Is €2,300 a month expensive? Let's talk about how much it really costs to maintain your Magento (The spreadsheet that IT doesn't want you to see)

It's the most difficult conversation I have with CEOs and CFOs in Spain. I present them with a migration proposal to Shopify Plus , and their eyes are fixed on one line: "License: ~€2,150/month ($2,300 USD)."

The response is almost automatic: "But Magento Community is free. Why would I pay more than €25,000 a year for something I already have at no cost?"

Here's the catch. Open Source isn't free; it's "do it yourself." And in the e-commerce enterprise of 2025, "do it yourself" is the most expensive way to operate.

I am Lead Migration Architect at Migraciones.io , and today I am going to debunk the "free software" fallacy with real numbers in euros.

The Financial Iceberg: What You Pay vs. What You Spend

When you sign up for Shopify Plus, you pay a single bill that includes: Global Hosting, Bank-level Security, CDN, Unlimited Bandwidth, and 24/7 Support.

When you use Magento (Adobe Commerce), you pay €0 for the license, but you receive a folder with code. To sell anything from that, you need to purchase everything else separately.

The invisible cost of the server (The AWS bill)

For a Magento store to generate €2-5 million in revenue without crashing, €50 shared hosting isn't enough. You need:

• Dedicated architecture (AWS or Azure) in Frankfurt or Dublin.
• Load balancers for traffic peaks.
• Caching services (Varnish/Redis).
• A Sysadmin or agency to monitor this so it doesn't explode on a Sunday.

Average real cost in 2025: Between €800 and €1,800 per month for "hardware" infrastructure alone.

The "Security Tax": How much does your peace of mind cost?

Magento releases security patches (SUPEE) several times a year. They are not optional; if you don't install them, your customers' data is at risk.

Installing a patch in Magento requires a staging environment, backend developer time, and QA testing. Average cost per patch: €1,500 - €3,000 in agency time. If there are four patches per year, do the math.

In Shopify Plus , security costs are €0 . Patches are applied in the background.

The Truth Table: A Comparison of TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)

Let's put the numbers on the table for a store that makes €3M a year.

Conclusion: Magento seems free, but it costs you 60% more each month just to keep the lights on.

The cost that doesn't appear on the bill: Innovation

Beyond money, there's time. In Magento, 70% of your IT budget goes to "maintenance" (keeping the website up and running). That leaves you with only 30% for innovation (new features, UX).

In Shopify Plus, 100% of your budget goes to innovation, because Shopify already takes care of the maintenance.

Frequently Asked Questions about Migration Costs

Does Shopify Plus charge a sales commission in addition to the monthly fee?

If you use Shopify Payments , there are no extra transaction fees (only the standard credit card fee, which is very competitive with Shopify Plus, approximately 1.4% + €0.25 in Europe). If you use a third-party payment gateway (such as Redsys), there is a small additional fee (0.15%), but this is usually offset by the savings in maintenance costs.

Is it true that I need to pay for apps for everything on Shopify?

It's a common myth. Shopify Plus natively includes tools that are either paid or require development in Magento: Shopify Flow (automation), Launchpad (flash events), B2B (wholesale), and Shopify Scripts (checkout customization). External apps are for very specific functionalities.

How much does it really cost to migrate from Magento to Shopify Plus?

It depends on the complexity of the design and the data. An Enterprise migration project can range from €30,000 to €80,000 (one-time payment). Although this seems high, the return on investment (ROI) is usually achieved in less than 12 months thanks to the monthly operating savings of over €1,500 shown in the table.