When does Adobe Commerce make sense for a business?

"Do we need Adobe Commerce, or would Magento Open Source do the job?" It's one of the questions we're asked most often, both by merchants choosing a platform for the first time and by those whose Adobe Commerce licence is coming up for renewal.

There isn't a single right answer. Adobe Commerce is a powerful platform, and for some businesses its features, managed hosting and Adobe support more than justify the licence fee. For others, it's more platform than they need, and the same budget would go further on design, development and marketing.

In this article, we look at what Adobe Commerce offers over Magento Open Source, the kinds of businesses it suits best, and the questions worth asking before you decide.

What's the difference between Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source?

Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source are built on the same code base, so they look and work in much the same way. We've covered the background in more detail in What is Adobe Commerce? Is it the same as Magento?, but the main differences come down to features, hosting, support and cost.

On features, Adobe Commerce adds tools that Open Source doesn't include as standard. These include B2B functionality such as company accounts, shared catalogues and quotes, content staging and preview, customer segmentation, visual merchandising, gift cards and reward points. It also gives you access to Adobe services such as Live Search and Product Recommendations.

On hosting and support, Adobe Commerce can be run on Adobe's managed cloud infrastructure, and Adobe provides support as part of the licence. With Open Source, you arrange your own hosting and rely on your development agency and the wider Magento community for support.

On cost, Magento Open Source is free to use, although you'll still need to budget for hosting, development and maintenance. Adobe Commerce requires an annual licence. Adobe doesn't publish its pricing, and you'll need to request a quote, but the licence is a significant cost and usually rises as your revenue grows.

When does Adobe Commerce make sense?

In our experience, Adobe Commerce tends to be the right choice when a business will use a good share of its extra features every day, rather than just one or two of them.

You sell to other businesses

Adobe Commerce's B2B features are one of the strongest reasons to choose it. If your trade customers need company accounts with different users and permissions, their own catalogues and prices, quote requests, requisition lists and quick ordering by SKU, Adobe Commerce provides all of this as standard. These features can be added to Open Source with third-party extensions, but for a complex B2B eCommerce operation, having them built into the platform and supported by Adobe can save a lot of time and risk.

Your marketing team runs a busy calendar

If your team is regularly launching campaigns, sales and seasonal content, content staging and preview make a noticeable difference. You can schedule changes to products, prices, pages and promotions in advance and preview exactly how the site will look on a given date, without anyone having to make changes late at night. Customer segmentation lets you show different content and offers to different groups of customers, which suits businesses with a strong focus on personalisation.

You have a large or complex catalogue

Visual merchandising tools help teams manage the order of products in large categories, and Adobe's Live Search and Product Recommendations can help customers find what they're looking for across thousands of products. For businesses where search and merchandising have a direct effect on revenue, these tools can earn back a meaningful share of the licence cost.

You want managed hosting and support from Adobe

Some businesses would rather have their hosting, infrastructure and platform support come from one supplier with a formal service agreement. Adobe Commerce on Adobe's cloud infrastructure gives you that, and for larger organisations, particularly those with strict internal IT or compliance requirements, it can be a deciding factor.

When might Magento Open Source suit you better?

For many of the merchants we work with, Magento Open Source is the better fit. If you're a B2C retailer with a straightforward catalogue, or you only need one or two of Adobe Commerce's extra features, you may be paying a large licence fee for tools you rarely use.

Most Adobe Commerce features have well-established alternatives for Open Source. Extensions are available for content scheduling, customer segments, B2B functionality, visual merchandising, gift cards and reward points, and they usually cost a small fraction of an Adobe Commerce licence. The trade-off is that you'll be managing several third-party extensions rather than one supported platform, so it's worth choosing them carefully.

It's also become more common for merchants already on Adobe Commerce to move to Open Source when their licence comes up for renewal. Because both platforms share the same code base, this is a well-understood process, and we've written about why and how merchants are moving from Adobe Commerce to Magento Open Source if you'd like to know more.

Whichever version you choose, the money you save on licensing can go into the things your customers notice. A fast Hyvä frontend, a well-designed checkout or better product content will often do more for your conversion rate than an extra platform feature.

For smaller businesses with simple requirements, a SaaS platform such as Shopify can also be worth considering. Our Shopify and Magento comparison covers the main differences.

Questions to ask before you decide

Whether you're choosing a platform or reviewing an existing Adobe Commerce licence, these questions will help you work out which option fits your business.

• Which Adobe Commerce features would we use every week? Write them down. If the list is short, it's worth pricing up the Open Source alternatives.

• How complex is our B2B offering? Company accounts, negotiated pricing and quote workflows are where Adobe Commerce's built-in features save the most effort.

• How often does our marketing team schedule content and promotions? The busier the calendar, the more value you'll get from content staging and preview.

• Who will host and support the store? Decide whether you'd rather work with Adobe directly or with a hosting partner and development agency of your choice.

• What is the total cost over three to five years? Compare licence fees, hosting, extensions, development and support for each option, rather than looking at the licence on its own.

• Where would the money make the most difference? If you chose Open Source, think about what the licence budget could achieve if it went into UX, performance or marketing instead.

If you're already on Adobe Commerce, a site audit can show you which features your store uses and how much work a move to Open Source would involve, so you can make the decision with the facts in front of you.

Choosing the right version of Magento for your business

Adobe Commerce makes the most sense for businesses that will use its B2B tools, content staging, segmentation and merchandising features every day, and that value managed hosting and direct support from Adobe. For businesses that don't need most of those features, Magento Open Source offers the same core platform without the licence fee.

As an Adobe Solution Partner and Hyvä Gold Partner, we work with both platforms every day, so we can give you an impartial view of which one fits your business. Whether you're choosing a platform for a new store, reviewing an upcoming licence renewal or considering a move between the two, get in touch with the Develo team and we'll be happy to talk it through.