Magento Open Source vs Adobe Commerce comparison

This article contains a comparison of Adobe Commerce and Magento Open-Source supported by Community. What are the differences between Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce? Which solution is better for which business?

In this article, we will explore the advantages and disadvantages of both editions from the cost-effectiveness and learning curve point of view.

We also will compare both options performance in different aspects: Magento scalability, security, features, marketing, and merchant support, technology stack, and hosting.

Our goal is to advise you on the right solution for your business needs. Let’s check if it is better to use Adobe Commerce or Magento Open Source, considering Adobe Commerce's advanced capabilities.

Magento Open Source vs Adobe Commerce: pick your edition

Magento and Adobe Commerce have the same origins derived from Magento Source Code.

• Magento Open Source edition known also as Magento Community is free software with an enormous source of useful extensions available in Magento Marketplace. Magento Open Source is developed by the Magento Community consisting of over 260K Magento developers who bring this e-commerce platform many game-changing innovations. Like Hyvä Themes revolutionising Magento's performance.
• Adobe Commerce, previously also known as Enterprise & Magento Cloud edition is paid and has many features out-of-the-box. Moreover, is supported by Adobe Cloud and the technology of a giant global company that is Adobe.

How much Magento and Adobe Commerce cost?

Magento Open Source (Community) and Adobe Commerce both utilise the same PHP codebase. For ecommerce businesses, Magento Community is the freely accessible open-source variant, whereas the Commerce Edition is the paid version with restricted code access.

Adobe Commerce cost

Adobe Commerce is a kind of SaaS option (Software as a Service) the hosting infrastructure is delivered as well as 24/7 e-mail customer support and many business functions out-of-the-box, facilitating merchants’ actions like Magento business intelligence.

This option is rather preferred by global brands and businesses operating around the world with huge budgets and extensive functionalities needs.

Adobe Commerce cost starts from 22,000 USD and can rich up to 125,000 USD per year. The implementation cost is over 60,000 USD. And the time needed for deployment is from 14 to 16 weeks.

Magento Open Source cost

Magento’s open-source version is free as it has no license costs. The hosting is around 175 – 350 USD per month. Deployment can cost 12,000 – 70,000 USD while implementation time can be shortened even to 6 - 8 weeks especially using the Hyvä themes and checkout.

While an open-source website provider may not offer services like a dedicated server, necessitating hosting and maintenance for each eCommerce store, which incurs costs based on resource usage, self-hosting remains an option.

In contrast, Adobe Commerce’s annual fee is not directly comparable, even when factoring in development costs for extensions, customisations, and upkeep. Nevertheless, Magento Open Source undeniably provides cost-effective solutions.

The SaaS solution typically starts with lower initial costs that may increase as you scale up, whereas the Open Source solution begins with higher costs that could decrease over time. Having a long-term plan for business scale-up is key to managing these cost dynamics effectively.

Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce online store first choice

eCommerce platforms like Magento OS or Adobe Commerce are top choices for global brands operating online, offering a robust eCommerce platform regardless of the edition you select. They are a solid investment for the future. Both Magento Open Source with its vibrant Community and Adobe Commerce with technology stack backing from Adobe show promising prospects.

Magento remains an enormous brand in online retail. You should consider Magento’s platform as your choice too if you are willing to scale and grow your store in the future.

Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source - which version for which business

The brand’s tone is professional and confident, focusing on expertise and reliability. It highlights how Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento Enterprise) suits large enterprises, while Magento Open Source targets SMEs. Despite this, some major ecommerce websites customize the Community Open-Source Magento version effectively for big business needs.

Magento Open Source best option from the cost perspective

Magento Open Source is a top choice for those seeking a cost-effective e-commerce platform without compromising quality. It caters to small businesses and solo entrepreneurs looking for a robust solution, with Magento extensions enhancing functionality at a reasonable cost. For global enterprises with diverse needs, both Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce offer tailored solutions for multiple branches, ensuring scalability and competitive edge. The key difference lies in the budget requirements.

Magento 2 Open Source - code accessibility

Both editions of Magento are developed in PHP. Magento open source is more lightweight with fewer modules compared to Magento 2 Commerce. Magento software offers extensive opportunities for eCommerce platform development. Open-source websites support seamless collaboration with agencies and suppliers, allowing easy customization to meet individual requirements.

While Adobe Commerce code remains closed and inaccessible for external modifications, only one party has the authority to establish a system. The customization or transfer of code is challenging due to the substantial costs involved relative to the software’s benefits.

Magento Open Source vs Adobe Commerce deployment

They both offer many features out-of-the-box or as additional extensions and modules. Deploying a Magento store with Magento Open Source is more suitable for projects with a limited budget or when you have no time to spend on technology and want something within a short period of time.

If your business does not need any customizations, it will be much cheaper and faster to implement Magento 2 Community than the Adobe Commerce Edition.

The implementation of Magento Open Source is easy as it’s free nevertheless you will probably need to hire a Magento development agency who will deploy and maintain the Magento platform.

Adobe Commerce vs Magento Open Source – feature comparison

Our experience shows that all Adobe Commerce features can be developed in a Magento website using Magento Open Source. Many top merchants have effortlessly customized their stores on Magento Open Source. While Magento Open Source provides numerous out-of-the-box features and modules, we can easily integrate any crucial elements missing for your business. Let’s explore the specific technology and feature-rich aspects of both Magento and Adobe Commerce.

Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce technology stack

When talking about technology stack requirements, both editions support the latest versions of:

• Web servers – Nginx 1.x and Apache 2.4
• Varnish 6.x
• PHP 7.1.3, 7.2.0, 7.3.0
• Elasticsearch 6.x
• MySQL 5.6, 5.7
• RabbitMQ 3.8.x
• Redis 3.2, 4.0, 5.0

Adobe Commerce vs. Magento Open Source security

Magento Open Source includes essential security features present in all Magento versions, with Magento 2 offering stronger protection than its predecessor, Magento 1. However, for merchants requiring heightened security against threats like DDoS attacks or hackers targeting client data, additional security measures may be necessary.

For optimal business and customer security, consider enhanced solutions like Adobe Commerce Cloud, which provides added protection through Fastly WAF. This safeguard blocks malicious traffic and includes DDoS services when needed.

Adobe Commerce Cloud and Open Source hosting

When choosing between Adobe Commerce and Magento Open-Source, you can opt for either cloud-based or on-premises hosting, unlike many other eCommerce platforms that may offer limited options. Adobe Commerce Cloud, a PaaS, operates on Amazon Web Service infrastructure.

Opting for AWS cloud hosting is highly recommended for improved website speed and security. Manage a scalable, secure website with ease. Cloud hosting is popular among e-commerce merchants for its cost-efficiency, flexibility, and scalability benefits.

Magento Open Source vs Adobe Commerce features

Adobe Commerce has more features out-of-the-box than Magento open-source. Magento open source has a huge number of extensions and third-party services that allow customizing the store.

An extensive guide of Adobe Commerce’s built-in features is on the Adobe official site. And the extensions for Magento open source you can find on the Magento Marketplace.

The list below shows features common for both editions.

1. Catalog and product management

• Gift Card
• Related Product
• Catalog Permissions

Adobe eCommerce and Magento functionality boasts a catalog and product management module for handling products and gift cards. It offers related product suggestions based on customer preferences to enhance their shopping experience. Additionally, the platform provides permission settings for granting access to specific information based on departmental needs, ensuring a tailored user experience.

2. Customer support and management

• Customer Segments,
• Customer Attribute,
• Multiple wishlists,
• Reward Points and Store Credits – Build customer loyalty,
• Gift Registry.

eCommerce functionality includes customer support and management, such as Customer Segments, Multiple Wishlists (so that customers can save items to purchase later), Reward Points, and Store Credits – which build customer loyalty -as well as a Gift Registry.

3. Shopping experience and order management

• Add to Cart by SKU, 
• Order Archiving,
• Return merchandise authorization (RMA).

Magento and Adobe Commerce offer various features like shopping experience and order management. Easily add items to your cart by SKU or upload products via CSV files for quick setup. Order Archiving streamlines order organization, facilitating issue resolution promptly and saving on customer service expenses. RMA simplifies the process further.

4. Content Management

• Banners, 
• Content Staging,
• Page Builder.

With Content Management, you can plan and schedule all promotions in advance. This allows campaigns to be ready with landing pages, prices, coupons, banners-everything you need before the high season comes around! All your campaign elements are already set up when it's time for action so you don't have to wait until things happen naturally or spend hours putting everything together yourself.

5. Marketing and SEO

• Private Sales,
• Auto Email Marketing Reminder,
• Google Tag Manager.

Magento eCommerce functionality includes marketing and SEO tools like Private Sales, and Auto Email Marketing Reminder that reminds customers when to reorder their products, as well as Google Tag Manager for managing all tags on Magento sites.

Magneto gives its users complete control over how content appears in search results making it easy for them to include meta descriptions along with titles when sharing information about specific pages across different social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter.

It comes with related product options allowing visitors of the website to see other items they may like based on their previous purchases while generating more revenue by increasing average order value (AOV).

6.B2B functionality module

• Shared Catalogs,
• Company Accounts,
• Company Credit,
• Quick Orders by SKU or Product Name,
• Payment on Account, Quotes.

Magento eCommerce has a few B2B functionalities that are perfect for businesses. One of these is Shared Catalogs, which allows you to sell the same products across multiple companies and users with different accounts all in one store!

Additionally, Company Accounts lets your business maintain separate customer records within Magento so they don't have to create their own account on your site if they already have an existing relationship with you or another company using shared catalog functionality.

You can also use Company Credit as a payment option where customers pay later after ordering by offering them what's called "Account Credits" -a form of delayed payments. Quick Orders by SKU or Product Name provides greater efficiency since it makes product searching possible without having specific item numbers beforehand; this means you can search for products and place orders without having to enter product numbers at all.

7. Merchandising

• Visual Merchandiser,
• Reward Points,
• Gift Registry, Store Credit,
• Private Sales & Events (containing countdown ticker).

Magento eCommerce platform allows you to manage all of your online store's activities through an intuitive interface. With the Merchandising Visualizer, users can upload images that will be used in marketing campaigns or product pages.

You'll also have access to Reward Points which allow customers to earn rewards for purchases and referrals while placing items on a gift registry is another great option available with Magento e-commerce functionality so shoppers are able to share wishlists with friends and family members who may want help selecting gifts!

Store Credit gives merchants more flexibility when it comes time to pay suppliers while Private Sales & Events features a countdown ticker allowing buyers to know exactly how many days they have left before prices go up again.

8. Reporting and Analytics

• Reports based on WishLists, Private Sales, and Segments.

Magento is a popular e-commerce platform that provides its users with reporting and analytics to better understand their customers' shopping habits. The reports can be used for WishLists, Private Sales, or Segments to help the user make more strategic business decisions based on useful data.

As you can see many useful e-commerce features exist in both editions of Magento Open Source and Magento 2 Commerce. To summarise please find some basic factors we have chosen to help you in decision making.