Magento vs Shopify: enterprise self-hosted or hosted SaaS for large online stores?

As your online store grows to enterprise scale, you inevitably face the question: Magento or Shopify? Both platforms dominate the market for large e-commerce operations but represent radically different philosophies. Magento (Adobe Commerce) is a powerful self-hosted platform offering complete control and unlimited customization. Shopify (including Shopify Plus) is a hosted SaaS solution promising scalability and convenience without technical complexity.

In this article, we compare both platforms specifically from an enterprise perspective: Total Cost of Ownership, features for large stores, scalability, performance, and the question of whether you want self-hosted control or hosted convenience. This way you can make an informed choice that fits your organization, budget, and ambitions.

The fundamental difference: philosophy and ownership

Magento: the self-hosted enterprise platform

Magento Adobe Commerce is a self-hosted platform you fully own:

• Self-hosted: Install on your own servers or cloud infrastructure
• Open source foundation: Adobe Commerce Open Source is free, Adobe Commerce Cloud is paid
• Complete control: Access to all code, database, server configuration
• Unlimited customization: Build any functionality you need
• Data ownership: All your data stays on your servers

Philosophy: Maximum power and flexibility, but you're responsible for everything.

Shopify Plus: the hosted enterprise SaaS platform

Shopify Plus is the enterprise version of Shopify as fully hosted SaaS:

• Fully hosted: Shopify manages all infrastructure
• SaaS model: Monthly subscription, everything included
• Managed updates: Automatic updates and new features
• Limited customization: Adjustments within Shopify's framework
• Data on Shopify servers: You manage content, Shopify manages infrastructure

Philosophy: Maximum convenience and scalability, but you operate within Shopify's boundaries.

Enterprise features comparison

Multi-store and internationalization

Magento enterprise capabilities:

• Unlimited stores: Manage dozens of websites from one installation
• Shared catalog: One product database for all stores
• Per-store customizations: Unique designs, prices, promotions per store
• Multi-currency: Unlimited currencies
• Multi-language: Full localization per market
• Shared customer accounts: Customers can log in to all stores
• Centralized inventory: Inventory management across all stores

Shopify Plus capabilities:

• Maximum 10 stores on standard Plus plan (more at extra cost)
• Expansion stores: Extra stores at reduced rate ($229/month)
• Shopify Markets: Multi-country selling from one store
• Multi-currency: Via Shopify Payments
• Multi-language: Via apps or Shopify Markets
• Separate customer accounts: Customers per store
• Shared inventory: Possible but limited

Winner: Magento is superior for complex multi-store operations. Shopify Plus works for limited stores or via Markets.

B2B functionality

Magento B2B Commerce:

• Company accounts: Hierarchical company structures
• Role-based permissions: Detailed user rights
• Quote management: Quote system with approval flows
• Custom catalogs: Different catalogs per customer group
• Contract pricing: Customer-specific prices and discounts
• Purchase orders: B2B ordering procedures
• Credit limits: Credit limits per company
• Requisition lists: Reorder lists

Shopify Plus B2B:

• Shopify B2B: Native B2B features (new in 2023)
• Company profiles: Company accounts
• Custom pricing: Volume pricing and customer-specific prices
• Payment terms: Configure payment terms
• Draft orders: Create manual orders
• B2B checkout: Separate B2B checkout experience
• Limited complexity: Less advanced than Magento B2B

Winner: Magento for complex B2B. Shopify Plus B2B is suitable for simpler B2B use cases.

Product Information Management (PIM)

Magento PIM capabilities:

• Unlimited attributes: Unlimited product attributes
• Attribute sets: Group attributes per product type
• Configurable products: Complex product configurations with options
• Bundled products: Product bundles
• Grouped products: Related products as group
• Virtual products: Digital/service products
• Downloadable products: Downloadable content
• Advanced inventory: Multi-source inventory management

Shopify Plus PIM:

• 100 variants per product: Limit on product variations
• 3 options per variant: Maximum 3 variant dimensions (e.g. color, size, material)
• 250 products in collections: Limit on manual collections
• Metafields: Store extra data (requires apps or custom dev)
• Basic product types: Simple and variable products
• Inventory tracking: Per location

Winner: Magento for complex products and large catalogs. Shopify's 100 variants limit can be restrictive.

