Shopify Plus vs Magento — Which Platform Is Right for Your Business?
- venice
- Jul 20
- 7 min read
Updated: Jul 27
When a business outgrows standard Shopify or WooCommerce, the conversation usually comes down to two platforms — Shopify Plus and Magento. Both are genuinely powerful. Both are used by serious ecommerce businesses. And both are platforms Venice builds on every day.
But they are not interchangeable. The right choice depends on your specific requirements, your technical resource and your growth plans — and making the wrong decision at this level is an expensive mistake. This article gives you the honest comparison you need to make the right call.
Not Sure Which Direction to Go?
Before comparing the two platforms in detail, use the Venice Platform Match to get a personalised recommendation based on your budget, catalogue, B2B requirements and growth plans.
What Is Shopify Plus?
Shopify Plus is the enterprise tier of Shopify — designed for high-volume retailers, fast-growing brands and businesses that need more than standard Shopify can offer. It builds on everything that makes Shopify strong — hosted infrastructure, a vast App Store, strong multi-channel selling — and adds enterprise-grade features including custom checkout development, dedicated account management, wholesale channel capability and advanced automation tools.
Shopify Plus starts from approximately £1,800 per month (prices correct at time of posting). It is a managed, hosted platform — Shopify handles infrastructure, security and platform updates. You focus on selling.
What Is Magento?
Magento — now known as Adobe Commerce in its commercial tier — is an open-source ecommerce platform built for businesses with complex, bespoke requirements. Unlike Shopify Plus, Magento is self-hosted, giving you complete control over your infrastructure, your data and your functionality.
Magento Open Source is free to download. Adobe Commerce carries an annual licence fee starting from approximately £20,000 per year. Build costs for a professionally built Magento store start from around £8,000 and rise significantly for complex projects.
Shopify Plus vs Magento — The Key Differences
Hosting and Infrastructure
Shopify Plus is fully hosted. Shopify manages your servers, security, software updates and PCI compliance. Your team focuses on the business — not the infrastructure.
Magento is self-hosted. You are responsible for your own hosting environment, security patching and infrastructure management. This gives you complete control but requires dedicated technical resource and ongoing investment in server management.
Venice's view: For businesses that don't have — or don't want — a technical team managing infrastructure, Shopify Plus's managed environment is a significant advantage. Magento's self-hosted model makes sense when control over the stack is a genuine business requirement.
Customisation
Shopify Plus offers significant customisation — custom checkout flows via Shopify Functions, bespoke theme development, advanced automation through Shopify Flow and access to the full Shopify App Store. For most enterprise requirements it is more than capable.
Magento offers virtually unlimited customisation. Almost any functionality, workflow or pricing structure can be built natively within the platform. There are far fewer architectural constraints than on Shopify Plus — but realising that potential requires skilled Magento developers.
Venice's view: If your customisation requirements are genuinely extreme — bespoke pricing engines, complex product configurators, unique fulfilment workflows that can't be replicated through Shopify's architecture — Magento is the stronger choice. For most businesses, Shopify Plus customisation capability is sufficient and significantly faster to deliver.
B2B Capability
Shopify Plus has invested heavily in B2B functionality in recent years. It supports B2B storefronts, customer-specific pricing, net payment terms, company accounts and purchase order workflows. For businesses with moderate B2B requirements alongside consumer sales, Shopify Plus B2B is a credible solution.
Magento — particularly Adobe Commerce — is one of the strongest B2B ecommerce platforms available. Native support for complex customer hierarchies, multi-tier pricing, quotation management, approval workflows and wholesale operations makes it the platform of choice for businesses where B2B is the primary or most complex channel.
Venice's view: If B2B is your primary channel and your requirements are complex — multiple tiers, sophisticated approval processes, deep ERP integration — Magento is the stronger platform. If B2B is one channel among several and your requirements are more straightforward, Shopify Plus B2B is worth serious consideration first.
Integrations
Shopify Plus integrates with thousands of third-party tools through its App Store and API. Most standard business integrations — accounting, CRM, email marketing, shipping, ERP — are well supported. The integration ecosystem is broad, reliable and well maintained.
Magento's open architecture supports deeper, more complex integrations with enterprise business systems. ERP platforms, warehouse management systems, PIM solutions and bespoke back-office tools connect to Magento with more flexibility than Shopify's architecture allows in edge cases.
Venice's view: For straightforward to moderately complex integrations, Shopify Plus handles the vast majority of requirements well. If you're connecting to a heavily customised ERP or a bespoke legacy system that needs deep, non-standard integration, Magento's flexibility is the stronger technical choice.
Multi-Store and International
Shopify Plus includes Shopify Markets — a powerful tool for international selling covering multi-currency, multi-language, localised domains and region-specific pricing from a single store. For most international requirements it is the faster and more cost-effective solution.
