eCommerce Platform Pricing: Adobe Commerce Cloud & Magento Open Source

One of the key factors when it comes to selecting an eCommerce platform for your business is pricing — after all, you need to find a solution that fits both your needs and budget. As with any substantial business technology platform, there are multiple dependencies impacting platform costs.

In this article, we will aim to provide general guidance about the platforms related to the costs we have seen in our years of eCommerce experience, including:

• Design Costs
• Third-party App Costs
• Custom Development Costs
• Implementation Project Costs
• License, Hosting, and Support Costs
• Total Cost of Ownership Considerations

Adobe Commerce vs. Magento Open Source

Adobe offers two main popular eCommerce solutions built on the Magento codebase: Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento Adobe Commerce Edition) and Magento Open Source (formerly Magento Community Edition). Understanding the pricing structure of these solutions, along with additional costs and their value compared to competitors, is essential for making an informed choice that works for your brand.

Both editions provide powerful tools and features, but they have some pretty major differences in terms of pricing and functionality.

Adobe Commerce Pricing

Adobe Commerce is the premium version of the Magento platform, and comes with advanced features like B2B operations tools and AI-powered personalization. Adobe is primarily focused on developing and selling the cloud version of Adobe Commerce, which is called… Adobe Commerce Cloud. The more expensive cloud version of the platform adds the value of Adobe managed hosting on their cloud environment. For more on the difference between Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce Cloud, check this blog out). 

Companies working with Adobe Commerce, and hosting it themselves will pay a licensing fee that starts around $2,000 per month. The Adobe hosted version which is called Adobe Commerce Cloud, usually starts around $3,000 or $4,000 per month. These fees will change substantially as the usage, services, and infrastructure are scaled for larger eCommerce operations.

What You Get:

• More native eCommerce features than Magento Open Source
• For Adobe Commerce Cloud customers, hosting is included in the monthly license fee as a managed service provided by Adobe
• Basic hosting support (for Adobe Commerce Cloud customers)
• Basic eCommerce application support

What You Need:

• Design agency to develop your custom designs
• Adobe maintenance plan for ongoing development or a contract with a Magento development agency
• Third-party extensions or custom developed modules for unique business needs
• Hosting (if not on the Adobe-hosted cloud version of Adobe Commerce)

While the Adobe Commerce platform receives basic eCommerce application support, any additional support incurs additional fees. Adobe Commerce customers can choose to pay for this support through an Adobe Maintenance plan or hire a third party Magento support agency like IronPlane. Either way, support services beyond Adobe’s basic support will be an added cost.

Cost Breakdown for Adobe Commerce

• Design Costs: Highly variable, but generally higher than average due to greater need for theme customization rather than templatized designs.
• Third-party App Costs: Highly variable depending on the extent of the application functionality. Larger library of apps/extensions for Adobe Commerce provides greater choice and custom app development is always an option.
• Custom Development Costs: Highly variable depending on functionality, but generally higher than average due to complexity of platform technology. Custom development costs are also highly dependent on the skills of the development team. More skilled developers are more efficient in their work and typically avoid future technical debt issues, while less skilled developers can cause project delays and may cause future challenges due to poorly written code.
• Implementation Project Costs: Higher than average. Adobe Commerce Cloud implementations typically involve the Adobe application team, the Adobe hosting team, a third-party development agency, and internal teams.
• License Costs: Adobe Commerce Cloud has higher than average license costs when compared to Magento Open Source or SaaS alternatives.
• Hosting Costs: Adobe Commerce Cloud includes hosting costs in their monthly license fee. If using the self-hosted option, hosting costs are higher than average due to particular optimization needs of the platform.
• Support Costs: Higher than average. The Adobe Commerce Cloud platform is a complex eCommerce environment requiring support from various teams including the Adobe application team, the hosting team (Adobe or other), and a third-party development agency.
• Total Cost of Ownership: Higher than average. Adobe Commerce is a comprehensive eCommerce platform with breadth and depth of functionality paired with extensive customization capabilities. The robust benefits of the platform are balanced by the skill and effort required to manage and optimize the platform for a particular business.

