Migrate from Magento to Shopify

Magento to Shopify Migration Guide

When you are building an online store for your business, the sheer number of eCommerce solutions available to host and run the online side of the business can be a bit intimidating, to say the least.

But if you are a small business owner who is seriously considering taking their business online, then the decision to choose the right eCommerce platform can make or break your business. This is the reason why we are comparing two of the most well known eCommerce solutions in the market, Magento and Shopify, and helping you choose the right solution for your business.

Magento Vs. Shopify: Detailed Comparison

A quick overview

Magento

Open source - free to install on your computer
Best suited for enterprise level business
Coding knowledge required, best works with development teams
Limitless possibilities to design your store

Shopify

Easier to build eCommerce stores - suitable for small businesses
Large community to help you out with queries
Less coding knowledge required, platform best suited for small businesses
Good backend with a host of ways to add functionality

Detailed comparison

We will be comparing Shopify and Magento, using the following 5 key parameters:

Marketing apps and features
Ease of Use
Pricing
Help and Support
Sales Tools

1. Marketing apps and features

Shopify: Shopify makes marketing a lot easier, since it has an app for practically anything that you can think of.

From email marketing to apps to run Facebook ads and more, there is an app for practically anything and everything that you can think of. All the store owner needs to do is to install these apps on your store and get started with implementing them. There are 4000+ apps in the store as of today!

Magento: Magento is not as user friendly when it comes to marketing features as compared to Shopify, and the platform relies on its own Marketplace for the bulk of its marketing tools. To run email marketing campaigns, you will have to enlist the help of third-party tools such as Remarkety.

Scaling is also an issue when it comes to the use of marketing features by Magento. You will most likely require the help of a web developer if you want to truly use all the marketing features of Magento, whereas Shopify offers a tonne of in-built marketing features.

2. Ease of Use

If you are just starting out building your online store, chances are high that you probably don’t know your way around coding. This is why you need a platform that offers an easy learning curve.

Shopify is hands down the easier tool among the two when it comes to how easy it is to add a small detail, such as a product, to your eCommerce website. Shopify has a better on-boarding process and its editor is more user-friendly.

Shopify comes with a detailed step by step instructional wizard that helps you launch your online store with ease. Also available on Shopify is an extensive hub of documentation and how-tos, making it all the more easier for a newbie store owner.

Magento on the other hand comes with a steep learning curve. As someone who is just getting into the eCommerce game, the average small store owner will definitely need some hand-holding if they wish to use all of Magento’s features.

If you are short on time, have no patience to learn to code, and definitely don’t want to hire a programmer to add small details to your eCommerce site such as a product, then Shopify is definitely the tool for you.

Another important point to note is that Shopify offers a large number of themes compared to Magento. All the store owner has to do is to install one of them and customize it to match their store’s branding. So we have a clear winner when it comes to adding marketing features to your online store - Shopify.

3. Pricing

Pricing is a key concern when it comes to an eCommerce store owner to choose a platform, especially when the resources are limited.

Shopify has the following pricing plans:

Lite: $9/month
Basic: $29/month
Shopify: $79/month
Advanced Shopify: $299/month
Shopify plus : Based on requirements

Magento on the other hand has the following plans:

Magento Startup: $9.95/ month
Magento GrowBig: $19.95 / month
Magento GoGeek: $29.95/month

In addition to these features, Magento also offers an Enterprise plan, but that is aimed at large customers.

Magento offers lower rates when you are starting out, but in addition to this, you also need to buy your own domain, which works out to $10 to $15 per month. So the overall cost comes out higher, and you’ll have to maintain your bills separately too!

4. Help and Support

If you are a small business owner who is just taking his business online, you need all the help you can get. You can be good at making Pizzas, have a big fan following for your clothes on Instagram, or be the owner of the hottest restaurant in town, but if you don’t know how to build an eCommerce store, you are missing out on huge untapped potential for your business.

Shopify has a 24 * 7 customer support team, and has a great table of resources online, for anyone willing to do the hard work and learn the ropes. Thanks to the extensive documentation and a robust community forum, you will mostly find answers to your questions online, without the need to contact the support team.

Shopify also has a team of registered design and development experts as partners, to whom you can reach out in case of any queries.

Magento has a better list of online resources to support the customers who are building their eCommerce stores, since it is aimed at professional web developers who are comfortable with code. Magento is developed by SiteGround, who themselves offer excellent customer support, so it is a win-win for anyone willing to take their business online.

5. Sales channels

If you are running an eCommerce store, you need to hang out in the same online space that your ideal customer is frequenting. This means being very active on Social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram and other online marketplaces that your customers frequent.

If you are active on these channels, you can easily sell from these channels and Shopify gives you the option to track your inventory with ease.

