Arkhi

Adobe Commerce Costs More Than Shopify's Most Expensive Plan

You've heard the hype about brands moving to Shopify. There's a reason for it.

Shopify is taking a lot of market share, and Adobe is adapting a platform built for a different era. Merchants feel it in three places: a licence Adobe won't publish a price for, a shrinking pool of Magento developers, and release cycles that turn a small change into a big job. The brands who've moved aren't going back.

Pick a time that suits you. Free. 45 minutes, online.

You leave the call with a high-level scope, cost and timeline for your store. No pitch deck.

Brands we've moved to Shopify

FCS
Alana Maria
Elite Eleven
Living By Design
The Wod Life
Super Butcher
EHPlabs
ATP Science
Babyboo
Before You Speak
Charcoal
Culture Kings
Do You Even
Esmi
Hismile
Lack of Color
LSKD
Macro Mike
Maison de Sabre
Melani
Mercha
Morlife
Move With Us
Muscle Nation
Runway Scout
Silk Laundry
Skin Kandy
The Coffee Club
The Mad Hueys
Nomad
YCL Jewels
Active Truth
Body Science
Crop Shop Boutique
Muscle Republic
Rhythm
Surfboard Empire
Surfstitch
Verve Fitness

What's Adobe Commerce really costing you?

Shopify Plus can look expensive from the outset. But is it? Put in your numbers and see for yourself.

Conversion rate (%)

That's a +15% lift

Adobe quotes this per merchant and doesn't publish a price list. Hosting and infrastructure are inside it.

Estimated annual upside of moving

+$619,600

  • Your conversion rate2.0% to 2.3% on Shopify (+15%)
  • Adobe Commerce costs you’d stop paying+$124,000
  • Shopify Plus platform fee (3-year term)-$44,400
  • Net running-cost change+$79,600
  • Extra revenue from that lift, on the same traffic+$540,000

And these numbers are based on Shopify Plus, the most expensive plan Shopify offers. Most stores don't need Plus, and on a cheaper plan the numbers stack up even better.

And these numbers are based on Shopify Plus, the most expensive plan Shopify offers. Most stores don't need Plus, and on a cheaper plan the numbers stack up even better.

Read the net running-cost line again. Shopify's most expensive plan is still cheaper than what you pay now. And you know what Shopify costs before you talk to anyone. Adobe won't publish a price list at all.

A rough estimate based on our migrations, where conversion lift ranges from 10% to 24%, not a guarantee. Adobe Commerce licence fees are not published by Adobe. The default shown is the lowest Cloud band reported by agency and partner sources, converted to AUD.

Why merchants are moving to Shopify

001

Total cost of ownership

Adobe doesn't publish Commerce Cloud pricing. You can't compare it until you're already in a sales process.

Add a Magento dev retainer and paid extensions on top of whatever you are quoted.

Shopify publishes its pricing, and rolls hosting, security, checkout and support into one bill.

Potential uplift:A price you can actually check

002

Checkout conversion

Shopify has the highest-converting checkout in ecommerce, built and hosted by Shopify.

An independent study found it converts up to 36% higher than other platforms, and 15% higher on average.

Shop Pay lifts conversion up to 50% more than guest checkout.

Potential uplift:+15% conversion lift, typical

003

Developer dependency

Every Adobe Commerce update needs a specialised Magento developer, and that pool keeps shrinking.

When your one Magento dev leaves, your roadmap stops.

On Shopify, your team ships content, products and campaigns without booking a developer.

Potential uplift:Maintenance dev spend drops to zero

004

Release velocity

Adobe Commerce runs on a multi-module architecture, so even a small change is slow and risky to release.

Shopify ships 150+ platform updates twice a year and you get them without a rebuild.

Your team tests and launches in a day, not a sprint.

Potential uplift:Ship in days, not sprints

005

Peak trading reliability

On Adobe Commerce, staying up under load is your hosting bill and your dev team’s problem.

