In the dynamic world of eCommerce, choosing the right platform can define the success of your online business. As we move through 2025, the competition between Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento) and Shopify continues to be fierce. Both platforms offer powerful features, robust scalability, and advanced integrations. However, the ideal choice often depends on your business goals, budget, technical resources, and long-term vision.
In this comprehensive comparison, we’ll break down the pros and cons of both Adobe Commerce and Shopify, focusing on factors such as scalability, customization, cost, performance, integrations, and support. By the end, you’ll have a clear understanding of which platform best aligns with your business needs in 2025.
1. Introduction to Adobe Commerce and Shopify
What is Adobe Commerce?
Adobe Commerce, previously known as Magento Commerce, is an enterprise-grade eCommerce solution owned by Adobe. It’s designed for medium to large businesses that require full control over the functionality of their online stores. Adobe Commerce is known for its flexibility, advanced features, and ability to manage complex commerce ecosystems, including B2B and B2C models.
What is Shopify?
Shopify is a fully hosted SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) eCommerce platform that allows businesses of all sizes to set up, run, and grow their online stores with minimal technical expertise. It’s known for its ease of use, quick setup, and large app ecosystem, making it a favorite for small to medium-sized businesses and DTC brands.
2. Ease of Use
Shopify
Shopify is built with simplicity in mind. Users can easily create a store, add products, configure payments, and launch a site without any coding knowledge. Its drag-and-drop editor, intuitive dashboard, and extensive documentation make it one of the most user-friendly platforms available.
Ideal for: Startups, small businesses, solo entrepreneurs, and non-technical users.
Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce, on the other hand, has a steeper learning curve. It’s a developer-centric platform that requires technical expertise to set up, customize, and manage. While the flexibility is unmatched, it’s not as beginner-friendly as Shopify.
Ideal for: Businesses with dedicated IT teams or access to experienced Adobe Commerce developers.
3. Customization and Flexibility
Adobe Commerce
Customization is where Adobe Commerce truly shines. Since it’s open-source at its core (in the Magento Open Source version), developers can access and modify the code to build completely tailored solutions. From complex product configurations to advanced pricing rules and third-party integrations, there’s virtually no limit to what Adobe Commerce can do.
It also supports multi-language, multi-currency, and multi-store setups natively, making it suitable for global brands with diverse requirements.
Shopify
While Shopify offers themes and apps for customization, it’s more limited compared to Adobe Commerce. Customizations are done using Shopify’s Liquid templating language, and deeper changes might require workarounds or third-party apps. Shopify Plus does offer more flexibility, but it still doesn’t match the open-ended possibilities of Adobe Commerce.
4. Scalability and Performance
Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce is built to scale. It’s ideal for businesses expecting high volumes of traffic, large product catalogs, and complex operations. With a properly optimized infrastructure and CDN (content delivery network), Adobe Commerce can support enterprise-grade performance levels.
It also handles B2B commerce extremely well with advanced features like custom catalogs, pricing, and quote requests.
Shopify
Shopify is also highly scalable, especially with its Shopify Plus plan. It can handle millions of products and large transaction volumes, thanks to its robust cloud infrastructure. However, for enterprise businesses with custom workflows or B2B operations, Shopify may require additional apps or third-party workarounds.
5. SEO and Marketing Capabilities
Shopify
Shopify is SEO-friendly right out of the box. It supports mobile optimization, fast page load speeds, customizable meta tags, sitemaps, and structured data. It also offers integrations with popular marketing tools, including Google Ads, Facebook, and Instagram.
Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce offers more advanced SEO capabilities but requires manual setup. You have full control over URLs, meta descriptions, tags, canonical tags, and more. For advanced SEO strategies, Adobe Commerce is the better choice, but it does require expertise to execute effectively.
6. Security
Adobe Commerce
Security is a top priority for Adobe Commerce. It provides enterprise-grade security features, including PCI compliance, two-factor authentication, and regular security patches. Adobe Commerce also offers extensive control over user roles and permissions.
However, since Adobe Commerce is self-hosted (or hosted on Adobe Commerce Cloud), store owners are responsible for updates, maintenance, and security unless they work with a managed hosting provider.
Shopify
Shopify handles all security aspects for its users. It is PCI-DSS compliant, manages SSL certificates, and regularly updates its infrastructure. Store owners don’t need to worry about security patches or maintenance, making it a worry-free option for those without technical teams.