Magento, on the other hand, needs a lot of technical integrations to be able to have a seamless flow of inventory and the ability to track sales from these channels leaves a lot to be desired.

So which one among the two would you choose? Both Shopify and Magento have similar features, but some of Magento’s more advanced features such as multi-channel selling are only available if you install expensive extensions. So Shopify wins this round too!

Magento vs Shopify: Which one should you choose?

We have told you which tools which work for which scenario. We have also given you the pricing of various tools. So which is the one tool you should choose for your small business?

The answer is subjective, and really depends on what you want out of your eCommerce store.

If you are leading a small team and are just setting up an online store for the first time, we would highly recommend Shopify. Here are some of the other reasons we recommend Shopify over Magento.

Easy, customizable themes
Not much technical dependency to get up and running
Promotional built-in tools that are much more effective
Shopify app market is super easy to use
Allows multi-channel selling with no additional extensions required
Dedicated support team to answer all your queries
SEO friendly
Easier to scale

Why enterprise brands are moving from Magento (Adobe Commerce) to Shopify Plus in 2026

To stay competitive in today’s eCommerce space, brands need the support of a robust platform. Many enterprise Magento brands recognize the need to move to a more efficient, faster, and high-performance platform such as Shopify Plus in 2026.

1. Rising total cost of ownership

Although Magento seems to be more affordable in the beginning, the cost of running it as the business grows can be expensive. Here are some costs of running Magento.

Hosting and infrastructure: Magento requires high-performance servers and infrastructure. The responsibility of managing server capacity, CDN setup, load balancers is on the merchants. For enterprise-level businesses, this cost can run into thousands.
Ongoing upgrade cycles: Magento releases upgrades regularly. And each of these upgrades can take up weeks of developer time, QA, and resources. This adds to the cost. To avoid costs, many enterprise brands choose to use the outdated versions.
Developer retainers: Magento requires a lot of developer intervention. Many enterprise brands have full-time in-house developer teams or hire retainers just to ensure the platform keeps running.
Custom module maintenance: Custom-built modules require constant upkeep. For instance, these modules end up breaking during upgrades. This increases development costs.
Enterprise licensing: Magento has a high annual licensing cost. This cost increases based on Gross Merchandise Volume.

In comparison, Shopify Plus has a more competitive cost structure. Here are some plus points of Shopify Plus cost model:

It is predictable, flat-rate pricing that starts at just a few thousands per month. It does not have any hidden infrastructure costs.
Shopify Plus fully manages hosting, security, and infrastructure, uptime, SSL, PCI compliance, and CDN at no extra charge.
The platform reduces operational overheads as the in-house or retainer team spends less time on infrastructure maintenance.

2. Upgrade fatigue and technical debt

One of the most common problems that merchants face is the fatigue of upgrading the platform.

Upgrading to higher versions can be disruptive as it is not simple. It is similar to a complete replatforming effort within the same platform. Magento 1 to Magento 2 was notoriously painful, and upgrading Adobe Commerce versions requires a lot of effort.
Adjusting and tweaking custom modules, integrations, or themes can lead to breakages. For enterprise brands this means rewriting custom codes from scratch just to stay on a supported version.
As upgrades are disruptive, development teams often delay this process. This means the business is running on unsupported versions, which leads to security issues, compliance risks, and increased technical debt.
Every delayed upgrade adds to the workload, and over time, the codebase becomes increasingly difficult and expensive to work with. This slows down future development initiatives.

How Shopify Plus tackles this:

Shopify Plus removes this problem by managing all platform updates automatically. The upgrades take place in the background without disrupting the store or requiring intervention from the other teams.

3. Performance and traffic anxiety

For enterprise eCommerce brands, high-traffic periods, such as annual sales, product launches, etc., are critical for revenue generation. But Magento makes these events stressful.

Magento requires ongoing, active performance tuning, such as caching strategies, database indexing, full-page cache configuration, and server-side optimizations.
High-traffic events require advance planning for scaling the platform infrastructure and coordination with the hosting provider. This can add to the cost.
During heavy load, Magento can experience slow checkout pages, cart errors, or full outages. This can mean lost sales and revenue.

Shopify Plus removes infrastructure anxiety:

Shopify Plus is built on a globally distributed and scalable infrastructure. It has the capacity to handle large sales. The platform does not require you to pre-scale, or monitor servers during high-traffic events. For enterprise brands, this protects revenue.

4. Developer dependency that slows down innovation

Magento’s functioning depends on developer teams. This often slows down the stores.

When marketing teams want to update a banner, change a promotional message, or launch a new landing page, they have to depend on the developers. These tasks often require raising a dev ticket, waiting in a backlog, and then going through a long process.
Simple changes and routine tasks require development tickets. For example, creating a new discount code rule, adjusting product sorting on a collection, or updating checkout messaging requires developer intervention.
Running A/B tests, testing new homepage layouts, or trying out different checkout flows require developer resources. As a result, enterprise brands cannot easily run experiments.

