Should I trust this enough to make a $500k decision?

Q: Should I trust this enough to make a $500k decision?

No, and I built it. The calculator is a screening tool: it tells you which platforms to take seriously and which to drop from the shortlist. It doesn’t replace the discovery work needed for a $500k decision.What to do for an actual $500k re-platform:Use this calculator to drop 1-2 platforms from the longlist. If the cheapest is 4x your most-likely pick, the cheapest probably has a feature gap; if the most-likely pick is 2x the alternative, the alternative deserves a real evaluation.Get written quotes from each finalist. For SaaS platforms (Adobe Commerce, Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, SFCC) the negotiated price is often 15-30% lower than the calculator’s number; you only see this in writing.Talk to 3-5 reference customers per platform at your GMV tier. Ask specifically about Year-2 and Year-3 surprises. Vendors will introduce you to the happy ones; ask the references for unhappy ones too.Run a 4-6 week proof-of-concept on the top finalist. POC scope: one product flow, one B2B flow if applicable, one region launch. ~$25k, cheap insurance against a $500k mistake.Have a senior engineering perspective at the table. Not just procurement / commercial. The customisation ceiling is technical; CFOs often miss it.If you’re at the “build a discovery deck” stage and want a sanity check on the calculator’s output, send the inputs, I’ll review for free and tell you if the verdict aligns with what I’d advise. No upsell. The point is the right decision; sometimes Magento isn’t.

Question

Accepted Answer

No, and I built it. The calculator is a screening tool: it tells you which platforms to take seriously and which to drop from the shortlist. It doesn’t replace the discovery work needed for a $500k decision.

What to do for an actual $500k re-platform:

Use this calculator to drop 1-2 platforms from the longlist. If the cheapest is 4x your most-likely pick, the cheapest probably has a feature gap; if the most-likely pick is 2x the alternative, the alternative deserves a real evaluation.
Get written quotes from each finalist. For SaaS platforms (Adobe Commerce, Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, SFCC) the negotiated price is often 15-30% lower than the calculator’s number; you only see this in writing.
Talk to 3-5 reference customers per platform at your GMV tier. Ask specifically about Year-2 and Year-3 surprises. Vendors will introduce you to the happy ones; ask the references for unhappy ones too.
Run a 4-6 week proof-of-concept on the top finalist. POC scope: one product flow, one B2B flow if applicable, one region launch. ~$25k, cheap insurance against a $500k mistake.
Have a senior engineering perspective at the table. Not just procurement / commercial. The customisation ceiling is technical; CFOs often miss it.

If you’re at the “build a discovery deck” stage and want a sanity check on the calculator’s output, send the inputs, I’ll review for free and tell you if the verdict aligns with what I’d advise. No upsell. The point is the right decision; sometimes Magento isn’t.