Magento Open Source Pricing

Magento Open Source, on the other hand, provides the same foundational open source eCommerce codebase without a license fee. Magento Open Source is essentially the free version of Adobe’s eCommerce offering and is more limited in its out-of-the-box functionality.

For example, there are no native B2B features included in the latest release of Magento Open Source. There are extensions available that bring these two platforms closer to feature parity. These extensions will likely cost a one-time or a subscription fee on their own.

Like any other self-hosted technology platform, Magento Open Source requires you to establish the hosting environment with a third-party hosting company. Hosting environments and the associated costs can vary from $200 - $2,000 per month depending on the size of your eCommerce website, volume of visitors, transactions, and number of admin users.

What You Get:

• Access to Magento Open Source eCommerce platform
• A “freemium” version of Adobe’s eCommerce software with fewer out-of-the-box features compared to Adobe Commerce

What You Need:

• Third-party extensions or custom developed modules for unique business needs
• Maintenance plan for ongoing support with a Magento support agency
• Hosting

Cost Breakdown for Magento Open Source

• Design Costs: Highly variable, but generally higher than average due to greater need for theme customization rather than templated designs.
• Third-party App Costs: Highly variable depending on the extent of the application functionality. Larger library of apps/extensions for Magento provides greater choice and custom app development is always an option.
• Custom Development Costs: Highly variable depending on functionality, but generally higher than average due to complexity of platform technology. Custom development costs are also highly dependent on the skills of the development team. More skilled developers are more efficient in their work and typically avoid future technical debt issues, while less skilled developers can cause project delays and may cause future challenges due to poorly written code.
• Implementation Project Costs: Slightly higher than average. Magento implementations typically involve a third-party development agency, a third-party hosting company, and internal teams. Project costs are highly dependent on the skill and experience of the selected Magento development agency.
• License Costs: Magento Open Source has no license fee and is therefore, lower than average license costs when compared to Adobe Commerce or SaaS alternatives.
• Hosting Costs: Magento Open Source requires third-party hosting which will range in cost depending on the resources required to support the site at peak periods. While SaaS platforms and Adobe Commerce Cloud include their hosting as part of their license fee, it is difficult to compare accurately, but certainly Magento Open Source hosting will be more expensive than SaaS platforms and may also be more expensive than Adobe Commerce Cloud.
• Support Costs: Higher than average. The Magento Open Source platform is a complex eCommerce environment requiring ongoing support from your selected Magento development agency and infrastructure support from a third-party hosting company.
• Total Cost of Ownership: Slightly higher than average. Magento Open Source is a comprehensive eCommerce platform with breadth and depth of functionality paired with extensive customization capabilities. The robust benefits of the platform are balanced by the skill and effort required to manage and optimize the platform for a particular business.

Choosing the Right Adobe Platform for Your Business

Selecting Adobe Commerce Cloud or Magento Open Source depends on the scale and goals of your business. Mid-size or even emerging enterprise businesses with limited budgets for digital innovation might find Magento Open Source appealing due to the balance of extensive functionality with only a slightly higher-than average total cost of ownership. However, larger enterprises requiring more advanced features might see the value of investing in Adobe Commerce — especially given that it also brings a more direct relationship with the Adobe company supporting the platform.

Additional Costs to Consider

Once you’ve decided between Adobe Commerce or Magento Open Source, there are additional costs that you need to consider. Let’s explore what these additional elements are and what they might cost you.

Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source Extensions

Adobe Commerce provides more out-of-the-box functionality and features than Magento Open Source, but businesses often require specialized functionality or integrations not available from either platform. Extensions (also called modules) are add-ons to the existing Magento codebase bringing a specific functionality or feature to your store. 

Common extensions include payment gateways, CMS integrations, shipping integrations, SEO tools, and B2B sales enablement tools. Most high-quality extensions will come at a cost. Costs can range dramatically from extension to extension and payments may require a one-time fee or a subscription plan including ongoing updates and support.

Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source Themes and Design

While there are hundreds, if not thousands of themes available for both Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce, all of these themes will require some degree of customization. At the simplest level, branding, fonts, and colors will need to be adjusted to satisfy your style guide. For any theme customization, it is worth considering the costs as being driven by not only the initial implementation of the design, but also the ongoing maintenance and updating of the theme over time.

Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source Custom Development

Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source both offer enormous opportunities for customization. The degree of customization is substantially greater than SaaS platforms in the realm of design, custom admin functions, custom front-end functions, and custom integrations. There are three important factors to be aware of as you consider customizations:

• Is your development team skilled enough to implement the customization efficiently using best-practices to avoid technical debt?
• Are there existing third-party extensions that could be used rather than a fully custom solution?
• Is the organization prepared for the costs associated with not only the design and implementation of the customizations but also the additional hours that are likely required for maintaining the customizations?

Regardless of the platform you are working with, customizations will add to your total cost of ownership and the above questions will help ensure you are prepared.

Hosting for Adobe Commerce (Non-Cloud) and Magento Open Source

Hosting companies offer a variety of infrastructure options. Both Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source demand robust infrastructures and thoughtful configuration to optimize site speed to support your SEO and conversion goals.

Here are a few common hosting options: 

• Shared servers (not recommended) will start at around $75 per month
• Dedicated servers will start at around $150 per month
• Managed Cloud environments will start at around $300 per month and can reach up to $2,500 per month for enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure

Beyond the basic cost of the hosting itself, Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce will require periodic support for optimizing the environment. This is typically the responsibility of your Magento development partner rather than your third-party host company and as a result will add some additional expense to your total cost of ownership.

Maintenance and Support for Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source

Owning and operating an eCommerce store requires ongoing maintenance, updates, and security monitoring. If you're not tech-savvy or have an in-house development team, you might need to hire developers or an agency partner for these tasks. Magento also offers support packages with varying levels of assistance, which can be a valuable option for troubleshooting issues and keeping your store running smoothly. The Magento platform also has a wealth of information you can access for free via developer community forums and resources.

Tips to Optimize Magento Costs

While it’s worth investing in all the extensions, themes, and features to make your website appealing, the price can add up quickly. To ensure you build a cost-effective solution, consider these tips:

• Find a skilled and highly experienced Magento development partner. This is the single most valuable factor to consider as you work with Adobe Commerce or Magento Open Source. A developer’s efficiency, reliability and use of best practices will help reduce your technical debt and total cost of ownership.
• Regularly review and manage your extension usage. Usie free or low-cost extensions options when possible (as long as they use quality code). Remove any extensions no longer in use and make sure to cancel any corresponding subscriptions.
• Work with your Magento development agency to get their advice on the right hosting that aligns with your traffic and resource needs. Hosting companies themselves, have a vested interest in selling more infrastructure than what you may need and they may not have enough experience with Adobe Commerce or Magento Open Source to know the optimal configurations.
• Hire an internal owner of your eCommerce platform. From project management, task prioritization, or admin configurations, it is essential to have an internal resource managing every aspect of your eCommerce website. If you are also able to hire one or two developers skilled in working with the Magento codebase, this is the ideal. You likely will still want to pair your internal team with an external agency, and this type of partnership often pays dividends over the longer term for diversity of skill sets and insurance for multiple points of platform control.

FAQs: Magento Pricing and Cost

Is Magento free?

Yes, Adobe offers a free version known as Magento Open Source. However, keep in mind that while the software itself is free, there are associated costs such as hosting, development, and potential extensions or themes.

How much is Magento for small businesses?

Magento Open Source is often favored by small businesses due to its cost-effectiveness — it is free to download, after all. However, as mentioned above, total expenses can vary based on factors like hosting, design, and any additional functionalities needed.

Is the price of Magento worth it?

Determining whether Magento's price is justified depends on your business's requirements and goals. Larger enterprises with a need for advanced features might find the investment in Adobe Commerce worthwhile, while smaller businesses should carefully evaluate their budget and needs.