Customer segmentation and personalization

Magento segmentation:

• Dynamic customer segments: Automatic segments based on behavior, purchases, characteristics
• Targeted promotions: Price rules per segment
• Personalized content: Content blocks per customer segment
• Advanced rules: Complex segmentation logic
• Real-time updates: Segments update in real-time

Shopify Plus segmentation:

• Customer tags: Manual or automated tagging
• Shopify Flow: Automation for tagging and actions
• Limited native segmentation: Basic segmentation functionality
• Apps required: Advanced personalization via apps (extra costs)
• Shopify Scripts: Custom logic for cart, shipping, payments (Plus only)

Winner: Magento for advanced segmentation and personalization. Shopify Plus has basic functionality.

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) comparison

Magento TCO breakdown

License costs:

• Adobe Commerce Open Source: Free
• Adobe Commerce (on-premise): $22,000 - $125,000/year (depending on GMV)
• Adobe Commerce Cloud: $40,000 - $200,000+/year

Infrastructure costs:

• Managed Magento hosting: $500 - $3,000/month
• AWS/Azure cloud: $1,000 - $10,000+/month (depending on traffic and data)
• CDN (Fastly, Cloudflare): $200 - $1,000/month
• Elasticsearch: $100 - $500/month
• Redis/Varnish: Often included in hosting

Development and maintenance:

• Initial development: $50,000 - $500,000+ (custom features, design, integrations)
• Ongoing development: $2,000 - $10,000/month
• Magento specialists: $75 - $150/hour
• Upgrades and patches: $5,000 - $20,000/year

Extensions:

• Enterprise extensions: $500 - $5,000 per extension
• Average 10-20 extensions: $10,000 - $50,000 one-time

Total Magento TCO (3 years):

• Small enterprise ($2M GMV): $150,000 - $300,000
• Medium enterprise ($10M GMV): $300,000 - $600,000
• Large enterprise ($50M+ GMV): $600,000 - $2,000,000+

Shopify Plus TCO breakdown

Platform costs:

• Shopify Plus: $2,000/month base ($24,000/year)
• Or: 0.25% of GMV if higher
• At $10M GMV: $25,000/year
• At $50M GMV: $125,000/year
• At $200M GMV: $500,000/year (often negotiated to lower percentage)

Transaction fees:

• With Shopify Payments: 1.5% - 1.9% payment processing fees
• With external gateway: 0.15% extra transaction fee (reduced Plus rate)
• At $10M GMV with Mollie: ~$15,000/year extra in transaction fees

Apps and extensions:

• Enterprise apps: $100 - $1,000/month per app
• Average 10-15 apps: $3,000 - $10,000/month ($36,000 - $120,000/year)

Development:

• Shopify Plus agency setup: $20,000 - $100,000
• Custom theme development: $15,000 - $50,000
• Shopify Scripts: $5,000 - $20,000
• Ongoing development: $1,000 - $5,000/month

Total Shopify Plus TCO (3 years):

• Small enterprise ($2M GMV): $120,000 - $200,000
• Medium enterprise ($10M GMV): $200,000 - $400,000
• Large enterprise ($50M+ GMV): $500,000 - $1,500,000+

TCO comparison per scale

GMV per year	Magento 3-year TCO	Shopify Plus 3-year TCO	Difference
$2M	$150,000 - $300,000	$120,000 - $200,000	Shopify ~$50K cheaper
$10M	$300,000 - $600,000	$200,000 - $400,000	Shopify ~$150K cheaper
$50M	$600,000 - $1,200,000	$500,000 - $1,000,000	Roughly equal
$200M+	$1,000,000 - $2,500,000	$1,500,000 - $3,000,000+	Magento cheaper

TCO conclusion:

• Up to $50M GMV: Shopify Plus is often cheaper and more predictable
• Above $50M GMV: Magento becomes more competitive, especially with many custom requirements
• Highest scale ($200M+): Magento is cheaper because Shopify's percentage-based pricing runs high

