Choosing an e-commerce platform when you’re scaling up isn’t just about features. It’s about whether the system will let your business grow or hold it back.
Magento 2 and Shopify Plus both claim to support growth. One gives you full control. The other gives you simplicity. But there’s a cost to both — in money, time, and flexibility.
Which one is right when your business is scaling fast?
What Scaling Actually Means in E-Commerce
Scaling doesn’t just mean more traffic. It means complexity. More orders, more SKUs, more automation, more integrations, more customer types. Magento 2 and Shopify Plus both offer ways to handle that growth, but they approach it in completely different ways.
Magento 2 is open source. That means developers can access everything. You can build what you want, connect it to anything, and run it how you like. It’s flexible, but you carry the load. Hosting, updates, testing — all yours.
Shopify Plus is a hosted SaaS product. You can’t see the source code. You don’t manage infrastructure. But you’re working within someone else’s rules. Some APIs are throttled. Some changes require workarounds. And once you hit those walls, there’s not much you can do.
Here’s how the platforms differ when it comes to real-world scaling:
- Customisation: Magento allows backend and frontend custom logic. Shopify Plus limits this — checkout customisation is restricted, unless you’re on Shopify’s own payment gateway.
- Infrastructure scaling: Magento can be containerised (Kubernetes, Docker), horizontally scaled and tuned for high performance. Shopify is managed, but you don’t control server behaviour or caching rules.
- Multi-store handling: Magento supports multi-site, multi-language, and multi-currency from one backend. Shopify requires cloning stores or apps to achieve the same.
- Checkout logic: Magento allows complete control over checkout flows. Shopify Plus allows scripts, but within a sandboxed environment.
One isn’t automatically better. But if your business is expanding to multiple countries, dealing with B2B pricing rules, or integrating ERP/CRM systems, Magento often gives more breathing room.
Cost Comparison: Total Ownership, Not Just Subscription Fees
Shopify Plus costs around $2,000/month minimum, with fees increasing based on your revenue. According to Shopify, stores doing over $800,000/month could pay up to $40,000/year or more.
Magento 2 Open Source is free to install. But hosting, development, and maintenance add up. Expect to spend €20,000–€80,000/year running a serious Magento site, depending on complexity.
But here’s the catch: Shopify charges transaction fees unless you use Shopify Payments. If you use Stripe or PayPal, they’ll add another 0.15–2% per transaction.
That means:
- A €3M/year store on Shopify could pay €30,000+ in transaction fees alone
- Magento lets you choose your own processor with no platform penalty
Shopify Plus is predictable, but with a ceiling. Magento can start cheaper but scale higher, depending on how efficient your setup is.
Infrastructure costs for Magento vary. On AWS or Google Cloud, monthly spend might be €400–€2,000/month for medium to large stores. But performance is yours to optimise.
Both platforms require developers. Shopify for theme tweaks, app setups, and custom scripts. Magento for full custom modules, backend logic, and DevOps.
If your business model needs control over pricing engines, third-party integrations, or multi-warehouse logic, Magento ends up cheaper long-term. If you want a clean setup with little flexibility, Shopify wins on convenience.
Where Shopify Plus Hits Its Limits (And Magento Doesn’t)
This section goes longer — because the real platform differences show up here.
Let’s talk integrations. Shopify has a big app marketplace, and many tools connect easily. But that only goes so far. Large businesses often need custom APIs, ERP syncs, or headless frontends.
Shopify’s API rate limits become a problem fast. According to their own docs, the Admin API limit is 4 requests per second on Plus plans (Shopify API docs). Magento’s API doesn’t throttle requests — performance is up to your server setup.
This matters when:
- You sync thousands of products from a PIM
- You want to run bulk updates during peak hours
- You rely on middleware to bridge multiple systems
Shopify scripts are also limited. Checkout scripts can’t talk to external systems or use server-side logic. You can’t add address validation or tiered pricing on the fly unless using Shopify Payments and a specific theme setup.
Magento lets you inject logic anywhere. Cart, checkout, customer accounts, admin panels — all customisable. If you need B2B pricing tiers, complex product bundles, or multi-user accounts, Magento supports this natively.
Multi-store setup is another major roadblock for Shopify. Each language or region requires a separate store — and each one carries its own product data, apps, and settings. Magento handles all of this from one backend.
Even when using Shopify Markets, which was introduced to solve global selling, you still deal with:
- Limited pricing flexibility per region
- Shared content across markets
- Complex app and theme duplication
Magento lets you tailor pricing, tax, delivery rules, and catalogue visibility by store, language, and customer group — no cloning needed.
Tools like Akeneo PIM connect well with Magento for product data syndication. Shopify often needs middleware or custom apps to achieve the same.
If you’re planning to go headless, Magento also supports GraphQL and decoupled frontends using PWA Studio or Vue Storefront. Shopify Hydrogen (Shopify’s own headless toolkit) is limited to their own stack and still under active development.
This all adds up.
If you’re building a business where tech needs to move with your growth — not against it — Shopify becomes more brittle. Magento, while more work, doesn’t force you into corners.
Who Should Choose What — And When to Switch
If you want to sell fast, with limited complexity, and you’re under €1M/year in sales, Shopify Plus gives peace of mind. It takes care of hosting, PCI compliance, backups, and updates. You won’t need a sysadmin.
But if you:
- Sell in multiple currencies with country-specific tax rules
- Handle both B2C and B2B customers with different workflows
- Depend on ERP systems for operations
- Want full control of pricing, delivery, and promotion logic
- Plan to localise content across markets
- Intend to move towards headless or composable architecture
Then Magento gives more control and future-proofing.
Is switching possible?
Yes — but it’s not small. Moving from Shopify to Magento means re-importing all customer data, rebuilding integrations, and redesigning the storefront. The same is true in reverse.
Platform migration makes sense when:
- Your current system blocks essential features
- Your operational costs are rising due to workarounds
- You’ve outgrown your architecture and flexibility is critical
Replatforming takes planning. But done right, it sets the business up for years of smoother growth.
