The verdict in three sentences
An aging Magento store costs 20,000 to 80,000 EUR per year to maintain in 2026, between version upgrades, security patches and a shortage of developers. Migrating to a modern solution (Shopify, Medusa, custom) costs 40,000 to 120,000 EUR over 4 to 8 months, but often halves the running cost. The decision is settled on the three-year TCO, factoring in the risk of disruption during cutover.
Why Magento becomes a burden
Magento is still powerful but heavy. Its maintenance requires rare, expensive profiles, and each major upgrade is a project in itself. For a CIO, the hidden cost is not the licence: it is the man-hours and the dependency on a specialised vendor ecosystem.
| Magento cost item | 2026 annual range (EUR) | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting (Cloud / dedicated) | 6,000 – 24,000 | Resource-hungry |
| Maintenance & security | 8,000 – 30,000 | Patches, version upgrades |
| Extensions / licences | 2,000 – 12,000 | Paid third-party modules |
| Specialist developer | 4,000 – 30,000 | Rare profiles, high day rate |
| Total annual run | 20,000 – 80,000 | Excluding new features |
When this run exceeds a third of the cost of a new platform, the equation mechanically tips in favour of migration.
Stay vs migrate comparison over 3 years
The right trade-off is made on total cost of ownership. Here is a typical scenario for a B2B distribution SME, with a Magento at 45,000 EUR annual run and a modern target at 70,000 EUR build.
| Item (over 3 years) | Stay on Magento | Migrate to modern solution |
|---|---|---|
| Build / migration | 0 | 70,000 EUR |
| Run year 1 | 45,000 EUR | 16,000 EUR |
| Run year 2 | 47,000 EUR | 16,000 EUR |
| Run year 3 | 49,000 EUR | 17,000 EUR |
| Major version upgrade | 25,000 EUR | 0 |
| Total 3 years | 166,000 EUR | 119,000 EUR |
Over three years, migration saves roughly 47,000 EUR in this scenario, not counting conversion and time-to-market gains. The break-even point is usually between 20 and 30 months.
Mini case study
Sophie, CIO of a spare-parts wholesaler in Amsterdam, runs a Magento whose run reaches 52,000 EUR/year and whose last upgrade cost 28,000 EUR. She quotes a migration to a modern stack at 72,000 EUR over 6 months, target run 17,000 EUR/year.
Her 3-year calculation: staying costs 52,000 × 3 + 28,000 = 184,000 EUR. Migrating costs 72,000 + 17,000 × 3 = 123,000 EUR. Net saving: 61,000 EUR over 3 years, about 20,000 EUR/year reinvestable in acquisition. The risk to cover: a clean catalogue/customer/SEO migration to avoid any order disruption during cutover.
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FAQ
What does staying on Magento really cost?
Between 20,000 and 80,000 EUR/year of run in 2026, plus a major upgrade every 2 to 3 years (15,000 to 30,000 EUR). It is this accumulation, not the licence, that weighs.
Which solution should you migrate to?
Shopify Plus for simplicity and time-to-market, Medusa or custom for full control and complex B2B rules. The choice depends on your negotiated pricing, workflows and ERP integrations.
What happens to the catalogue and customer history?
They migrate: products, variants, accounts, orders and reviews are imported via scripts. Budget 5,000 to 18,000 EUR for a clean migration including SEO redirects.
What is the risk of disruption during cutover?
The main risk is downtime or lost orders on go-live day. It is managed with a progressive cutover, a rollback plan and an off-peak release window.
How fast is the migration paid back?
The break-even point is usually between 20 and 30 months on run savings alone — often sooner if conversion and time-to-market improve.
Let's scope your project. Send us your current Magento run cost, your catalogue and your integrations, and we'll quote the migration and the 3-year TCO comparison. 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.