E-Commerce · head to head
Magento vs Shopware
Magento
E-Commerce
Open core commerce platform, free as Magento Open Source and licensed by revenue as Adobe Commerce
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Shopware
E-Commerce
Explore the open-source commerce platform, backed by our global community
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
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.; Shopware rise tier starts at 600 euro per month and Evolve at 2,400 euro per month, both excluding VAT, so pricing is published in euros only and not converted for other regions
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Magento and Shopware actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (open-source), 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 Shopware
Nothing recorded that Magento does not also cover.
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 Shopware
- A multi-brand or multi-region group needing separate websites, currencies and tax treatment from one back officenot Shopware
- A B2B seller needing company accounts, negotiated pricing and quoting inside the storefrontnot Shopware
- An enterprise with an in-house or retained development team that treats commerce as owned softwarenot Shopware
Shopware
- Managing unlimited sales channels across online, POS, marketplacesnot Magento
- Setting customer-specific pricing for B2B customersnot Magento
- Automating complex workflows with Flow Builder without codingnot Magento
- Segmenting customers automatically with behavioral tagsnot Magento
- Managing multi-language, multi-currency, multi-tax for global expansionnot 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.
Shopware
- Rise tier starts at 600 euro per month and Evolve at 2,400 euro per month, both excluding VAT, so pricing is published in euros only and not converted for other regions
- Beyond, the top tier with digital sales rooms, multi-inventory and customer-specific pricing, is custom priced and requires contacting sales
- The Shopware Intelligence+ AI add-on is billed separately at 29 euro per month on Community Edition or 19 euro per month on paid tiers, on top of the plan price
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
Shopware
Free- Community EditionFree
- free open-source platform
- global developer community access
- Shopware Intelligence+ add-on at 29/month
- Rise$600/month
- subscription model
- Shopware Intelligence+ add-on at 19/month
- Evolve$2400/month
- subscription model
- Shopware Intelligence+ add-on at 19/month
- Beyond$null/custom
- custom pricing
- contact sales required
Which should you pick?
Choose Magento if
- You need two editions.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want complex catalogue handling.
Questions people ask
- Is Magento or Shopware better?
- Neither clearly leads. Magento starts at Free and Shopware at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Magento or Shopware?
- Magento starts at Free and Shopware at Free.
- Does Magento or Shopware 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 Shopware is typically brought in for.
- What can Magento do that Shopware cannot?
- Magento covers Two editions, Complex catalogue handling, Multi-store and multi-website, Native B2B in the paid edition.
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.
Shopware: How much does Shopware cost?
Shopware offers Community Edition free (open-source), Rise at 600/month, Evolve at 2,400/month (all in EUR), and Beyond at custom pricing requiring sales contact.
SourceMagento: 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.
Shopware: What is the difference between Shopware Community and Rise editions?
Shopware Community Edition is a free open-source platform with global developer community access. Rise is a subscription tier starting at 600/month (EUR) with included features and support.
SourceMagento: 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.
Shopware: What add-on services does Shopware offer?
Shopware offers Shopware Intelligence+ at 29/month (Community Edition) or 19/month (Rise, Evolve, and Beyond tiers). Shopware Nexus is in a free introductory phase through September 1, 2026.
SourceMagento: 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.
Related pages
Other head to heads
- Magento vs OpenCart
- Magento vs AliExpress
- Magento vs Medusa
- Magento vs Big Cartel
- Magento vs PrestaShop
- Magento vs Spree Commerce
- Magento vs UnoPIM
- Magento vs Wix eCommerce
- Magento vs WooCommerce
- Magento vs BigCommerce
- Magento vs commercetools
- Magento vs Amazon Shopping
- Magento vs Depop
- Magento vs Mercari
- Magento vs Poshmark
- Magento vs Shein
- Magento vs Squarespace Commerce
- Magento vs Square
- Magento vs Shopkeep
- Magento vs Saleor
- Magento vs Algolia
- Shopware vs OpenCart
- Shopware vs AliExpress
- Shopware vs Medusa
- Shopware vs Big Cartel
- Shopware vs PrestaShop
- Shopware vs Spree Commerce
- Shopware vs UnoPIM
- Shopware vs Wix eCommerce
- Shopware vs WooCommerce
- Shopware vs BigCommerce
- Shopware vs commercetools
- Shopware vs Amazon Shopping
- Shopware vs Depop
- Shopware vs Mercari
- Shopware vs Poshmark
- Shopware vs Shein
- Shopware vs Squarespace Commerce
- Shopware vs Square
- Shopware vs Shopkeep
- Shopware vs Saleor
- Shopware vs Algolia