Hosting and infrastructure

Magento hosting requirements

Server requirements (per store):

• Production: 4-8 CPU cores, 8-16GB RAM, SSD storage
• Database: Dedicated MySQL/MariaDB server
• Elasticsearch: 2-4GB RAM dedicated
• Redis: For caching and sessions
• Varnish: Full page cache (optional but recommended)

Hosting options:

1. Managed Magento hosting (Nexcess, MGT-Commerce, Hypernode)

   • $500 - $3,000/month
   • Magento-specific optimizations
   • Pre-configured stack
   • Support from Magento experts

2. Cloud infrastructure (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure)

   • $1,000 - $10,000+/month
   • Full control
   • Horizontal scaling possible
   • DevOps team required

3. Adobe Commerce Cloud

   • Included with Adobe Commerce Cloud license
   • Managed Magento infrastructure
   • CDN, staging environments included
   • Most expensive option but fully managed

Scalability: Horizontal scaling possible but complex. Requires load balancing, database replication, etc.

For more info on hosting options, check our guide on best Magento hosting.

Shopify Plus infrastructure

Server requirements: None, fully hosted

What Shopify manages:

• Unlimited bandwidth
• Unlimited storage
• CDN worldwide
• 99.98% uptime SLA
• Automatic scaling
• DDoS protection
• SSL certificates
• Automatic backups

Scalability: Fully automatic. Shopify handles Black Friday traffic for thousands of stores without your intervention.

Limitations:

• No server access
• No custom server-side code
• API rate limits (2 requests/second standard, 4 requests/second Plus)

Winner: Shopify Plus for worry-free infrastructure. Magento for full control and customization.

Performance and speed

Magento performance

Potential:

• Excellent with good optimization
• Sub-2 second page loads possible
• Scalable to millions of pageviews/day

Challenges:

• Out-of-the-box slow without optimization
• Requires expertise for good performance
• Much configuration needed (Varnish, Redis, Elasticsearch tuning)
• Extensions can negatively affect performance

Optimization required:

• Full page caching (Varnish)
• Block caching (Redis)
• Database optimization
• Image optimization
• JavaScript/CSS bundling and minification
• CDN integration

Benchmark: Well-optimized Magento stores can handle 500-1000+ orders per minute.

Shopify Plus performance

Out-of-the-box:

• Excellent without configuration
• Average 1-2 second page loads
• CDN worldwide standard
• Image optimization automatic

Advantages:

• Consistently fast, little configuration
• Shopify continuously optimizes infrastructure
• No performance degradation during traffic spikes
• Apps can slow down but impact limited

Limitations:

• Less control over optimization
• Liquid templating can be suboptimal
• Too many apps slow down site

Benchmark: Shopify handles 10,000+ orders per minute during Black Friday/Cyber Monday.

Winner: Shopify Plus for consistent, worry-free performance. Magento can be faster but requires expertise.

Development and customization

Magento development

Architecture:

• Modern PHP (7.4+, 8.1+)
• MVC architecture
• Dependency injection
• Service contracts (APIs)
• GraphQL and REST APIs
• Knockout.js frontend (migration to PWA)

Customization possibilities:

• Full code access
• Develop custom modules
• Override any aspect of platform
• Custom database tables
• Server-side processing
• Cron jobs
• Custom integrations

Developer resources:

• Smaller but specialized community
• Magento Certified Developers
• Developer rates: $75 - $150/hour
• Longer development time due to complexity

Best for:

• Complex custom functionality
• Deep ERP/PIM integrations
• Custom business logic
• Unique checkout flows
• Advanced promotion engines

Shopify Plus development

Architecture:

• Liquid templating language
• JavaScript (React for themes)
• Shopify APIs (REST, GraphQL, Storefront API)
• Shopify Scripts (Plus only, Ruby)
• Shopify Flow (automation)

Customization possibilities:

• Theme adjustments (Liquid)
• Custom apps (private or public)
• Shopify Scripts (cart, shipping, payment logic)
• Metafields for extra data
• Webhook automations
• No server-side code in platform itself

Developer resources:

• Large developer community
• Shopify Partner developers
• Developer rates: $50 - $100/hour
• Faster development possible

Best for:

• Standard e-commerce with custom branding
• API integrations
• Workflow automations
• Adding/configuring apps

Winner: Magento for complex, deep customizations. Shopify Plus for faster standard development.