Shopify Plus removes developer dependency.

Shopify Plus has in-built features, such as visual editor, drag-and-drop sections, and intuitive admin. Marketing and merchandising teams can use these features and make changes. Thus, the development team gets to focus on high-value and strategic tasks.

XgenTech approaches migration as a strategic reset

At XgenTech, the best enterprise migrations we execute in 2026 are not just technical platform switches, they are a strategic reset based on the brand’s goals. Moving from Magento to Shopify Plus is an opportunity to clean up, and rebuild the store for the next phase of growth.

Here’s the difference XgenTech makes:

SEO preservation: A migration done incorrectly can have a negative impact on the organic search rankings of your brand. At XgenTech, we conduct a full SEO audit before migration. We map every existing URL on the Shopify Plus platform, implement 301 redirects, and monitor search performance post-launch to catch and resolve any drops immediately.
Integration rebuilding: Most enterprise Magento stores have a complex web of integrations, such as ERPs, PIMs, CRMs, WMS platforms, loyalty systems, and more. Migration is the best time to audit these integrations, remove outdated ones, and rebuild the rest on cleaner, more reliable API connections through Shopify's ecosystem.
Data cleaning: Years of operations on Magento, with limited flexibility means data that hasn’t been cleaned for years. Think duplicate customer records, invalid product SKUs, inconsistent pricing rules, and outdated order history. The migration process gives your team the chance to clean and normalize your data before it moves to Shopify Plus.
Phased launch approach: We recommend a phased launch strategy for enterprise migrations. This involves running both platforms in parallel during a transition period. By launching to a limited audience first, you can minimize risks and optimize before the final launch.

How to migrate from Magento to Shopify

The migration process from Magento to Shopify will take the transfer of all the contents of the website and the transfer of the domain name. In addition to this, you will also need to make adjustments to your website and SEO settings to keep your Google Search Rankings intact.

With that information in our hands, let’s jump right into how we migrate.

Step 1: Sign Up for Shopify

Explore the features of Shopify, see what all the platform has to offer, and make sure that this is THE platform you want to build your eCommerce store on.

Once you sign up, the platform will ask your goal about using the platform, your industry and your email id. Provide these details and boom, you are ready for the next stage.

Step 2: Create a backup of your Magento store

When you are transferring all your data, you risk losing all your precious customer’s data if your migration falls apart, which is the nightmare of any store owner.

Create a backup of your magento store by going to your admin sidebar and selecting ‘System’ > ‘Tools’ and then ‘Backup’. Choose the type of backup you want to create and you are good to go.

Step 3: Download the Import Store App

By downloading the ‘Import Store’ app from Shopify’s App store, you will be able to migrate all your product and customer data to your Shopify app with ease.

As an alternative, you can also use other highly rated apps such as Excelify or Multichannel Importer. Before you do this, make sure you export all your data from Magento, which is explained in the next step.

Step 4: Export data from Magento

It is now time to pack all your unique customer and product data into files so that apps such as Shopify will understand them. How do you do it? You can use the same procedure as you did to create a backup of your store, from the Admin Sidebar.

On the Admin Sidebar, go to ‘System’> ‘Data Transfer’> ‘Export.’ Select if your entity type is ‘Products’ , ‘Customers Main file’ or ‘Customer’s Addresses.’ The final data will be in the form of a spreadsheet, which can be easily processed by Shopify.

Step 5: Import Store data to Shopify

The data which you have converted into a Shopify - friendly format is now ready for import!!

Simply go to the Shopify admin page and select ‘Apps’> ‘Import Store’ and then select ‘Magento’ from the drop down menu. Go to ‘Upload Files’ > ‘Add File’ and then select your exported file.

Step 6: Review Imported Data

When moving such crucial information such as customer data, you need to assure that nothing falls through the cracks. This means looking at every nook and corner of your imported data, to make sure all of the products or customers are successfully imported.

If any of your ‘Products’ or ‘Customers’ did go missing, you can always import them from the admin page

Step 7: Design your new Shopify Store

You have now reached the final step of the migration process, and designing your store on Shopify is super simple, thanks to all the ready-made themes and visual cues available. Choose from a range of themes available, and then sit back and relax, since these themes are mobile responsive.

And if you need any help, you can always reach out to Shopify design experts like XgenTech here.

Parting words

Setting up an online store for your business is not a daunting task, and you need not be afraid of both these platforms when starting out for the first time.

We hope the above blog gave you a small intro as to how these platforms work.

But if you need help choosing an eCommerce platform or migrating from Magento to Shopify, reach out to the Shopify experts at XgenTech today.