Magento vs Shopify: which is right for your store?
An Adobe-Certified Magento developer breaks it down honestly. Eight years on Magento, three years building Shopify integrations. Neither platform is universally better — the right pick depends on your GMV, B2B share, customization needs, and time horizon.
- Open-source vs SaaS — the real cost difference at scale
- B2B feature parity — where each platform’s gaps actually matter
- Migration path if you want to switch (Shopify → Magento or reverse)
TCO, B2B, multi-region, and time-to-launch — every other factor is downstream of these
Most "Magento vs Shopify" content lists 25 features. In practice, four numbers settle the decision for 90% of stores. Here are those four, with the ranges that matter.
-
TCO True cost over 3 years
Shopify Plus runs $24k–$60k/yr licence + ~0.15% per-tx fee. Magento Open Source $0 licence + $5k–$50k upfront dev + $200–$2k/mo hosting. At >$5M GMV, Magento usually wins TCO.
-
B2B Where Shopify falls short
Companies, multi-tier pricing, requisition lists, Net-30, customer-segment catalogs — Magento native. Shopify B2B requires Plus + 3–4 third-party apps with workflow limits.
-
Multi-region Multi-store native
Magento handles 1 backend → N storefronts with separate currencies, languages, prices, tax rules. Shopify Plus does multi-store but each is a separate org with shared-catalog limitations.
-
Time Time to launch
Shopify: 2–4 weeks for a basic store. Magento: 8–16 weeks equivalent. Shopify wins time-to-launch, Magento wins long-term flexibility — pick your tradeoff.
Six dimensions where the platforms genuinely differ
Skipping the "Magento has Adobe Commerce, Shopify has Plus" preamble. Below: the six places real differences show up — and which platform wins each.
-
Pricing model
Magento Open Source is $0 licence — pay for hosting + dev. Adobe Commerce is $22k–$190k/yr depending on GMV. Shopify Basic $39, Standard $105, Advanced $399, Plus $2,300/mo (or 0.4% of GMV). Plus per-transaction fees: 2.4–2.9% on third-party gateways, ~0.15% on Shopify Payments at Plus tier. Net effect: Shopify is cheaper to start, Magento is cheaper to scale. Crossover point sits around $3–5M GMV depending on app stack.
-
Customization depth
Magento gives you full PHP / MySQL / observer-event / plugin architecture — anything is customisable. Shopify limits backend logic to Liquid templating + Shopify Functions (Plus-only) + Storefront API. For 80% of stores Shopify is enough; for the 20% running custom checkout flows, B2B approval chains, complex inventory allocation, ERP-driven pricing, or headless integrations, Magento’s open architecture saves 6–12 months of wrestling Shopify limits.
-
B2B features
Magento Open Source ships company accounts, quote workflow, requisition lists, customer-group pricing, tier prices, Net-30, tax-exempt customers — all native. Shopify B2B (Plus-only) added companies + price lists in 2023 but still gaps on multi-step quote approval, recurring requisition lists, and deep tiered pricing per SKU per customer. If B2B is >30% of revenue, Magento is the safer pick.
-
Multi-store / multi-currency
Magento: 1 backend → N websites → N stores → N store views, each independently overriding catalog, prices, currency, language, tax, shipping, payment methods. Shopify Markets handles regional currency + language + tax in a shared storefront, but catalog is shared. Plus expansion stores give per-region orgs (max 9) at the cost of maintaining N catalogs. For complex multi-region retailers, Magento avoids that catalog duplication.
-
Performance / Core Web Vitals
Out-of-box: Shopify Dawn theme hits Lighthouse 85; Magento Luma sits at 45. With proper engineering: Magento + Hyvä theme (Tailwind + Alpine.js, ~95% less JS than Luma) hits 95+ Lighthouse mobile. Shopify with 8+ apps drifts to 60–70 as third-party scripts accumulate. Long-term, Magento+Hyvä wins because customization happens in your codebase, not in installable scripts.
