WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento or Adobe Commerce
Compare control, running costs and delivery requirements, then check the support dates for your Magento version.
See the comparisonFour platforms, side by side
| Compared on | WooCommerce | Shopify / Plus | Magento Open Source | Adobe Commerce |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Often a fit for | Content-led stores and requirements that benefit from control of the code | Retailers that want managed infrastructure and a platform-led checkout | Complex catalogues with capacity to maintain the stack | Complex B2B, multi-brand or regional operations with a larger delivery budget |
| Control and portability | You choose hosting and can modify the open-source code; extensions have their own licences | You control the store, content and merchant records; Shopify operates the platform. Check exports and theme/app licences before moving | You choose hosting and can modify the open-source code; extensions have their own licences | Licensed platform; hosting and code access depend on the deployment and agreement |
| Platform cost | No licence | £19–£344 a month on standard plans; Plus from £1,800 a month | No licence | Licence priced by Adobe on revenue; a significant annual cost |
| Transaction fees | Payment-provider fees and any extension charges | Third-party transaction fees of 0.6%–2% on standard plans where applicable; exemptions depend on payment method and configuration | Payment-provider fees and any extension charges | Payment-provider fees and contract-dependent costs |
| Hosting | Yours to arrange | Included | Yours, and it needs serious hosting | Included on Adobe’s Cloud |
| Upkeep | Core, plugins, hosting and store journeys need ongoing checks | Core hosting and updates managed by Shopify; themes, apps, access and store journeys still need checks | Plan for patches, upgrades, hosting and integration testing | Plan for patches, upgrades and integration testing; hosting responsibilities vary |
| Customisation | Broad code access, within budget and maintenance constraints | Plan and API limits; advanced checkout extensions require Plus | Broad code access, with implementation and upgrade costs | Broad customisation, subject to product, licence and deployment constraints |
| B2B | Extensions or custom development; assess the actual workflows | B2B across plans; catalogue limits and advanced features vary by plan | Usually extensions or custom work for trade workflows | Built-in B2B capabilities; check edition and requirements |
| Multi-store and region | Possible; content, stock and integration architecture need planning | Markets and additional stores; check plan limits and costs | Multiple stores from one codebase; operational complexity remains | Multiple stores from one codebase; operational complexity remains |
| Front-end speed | Depends on theme, hosting, plugins and content | Managed infrastructure helps; themes, apps and content still affect speed | Hyvä can help; measure the actual build, hosting and integrations | Measure the chosen storefront, hosting and integrations |
| Delivery team | Widely available; experience with your stack matters | Theme and app skills differ; match specialists to the work | Specialist team and upgrade capacity needed | Specialist team and programme capacity needed |
| Lifecycle risk | Track core, plugin and PHP support | Track vendor changes, APIs and app dependencies | Version-specific: see support dates below | Version and deployment-specific: see support dates below |
| Moving away | Code access helps; data mapping and integration rebuilds still take work | Export relevant data; themes, apps and checkout workflows may need rebuilding | Code access helps; catalogue, data and integration migration can be substantial | Assess contract, data, custom code and replacement integrations |
This is a starting comparison, not a ranking. Catalogue, checkout, integrations, team capacity and total cost matter more than turnover alone. Shopify prices and fees were last checked on 24 September 2026. Feature distinctions reviewed 5 October 2026 against Shopify’s checkout guidance, B2B plan features and payment guidance; recheck the applicable plan before buying.
The Shopify question
Control and constraints. Shopify operates the core platform; you manage your store and merchant records. Standard checkout customisations are available from Basic, while advanced extensions on the information, shipping and payment pages require Plus. Apps can add capability and recurring costs. Third-party transaction fees apply to eligible payments, with exemptions: calculate the cost from your actual payment mix, not total revenue alone.
What you get. Shopify manages core hosting, updates and platform security. You still need to protect staff accounts, control app access, check configuration and look after customer data. Managed infrastructure can shorten a conventional store launch; theme, content and integration work determine the actual timetable.
More control, more responsibility
WooCommerce and Magento Open Source let you choose hosting and modify the core code. Adobe Commerce adds a commercial licence and deployment choices. Third-party extensions and services keep their own terms. More code access brings responsibility for patching, upgrades, performance and the team that maintains them.
Start with the requirements that matter: unusual pricing, checkout rules, trade-account workflows and connections to other systems. Check which platform and plan can meet them, what must be built, and what it will cost to maintain or move later.
