PLATFORM COMPARISON
Shopify vs Magento Total Cost of Ownership: Every Cost Line
Shopify prices the platform line in public. On Magento the same budget splits into hosting, extensions and developer time, which depend on the quotes you collect. This page shows each line, runs the Shopify fee arithmetic over 36 months, and lists the Magento inputs you fill in, with Orange Collar Media's own support rates for the development line.
✦ FEATURES
Feature comparison.
| FEATURE | SHOPIFY | MAGENTO |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Monthly subscription. US pricing, checked October 2026: Basic $29, Grow $89, Advanced $359 a month on yearly billing. | The Magento README names OSL 3.0 and states no price for Open Source. It recommends Adobe Commerce, which it says includes Adobe's cloud architecture and hosting. |
| Hosting | The pricing page lists unlimited web hosting on the Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus plans and does not itemize a price. | Not part of the software. Adobe's system requirements page lists supported PHP, search engine and database versions for each release and no hosting prices. |
| Checkout customization | Apps extend checkout with UI extensions and Shopify Functions. | Adobe's developer docs cover custom integrations and extensions, App Builder and a Marketplace section. |
| Extension marketplace | The App Store page states over 16,000 apps. | Adobe's developer docs link to a Marketplace seller guide and to App Builder. |
✦ COST OF OWNERSHIP
Cost of ownership.
| COST ITEM | SHOPIFY | MAGENTO |
|---|---|---|
| Platform fee, entry and mid plans (US pricing, checked October 2026) | Basic $39 a month, Grow $105, Advanced $399 on monthly billing. Yearly billing is $29, $89 and $359 a month, which is $348, $1,068 and $4,308 for 12 months (12 x $29, 12 x $89, 12 x $359). | The README states no price for Open Source. Open Source is the edition this row covers. |
| Platform fee, enterprise (US pricing, checked October 2026) | Shopify Plus starts at $2,500 a month on a 1-year term and $2,300 on a 3-year term. The Plus page says more complex, higher volume businesses move to a variable platform fee based on revenue and business model, and gives no percentage. | Adobe Commerce is a separate edition. We found no license price on the pages we reviewed, so this page uses none. |
| Third-party payment gateway | Using a gateway other than Shopify Payments adds a fee: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus. | No platform-side gateway line appears in the sources we reviewed. Your processor sets its own rates. |
| Card processing | With Shopify Payments, standard online card rates are 2.9% + 30 cents on Basic, 2.5% + 30 cents on Advanced and 2.25% + 30 cents on Plus. | Set by the processor you choose and your contract with it. |
| Hosting | Included. The pricing page lists unlimited web hosting on every plan. | Hosting quote in USD a month. Your input; this page uses no figure because we did not source one. |
| Apps and extensions | Apps set their own prices. The App Store page shows listings from free to a stated $399 a month. | Extension vendor prices in USD a year. Your input; this page uses no figure because we did not source one. |
| Development and support | Shopify publishes no development rate. Use your agency or in-house cost. | Orange Collar Media's Magento support rates (our own, not a market average): a 20-hour block for $3,800, which is $190 an hour; or a 12-month contract at 20 hours a month and $160 an hour. |
| Ongoing maintenance, Magento | Shopify's plan covers hosting. We found no Shopify page that prices maintenance of your own theme or apps. | On the Orange Collar Media 12-month contract, 20 hours x $160 = $3,200 a month, or $38,400 over 12 months (12 x $3,200). Adobe publishes end dates for regular support on each release line, for example May 31, 2027 for 2.4.7, so version upgrades are a recurring job. |
| Worked example: 36 months of Shopify platform fees | Advanced, yearly billing: $359 x 36 = $12,924. Plus, 1-year term: $2,500 x 36 = $90,000. Plus, 3-year term: $2,300 x 36 = $82,800. These exclude apps, card fees, any variable platform fee and development. | Fee-only comparison is not possible. Magento total = hosting + extensions + development + maintenance. Hosting and extensions are your quotes. Development and maintenance use the Orange Collar Media rates above. Add them yourself once you have the two quotes. |
✦ MIGRATION
Migration effort.
Switching platforms adds a one-off cost on top of the running costs above. Catalog, customer and order data must be mapped field by field. Themes, custom apps or modules, and checkout logic are rebuilt rather than moved. Redirects and integrations with your ERP, payment provider and carriers are the lines most often underestimated. Get a scoped estimate before you compare totals, because a rebuild cost on one side can outweigh a year of subscription fees on the other.
✦ CHOOSING
Which fits your store.
Choose Shopify if
- You want most platform cost on one published price list.
- You would rather not carry a hosting line in the budget.
- You want to compare quotes against a public rate card.
Choose Magento if
- You can budget hosting and development as separate lines.
- You want to pick your own host, payment gateway and extensions.
- You have, or can hire, people to maintain a PHP codebase and apply upgrades.
✦ QUESTIONS MERCHANTS ASK
Common questions.
Is Shopify cheaper than Magento?+–
No sourced figure answers that. Shopify's platform line is public: $359 a month for Advanced on yearly billing, or $12,924 over 36 months. Magento's hosting and extension lines are not priced on this page, so compare against real quotes for your requirements.
What does a Shopify store cost beyond the plan?+–
Apps, card processing and development. Using a gateway other than Shopify Payments adds 2% on Basic, down to 0.2% on Plus. Card rates on Shopify Payments run from 2.9% + 30 cents on Basic to 2.25% + 30 cents on Plus.
What does a Magento store cost beyond the software?+–
Hosting, extensions, payment processing and developer time. For developer time, Orange Collar Media charges $190 an hour on a 20-hour block ($3,800) or $160 an hour on a 12-month contract of 20 hours a month.
Is hosting free on Shopify?+–
It is included. The pricing page lists unlimited web hosting on the Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus plans and does not break out a price for it.
What does Shopify Plus cost over three years?+–
On the 1-year term at $2,500 a month, 36 months is $90,000. On the 3-year term at $2,300 a month, it is $82,800. A variable platform fee may apply to higher volume businesses.
Why no single Magento total?+–
We did not source a vendor price for hosting or extensions, so any total would include invented numbers. The table gives the formula and our own rates for the parts we can sign.
SOURCES
- Shopify pricing (opens in a new tab)
- Shopify Plus pricing (opens in a new tab)
- Shopify developer docs: Checkout (opens in a new tab)
- Shopify App Store (opens in a new tab)
- Adobe Commerce system requirements (opens in a new tab)
- Magento on GitHub (README and license) (opens in a new tab)
- Adobe Commerce developer documentation (opens in a new tab)
- Adobe Commerce release versions (opens in a new tab)
- Orange Collar Media Magento support rates (opens in a new tab)