The verdict in three sentences
For a brand doing EUR 4M in online revenue, migrating off Magento 2 costs between EUR 40,000 and 150,000 excl. VAT in 2026 depending on the target (Shopify Plus, Shopware or custom headless). The maintenance savings, often EUR 2,000 to 6,000 per month on Magento, pay the project back in 18 to 30 months. The real risk is not technical: it is lost SEO traffic, which is avoidable with an exhaustive redirect plan and testing before go-live.
Why brands are leaving Magento 2 in 2026
Magento 2 (Adobe Commerce) remains powerful, but its total cost of ownership weighs on mid-sized brands. Quarterly security patches, third-party extensions to maintain and hosting sized for traffic peaks absorb a growing share of the digital budget. In London, a senior Magento developer bills EUR 700 to 1,000 per day (roughly GBP 600 to 850), and the talent pool is shrinking.
| Annual cost line | Self-hosted Magento 2 | Shopify Plus | Shopware 6 | Custom headless |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Licence or subscription | EUR 0 (Open Source) | EUR 27,000 to 40,000 | EUR 0 to 25,000 | EUR 0 |
| Hosting and CDN | EUR 9,000 to 24,000 | Included | EUR 6,000 to 15,000 | EUR 6,000 to 18,000 |
| Maintenance and upgrades | EUR 24,000 to 72,000 | EUR 6,000 to 15,000 | EUR 12,000 to 30,000 | EUR 15,000 to 40,000 |
| Extensions and apps | EUR 3,000 to 10,000 | EUR 6,000 to 18,000 | EUR 3,000 to 8,000 | Built in-house |
| Transaction fee | 0% | 0.15 to 0.25% without Shopify Payments | 0% | 0% |
| Total, 2026 order of magnitude | EUR 36,000 to 106,000 | EUR 40,000 to 75,000 | EUR 21,000 to 78,000 | EUR 21,000 to 58,000 |
These are 2026 orders of magnitude observed for catalogues of 2,000 to 10,000 SKUs. The gap widens mostly on maintenance: a Magento store running 40 third-party extensions needs constant attention.
Migration cost by target platform
Budget depends less on product count than on business-rule complexity: B2B pricing, configurators, multi-warehouse, ERP connectors.
| Migration scenario | Budget excl. VAT | Timeline | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify Plus, adapted theme | EUR 40,000 to 70,000 | 4 months | Simple catalogue, mostly B2C |
| Shopify Plus, custom theme + ERP | EUR 70,000 to 110,000 | 5 months | Fashion or beauty brand with ERP |
| Shopware 6 with B2B Suite | EUR 60,000 to 120,000 | 5 to 6 months | B2C and B2B mix, customer pricing |
| Headless (Next.js + commerce engine) | EUR 90,000 to 150,000 | 6 months | High performance and content needs |
| Magento upgrade only | EUR 25,000 to 60,000 | 2 to 3 months | In-house Magento team already in place |
A typical EUR 80,000 budget breaks down as: 15% scoping and audit, 35% front-end build, 20% data migration (customers, orders, reviews), 15% integrations, 15% QA and SEO support.
The SEO protection plan
A poorly prepared migration loses 20 to 40% of organic traffic for 3 to 6 months. A well prepared one limits the dip to 5 to 10% for a few weeks. The difference comes down to a handful of precise workstreams.
| SEO workstream | What to do | Impact if skipped |
|---|---|---|
| URL inventory | Crawl 100% of indexed URLs and those receiving traffic | Orphan pages, mass 404s |
| 301 redirects | URL-by-URL mapping table, never redirect to the homepage | 20 to 40% traffic loss |
| Metadata | Carry over titles, meta descriptions and canonical tags | Ranking drops on product queries |
| Structured data | Product, Offer, Review, BreadcrumbList | Lost stars and prices in Google |
| Speed | Mobile LCP under 2.5 s | Weaker rankings and conversion |
| Post-launch monitoring | Daily Search Console checks for 30 days | Errors spotted too late |
The redirect plan usually accounts for EUR 3,000 to 8,000 of the total budget. It is the most profitable line in the project.
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Mini case study
Claire, e-commerce manager of a London apparel brand doing EUR 4M online, spends EUR 4,500 per month on Magento maintenance and EUR 1,500 on hosting, or EUR 72,000 per year. She migrates to Shopify Plus with a custom theme and an ERP connector for EUR 90,000 excl. VAT over 5 months. Her new annual cost is about EUR 48,000 (subscription, apps, light maintenance), saving EUR 24,000 per year. With a cautious conversion gain of 0.2 points on a 1.8% rate, additional revenue reaches about EUR 440,000. At a 30% margin, that is EUR 132,000 in extra margin. The project pays back in under a year, provided organic traffic, which drives 38% of her sales, is preserved.
FAQ
How long does a Magento migration take in 2026?
Plan for 4 to 6 months for a brand with 2,000 to 10,000 SKUs. Scoping takes 3 to 4 weeks, data migration and QA at least 6 weeks.
Should order history be migrated?
Yes, at least 24 to 36 months of history, for customer service and loyalty. A full migration costs EUR 4,000 to 12,000 excl. VAT depending on volume.
Can customer passwords be kept?
Rarely, because hashing algorithms differ. Plan a password reset campaign, which typically recovers 60 to 75% of active accounts within 30 days.
When should we go live?
Avoid November, December and the January and June sales. A Tuesday morning in March or September limits exposure, with a 7-day content freeze.
Is Shopify Plus suitable for B2B?
Yes for standard needs: customer pricing, payment terms, dedicated catalogues. Beyond 5 discount tiers or complex quoting, Shopware or headless fit better.
Let's scope your project. Send us your SKU count, integrations and target date: we will price the migration, the SEO plan 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.