One disclosure, every time: Shopify setup, theme configuration and integrations I handle. Deeper custom Shopify app development I bring in from specialists and manage. I won’t pretend to be the person writing a custom app.
Support ends on fixed dates
Magento is in a forced-decision window, and most merchants on it don’t know the dates. Extended support is an Adobe Commerce arrangement; on Magento Open Source, the standard date is the one that matters.
| Version | Standard support ends | Extended support ends |
|---|---|---|
| 2.4.4 | 12 Apr 2025 ended | 14 Apr 2026 ended |
| 2.4.5 | 12 Aug 2025 ended | 11 Aug 2026 ended |
| 2.4.6 | 11 Aug 2026 ended | 31 Aug 2027 |
| 2.4.7 | 31 May 2027 | 31 May 2028 |
| 2.4.8 | 31 May 2028 | Not yet published |
| 2.4.9 | 31 May 2029 | Not yet published |
Support dates verified against Adobe’s lifecycle policy on 4 October 2026. Extended support applies to Adobe Commerce only. Automatic patch metadata updates do not change these deadlines.
Two things compound it. Unpatched PHP is a direct PCI DSS problem, and older 2.4 releases run on PHP versions that no longer get security fixes. And Adobe’s policy says that from 1 June 2027 it will stop maintaining Cloud environments running unsupported versions, including suspending traffic to them: for a store, that means going offline.
Check your store’s versionWhat to do about it
If you’re on an older 2.4 release today, the honest first step is an assessment: don’t choose any of these before someone has read the estate.
The Magento end of support guide sets out the dates, what they mean and how to choose between these options.
A change worth knowing
The Hyvä theme, the modern front end for Magento, became free and open source in November 2025. Its licence fee is gone; some add-ons, such as Hyvä Checkout, are still paid.
That changes the pitch. A Magento front-end rebuild on Hyvä no longer carries a licence barrier, and the performance case, which is the reason it exists, now stands on its own. Plenty of merchants still believe it costs money to start.
A starting point
| Your situation | Starting recommendation |
|---|---|
| Content-heavy store, standard products | Assess WooCommerce and Shopify against content and maintenance needs |
| Limited internal infrastructure capacity | Assess Shopify; storefront, app and account responsibilities remain |
| Conventional retail, wants managed infrastructure | Assess Shopify; choose the plan from requirements, not turnover alone |
| Unusual pricing or bespoke logic, code access required | Compare WooCommerce, Magento and available Shopify APIs against the actual rules |
| B2B, trade accounts, contract pricing | Compare Shopify plan features, Adobe Commerce and extension-based options |
| Multi-region or multi-brand, one team | Map currencies, content, stock, permissions and integrations before choosing |
| On an out-of-support Magento release today | An assessment first. Don’t choose anything before reading the estate |
When WordPress is a useful starting point
For a business website with structured content and a team that needs to edit it, WordPress with Advanced Custom Fields and a custom theme is often a practical option. Compare its lifetime maintenance cost and editorial workflow with the alternatives before choosing.
Where WordPress is the wrong answer: true multi-site, multi-language, multi-brand governance at enterprise scale, where editorial workflow and approval chains are the actual requirement (that’s a different class of platform, and not something I offer); when the content is really an application; and regulated content that needs auditable approval chains built in.
Headless can help when several front ends use one content source, or when front-end delivery needs to run independently. It also adds integration and maintenance work; for a single website, establish what benefit justifies that cost.
Not the usual WordPress site
- A custom theme built against a design, not a marketplace theme bent into shape.
- Content modelled properly, so editors get fields rather than a page builder and a prayer.
- Plugin count kept deliberately low: every plugin is a dependency, a security surface and a future upgrade problem.
- Performance built in rather than bolted on with a caching plugin.
- A staging environment and a deployment route, not edits on production.
Working out which of these is right is a conversation, not a table
If you’re weighing it up, tell me what you sell and how, and I’ll tell you what I’d do.
Talk through your platformA clear route.
One connected process.
Good delivery starts before anyone builds. I work through the business need, the people involved and the systems already in place, then turn that into a scope you can make decisions against.
We agree priorities, responsibilities, milestone costs and what a finished result must do. As the work moves forward, I keep decisions and changes visible, coordinate the people delivering it and check the result against the brief.
You finish with more than a launch: documentation, clear ownership and a practical handover so your team can use and maintain what has been built.
Talk through your projectHave a project in mind, or something that needs untangling? Start with the situation.