The verdict in three sentences
A B2B store on Magento 2 costing EUR 2,500 a month in maintenance and hosting has two paths in 2026: an upgrade to Magento 2.4.8 for EUR 15,000 to 35,000, or a migration to Shopify Plus, Sylius or a headless architecture for EUR 40,000 to 100,000 (excluding VAT). Over 3 years the upgrade remains cheaper, but over 5 years Sylius comes out ahead thanks to maintenance cut in half. Either way, plan 4 to 6 months and pay close attention to customer accounts, negotiated prices and redirects.
The four options and their 2026 cost
Support for Magento 2.4.6 ends in August 2026, forcing many Dutch manufacturers to decide. The figures below are 2026 orders of magnitude for a catalogue of 3,000 to 8,000 SKUs with 1,500 business customer accounts.
| Option | Project cost (excl. VAT) | Monthly running cost | Timeline | Main strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upgrade to Magento 2.4.8 | EUR 15,000 to 35,000 | EUR 1,500 to 2,200 | 2 to 3 months | No data migration |
| Migrate to Shopify Plus | EUR 40,000 to 80,000 | EUR 2,000 to 2,800 (licence and apps) | 4 to 5 months | Managed hosting, little maintenance |
| Migrate to Sylius | EUR 50,000 to 100,000 | EUR 700 to 1,200 | 4 to 6 months | Open source, custom B2B logic |
| Headless (Next.js and API engine) | EUR 60,000 to 100,000+ | EUR 1,000 to 1,800 | 5 to 6 months | Performance and front-end freedom |
| Status quo | EUR 0 | EUR 2,500 plus security risk | None | None, unsupported version |
The Shopify Plus licence starts around USD 2,300 per month on a 3-year term, and advanced B2B features (company catalogues, payment terms) are included. Sylius, an open source framework built on Symfony, suits teams that already have PHP developers or an agency partner.
What must be migrated and what it costs
In B2B e-commerce, the difficulty lies in business data. A project that forgets customer-specific prices or multi-user accounts loses orders on day one.
| Item to migrate | Estimated effort | Risk if mishandled |
|---|---|---|
| Customer accounts and linked users | 4 to 8 days | Locked-out buyers, calls to sales |
| Price groups and negotiated prices | 6 to 15 days | Wrong prices, disputes |
| Order history (3 years) | 3 to 6 days | No reorder from the account |
| Catalogue, attributes and data sheets | 5 to 12 days | Weaker search |
| ERP connector (Exact Online, SAP Business One) | 10 to 25 days | Stock and invoices out of sync |
| 301 redirects and SEO | 3 to 6 days | 20 to 40% loss of organic traffic |
| Customer passwords | 1 to 2 days | Forced reset for everyone |
With day rates of EUR 650 to 900 in Amsterdam, these tasks alone represent EUR 21,000 to 65,000, which explains the wide spread in migration budgets.
The typical 4 to 6 month timeline
| Phase | Duration | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| Audit and target selection | 3 to 4 weeks | Specification, firm estimate |
| B2B design and mock-ups | 3 to 4 weeks | Quick order flow, customer area |
| Development and ERP connector | 8 to 12 weeks | Store in acceptance |
| Dry-run data migration | 2 weeks | Two full rehearsals |
| Acceptance with 10 pilot customers | 2 to 3 weeks | Prices and orders validated |
| Cutover and hypercare | 1 to 2 weeks | Weekend go-live, close monitoring |
Schedule the cutover outside order peaks, for instance avoiding September and December for an industrial supplier. Check iDEAL and Wero payment flows twice, since Dutch buyers rely on them heavily.
Mini case study
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Pieter, e-commerce director of an industrial hardware manufacturer in Zaandam near Amsterdam, currently pays EUR 2,500 per month, EUR 30,000 per year. He compares three scenarios over 5 years.
The Magento upgrade costs EUR 25,000 then EUR 1,800 per month: EUR 133,000 over 5 years. Shopify Plus comes to EUR 55,000 plus EUR 2,300 per month: EUR 193,000. Sylius costs EUR 70,000 then EUR 900 per month: EUR 124,000 over 5 years. Over 3 years Magento stays cheaper (EUR 89,800 versus EUR 102,400 for Sylius), but Sylius overtakes it after about 4 years. Since the store generates EUR 2.4 million of orders per year, Pieter picks Sylius and secures the migration of 1,800 price lists.
FAQ
Can we stay on Magento 2.4.6 after August 2026?
Technically yes, but without security patches. For a site storing business customer accounts, intrusion risk and GDPR obligations make this hard to defend beyond a few months.
Does Shopify Plus really handle B2B?
Yes for company catalogues, 30 or 60-day payment terms and quick ordering. Very specific rules (real-time ERP pricing) need apps or custom development, often EUR 10,000 to 25,000 more.
How much traffic is lost during a migration?
With a complete redirect plan, the drop stays at 5 to 10% for 4 to 8 weeks. Without redirects, losses can reach 40% for the long term.
Does the ERP connector need rewriting?
In 70% of cases yes, since Magento connectors cannot be reused as is. Allow 10 to 25 development days depending on the number of flows (stock, prices, orders, invoices).
Which option fits a catalogue under 1,000 SKUs?
Shopify Plus, or even standard Shopify with a B2B app, is often enough. Below EUR 500,000 of online revenue, an EUR 80,000 migration is rarely justified.
Let's scope your project. Magento 2 audit, option comparison and data migration plan: we define the scope, an indicative budget between EUR 15,000 and 100,000 and a cutover 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.
