Shopify is a hosted commerce platform with a built-in checkout. Magento Open Source is installed on hosting you control. Adobe Commerce can be installed the same way, or run on Adobe Commerce on cloud infrastructure, an automated hosting platform on Amazon Web Services. The better choice depends on what your site has to do and who will run it.
With Shopify: app costs and app overlap add up as features are added. and product and collection URLs use fixed /products and /collections paths.
With Magento: self-hosted installs must match a tested stack of PHP, database, search engine and web server versions. and upgrades and extension compatibility need planned development time.
List the jobs the site must do, such as bookings, a store, listings or member logins.
Check each job against what each platform has built in, through add-ons or as custom work.
Decide who will update the site day to day, and how often.
Check what you could take with you if you move later.
| Criterion | Shopify | Magento |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting and upkeep[1][4] | Hosting is included with every Shopify plan. | Self-hosted installs need PHP, a MariaDB or MySQL database, a search engine such as OpenSearch and a web server, in version combinations Adobe tests. |
| Selling online[6][2][7] | Products and checkout are built in and managed from the Shopify admin. | Products, pricing, customers and stock are managed in the admin. |
| Custom code[8][9] | Theme files, including Liquid templates, can be edited in the code editor. | Themes and modules are developed in code. |
| Adding features[10][11] | Many features, such as bookings, come from apps in the Shopify App Store. | Extensions and themes come from the Adobe Commerce Marketplace. |
| Moving away later[12][7] | Products export to CSV, but the export leaves out product images. | The admin exports products, advanced pricing, customers and stock sources to CSV. |
Products export to CSV, but the export leaves out product images. Any move should map every old address to its new page with permanent redirects.[12][13]
The admin exports products, advanced pricing, customers and stock sources to CSV. Any move should map every old address to its new page with permanent redirects.[7][13]
Yes. Shopify is one of the platforms we build on, and we recommend it when it suits the jobs your site has to do. If another platform fits better, we say so. Magento is one of the platforms we build on, and we recommend it when it suits the jobs your site has to do. If another platform fits better, we say so.
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