Integrations and APIs

Magento integrations

Native integrations:

• Payment gateways (Braintree, PayPal, etc.)
• Shipping carriers
• Tax calculation
• Basic analytics

API capabilities:

• REST API (very complete)
• GraphQL API (modern, performant)
• SOAP API (legacy but still supported)
• Webhooks
• Bulk APIs

Integration patterns:

• Direct API calls
• Message queues (RabbitMQ)
• Service bus integrations
• Custom middleware
• Full flexibility

Common enterprise integrations:

• ERP (SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite)
• PIM (Akeneo, InRiver)
• CRM (Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics)
• OMS (Order Management Systems)
• WMS (Warehouse Management Systems)
• Custom legacy systems

Winner for integrations: Magento through full API and custom integration capabilities.

Shopify Plus integrations

Native integrations:

• Shopify Payments
• 100+ payment gateways
• Shipping carriers
• Email marketing (Klaviyo, Mailchimp)
• Accounting (Xero, QuickBooks)

API capabilities:

• REST Admin API
• GraphQL Admin API
• Storefront API (headless commerce)
• Webhooks
• Bulk operations API

Integration patterns:

• App ecosystem (many pre-built integrations)
• Shopify Flow (low-code automation)
• Custom apps
• Middleware platforms (Zapier, Celigo)

Common enterprise integrations:

• ERP (NetSuite, SAP via apps/middleware)
• PIM (via apps like Plytix, Salsify)
• CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce via apps)
• OMS (via apps)
• Apps required for most enterprise systems

Winner for integrations: Magento for deep, custom integrations. Shopify Plus for app-based integrations.

Scalability and growth

Magento scalability

Product catalog:

• Tested to millions of products
• Performance dependent on hardware and optimization
• Complex catalog management possible

Traffic and orders:

• Horizontal scaling to thousands of requests/second
• Load balancing across multiple web servers
• Database replication for read performance
• Elasticsearch clusters for search functionality

Examples:

• Coca-Cola: Multiple store views, international
• Ford: Parts catalog with millions of SKUs
• Omega Watches: Luxury e-commerce, multi-country

Limiting factors:

• Infrastructure costs rise linearly with scale
• Complexity increases
• Requires DevOps expertise

Shopify Plus scalability

Product catalog:

• Tested to 1 million+ products
• 100 variants per product remains limiting
• Performance consistent regardless of catalog size

Traffic and orders:

• Automatic scaling
• Shopify handles 10,000+ orders/minute platform-wide
• No action needed during traffic spikes

Examples:

• Kylie Cosmetics: Millions in revenue, high traffic spikes
• Gymshark: $500M+ revenue on Shopify Plus
• Allbirds: International growth, multicurrency

Limiting factors:

• API rate limits
• Platform costs rise with GMV
• Customization boundaries

Winner: Both scale excellently, but differently. Magento requires planning and infrastructure, Shopify Plus is automatic.

Security and compliance

Magento security

Responsibilities:

• You're responsible for security
• Server hardening
• Regular patches and updates
• Security monitoring
• Penetration testing

Features:

• Two-factor authentication
• Password encryption
• Secure payment handling
• CAPTCHA
• Security patches from Adobe

Compliance:

• PCI DSS: Your responsibility (hosting and platform)
• GDPR: Tools available, implementation up to you
• ISO certifications: Depends on your setup

Risk: Security is your responsibility. Without good management, platform is vulnerable.

Shopify Plus security

Responsibilities:

• Shopify manages platform security
• Automatic patches
• Security monitoring
• DDoS protection

Features:

• Two-factor authentication
• SSL certificates included
• PCI DSS Level 1 compliant (Shopify handles this)
• SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3 certified
• GDPR compliance tools

Compliance:

• PCI DSS: Shopify is certified
• GDPR: Tools built-in
• ISO 27001 certified

Risk: Minimal. Shopify's security team manages everything.

