Shopify vs Magento (Adobe Commerce): Complete Comparison 2026

An in-depth comparison of features, pricing, and user experience to help you make the right choice.

Shopify

8.6(12,400 reviews)

All-in-one ecommerce platform to build an online store, sell across channels, and manage payments, shipping, and inventory.

7.6(5,300 reviews)

Enterprise open-source ecommerce platform for large catalogs, complex B2B, and high-volume stores needing full customization.

Aspect	Shopify	Magento (Adobe Commerce)
Best For	Small to mid-size businesses wanting the fastest setup with minimal technical skills	Enterprise retailers with 50,000+ SKUs and complex catalog requirements
Pricing Model	Subscription	Open Source
Starting Price	$39/mo	Free
Deployment	cloud	cloud, on premise, self hosted
Platforms	WEB, IOS, ANDROID	WEB
Rating	8.6/10	7.6/10

Store setup takes hours — the fastest path from idea to first sale in the industry
Checkout converts at 15% higher rates than average thanks to Shop Pay and constant A/B testing
Over 8,000 apps cover every feature you could possibly need
Shopify Payments eliminates third-party gateway complexity and extra transaction fees
Infrastructure handles massive traffic spikes without you touching a server

Monthly costs balloon to $200-400+ once you add the 6-12 apps most stores need
Transaction fees of 0.6-2% on every sale if you use any gateway besides Shopify Payments
Blog and content management are basic — nowhere near WordPress capabilities
Migrating away is painful due to proprietary Liquid templating and limited data export
Theme customization hits walls quickly without Liquid coding knowledge

Handles 100K+ SKUs and complex product configurations that crash simpler platforms
Multi-store management lets you run dozens of brands and languages from one admin panel
B2B features are the deepest in the industry — shared catalogs, requisition lists, company accounts, negotiated quotes
Complete code ownership (Open Source) means zero platform lock-in or transaction fees
Staging and content scheduling lets you preview and launch coordinated changes across the entire store

Total cost of ownership starts at $50K/year minimum — not viable for businesses under $5M in revenue
Requires specialized Magento developers ($100-250/hour) for setup, customization, and maintenance
Performance requires serious infrastructure — cheap hosting guarantees slow page loads
Adobe Commerce pricing is opaque and negotiated individually, making budgeting difficult
Upgrade complexity between major versions has historically been painful and expensive

Product	Pricing Model	Starting Price
Shopify	subscription	$39/mo
Magento (Adobe Commerce)	open source	Free0

Choose Shopify if...

Small to mid-size businesses wanting the fastest setup with minimal technical skills

Choose Magento (Adobe Commerce) if...

Enterprise retailers with 50,000+ SKUs and complex catalog requirements

Explore more alternatives or read in-depth reviews to make your decision.