TCO Guide to make sure your platform remains a strategic asset for sustainable growth! 

Price is the factor that customers are interested in from day one, along with a list of functionalities. There's no one-click pricing here; both vendors adhere to B2B tradition by providing quotes upon request for the buyer’s desired product or service type and level. 

There are several factors that affect the price of ecommerce platforms, such as the number of SKUs, customization options, and technical support. Here we compare the pricing models of two popular ecommerce platforms, Optimizely and Virto Commerce. 

Optimizely's prices depend on the number of SKUs, with other factors such as customization and technical support also affecting the final cost. Virto Commerce also adopts a quotation-based pricing model that takes into account the customer's ecommerce revenue and license group. Prices for both platforms vary depending on the specific needs of the client’s business. 
 
To get an accurate quote for your ecommerce platform needs, it is best to consult with a sales representative from each company. This way, you can determine which platform is the best fit for your business in terms of both price and features ratio. 

Using the redesigned and updated InsiteCommerce ecommerce product, now branded as Optimizely B2B Commerce, might be a good choice if this product had a dedicated B2B roadmap for the future. But we don't know about that, and it's possible that the company will decide to merge Optimizely B2B Commerce and Optimizely B2C Commerce into one solution.  

If that happens, then customers will need to re-platform, which is always a difficult and expensive process. But we’ve got you covered: read our new Re-platforming Guide for the insights from the real companies in how to make you re-platforming process smooth and successful! 

Among the major advantages of Virto Commerce are its atomic-like modular architecture, using ASP.NET 8 framework, and multiple versions for private cloud, SaaS, and marketplace. Customers have the opportunity to make the most comprehensive comparison themselves. 

Request a demo setup of both the Optimizely B2B Commerce and Virto Commerce ecommerce platforms and try out the features critical to your B2B segment! 

Want to see how Virto Commerce compares to other leading ecommerce and marketplace platforms? Dive into our collection of comparison guides and discover why Virto Commerce is the preferred choice for businesses worldwide. 

View All Platform Comparisons and find the best solution for your digital commerce needs! 

To gain deeper insights and practical advice for choosing the right ecommerce platform, explore our related guides: 

• TCO Guide: Evaluate long-term costs to keep your platform a strategic asset. 

• Choosing the Right Platform: A step-by-step guide to align your platform with business goals.

• When to Re-platform: Key signs and tips for a smooth transition.