7 key differences between Shopify Plus and Magento

Shopify Plus vs. Magento: 7 key differences

Shopify Plus and Magento are competitors. This blog post compares the two platforms based on 7 factors: ease of use, flexibility, agility, design, costs, performance and support. We look at both from the perspective of larger brands, because that's where this choice is usually made. Do you have your winner? Hope to hear it, but in the meantime, read our guide.

A quick note on names first. Magento's paid version is now sold by Adobe as Adobe Commerce. It comes as a self-hosted (on-premises) version, as Adobe Commerce on Cloud Infrastructure (Adobe-managed hosting) and as Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service, announced in 2025 – a fully managed, “versionless” SaaS that Adobe updates for you (Adobe Experience League). The free edition is called Magento Open Source. Most Magento stores we see in migration projects are self-hosted or on Cloud Infrastructure, so that's what we mostly compare below.

1. What’s easier to use: Shopify Plus or Magento?

Magento Open Source and self-hosted Adobe Commerce need to be installed on a server to work. Those who pick them must take care of security, maintenance and updates. If you know a thing or two about ecommerce development, it won’t cause you any trouble.

Otherwise, you need a developer to install Magento on your server, integrate third-party tools and keep the platform up to date. The admin panel isn’t as straightforward as Shopify’s either, so your team will need some training.

Updates are a bigger deal than they sound. Adobe supports each Magento 2.4.x release line for about three years, so every store has to plan a version upgrade regularly. For example, standard support for 2.4.6 ended in August 2026, and for 2.4.7 it ends in May 2027 (Adobe lifecycle policy). On a heavily customised store, every upgrade is a project of its own.

Shopify Plus is hosted by Shopify. A simple store can be live within hours: pick a theme, connect integrations, upload products and content. An enterprise migration takes longer, because you move data, rebuild integrations and set up SEO redirects. But once you’re live, the admin panel is intuitive, so your team can run the store day to day without a developer.

Furthermore, Shopify is responsible for hosting, updates and security patches. You, on the other hand, can focus on driving sales and scaling your business. The only exception is when you want to build custom solutions. Shopify Plus merchants also get 24/7 priority support from Shopify (Shopify Plus pricing).

Who is the winner? Shopify Plus is easier to use than Magento.

2. Flexibility

When it comes to Magento, there are almost no limitations as to what you can connect with the platform, since you own the code. You can customize the solution, create your own template and adjust it to your business needs. The internet is full of ready-made extensions that you can integrate into your store. Headless, B2B sales, advanced reporting, managing a couple of stores at once – it’s all doable with Magento.

Shopify works a bit differently. You don’t own the code, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create your own Shopify solutions. You build them with apps, APIs and Shopify Functions (which replaced Shopify Scripts in June 2026). And many things that used to need a custom build are now native:

• B2B: company accounts, catalogs with custom prices, volume pricing and payment terms are built into Shopify. Basic B2B features are available on every plan since April 2026, while Plus adds unlimited catalogs, customer-specific price lists, deposits and partial payments. Read more in our guide on how to implement B2B on Shopify Plus or see our B2B services.
• Multiple stores and markets: Shopify Plus includes up to 9 expansion stores in the monthly fee, and Shopify Markets lets you sell in many countries, currencies and languages from one store. For Eveline Cosmetics, we consolidated five stores serving different countries into a single Shopify Plus store built on Markets.
• Headless: Plus allows up to 25 headless storefronts.

Sometimes, you will still need a Shopify specialist or an agency to build exactly what your business needs.

Who is the winner? Both platforms are flexible and you can connect them with third-party solutions, such as CRM, PIM and ERP systems. Magento gives you more freedom in the code, Shopify gives you more ready-made features.

3. Agility of Shopify Plus versus that of Magento

Magento has almost unlimited growth opportunities and a propensity for scale. Nevertheless, you need a Magento developer to make changes in your store. If you don’t have a developer on your team, the cost of growing your platform keeps increasing. Every change requires time, so the pace of growth is slow, not to mention annoying.

Shopify is more agile than Magento. Your team can install apps, edit the theme and launch campaigns without a developer. Changes are quick, and Shopify adds new features to the platform at no extra cost, announced twice a year in Shopify Editions.

Who is the winner? Shopify Plus is more agile than Magento when you don’t have a developer on your team who can help you introduce changes.

4. Themes and customization

Type in “best Magento themes” in Google and you will be surprised how many designs you can find. You’re bound to find the right template. If you want to create something original, nothing stops you, as long as you have frontend developers who know Magento.