Winner: Shopify Plus for worry-free enterprise-grade security. Magento is equally secure but requires your effort.

Comparison table: Magento vs Shopify Plus

Aspect	Magento (Adobe Commerce)	Shopify Plus
Hosting	Self-hosted	Fully hosted (SaaS)
License	$22K - $125K/year (or free Open Source)	$24K/year or 0.25% GMV
Infrastructure costs	$500 - $3,000+/month	Included
TCO ($10M GMV, 3 years)	$300,000 - $600,000	$200,000 - $400,000
TCO ($200M GMV, 3 years)	$1,000,000 - $2,500,000	$1,500,000 - $3,000,000+
Setup time	3-12 months	2-6 months
Customization	Unlimited (full code access)	Limited (within Shopify framework)
Multi-store	Unlimited stores	10 stores (more at extra cost)
Product variants	Unlimited	100 per product
B2B functionality	Very advanced	Good (new, less advanced)
APIs	REST, GraphQL, SOAP	REST, GraphQL
Performance	Excellent (with optimization)	Excellent (out-of-the-box)
Scalability	Unlimited (requires planning)	Unlimited (automatic)
Security	Your responsibility	Shopify managed
PCI compliance	Your responsibility	Shopify handles
Developer needed	Yes, dedicated team	Shopify Partner, fewer resources
Maintenance	Ongoing developer work	Minimal
Data ownership	Full control	Data is yours, platform is Shopify's
Vendor lock-in	None (open source)	High
Best for	Complex, custom enterprise	Fast growth, standard e-commerce
Ideal GMV	$10M - $500M+	$5M - $200M

When do you choose Magento?

Magento is the best choice if:

1. You have very complex product catalogs: More than 100 variants per product, configurable products, complex bundles.

2. You need deep customization: Custom business logic, unique checkout flows, specific promotion engines that aren't standard.

3. You have complex B2B requirements: Custom pricing per customer, quote management, approval flows, credit limits.

4. You need many custom integrations: Deep ERP/PIM integrations, custom legacy systems, specific middleware requirements.

5. Data ownership is crucial: Full control over data, hosting on own servers or specific cloud provider.

6. Your GMV is above $100M+: Magento's TCO becomes more competitive at very high scale (Shopify's percentage-based pricing runs high).

7. You're a multi-store expert: Managing 10+ stores/brands from one installation with shared resources.

8. You have a dedicated development team: Inhouse or external Magento experts for ongoing development and maintenance.

9. You don't want vendor lock-in: Open source platform, always migrate to other hosting or fork the platform.

10. You have specific compliance requirements: Data residency (data must stay in specific country), custom security requirements.

Want to know more about Magento? Read our comprehensive guide what is Magento for all details.

When do you choose Shopify Plus?

Shopify Plus is the best choice if:

1. You want to scale quickly without technical overhead: Focus on growth, not on infrastructure and development.

2. You want predictable costs: All-in-one price, no surprises with hosting or infrastructure.

3. You don't want a dedicated development team: Shopify Partners can help, but ongoing maintenance is minimal.

4. You need standard e-commerce functionality: Catalog, checkout, payments, promotions work out-of-the-box.

5. Your GMV is between $5M - $100M: Sweet spot for Shopify Plus TCO.

6. You want worry-free scalability: Black Friday traffic? Shopify handles it automatically.

7. You want enterprise security without effort: PCI DSS, GDPR compliance, SOC certifications included.

8. You want fast international expansion: Shopify Markets makes multi-country selling easy.

9. You value the app ecosystem: Pre-built integrations for most enterprise tools (ERP, CRM, email marketing).

10. You prioritize fast time-to-market: 2-6 months live versus 6-12 months for Magento.

Hybrid and alternative options

Adobe Commerce Cloud vs Shopify Plus

If you want Magento's power but Shopify's convenience:

Adobe Commerce Cloud:

• Fully managed Magento infrastructure
• Adobe manages hosting, updates, security
• More expensive ($40K - $200K+/year)
• All Magento functionality
• Best of both worlds (but highest price)

