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.