The verdict in three sentences
A Magento 2 store with no updates since 2022 is no longer an option in 2026: known vulnerabilities, abandoned extensions and end-of-life PHP expose your B2B customer accounts. An upgrade (EUR 15,000 to 30,000 excl. VAT) buys two to three years, while a migration to a custom build (EUR 45,000 to 90,000 excl. VAT for a Barcelona distributor) cuts hosting costs by three and removes the extension debt. For a distributor with 8,000 products and negotiated customer pricing, the migration pays off as soon as you look at a five-year horizon.
Upgrade or migration: what you are actually buying
An upgrade means moving from Magento 2.3 or 2.4.3 to the latest 2.4.x, updating PHP, MySQL and Elasticsearch or OpenSearch, then fixing every incompatible extension. On a B2B store, that usually means 15 to 30 third-party extensions (customer group pricing, quotes, net-30 payment, ERP connector), some of which are no longer maintained.
| Item | Magento 2.4.x upgrade | Custom migration |
|---|---|---|
| Project budget (excl. VAT) | EUR 15,000 to 30,000 | EUR 45,000 to 90,000 |
| Timeline | 2 to 3 months | 5 months |
| Third-party extensions to maintain | 15 to 30 | 0 to 3 (connectors) |
| Monthly hosting | EUR 300 to 800 | EUR 80 to 250 |
| Estimated annual maintenance | EUR 6,000 to 12,000 | EUR 3,000 to 6,000 |
| Next major intervention | 2 to 3 years | 5 years or more |
| Category page load time | Typically 2.5 to 4 s | Target under 1.5 s |
2026 orders of magnitude, for 8,000 SKUs and about 1,500 active trade accounts. The hosting difference alone, EUR 300 to 550 per month, adds up to EUR 3,600 to 6,600 per year.
Data migration: 8,000 products and customer accounts
This is the scary part, and rightly so. A B2B store holds data that B2C ignores: price lists per customer, payment terms, multiple delivery addresses, order history used for replenishment. Nothing can be lost.
| Data to migrate | Typical volume | Difficulty | Recommended method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product records and attributes | 8,000 products, 40 attributes | Medium | SQL export, cleanup, scripted import |
| Product images | 20,000 to 30,000 files | Low | Transfer and WebP conversion |
| Trade customer accounts | 1,500 active, 4,000 total | High | Hashed password migration or guided reset |
| Negotiated customer prices | 300 to 600 price lists | High | Pull from the ERP rather than Magento |
| Order history | 3 to 5 years | Medium | Read-only import |
| URLs and SEO redirects | 10,000 to 15,000 URLs | Medium | Tested 301 redirect table |
Allow 15 to 20% of the migration budget for data transfer and testing. Cutover ideally happens on a Sunday, outside peak season, with a 5-day catalogue freeze beforehand.
Typical five-month schedule
| Month | Phase | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magento audit and scoping | Extension inventory, target data model |
| 2 | Catalogue, search, accounts | Catalogue front end and customer area in testing |
| 3 | B2B pricing, quotes, net terms | Complete checkout flow |
| 4 | ERP connector, data migration | Real data imported in staging |
| 5 | Business acceptance, SEO, cutover | Go-live and 301 redirects |
If your catalogue is simpler, a Growth-tier custom store at Kolonell starts at 1,830 to 3,050 EUR (1,200,000 to 2,000,000 FCFA), but a B2B distributor with an ERP and negotiated pricing usually calls for a custom application, quoted after an audit.
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Consider Jordi, e-commerce director of a garden supplies distributor in Barcelona (illustrative persona). Scenario A, upgrade: EUR 24,000, then EUR 650 per month hosting and EUR 9,000 per year maintenance, so over five years 24,000 + 39,000 + 45,000 = EUR 108,000, plus a likely second upgrade around year 3 (about EUR 15,000), totalling EUR 123,000. Scenario B, custom migration: EUR 68,000, then EUR 180 per month hosting and EUR 4,500 per year maintenance, so 68,000 + 10,800 + 22,500 = EUR 101,300. The five-year gap is about EUR 21,700 in favour of migration, before counting the conversion gain from a site twice as fast.
FAQ
Can we migrate to Shopify Plus instead of custom?
Yes, Shopify Plus starts at around EUR 2,300 per month in 2026, more than EUR 27,000 per year in subscription alone. It fits B2C well, but per-customer pricing and net terms often require extra paid apps.
Will customers have to reset their passwords?
Not necessarily. Magento's hashed passwords can be migrated, verified at first login and rehashed. Otherwise, a guided reset campaign typically reaches 70 to 85% of active accounts within two weeks.
How long will the store be offline?
With a prepared cutover, downtime lasts 2 to 6 hours, usually on a Sunday. Orders placed during the catalogue freeze are processed normally in the old Magento.
Will search rankings drop?
A temporary 5 to 15% dip in organic traffic is common for 4 to 8 weeks. A complete 301 redirect table and carrying over title tags greatly reduce this risk.
Should we keep Magento running in parallel?
Keep it read-only for 2 to 3 months to consult history, then archive the database. Reduced hosting costs about EUR 100 per month.
Let's scope your project. Send us your Magento version, extension list and product count: we will price the upgrade and the migration side by side, with an indicative budget and a realistic timeline. 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.