Shopify Plus also has a library of tried and tested themes that can be custom-fit to your brand. Since Online Store 2.0, sections work on every page, so your team can build landing pages in the theme editor. You can also create a bespoke theme from scratch, but you might require a Shopify agency to help you with that.

Who is the winner? Both Magento and Shopify Plus have a wide range of themes to choose from and make it possible to create an original theme.

5. Shopify Plus and Magento: Price comparison

One of the most cited reasons for switching from Magento is the total cost of running an online store on the platform. Magento can get expensive. The development, maintenance, hosting and upgrade costs pile up and a lot of ecommerce companies look for another platform to optimize them. We compare the total cost of both platforms for a €1M-a-month brand in our Shopify pricing guide.

How much does Magento cost?

Adobe doesn’t publish Adobe Commerce prices. The licence is quoted individually and depends mainly on your annual sales (GMV). Industry estimates for 2026 look like this:

• Magento Open Source – free, but you pay for hosting, development and maintenance;
• Adobe Commerce (on-premises) – from around $22,000 a year for stores under $1M GMV, up to around $125,000 a year above $25M GMV;
• Adobe Commerce on Cloud Infrastructure – from around $40,000 a year under $1M GMV (hosting included), up to $190,000+ a year above $25M GMV.

The licence is only part of the bill. In our experience, the biggest cost is the team. Clients often come to us with four to six Magento developers on board. At Polish market rates, that’s PLN 15,000–25,000 a month per developer, so the team alone can cost more than the licence. We talked about it in our podcast episode on Shopify costs.

Shopify Plus starts at €2,100 a month on a 3-year contract or €2,250 a month on a 1-year contract (around $2,300 a month in the US on a 3-year term). Bigger, more complex businesses pay a variable platform fee based on revenue, agreed with Shopify’s sales team. The price includes hosting, SSL, security updates and checkout. On top of that, you pay for apps, payment processing and, if you don’t use Shopify Payments, a 0.20% fee per transaction (Shopify Plus pricing).

Maurice Junghans from Shopify told us on our podcast that the tipping point for many Magento merchants is the next big upgrade: they pay a lot for patches and updates, and nothing changes for their customers. When a migration costs about as much as the upgrade, the decision gets much easier.

Who is the winner? For most brands, Shopify Plus has the lower total cost, mainly because you don’t pay for hosting, upgrades and a large in-house dev team. Magento can still make sense if you’ve already invested in a team and a custom platform that works.

6. Store performance

A Magento store’s performance depends heavily on hosting. Magento needs a properly sized server (not a shared one). If you take care of caching, updates, a Content Delivery Network and code minification, you can have a well-optimized site.

Shopify Plus reports 99.99% average uptime during the biggest sales events and capacity for more than 10,000 checkouts per minute (Shopify Plus). Hosting, CDN and caching are on Shopify’s side, so Black Friday traffic isn’t your server problem. You still need to optimize images, apps and theme code for good Core Web Vitals.

Who is the winner? Both platforms can be fast, but on Magento it’s your job (and your hosting bill), while on Shopify Plus the infrastructure is included.

7. Ecommerce support

Magento has a lot of die-hard fans who share tips and tricks about using the platform. It’s easy to find an ecommerce agency that specializes in Magento, and there’s plenty of documentation.

Shopify has caught up. There are many agencies that provide Shopify-exclusive services (such as our agency, wecanfly). Shopify has a well-structured Help Center, developer documentation and Shopify Plus Academy, and Plus merchants get 24/7 priority support from Shopify.

Who is the winner? Both platforms have great support, that is, official documentation, an engaged community and agency services.

What a Magento to Shopify Plus migration looks like in practice

ShoePassion, a group of premium footwear brands selling in Germany, Austria and other European markets, came to us with a Magento store. The team felt the platform no longer kept up with them: technical limitations, little room for new ideas and high maintenance costs. We moved the main store to Shopify Plus in 2022. Along the way, we integrated it with their ERP (Pixie) and PIM, and built a custom app connected to Shopify POS that checks stock in every ShoePassion store in Germany and lets customers order shoe repairs.

The migration didn’t start with the main store. Our first project for the group was the smaller Heinrich Dinkelacker store, so both teams could learn how they work together before the big move. If you can, we recommend the same approach.

Magento or Shopify Plus?

Shopify Plus and Magento are ecommerce solutions for large companies. We don’t recommend them to small or medium-sized businesses, as they can get expensive. Such merchants will be better off with the basic Shopify plans, PrestaShop, Shoper or WooCommerce. If you’re comparing Magento with all Shopify plans, read our Magento vs. Shopify comparison.

If you’re interested in moving your store to Shopify Plus, give us a call. We’d love to help you grow your business on Shopify.