Magento's multi-store architecture allows multiple completely separate storefronts — different brands, different regions, different customer types — to be managed from a single admin with shared catalogue and customer data. For very complex multi-store operations it offers more structural flexibility than Shopify Plus.
Venice's view: For most international selling requirements, Shopify Plus Markets is the right answer. Where you genuinely need structurally separate storefronts for different brands or very different customer types, Magento's multi-store model is worth the additional complexity.
Cost and Total Cost of Ownership
Shopify Plus costs from £1,800 per month in subscription fees. Build costs for a professional Shopify Plus store typically range from £15,000 to £60,000 depending on complexity. Ongoing costs are predictable — the monthly subscription covers hosting, security and platform maintenance.
Magento Open Source has no licence fee but carries significant hosting, development and maintenance costs. Adobe Commerce adds an annual licence fee from approximately £20,000. Build costs start from £8,000 for a straightforward Open Source build and rise to £100,000 or more for complex Adobe Commerce projects. Ongoing maintenance costs are typically higher than Shopify Plus.
Note: Total cost of ownership over three to five years is often comparable between the two platforms when all costs are factored in. The key difference is where the cost sits — Shopify Plus costs are more predictable and subscription-based, while Magento costs are more variable and development-heavy. For businesses without a dedicated technical team, Shopify Plus is typically more cost-effective in practice.
Technical Resource Required
Shopify Plus can be managed day-to-day by a non-technical team. Adding products, updating content, managing orders, running promotions and using the App Store all require no developer involvement. Development resource is needed for theme changes and custom functionality, but operational management is accessible.
Magento requires ongoing technical resource — period. Whether that's a retained Magento agency or an in-house development team, you will need access to skilled Magento developers to manage, maintain and develop the platform effectively.
Venice's view: This is one of the most important factors in the decision. If your business does not have — or does not want — an ongoing relationship with a Magento development team, Shopify Plus is the more practical choice regardless of other factors. Magento without the right technical support is a difficult and expensive experience.
When Venice Recommends Shopify Plus
Venice recommends Shopify Plus when:
You need an enterprise-grade hosted platform without managing your own infrastructure
Your customisation requirements are significant but within Shopify's architecture
B2B is one channel among several rather than your primary and most complex operation
Your integrations are standard to moderately complex
Your international selling requirements are met by Shopify Markets
You want predictable monthly costs and a platform your team can manage without constant developer involvement
Speed of launch and total cost of ownership are important considerations
When Venice Recommends Magento
Venice recommends Magento when:
Your customisation requirements genuinely exceed what Shopify's architecture can deliver
B2B is your primary channel with complex hierarchies, pricing structures and approval workflows
You need deep, non-standard integrations with heavily customised enterprise systems
You operate multiple brands or structurally separate storefronts from a single platform
Your catalogue complexity, pricing structures or business logic cannot be cleanly replicated on a managed platform
You have the technical resource and budget to support a Magento build and ongoing maintenance
Control over your own infrastructure and data is a genuine business requirement
Our View
For most businesses at the enterprise or high-growth stage, Shopify Plus is the stronger starting point. It is faster to launch, more cost-effective to maintain, requires less technical resource and handles the vast majority of enterprise ecommerce requirements without the complexity of a self-hosted platform. Venice builds a significant number of Shopify Plus stores and the results speak for themselves.
Magento makes sense when your requirements genuinely exceed what Shopify Plus can deliver — not when it sounds more powerful or when a competitor is using it. Magento in the wrong hands is an expensive, slow and frustrating experience. Magento in the right hands — built properly by an experienced agency with the right ongoing support — is one of the most capable ecommerce platforms available.
Venice builds on both platforms and gives honest advice on which is right for your specific business. We have no preference — we have experience of both and we'll tell you clearly which one we'd recommend for your requirements.
Closer to a Decision?
If you're evaluating Shopify Plus and Magento, start with the Venice Platform Match — it asks seven questions about your budget, catalogue, B2B requirements, technical capability and growth plans and gives you a personalised platform recommendation in minutes.
Venice builds on both platforms — find out more about our Shopify development services and Magento development services.
Key Takeaways
Shopify Plus and Magento are both platforms Venice builds on — the right choice depends on your specific requirements, technical resource and budget
Shopify Plus is hosted, managed and faster to launch — Magento is self-hosted, more flexible and requires dedicated technical resource
For most enterprise and high-growth businesses, Shopify Plus is the stronger starting point — it handles the majority of requirements without the complexity of Magento
Magento is the right choice when customisation requirements are extreme, B2B is the primary complex channel, integrations are non-standard or multiple brand storefronts are needed
Don't choose Magento because it sounds more powerful — choose it because your requirements genuinely demand it
Venice builds on both platforms and will tell you honestly which one is right for your business
Venice is an independent web agency based in London, building enterprise ecommerce stores on both Shopify Plus and Magento for UK businesses. We give honest advice on which platform is right for your requirements — and then we build it properly.
