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E-Commerce · head to head

Magento vs PrestaShop

Magento logo

Magento

E-Commerce

Open core commerce platform, free as Magento Open Source and licensed by revenue as Adobe Commerce

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
PrestaShop logo

PrestaShop

E-Commerce

Open-source ecommerce platform for online merchants

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Magento it is open core rather than open source, so B2B, customer segmentation, content staging and the Adobe analytics and recommendation services sit behind the Adobe Commerce licence, and discovering that mid-project converts a free platform into a revenue-banded contract.; PrestaShop no specific pricing tiers or costs disclosed on homepage
  • They diverge on capability: Magento covers Two editions, PrestaShop covers Product catalog management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Magento and PrestaShop actually diverge.

Attributes where Magento and PrestaShop differ
AttributeMagentoPrestaShop
Pricing modelopen-sourcefreemium
Founded20082007

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (E-Commerce).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Magento

  • Two editions
  • Complex catalogue handling
  • Multi-store and multi-website
  • Native B2B in the paid edition
  • Multi-currency and multi-region
  • Composer module system
  • GraphQL and REST APIs
  • Hyva and Mage-OS ecosystem

Only in PrestaShop

  • Product catalog management
  • Order management
  • Payment gateway integration
  • Shipping module
  • Customer management
  • SEO tools
  • Analytics
  • Mobile-responsive design

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Magento

  • A retailer with tens of thousands of SKUs and attribute-heavy catalogue logic that SaaS platforms restrictnot PrestaShop
  • A multi-brand or multi-region group needing separate websites, currencies and tax treatment from one back officenot PrestaShop
  • A B2B seller needing company accounts, negotiated pricing and quoting inside the storefrontnot PrestaShop
  • An enterprise with an in-house or retained development team that treats commerce as owned softwarenot PrestaShop

PrestaShop

  • Fully customizable ecommerce platform for startups to enterprisesnot Magento
  • Stores handling millions in annual revenuenot Magento
  • Access to thousands of modules and themesnot Magento
  • Payment solutions integration with Stripe, Alma, Klarnanot Magento

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Magento

  • It is open core rather than open source, so B2B, customer segmentation, content staging and the Adobe analytics and recommendation services sit behind the Adobe Commerce licence, and discovering that mid-project converts a free platform into a revenue-banded contract.
  • The Adobe Commerce licence is priced on bands of gross merchandise value, so the platform bill increases as the store succeeds and is largely unrelated to the infrastructure or support you consume.
  • A production installation needs a search engine, a cache, a reverse proxy, a message queue and a database tuned together, so hosting is a DevOps engagement rather than a plan, and the first serious traffic event is where under-sizing becomes visible.
  • Minor version upgrades regularly break third party modules, so staying current means a regression testing and remediation project several times a year, and merchants who skip upgrades to avoid that end up running software with unpatched vulnerabilities.
  • The specialist developer market is small and expensive relative to other platforms, so an agency retainer becomes a permanent operating cost and losing that agency is a genuine business continuity problem rather than a procurement inconvenience.

PrestaShop

  • No specific pricing tiers or costs disclosed on homepage
  • Requires navigation to dedicated pricing pages for cost details

Pricing, plan by plan

Magento

Free
  • Magento Open SourceFree
    • Unlimited products
    • Multiple storefronts
    • Advanced marketing
  • Adobe Commerce$20000/year
    • All Open Source features
    • 24/7 enterprise support
    • Managed cloud hosting

PrestaShop

Free
  • Classic$undefined/mo
    • Download source code and install from scratch
    • Self-hosted ecommerce platform
  • Hosted$undefined/mo
    • CivicPlus handles technical aspects
    • Ready-to-use store

Which should you pick?

Choose Magento if

  • You need two editions.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want complex catalogue handling.
Magento review

Choose PrestaShop if

  • You need product catalog management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want order management.
PrestaShop review

Questions people ask

Is Magento or PrestaShop better?
Neither clearly leads. Magento starts at Free and PrestaShop at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Magento or PrestaShop?
Magento starts at Free and PrestaShop at Free.
Does Magento or PrestaShop run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Magento for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Magento best used for?
Magento is most often used for a retailer with tens of thousands of skus and attribute-heavy catalogue logic that saas platforms restrict, a multi-brand or multi-region group needing separate websites, currencies and tax treatment from one back office, a b2b seller needing company accounts, negotiated pricing and quoting inside the storefront, an enterprise with an in-house or retained development team that treats commerce as owned software. Of those, a retailer with tens of thousands of skus and attribute-heavy catalogue logic that saas platforms restrict and a multi-brand or multi-region group needing separate websites, currencies and tax treatment from one back office are not what PrestaShop is typically brought in for.
What can Magento do that PrestaShop cannot?
Magento covers Two editions, Complex catalogue handling, Multi-store and multi-website, Native B2B in the paid edition. PrestaShop covers Product catalog management, Order management, Payment gateway integration, Shipping module.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Magento: Is Magento free?

Magento Open Source is. Adobe Commerce is not, and it holds back B2B, segmentation, content staging and the Adobe analytics and recommendation layer. Establish which edition a requirement needs before you commit.

PrestaShop: How much does PrestaShop cost?

PrestaShop offers two models: Classic (free download with self-installation) and Hosted (vendor-managed). Specific pricing figures are not displayed on the homepage. Visit the pricing pages or contact PrestaShop directly for cost details.

Source
Magento: How is Adobe Commerce priced?

On bands of gross merchandise value, so the licence grows with revenue rather than with usage. Model it against your three year forecast, not this year's turnover.

PrestaShop: Does PrestaShop have a free version?

Yes, the Classic plan is free and allows you to download the source code and install your store from scratch.

Source
Magento: What does it really cost to run?

Licence if applicable, plus tuned infrastructure, plus a specialist agency or in-house team. For most deployments the people and hosting exceed the licence.

PrestaShop: What payment methods does PrestaShop support?

PrestaShop integrates with payment solutions including Stripe, Alma, and Klarna.

Source
Magento: Why do agencies keep mentioning Hyva?

The stock front end stack is slow to develop against, so Hyva, a commercially licensed replacement front end, has become a common default. It is another licence to budget for.

Magento: What happened with Magento 1?

It reached end of life and left merchants on unsupported, unpatched software facing a full replatform. It is the reference point for how long to assume support for any edition you adopt.

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