Shopify vs Magento

Shopify or Magento: what’s the real difference?

The real difference in the Shopify vs Magento decision is that Shopify is a fully hosted, all-in-one platform that handles the technical side for you, while Magento (now split into free Magento Open Source and the paid Adobe Commerce) is self-hosted and gives you near-total control at the cost of needing to manage everything yourself. Shopify trades flexibility for simplicity; Magento trades simplicity for flexibility. Which is right depends on your resources, your need for customisation, and how much you want to manage.

Key Takeaways

• Shopify is a hosted SaaS platform (hosting, security, and updates included); Magento Open Source is free but self-hosted (you supply hosting and development).
• Shopify dominates in usage: it powers about 31.0% of all ecommerce systems versus Adobe Commerce/Magento’s 1.5% (W3Techs, 2026).
• Magento’s paid tier was renamed Adobe Commerce in 2021 and is quote-based; Magento Open Source remains free.
• Choose Shopify for speed and simplicity; choose Magento for deep customisation and control, if you have the technical resources.

These two platforms sit at opposite ends of the ecommerce spectrum, which is exactly why they’re so often compared. Shopify removes the technical burden so you can focus on selling; Magento hands you the keys to everything, which is a real advantage if you have developers and a burden if you don’t. The rest of this guide compares them on the dimensions that actually decide the choice: hosting, cost, ease of use, customisation, and scale.

The table below summarises how Shopify and Magento compare.

What’s the difference in hosting and setup?

The core difference is that Shopify hosts your store for you while Magento requires you to host it yourself, and that single distinction shapes almost everything else. With Shopify, hosting, security, performance, and software updates are included in your subscription; you sign up and start building without touching a server. That’s why a non-technical business can launch a Shopify store quickly.

Magento Open Source is the opposite: it’s free software you download and run on your own hosting, which means you, or your developers, are responsible for the server, performance, security patches, and updates. That control is the whole point for some businesses, since you can tune and configure everything, but it demands genuine technical capability or an agency to manage it. Adobe Commerce, the paid version, adds enterprise features and support but is still fundamentally a platform you (or Adobe’s cloud) host and maintain.

This hosting difference is the first filter in the decision. If you don’t have development resources and want to focus on selling rather than infrastructure, Shopify’s hosted model is a strong fit. If you have a team that wants to control the full stack, Magento’s self-hosted model offers a flexibility Shopify deliberately doesn’t. Our guide to custom ecommerce website development covers what that build involves either way.

How do Shopify and Magento compare on cost?

The platforms use fundamentally different cost models: Shopify charges a predictable monthly subscription, while Magento Open Source is free to license but carries the variable costs of hosting, development, and maintenance. Neither is automatically cheaper; the real total depends on your store’s complexity and whether you have in-house technical resources.

Shopify’s pricing is transparent and tiered. As of 2026 its main plans run from an entry tier (Basic, around $39 a month, less if billed annually) up through mid and advanced tiers, plus a lightweight Starter plan and the enterprise-level Shopify Plus; check Shopify’s pricing page for current figures, as they change. The appeal is predictability: one subscription covers hosting and the platform, so you know your baseline cost.

Magento’s cost is murkier because the software is only one part. Magento Open Source is free, but you pay for hosting, development, extensions, and ongoing maintenance, which for a serious store can add up well beyond a Shopify subscription. Adobe Commerce, the paid enterprise version, is quote-based rather than publicly priced and is aimed at large businesses, so its cost is significant. The practical takeaway: Shopify tends to be cheaper and more predictable for small and mid-sized stores, while Magento’s economics only make sense at scale or when deep customisation justifies the investment.

Which is easier to use and customise?

Shopify is far easier to use, while Magento offers deeper customisation, which is the central trade-off between them. Shopify is built for merchants, not developers: its admin is intuitive, themes are straightforward to apply, and most common features come built in or through its app store. A business owner with no technical background can run a Shopify store day to day, which is a large part of its appeal and its dominance.

Magento is built for flexibility, which makes it more capable and more demanding. Because it’s open-source and self-hosted, you can customise almost anything, the checkout, the catalogue logic, integrations, in ways Shopify’s framework doesn’t allow. But realising that flexibility usually requires developers, and even routine management is more technical than Shopify’s. Magento rewards businesses that have the resources to use its depth and frustrates those that don’t.

The usage numbers reflect this trade-off starkly. Shopify powers about 31.0% of all ecommerce systems, while Adobe Commerce (Magento) accounts for roughly 1.5% (W3Techs, 2026), a gap driven largely by Shopify’s accessibility to the vast number of small and mid-sized merchants who don’t have development teams. Magento remains a serious choice for large, complex stores, but Shopify’s ease of use has made it the default for most. Whichever you choose, keeping the store secure matters, as our guide to Magento website security explains for self-hosted stores.

How do Shopify and Magento compare on features and apps?

Both platforms cover the core ecommerce features, products, payments, checkout, shipping, but they extend differently: Shopify through a curated app store, Magento through open-ended development and extensions. Out of the box, Shopify includes most of what a typical store needs and adds the rest via its app marketplace, where you install integrations with a few clicks. That makes building a capable store fast, though some apps carry their own monthly fees, which can add up.

Magento takes the opposite approach. Its feature set is deep by default, especially for complex catalogues, multiple stores, and intricate pricing rules, and almost anything beyond that can be built or extended because the code is open. There’s a large marketplace of Magento extensions, but installing and maintaining them is more technical than Shopify’s one-click apps, and compatibility across versions needs managing. The upshot is that Shopify makes common features easy, while Magento makes uncommon, highly specific requirements possible.

The right lens is your actual requirements. If your needs map to features Shopify or its well-supported apps already provide, Shopify gets you there faster and with less maintenance. If you have requirements that standard platforms can’t meet, complex B2B pricing, deep ERP integration, highly custom workflows, Magento’s openness is where that becomes achievable. Most stores fall into the first category, which is part of why Shopify’s usage so far outstrips Magento’s.

Which platform scales better as your store grows?

Both platforms can scale, but they scale differently: Shopify scales by moving you up its plan tiers (and ultimately to Shopify Plus) while it handles the infrastructure, whereas Magento scales through the hosting and development you control. Neither has a hard ceiling that a serious business would hit quickly; the question is who does the work of scaling.

With Shopify, growth is largely a commercial decision rather than a technical one. As your volume rises you move to higher tiers or to Shopify Plus for enterprise needs, and Shopify continues to manage hosting, security, and performance behind the scenes. That keeps scaling simple, you’re not re-architecting your store, though costs rise with the tier and with transaction or app fees. For most growing businesses, that trade is worth it.

With Magento, scaling is something you engineer. Because you control the hosting and code, you can optimise the platform for very high volumes and very specific needs, which is why some large, complex retailers choose it. But that control means you (or Adobe Commerce’s cloud and your developers) are responsible for provisioning, performance tuning, and maintenance as you grow. Magento scales as far as your technical resources take it, which is a major advantage for enterprises and a burden for everyone else. The practical reading: Shopify scales with minimal effort for the vast majority of stores, while Magento suits organisations that want to own and engineer their scaling and have the team to do it.