7. Pricing
Shopify
Shopify offers transparent pricing tiers:
- Basic Shopify: $39/month
- Shopify: $105/month
- Advanced Shopify: $399/month
- Shopify Plus: Starting at $2,000/month
In addition to the subscription cost, Shopify also charges transaction fees unless you use Shopify Payments. App costs and theme purchases can also add to the total.
Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce has two versions:
- Magento Open Source: Free to use but requires paid hosting, development, and maintenance.
- Adobe Commerce (Cloud): Enterprise-level pricing based on your GMV and business requirements (typically starts in the $22,000/year range).
While Adobe Commerce offers more flexibility, it often comes at a higher cost due to hosting, development, and maintenance fees.
8. App Ecosystem and Integrations
Shopify
Shopify’s app store features over 8,000 apps for everything from email marketing and inventory management to AI product recommendations and upselling. These apps can be installed with a click, making it easy to add features without coding.
Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce offers thousands of extensions via the Magento Marketplace and other third-party providers. However, installing and configuring them often requires technical knowledge. The upside is that these extensions are often more powerful and customizable compared to Shopify apps.
9. B2B Capabilities
Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce is a clear leader in B2B commerce. Features include:
- Custom price lists
- Company accounts with multiple buyers
- Quotation workflows
- Quick ordering
- Requisition lists
- Purchase orders
These capabilities are baked into the platform, making it ideal for wholesalers, manufacturers, and distributors.
Shopify
Shopify does offer B2B functionality via its Shopify Plus offering, but it’s not as robust out of the box. Additional customization and apps are typically required to achieve similar results.
10. Support and Community
Shopify
Shopify offers 24/7 customer support via chat, email, and phone. It also has an active community forum and comprehensive documentation, making it easy for merchants to get help when needed.
Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce provides support for its cloud customers, while Open Source users rely on community support or paid partners. The Magento developer community is strong, but response times can vary depending on your resources.
11. Headless Commerce and PWA
Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce supports headless commerce and PWA (Progressive Web Apps) through tools like Adobe Commerce PWA Studio and GraphQL APIs. This makes it a strong choice for businesses looking to build custom front-end experiences while maintaining robust back-end commerce logic.
Shopify
Shopify also supports headless commerce via its Hydrogen and Oxygen frameworks, providing developers with the tools to build custom storefronts using modern technologies. While it’s growing in this area, Adobe Commerce still has a more mature headless ecosystem.
12. Who Should Choose Adobe Commerce in 2025?
Adobe Commerce is ideal for:
- Large enterprises with complex product catalogs
- B2B companies needing custom workflows
- Global businesses operating multiple storefronts
- Brands requiring advanced customizations and integrations
- Organizations with in-house development teams or tech partners
13. Who Should Choose Shopify in 2025?
Shopify is best suited for:
- Startups and small businesses looking for quick setup
- DTC brands focused on design, speed, and ease of use
- Businesses without technical resources
- Companies that want to scale without handling infrastructure
- Brands looking for a strong app ecosystem and omnichannel selling
14. Final Thoughts: Adobe Commerce vs Shopify in 2025
Choosing between Adobe Commerce and Shopify in 2025 boils down to your specific business needs.
If you’re an enterprise or B2B company looking for high levels of customization, complex logic, and full control, Adobe Commerce is the winner. It offers scalability, flexibility, and power, but comes with higher costs and complexity.
If you’re a growing DTC brand or small business looking for simplicity, speed, and ease of use, Shopify is your best bet. It takes care of the technical heavy lifting and allows you to focus on building your brand and selling.
Both platforms are continuously evolving, and in 2025, they are more powerful than ever. The right choice depends on your long-term vision, resources, and willingness to trade control for convenience or vice versa.
Need help choosing the right platform or migrating your store in 2025?
At Digiteon, we specialize in both Adobe Commerce and Shopify development. Whether you’re scaling an enterprise brand or launching a new online store, our experts can help you build, optimize, and grow your eCommerce business.
Get in touch today to find out how we can help you make the smartest platform choice for your future.
Let me know if you’d like this formatted for a blog CMS like WordPress or Webflow, or if you’d like a shorter summary for social sharing.
