The verdict in three sentences
A successful Magento or PrestaShop migration costs 15,000 to 60,000 EUR depending on catalog size and customization, over 8 to 16 weeks with a 6-to-10-week development freeze. The real risk is not technical but SEO: without an exhaustive 301 redirect plan you lose 10 to 30 % of organic traffic and therefore revenue. The golden rule: migrate the URL, the data and the content before you migrate the design.
What replatforming costs in 2026
Price is driven mainly by number of SKUs, custom modules and accumulated technical debt. Below are 2026 order-of-magnitude figures for a full rebuild (new stack, data migration, redirects, QA).
| Catalog size | Customization | Price 2026 | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| < 200 SKUs | Standard, few modules | 15,000 - 22,000 EUR | 6-8 wks |
| 200 - 2,000 SKUs | Business modules, light B2B | 22,000 - 35,000 EUR | 8-12 wks |
| 2,000 - 20,000 SKUs | ERP, multilingual, promos | 35,000 - 50,000 EUR | 12-16 wks |
| > 20,000 SKUs | Headless, marketplace, PIM | 50,000 - 60,000+ EUR | 16-24 wks |
| Data + URLs only | No design rebuild | 6,000 - 12,000 EUR | 3-5 wks |
Add recurring costs: managed hosting (150 to 600 EUR/month by traffic), security maintenance (250 to 900 EUR/month) and any license (Adobe Commerce, Shopify Plus from ~2,000 EUR/month).
The SEO checklist that protects your revenue
The most underestimated line item. Every indexed URL must 301-point to its equivalent. Here is the minimum checklist to require, with the cost of skipping each step.
| Action | Why | Impact if skipped |
|---|---|---|
| Exhaustive 301 map (Search Console export) | Preserve link equity | -15 to -30 % traffic |
| Keep title / meta / Hn tags | Page relevance | -5 to -12 % clicks |
| Regenerate + resubmit XML sitemap | Fast reindexing | +4 to 8 weeks delay |
| Product / review structured data | Rich snippets | Lost Google stars |
| Freeze price / stock during cutover | Avoid order errors | Customer disputes |
| Automated 404 test post-migration | Detect gaps | Orphan pages |
| Performance (LCP < 2.5 s) | Core Web Vitals | Ranking drop |
2026 best practice: run a full crawl of the old site (Screaming Frog or equivalent), freeze the list of high-traffic URLs, validate the mapping, then go live on a Tuesday or Wednesday, never a Friday.
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Mini case study
Marc runs an auto parts SME in Lille on PrestaShop 1.6 with 8,500 SKUs and 42,000 EUR monthly revenue, 60 % of it from SEO. His rebuild to a modern headless stack is quoted at 38,000 EUR over 13 weeks. The risk math is simple: a 20 % organic traffic loss equals 42,000 x 60 % x 20 % = 5,040 EUR of lost revenue per month, over 60,000 EUR a year. Spending 6,000 EUR extra on a rigorous redirect plan and SEO QA pays for itself within the first year.
FAQ
How long does a PrestaShop migration take? Expect 8 to 16 weeks for a 200-to-2,000-SKU catalog, including a 6-to-10-week development freeze. A plain data lift-and-shift with no design rebuild takes 3 to 5 weeks.
Will I lose my rankings when I change platform? Not if the 301 redirect plan is exhaustive. A poorly prepared migration drops traffic 10 to 30 %; a careful one caps the loss at 0-5 % and recovers it in 4 to 8 weeks.
Should I stay on Magento or go headless? Above 20,000 SKUs or for complex B2B, headless (decoupled front + API) delivers performance and flexibility. Below that, a modern monolithic platform is enough and costs 30 to 40 % less.
How do I migrate customer accounts and order history? Through a data-migration script mapping customers, orders, credit notes and addresses. Budget 2,000 to 5,000 EUR and double-check a sample before cutover.
When is the best time to go live? During a traffic trough (Tuesday/Wednesday morning, outside sales or holiday peaks), with a prepared rollback and active 404 monitoring for 72 hours.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your current platform, SKU count and monthly revenue and we will quote the rebuild, redirect plan and data migration. 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.