Magento vs Shopify cost calculator

Start with your costs, not a platform sales pitch

Magento Open Source has no licence fee, but hosting, maintenance, extensions and payment processing still belong in your budget. Adobe does not publish fixed Adobe Commerce licence pricing: request a Commerce quote and enter your actual invoice or quote. Avoid counting bundled cloud hosting twice.

Magento can be a sound choice when your business depends on deep platform control, existing custom workflows or infrastructure you already operate well. A lower Shopify estimate does not establish feature parity. Map B2B, checkout, integrations, data ownership and operating requirements before deciding.

Use the same sales volume, currency and scope on both sides. Enter current costs in annual USD and Shopify apps and development in monthly USD. For current payments, choose either your annual processing bill or an effective percentage that includes your fixed fees. These inputs are alternatives, not additive.

How we calculate this

Sales and average order value cover all included stores and brands. Annual sales = monthly sales × 12; an annual sales input is divided by 12 before calculating Shopify fees. Current annual platform cost = licence + hosting + maintenance + extensions + other. Current total including payments = platform cost + annual processing. In rate mode, current processing = annual sales × effective rate ÷ 100.

Shopify annual platform cost = 12 × (subscription + apps + ongoing development). Shopify annual total including payments adds 12 × (Shopify Payments card fees + Shopify third-party transaction fees + entered provider fees). Shopify hosting is included in the subscription; retain PIM, search, CDN and separate headless hosting costs in your app or development budget. The Shopify other line is zero because retained services are allocated to those budgets, not automatically eliminated.

The shared Shopify fee model estimates orders as monthly sales ÷ average order value. It applies the selected plan’s percentage and fixed card fee to the Shopify Payments share, with the entered premium and international card mix. It applies Shopify’s third-party surcharge and your entered provider percentage and fixed fee to the remaining sales. Leaving provider fees blank omits those costs and makes that comparison incomplete.

Auto selects the cheapest published plan that meets the entered B2B catalog, checkout extension, staff and headless requirements. Store and brand counts affect subscriptions. A manual plan override can be ineligible; its costs remain visible with a warning. For plan-specific fees and store assumptions, use the Shopify fee calculator. A Plus quote replaces the published Plus subscription; ask Shopify to confirm how the quote covers your brands and stores.

Year 1 Shopify cost = annual recurring cost + one-off migration budget. Three-year Shopify cost = 3 × annual recurring cost + migration budget. The current-platform comparison is 1 or 3 × its annual recurring cost. Positive differences mean Shopify costs less; negative differences mean it costs more. Both platform-only and payment-inclusive totals are shown.

Payback = migration budget ÷ monthly recurring saving including payments, rounded up to the next whole month. With no positive saving, or payback beyond 36 months, the result says no payback within 36 months. A zero migration budget has no investment to recover. An ineligible plan has no decision-ready payback. Sales, rates and recurring costs stay constant; no growth, conversion uplift, inflation, discount rate or residual value is assumed.

What this doesn’t include

Shopify’s published US pricing was checked 21 October 2026. Basic starts at $29 a month billed yearly; Plus starts at $2,300 a month on a 3-year term. Sources: Shopify pricing and Shopify Plus. Rates and availability vary by country. Published Plus prices do not establish your negotiated variable platform fee: enter your quote.

The migration budget is your input, not our project estimate. Scope data migration, URL redirects, design, ERP and warehouse integrations, subscriptions, B2B, checkout, testing and launch support. Include parallel running and internal team time if you want them in the one-off budget. Shopify apps and ongoing development are estimates you supply, not costs that disappear after launch.

Taxes, currency conversion, chargebacks, refunds, in-person sales, financing costs, contractual exit charges and any cost you have not entered are excluded. The model does not forecast revenue, SEO effects or the value of platform capabilities. Check these separately before approving a business case.

Turn the comparison into a migration brief

Read our Magento to Shopify migration guide to work through the practical scope. Our Shopify Plus development and Shopify B2B services cover the destination build and integrations.

For examples of our Shopify work, see Abate’s B2B ordering. This illustrates Shopify B2B delivery, not a claim that the project migrated from Magento. Book a call to discuss requirements and establish a scoped budget.

Our Fjordfiesta case study illustrates a like-for-like platform foundation swap, preserving the design, content and URLs. Alongside Abate, it shows relevant Shopify delivery work; neither example is presented here as Magento migration experience.

Frequently asked questions

What does Magento cost to run?

Magento Open Source has no licence fee, but your running cost includes hosting, maintenance and security work, extensions, payment processing and other services. Adobe Commerce adds your contracted licence or subscription. Enter actual costs rather than a generic benchmark; an efficient Magento setup may cost less than Shopify.

How much does a Magento to Shopify migration cost?

There is no universal price. Data quality, design, B2B, checkout, integrations and launch requirements change the scope. Enter a migration budget or an actual scoped quote. The example budget is illustrative, not an offer or market benchmark. Use our Magento to Shopify migration guide to prepare the scope.

Does Adobe publish Adobe Commerce licence pricing?

Adobe does not publish a fixed Commerce licence price on its Commerce pricing page; contact Adobe for a quote. Enter your actual subscription or licence cost here. Magento Open Source has zero licence cost, and cloud contracts should not have bundled hosting counted twice.

Is Shopify Plus cheaper than Adobe Commerce?

It depends on your Commerce quote, operational costs, payment mix, app budget and required integrations. Compare your actual Commerce contract with published Shopify US rates checked 21 October 2026 or your negotiated Plus quote. Sources: Shopify pricing and Shopify Plus. The calculator can show Plus costing more and does not establish feature parity.

How are payment processing and payback compared?

Current processing is either your annual amount or annual sales multiplied by your effective percentage. Shopify processing uses its plan rates, card mix and entered third-party provider fees. Payback divides the migration budget by positive monthly recurring savings including payments, rounds up, and reports only within 36 months. Missing provider fees make the comparison incomplete.

How is a Shopify subscription different from Magento hosting?

Shopify’s subscription includes platform hosting, but apps, custom integrations and ongoing development still need a budget. Magento hosting is one line alongside licence (if applicable), maintenance and extensions. Compare platform totals rather than a Shopify subscription with only a Magento hosting invoice.

When does staying on Magento make sense?

Staying can make sense when your business relies on deep platform customisation, established workflows, well-run infrastructure or integrations that would be costly to replace. If migration cost outweighs recurring savings, or Shopify cannot meet the requirements, a move may not be justified. Assess capabilities and operational risk alongside cost.