Magento to Shopify. The real cost.
Line-item budget for Magento 2 to Shopify migration in 2026. Platform fees, theme rebuild, data migration, apps, SEO preservation, ongoing cost — honest ranges per store size.
$15K small, $35–75K mid-market, $150K+ enterprise.
Total Magento 2 to Shopify migration cost in 2026 ranges from roughly $15,000 for a small-catalog move with design-as-is adaptation through $35,000 to $75,000 for typical mid-market migrations with custom theme and standard integrations, and $150,000+ for enterprise moves to Shopify Plus with 10,000+ SKUs and complex B2B requirements. Platform subscription after launch runs $299 to $2,300+/mo on Shopify. The repeatedly-underestimated line items are SEO preservation work and data-transformation complexity; together they consume 20 to 30 percent of most migration budgets and the savings brands try to claim on these two lines are the number-one cause of post-launch traffic drops.
- Mid-market Magento-to-Shopify migration runs $35K-$75K all-in for typical builds; small catalogs $15K-$30K; enterprise Plus moves $150K+.
- Seven line items: data migration, theme, app re-implementation, integrations, SEO preservation, QA, launch support. Add 10-20% contingency.
- Three repeatedly-blown budget items: long-tail SEO redirects, custom-attribute mapping (Magento EAV to Shopify metafields), legacy extensions with no clean Shopify equivalent.
- Three-year TCO at $2M revenue: ~$120K-$180K on Magento vs ~$60K-$90K on Shopify. The savings compound past year one.
- Timeline: 6-8 weeks small, 10-14 weeks mid-market, 16-24 weeks enterprise. Long poles are URL inventory work and Magento attribute schema mapping.
Seven line items. Honest ranges.
Seven line items typically: data migration, theme rebuild, app re-implementation, integrations (ERP/3PL), SEO preservation, QA, and launch support. The official path through these is documented in Shopify's migration manual; the mechanical data-export side runs through Matrixify and the Shopify Admin API.
| line item | small store | mid-market | enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data migration | $3-8K | $8-18K | $18-25K+ |
| Theme build/adapt | $8-15K | $15-35K | $35-60K+ |
| App re-implementation | $5-10K | $10-15K | $15-20K |
| Integrations (ERP/3PL) | $5-12K | $12-25K | $25-40K+ |
| SEO preservation | $3-5K | $5-8K | $8-10K |
| QA + UAT | $3-6K | $6-10K | $10-15K |
| Launch + first month | $2-4K | $4-8K | $8-15K |
| Subtotal | $29-60K | $60-119K | $119-185K+ |
Add 10-20% contingency. Ranges reflect US + UK agency pricing; offshore teams quote 40-60% lower but variance in quality is high.
Five answers.
The five questions buyers actually ask when scoping a Magento-to-Shopify migration: total cost, line-item breakdown, three-year TCO comparison, timeline, and the most-common failure modes. Sourced from Adobe Commerce migration discussions and Shopify Plus partner intake calls over 2024-2026.
How much does a Magento to Shopify migration cost in 2026?
Total cost ranges from roughly $15,000 for a small catalog migration (under 500 SKUs, design-as-is theme adaptation) to $150,000-plus for a mid-market or enterprise migration (10,000-plus SKUs, custom theme, complex integrations, Shopify Plus). Typical mid-market migration: $35,000 to $75,000 including data migration, custom theme, app re-implementation, and SEO preservation work. Platform subscription adds $299 to $2,300-plus per month on Shopify after launch. The common budgeting mistake is underestimating SEO work and data-transformation complexity; both frequently consume 20 to 30 percent of the total budget.
What are the main cost line items?
Seven line items typically. One, data migration (products, customers, orders, redirects) at $3,000 to $25,000. Two, theme rebuild or adaptation at $8,000 to $60,000. Three, app re-implementation (replacing Magento extensions with Shopify apps) at $5,000 to $20,000. Four, integrations (ERP, 3PL, accounting, payment) at $5,000 to $40,000. Five, SEO preservation (redirects, title-tag carry-forward, rank monitoring) at $3,000 to $10,000. Six, QA and UAT at $3,000 to $15,000. Seven, first-month Shopify subscription and launch support at $2,000 to $15,000. Add 10 to 20 percent contingency for the line items the scope will surface during build.
Is Shopify cheaper than Magento long-term?
For most mid-market stores, yes, by a meaningful margin. Magento 2 Open Source is free in license but expensive in total cost of ownership: hosting (usually $500 to $5,000 per month at scale), developer maintenance (typically 10 to 40 hours per month), security patching, and Magento-specialized engineering hires that command a premium. Shopify bundles hosting, PCI, and platform updates into subscription. Three-year total cost of ownership at a $2M revenue store typically lands around $120,000 to $180,000 on Magento vs $60,000 to $90,000 on Shopify. Exceptions exist (deep B2B customizations Shopify Plus cannot match), but they are rare.
How long does migration take end-to-end?
Timeline depends on scope. Small catalog (under 500 SKUs, design adaptation): 6 to 8 weeks. Mid-market (2,000 to 10,000 SKUs, custom theme, standard integrations): 10 to 14 weeks. Enterprise Plus migration (10,000-plus SKUs, complex B2B, custom checkout, multi-store): 16 to 24 weeks. The long poles are data-schema mapping (Magento product attributes do not map 1:1 to Shopify metafields) and SEO preservation (a complete URL inventory plus redirect map takes 2 weeks on a mid-market site). See our /services/shopify-migration/ for the full methodology.
What breaks most often during migration?
Five repeated failure modes. One, URL structure changes without complete 301 redirects tanking SEO for 3 to 6 months. Two, Magento product attributes (custom_attributes, multi-select options) getting lost because no one mapped them to Shopify metafields cleanly. Three, customer accounts migrating without password preservation forcing every customer to reset. Four, app functionality gaps (a Magento extension has no Shopify equivalent; you discover this at week 8). Five, integration breakage with ERP or 3PL systems because the new API surface differs. All five are preventable with a 2-week discovery audit before the build starts.
Fixed-price quote. 48 hours.
Book a 30-minute migration scoping call. Written line-item budget in 48 hours. Every line defined; no surprise numbers during build. The pre-call brief should include catalog size, current Magento version, extension list, and the LCP targets from web.dev's LCP guide you want to hit after cutover.
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