Headless commerce

Both platforms can go headless:

Magento headless:

• GraphQL API for frontend
• React/Vue.js custom frontend
• Magento as backend/admin
• Full customization frontend

Shopify headless:

• Storefront API (GraphQL)
• React/Next.js frontend
• Shopify as backend
• Hydrogen framework (Shopify's React framework)

When headless:

• Custom user experience crucial
• Omnichannel (web, mobile app, POS, etc.)
• Performance optimization
• Extra development costs: $50K - $200K for custom frontend

Migration scenarios

From Shopify Plus to Magento

Reasons:

• GMV too high (Shopify percentage becomes too expensive)
• Customization limits reached
• Complex B2B requirements
• Data ownership demands

Process:

• Data migration tools (Cart2Cart, LitExtension)
• Design rebuild (Shopify Liquid → Magento)
• Redevelop custom functionality
• Time investment: 4-8 months
• Costs: $100,000 - $500,000

From Magento to Shopify Plus

Reasons:

• Technical debt too high
• Development costs too high
• Scalability problems
• Want worry-free hosting

Process:

• Data migration (products, customers, orders)
• Shopify Plus setup
• Apps for missing functionality
• Possible functionality loss
• Time investment: 3-6 months
• Costs: $50,000 - $200,000

Winner for migration: Both directions possible but costly. Choose the right platform at start.

Which platform fits your organization?

Choose Magento if your organization:

• ✅ Has dedicated development team (inhouse or nearshore)
• ✅ Has complex, unique e-commerce requirements
• ✅ Has GMV above $100M or rapidly growing to $200M+
• ✅ Wants full control over tech stack
• ✅ Needs deep system integrations (ERP, PIM, custom systems)
• ✅ Wants to be multi-store expert (10+ brands/countries)
• ✅ B2B functionality is crucial
• ❌ BUT: has budget for $300K - $600K+ TCO over 3 years
• ❌ BUT: 6-12 months implementation time is acceptable

Choose Shopify Plus if your organization:

• ✅ Wants to scale quickly without technical overhead
• ✅ Wants to focus on marketing and sales, not tech
• ✅ Has GMV between $5M - $100M
• ✅ Wants predictable, all-in costs
• ✅ Wants worry-free infrastructure and security
• ✅ Standard e-commerce is sufficient
• ✅ Wants to go live quickly (2-6 months)
• ✅ App ecosystem sufficient for integrations
• ❌ BUT: can live with platform limitations
• ❌ BUT: accepts vendor lock-in

Practical decision framework

Use this checklist for your decision:

Budget check:

• We have $300K+ for 3 years (consider both)
• We have $150K-$300K for 3 years (Shopify Plus more affordable)
• We have < $150K for 3 years (Magento Open Source or Shopify Plus basic)

Complexity check:

• We need >100 product variants (Magento)
• We have complex B2B requirements (Magento)
• We have deep custom business logic (Magento)
• Standard e-commerce suffices (Shopify Plus)

Team check:

• We have dedicated dev team (Magento possible)
• We have Magento expertise (Magento advantage)
• We have no tech team (Shopify Plus)
• We want to focus on business, not tech (Shopify Plus)

Scale check:

• GMV < $50M (Shopify Plus often more affordable)
• GMV $50M - $100M (Both competitive)
• GMV > $100M (Magento more competitive)
• GMV > $200M (Magento significantly more affordable)

Control check:

• Data ownership crucial (Magento)
• Vendor lock-in no issue (Shopify Plus)
• Custom hosting requirements (Magento)
• Worry-free hosting desired (Shopify Plus)

The choice between Magento and Shopify Plus depends on your scale, complexity, team, and priorities. Shopify Plus offers speed, convenience, and predictability - ideal for rapidly growing stores that want to focus on business. Magento offers unparalleled power, flexibility, and control - essential for complex enterprise e-commerce with unique requirements. At very high scale ($200M+ GMV), Magento also becomes financially more attractive. Don't choose based on buzz, but based on your specific situation, ambitions, and resources.