On Shopify, uptime is Shopify’s responsibility, with a 99.99% SLA on Plus.

Shopify merchants did $14.6b over BFCM 2025, peaking at $5.1m a minute.

Potential uplift:Near-zero downtime at peak

006

Agentic commerce

Orders from AI search on Shopify are up 15x since January 2025.

Agentic Storefronts syndicates your catalogue across AI platforms automatically, in real time.

Adobe Commerce has no equivalent. The gap widens every quarter.

Potential uplift:A new sales channel with zero setup

Benchmarks from Shopify data, third-party research, and stores we've moved across ourselves.

The platform behind the storefront

Total cost of ownershipAdobe CommerceQuoted per merchant, plus a Magento retainer. Adobe publishes no price listShopifyOne plan fee with hosting, security, checkout and support included. Plus is $3,700 a month on a 3-year term
Release cycleAdobe CommerceMulti-module architecture. Every change goes through a specialised developerShopifyShopify ships 150+ updates twice a year. You get them without a rebuild
Uptime at peakAdobe CommerceYour hosting and dev team carry the peak-load riskShopify$14.6b BFCM 2025, $5.1m a minute at peak, 99.99% SLA on Plus

What the migration includes

  • Full data migration: products, customers, orders, content
  • Custom module and extension audit, with a Shopify app or custom build mapped to each one
  • B2B price lists, customer groups and account-level pricing rebuilt on Shopify
  • ERP, warehouse and accounting integrations reconnected
  • 301 redirect process to mitigate SEO impact
  • Theme build or theme customisation on Shopify
  • Third-party app and integration setup
  • Testing, QA, and staged launch
  • Post-launch support

Timeline: 3 to 5 months for most stores.

Flynn McFarlane

A note from the founder

Arkhi is a Shopify Platinum Partner. Top 1% globally. Building on Shopify since 2013.

We've migrated stores from Adobe Commerce and Magento, as well as WooCommerce, BigCommerce and custom-built platforms. Not one of them has looked back. Solid growth, better tools, and a platform that scales with them.

  • HiSmile: startup to $40m in 3 years
  • Muscle Nation: $10m in 2 days (BFCM 2020)
  • Elite Eleven: $40m FY23, 80% YoY growth
  • Macro Mike: 7+ year partnership, ROAS up 10x

Flynn McFarlaneFounder, Arkhi

Book a free migration assessment

Free. 45 minutes. Online, on Google Meet. Pick a time that suits you.

  • Why brands are leaving Adobe Commerce: platform limitations, licensing costs, and the real cost of staying put
  • A high-level scope, cost and timeline for your store, before the 45 minutes is up
  • What's possible on Shopify: a live walk through the commerce stack, apps, checkout, analytics, automation
  • A full cost of ownership calculation follows, built on our real package pricing
  • A written follow-up within 48 hours, every time

No pitch deck. No hard sell. Just the information you need to make the call.

Rather just talk? Get in touch and we'll set up a time.

Or start with the package

Not ready to talk? Submit your details here and we'll email you the Adobe Commerce Migration Package.

  • What an Adobe Commerce to Shopify migration actually involves, stage by stage
  • How custom modules and extensions map across
  • What it costs, and what a cost of ownership comparison looks like for a store your size
  • The migration checklist we run internally

/FAQ.

The questions every migrating merchant asks

We audit every one before we scope. Most map to a Shopify app. Some are already native on Shopify, so they just disappear. A small number carry real business logic and get rebuilt properly. You get that map in writing, module by module, so nothing is a surprise at launch.

Ready to move now?

Skip the reading. Book a free migration assessment and get a scope, a timeline and real numbers for your store.

[Book a free migration assessment >] opens in a new tab

[ɑːrkhɪ] pronounced ar-kee.

We believe the smallest, well-placed force can move the greatest mass. We don't just chase growth; we use strategic eComm to unlock your brand's dormant potential and create order from chaos.

Inspired by Archimedes, driven by leverage.