The verdict in three sentences
For a cosmetics brand generating $4.3M in online revenue on Magento 2 (about 4M EUR), migrating to Shopify ($27,000 to $65,000) is the most profitable route in 7 cases out of 10, because maintenance drops from $3,300 to $6,500 a month to under $1,600 all-in. Headless ($87,000 to $163,000) is only justified when brand experience, multi-country or mobile performance demand a fully custom front end. In both cases, the main risk is not technical but SEO: URL mapping and 301 redirects determine your traffic for the next six months.
Why leave Magento 2 in 2026
Magento Open Source is still powerful, but it is expensive to keep alive for a mid-sized brand. Quarterly security patches, PHP upgrades, extension conflicts and dedicated hosting eat a budget that creates no value for the customer buying a serum or sunscreen.
| Monthly item | Current Magento 2 | Shopify (Advanced or Plus) | Headless (Shopify Hydrogen or commercetools) |
|---|---|---|---|
| License | $0 (Open Source) | $300 to $2,300 depending on plan | $2,300 and up (back-end license) |
| Hosting and CDN | $650 to $1,600 | Included | $220 to $870 (front end) |
| Corrective maintenance and security | $1,600 to $3,300 | $330 to $870 | $1,100 to $2,700 |
| Extensions and apps | $220 to $650 | $330 to $980 | $330 to $980 |
| Ongoing improvements | $760 to $1,600 | $430 to $1,100 | $1,100 to $2,200 |
| Estimated monthly total | $3,300 to $6,500 | $1,400 to $3,800 | $4,900 to $8,700 |
| Fee on sales | Depends on PSP | 0.15 to 0.6% without Shopify Payments | Depends on PSP |
An often forgotten point: on Shopify, using a payment provider other than Shopify Payments triggers an extra transaction fee. On $4.3M, 0.15% is about $6,500 a year, which belongs in the comparison.
Migration cost and timeline: the two scenarios
| Project workstream | Shopify migration | Headless migration |
|---|---|---|
| Scoping and SEO audit | $3,300 to $6,500 | $5,400 to $11,000 |
| Theme or custom front end | $8,700 to $22,000 | $38,000 to $76,000 |
| Products, variants and content migration | $4,300 to $11,000 | $6,500 to $16,000 |
| Customers, orders and loyalty migration | $3,300 to $8,700 | $5,400 to $13,000 |
| 301 redirect plan (product, category, blog URLs) | $2,200 to $5,400 | $3,300 to $8,700 |
| Integrations (ERP, 3PL, CRM, reviews) | $5,400 to $12,000 | $16,000 to $33,000 |
| QA and launch support | $2,200 to $5,400 | $6,500 to $11,000 |
| Total | $27,000 to $65,000 | $87,000 to $163,000 |
| Timeline | 3 to 4 months | 4 to 6 months |
Customer passwords cannot be carried over from Magento because they are hashed differently. Plan an account activation campaign, with a typical reactivation rate of 40 to 60% over the first three months, often driven by a welcome code.
Protecting SEO during the migration
A cosmetics brand often gets 30 to 45% of its revenue from organic traffic. A botched migration can lose 20 to 50% of that traffic for months. Best practices: export every indexed URL and every URL with backlinks, build an exhaustive mapping table, keep title tags and product page content, migrate outside peak periods (avoid November and the holiday season), and monitor 404 errors daily for 6 weeks. Shopify enforces a /products/ and /collections/ URL structure, which makes the redirect table unavoidable.
Mini case study
Emily, ecommerce director of a natural cosmetics brand in Brooklyn, generates $4.3M online on Magento 2. She spends $5,200 a month on hosting, maintenance and improvements, or $62,400 a year.
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Shopify scenario: migration at $52,000, then $2,400 a month all-in, or $28,800 a year. Annual savings reach $33,600, and the migration pays back in about 18 months on maintenance alone. If the new mobile journey adds 0.2 point of conversion (from 2.1% to 2.3%), revenue grows by about $410,000, bringing payback down to a few weeks. Headless at $130,000 and $6,500 a month would only pay off if Emily launched several countries with very different experiences.
FAQ
Is Shopify enough for a $4.3M brand?
Yes. Shopify Advanced covers most needs up to $5M to $10M, and Shopify Plus (about $2,300 a month) adds checkout customization, Functions and B2B. Many cosmetics brands run well above $20M on Shopify Plus.
Does headless really improve performance?
It can reach mobile Lighthouse scores above 90, versus 50 to 70 on a heavy Magento. But an optimized Shopify theme often reaches 75 to 85 at a third of the cost.
Will we lose SEO traffic?
A 5 to 10% dip for 4 to 8 weeks is normal. With an exhaustive 301 redirect table and preserved content, traffic returns to its original level in 2 to 3 months.
Can we keep order history?
Yes, orders, customers and addresses migrate through dedicated tools or API, for $3,300 to $8,700. Passwords are not transferable.
When is the right time to migrate?
Start in January or February for a May launch, or in April for a September launch. Avoid the fourth quarter at all costs, which accounts for 30 to 40% of revenue in cosmetics.
Let's scope your project. We price your Magento migration (Shopify or headless, data migration, 301 redirect plan) in an indicative range of $27,000 to $163,000, with go-live in 3 to 6 months. 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.
