Shopify Plus vs. Adobe Commerce: Big Dogs of 2025 E-commerce
Paul Grieselhuber
Enterprise e-commerce’s a bloody brawl—Shopify Plus and Adobe Commerce (Magento) are the pit bulls tearing it up in 2025. Shopify Plus, $2K/month base, is the slick operator—fast, scalable, a merchant’s wet dream. Adobe Commerce? A tank—$7K-$140K builds (Onilab’s range)—custom to the hilt but heavy as hell. Both slug it out for big dogs—scale, cost, custom—who rules the ring?
Shopify Plus: The Slick Contender
Shopify Plus is the enterprise e-commerce darling—$2K/month kicks off a full-stack beast. Setup’s a breeze—plug in, sell fast, no dev migraines. It’s got omnichannel chops—social, marketplaces, POS—syncing retail and online like a dream. APIs and 8K+ apps let you tweak, but it’s Shopify’s sandbox—custom’s deep, not endless. Scales like a champ—Gymshark, SKIMS ride it—handling flash sales with 10K+ checkouts a minute. Slick, lean, built for merchants who want enterprise e-commerce without the faff.
Adobe Commerce: The Custom Tank
Adobe Commerce—Magento’s big brother—is a beast for control freaks. Builds run $7K-$140K (Onilab), no monthly floor listed—you’re paying for hosting, devs, the lot. It’s composable—headless-ready, APIs galore—craft whatever storefront you damn well please. B2B and B2C from one hub, 200K orders an hour—think Coca-Cola, Ford. Custom’s its crown—multi-brand, multi-region—but it’s a tank to drive. You’ll need a crew—devs, not dabblers—for Adobe Commerce 2025 to flex.
Scale: Speed vs. Muscle
Shopify Plus scales smooth—unlimited bandwidth, SKUs, built-in cloud grunt. Flash sales? No sweat—99.99% uptime, says Shopify. Adobe Commerce matches it—200K orders/hour, millions of SKUs—but it’s your rig to tune. Shopify’s plug-and-play wins for speed; Adobe’s muscle shines when enterprise e-commerce hits global sprawl—multi-site, complex catalogs, no cap.
Cost: Lean Bill vs. Fat Build
Shopify Plus starts at $2K/month—variable by GMV—hosting, security, support baked in. No dev army needed—$100K-$500K builds max out most jobs. Adobe Commerce? Free to download, but $7K-$140K builds (Onilab) plus hosting ($100-$1K/mo) and upkeep—think $30K/year licenses for big guns. Shopify’s leaner—less TCO pain; Adobe’s a fat cheque for bespoke brawn.
Custom: Reins vs. Free-for-All
Shopify Plus bends—APIs, Shopify Functions, Hydrogen—but it’s got reins. Custom’s deep, not wild—Oxygen hosting keeps you in line. Adobe Commerce is a free-for-all—headless, extensible, your stack, your rules. Need a checkout that moonwalks? Adobe’s your beast—dev-heavy, no leash.
Slick or Tank?
Shopify Plus is the slick pick—$2K/mo, fast, scalable, enterprise e-commerce for merchants who want it now. Adobe Commerce 2025’s the tank—$7K-$140K, custom king, built for complex giants. Plus rules for lean scale; Adobe owns bespoke heft. Pick your dog—speed or muscle?
