The verdict in three sentences
For a B2B distributor on Magento 2, replatforming pays off once maintenance exceeds 1,500 EUR a month and every version upgrade ties up an agency for several weeks. Moving to a modern solution (Shopify Plus B2B, Sylius, Medusa or a headless front end) costs, as a market estimate, 25,000 to 70,000 EUR excluding VAT for 8,000 products and 3,000 customer accounts. The real risk is not technical: it is losing SEO traffic and customers' ordering habits, hence a redirect plan and a gradual cutover over 4 to 6 months.
What Magento 2 really costs today
Many distributors underestimate the total cost of Magento, because it is spread across hosting, security patches, extensions and agency hours.
| Annual item | Magento 2 Open Source (2026 order of magnitude) | SaaS B2B such as Shopify Plus | Modern open source (Sylius, Medusa) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosting and managed services | 4,800 to 12,000 EUR | included | 2,400 to 6,000 EUR |
| Platform subscription | 0 EUR | about 25,000 to 30,000 EUR | 0 EUR |
| Security patches and upgrades | 6,000 to 18,000 EUR | included | 2,000 to 6,000 EUR |
| Paid extensions (B2B, ERP, search) | 2,000 to 8,000 EUR | 1,500 to 5,000 EUR in apps | 1,000 to 4,000 EUR |
| Ongoing improvements | 6,000 to 10,000 EUR | 4,000 to 8,000 EUR | 4,000 to 8,000 EUR |
| Total maintenance per month | 1,500 to 4,000 EUR | 2,600 to 3,600 EUR | 800 to 2,000 EUR |
| Observed mobile load time | 3 to 6 s | 1.5 to 2.5 s | 1 to 2 s |
SaaS is not always cheaper: with high online revenue, the subscription adds up. A modern open source solution often offers the best 3-year cost for a distributor with complex pricing rules (discounts by product family, net prices per customer, free shipping thresholds).
The replatforming budget item by item
The amounts below are 2026 market estimates for a Belgian agency, for 8,000 products, 3,000 customer accounts and one ERP connector.
| Work package | Content | Estimated budget | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audit and scoping | extension inventory, pricing rules, ERP flows | 3,000 to 6,000 EUR | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Catalogue migration | 8,000 products, attributes, variants, media | 4,000 to 10,000 EUR | 3 to 4 weeks |
| Customer account migration | 3,000 accounts, addresses, price lists, history | 3,000 to 8,000 EUR | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Front end and B2B journeys | quick order by SKU, lists, quotes | 8,000 to 25,000 EUR | 6 to 10 weeks |
| ERP connector | stock, net prices, orders, invoices | 4,000 to 12,000 EUR | 4 to 6 weeks |
| SEO redirects and QA | 301 plan, tests, Search Console monitoring | 3,000 to 9,000 EUR | 3 to 4 weeks |
| Total | full replatforming | 25,000 to 70,000 EUR | 4 to 6 months |
For comparison, a complex custom application at Kolonell ranges from 7,000,000 to 15,000,000+ FCFA (10,670 to 22,870+ EUR), with a team based in Dakar working in French and English.
Protecting SEO and customer habits
On an 8,000-product catalogue, organic traffic often brings 30 to 50% of new accounts. Three rules limit the damage. First, a 301 redirect table for every product, category and CMS URL, tested before cutover. Second, password migration or a guided reset flow: a customer who cannot log in during peak season calls the sales rep or orders elsewhere. Third, a cutover outside peak season, with 2 weeks of parallel running for open orders. In Belgium, also plan for bilingual Dutch and French URLs, which doubles the redirect table.
Mini case study
Pieter, e-commerce director of an agricultural equipment distributor in Antwerp, pays 3,200 EUR a month to maintain Magento 2, i.e. 38,400 EUR a year. His agency quotes a version upgrade at 15,000 EUR. He is considering a 48,000 EUR replatforming to a modern open source solution, with maintenance of 1,400 EUR a month.
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Annual maintenance saving: 38,400 minus 16,800, i.e. 21,600 EUR. Also avoiding the upgrade, the net investment is 33,000 EUR, paid back in about 18 months. If the faster site lifts conversion from 2% to 2.4% on 1,200,000 EUR of online sales, the revenue gain exceeds 200,000 EUR a year, and payback becomes almost immediate.
FAQ
Should we move to Shopify Plus or to open source?
Shopify Plus suits you if pricing rules stay simple and you want zero servers to manage, for about 2,300 EUR a month in subscription. Open source is better once you have net prices per customer and a demanding ERP.
How long is the site down during cutover?
With good preparation, downtime lasts 2 to 6 hours, usually on a weekend night. Orders placed the day before are migrated by script.
Can we keep order history?
Yes, usually for 2 to 3 years, so customers can reorder. Older history stays available in the ERP, which cuts the migration effort by 20 to 30%.
How much SEO traffic should we expect to lose?
With a complete redirect plan, the dip is often limited to 5 to 15% for 4 to 8 weeks. Without redirects, it can exceed 50%.
Do we have to migrate everything at once?
Not necessarily. A phased migration, headless front end first and back office later, spreads the budget over 2 financial years and lowers risk, at the price of 10 to 15% extra total cost.
Let's scope your project. We audit your Magento (extensions, pricing, ERP, SEO) and price a phased replatforming with a 4 to 6 month schedule. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
