The verdict in three sentences
For a fashion brand doing USD 6M in online revenue, Shopify Plus delivers the best 3-year total cost and the most autonomy for marketing teams. Adobe Commerce (Magento) only makes sense if you run a complex B2B and B2C catalogue, several warehouses and pricing rules Shopify cannot model. Custom headless becomes rational above USD 15M to 20M in revenue, or if mobile performance and editorial experience are your main conversion lever.
3-year total cost: the 2026 numbers
Assumptions: USD 6M online revenue per year, 1,800 SKUs, 3 markets (US, Canada, UK), 40 % of traffic from Instagram and TikTok, a 3PL warehouse in New Jersey. Figures are 2026 orders of magnitude.
| 3-year item | Shopify Plus | Adobe Commerce Cloud | Custom headless |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licence | USD 76,000 (from USD 2,300 per month) | USD 165,000 (USD 40,000 a year and up, indexed on GMV) | USD 0 |
| Apps, extensions, SaaS services | USD 54,000 | USD 30,000 | USD 108,000 (CMS, search, hosting) |
| Initial build | USD 60,000 to 120,000 | USD 150,000 to 250,000 | USD 120,000 to 250,000 |
| Maintenance and changes | USD 90,000 | USD 216,000 | USD 180,000 |
| Third-party gateway fee | 0.15 to 0.25 % if you skip Shopify Payments | 0 % | 0 % |
| 3-year total (mid-range) | about USD 310,000 | about USD 611,000 | about USD 468,000 |
| Share of cumulative revenue (USD 18M) | 1.7 % | 3.4 % | 2.6 % |
The most underestimated line on Shopify Plus is apps: reviews, search, loyalty, returns, advanced filters and translation quickly add up to USD 1,500 a month. On Adobe Commerce it is maintenance: every security patch needs a certified Magento developer, billed USD 120 to 180 an hour in New York.
Marketing agility and performance: what the numbers hide
Cost is only half the decision. A fashion brand lives on drops, collaborations and sales. The key question: how long does the team need to launch a collection page without a developer?
| Criterion | Shopify Plus | Adobe Commerce | Custom headless |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launching a collection landing page | 1 to 2 hours, full autonomy | 1 to 3 days, often with a developer | 1 to 2 hours with a well-built CMS |
| Typical mobile Lighthouse score | 60 to 80 | 40 to 65 | 85 to 98 |
| Mobile LCP on 4G | 2.2 to 3.0 s | 3.0 to 4.5 s | 1.2 to 2.0 s |
| Handling Black Friday (10x traffic) | handled by Shopify | capacity planning needed | CDN and cache, to be load-tested |
| Multi-store and multi-currency | Markets, simple | native, powerful | to be built |
| Checkout customisation | Checkout Extensibility, limited | full | full |
| Vendor dependency | strong | medium | none |
Every second saved on mobile LCP lifts conversion by 3 to 8 % according to industry studies. On USD 6M of revenue, a 5 % conversion lift is worth about USD 300,000 a year, more than the cost gap between platforms. That is why many brands choose a middle path: Shopify Plus as the back office, with a headless front end on Hydrogen or Next.js.
How to decide in 4 weeks
A serious discovery phase fits in a month: audit of the current stack (traffic, conversion, apps, ERP and 3PL integrations), mapping of unmet needs, a product page prototype on the shortlisted platform and a performance benchmark. The deliverable is a 3-year TCO per scenario, signed off before any build starts.
Mini case study
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Sophie, head of e-commerce at a ready-to-wear brand in Brooklyn, runs Magento 2 Open Source with a 3.9 s mobile LCP and 1.6 % conversion. Chosen scenario: Shopify Plus with a headless front end, USD 140,000 build and USD 4,200 a month for licence, apps and maintenance, so USD 291,200 over 3 years. The old platform cost her USD 7,500 a month in maintenance and hosting, USD 270,000 over the same period. If LCP drops under 2 s and conversion gains 0.1 point (a cautious estimate), revenue rises by about USD 375,000 a year. The USD 21,200 premium is repaid in under a month of extra sales.
FAQ
Does Shopify Plus take a commission on sales?
With Shopify Payments there is no platform commission on top of card fees. With a third-party gateway (Adyen, direct Stripe), Shopify charges 0.15 to 0.25 % of the amount, or USD 9,000 to 15,000 a year on USD 6M.
Is Magento Open Source a cheaper option?
The licence is free, but hosting, security and maintenance cost USD 4,000 to 8,000 a month for a brand this size. The 3-year TCO rarely stays under USD 350,000.
How long does a platform migration take?
Allow 4 to 6 months for Shopify Plus, 6 to 9 months for Adobe Commerce or custom headless. Avoid cutting over between September and January, the holiday and sales season.
Does SEO survive a migration?
Yes, if the 301 redirect plan covers 100 % of indexed URLs and structured data is carried over. A temporary 5 to 15 % dip in organic traffic for 4 to 8 weeks is common.
Is headless right for a small team?
You need at least a part-time front-end developer or an agency on retainer, around USD 2,000 to 5,000 a month. Without that budget, Shopify Plus with an optimised theme is safer.
Let's scope your project. We run your platform discovery with a 3-year TCO and a performance prototype, for a USD 60,000 to 250,000 build delivered in 4 to 9 months. 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.