-
Migration path Shopify → Magento
Realistic budget: $15k–$60k for a clean Hyvä-themed Magento rebuild + $10k–$25k for ERP/OMS re-integration. Timeline: 8–16 weeks. Catalog, customers, orders, redirects, payment vault tokens are all migratable; passwords are not (Shopify won’t expose hashes — force a reset email). Run both stores in parallel for 30 days behind a flag, flip DNS only after the redirect map covers ≥98% of traffic and 30 successful test orders.
Five questions to lock in your platform pick
Run through these in order. By question 5, the answer is usually obvious. If you’re still tied at the end, the form below gets you a written recommendation in 24 hours.
-
01
GMV check
Annual GMV is the biggest cost driver. Under $1M → Shopify wins on simplicity. $1–5M → either; depends on B2B + customization. Above $5M → Magento usually wins TCO.
Sets cost ceiling -
02
B2B share
What share of revenue is B2B? 0% → either platform fine. 10–50% → either with B2B engineering. Above 50% → Magento — Shopify B2B still has gaps on multi-step quotes, complex tiered pricing, and recurring requisition lists.
Determines B2B fit -
03
Customization need
Will an installed app cover the feature, or do you need custom workflow logic? Apps OK → Shopify saves 6 months. Custom workflows (ERP-driven pricing, custom checkout, B2B approval chains, headless) → Magento saves 12 months wrestling platform limits.
Maps customization depth -
04
Multi-store complexity
1 store, 1 region → either. Same catalog, multiple regions / currencies → Shopify Markets is faster. Different catalogs / brands per region or B2B-and-B2C-per-region → Magento multi-store avoids the per-org catalog duplication.
Scopes multi-region -
05
Decide + plan
If steps 01–04 point to Shopify, plan a 4–8 week Shopify build with disciplined app curation. If they point to Magento, plan a 12–16 week Hyvä-themed build + 3-month ops retainer. If switching, plan parallel-run + redirect strategy to protect SEO.
Locks in a path
Three scenarios — pick the one that sounds like you
If your context matches one of these closely, you can skip the deep dive and go straight to planning. The hybrid path is real but rarely the right answer.
-
Choose Shopify
Choose Shopify if…
- Annual GMV under $1M (or trending there)
- Pure B2C — no companies, quotes, or Net-30
- Simple SKU set (under 50 variants)
- Want to launch in 4 weeks, not 16
- No in-house dev team or retainer
- Standard payment + shipping needs
- Comfortable with $300–$1.5k/mo app spend
-
Most readers land here
Choose Magento
Choose Magento if…
- Annual GMV above $1M (definitely above $5M)
- B2B share above 30% with quotes / Net-30
- Multi-store, multi-region, or multi-brand
- ERP integration (NetSuite / SAP / Odoo)
- Custom workflows that apps can’t deliver
- Want full data ownership + version control
- Have dev team or $1.5k–$5k/mo retainer
-
Hybrid (rare)
Hybrid setup (only if you must)
- Shopify front for D2C / consumer brand
- Magento back for B2B / wholesale ops
- Shared product feed via PIM (Akeneo / Pimcore)
- Unified inventory via Shopify-Magento middleware
- Operational complexity is real — don’t pick lightly
- Justified at $25M+ GMV with hard B2C/B2B split
- Single-platform usually wins below $25M
Get a written platform-fit recommendation in 24 hours
Fill in the basics. I’ll send a written recommendation by email and include a 30-min calendar link if a call would help. No upsell, no follow-up funnel.
We will get back to you shortly.
What working with me on platform decisions actually looks like
Same framework that’s on this page has informed the platform pick on 20+ migrations. Reviews are public on Upwork — links on each card.
Advising stores across
- United States
- United Kingdom
- Canada
- Australia
- Germany
- France
- Netherlands
- India