Does self-hosted Magento Open Source cost less than Adobe Commerce?
Self-hosting removes the Adobe Commerce licence line, but it does not remove the costs that the licence currently covers. Magento Open Source source files are licensed under OSL-3.0, so there is no per-store software fee to pay. What replaces it is your own hosting, your own search, cache and queue services, the extensions that supply paid features, security patching, upgrades and the developers who keep the store running. Whether the total is lower depends on how much of the Commerce feature set your store actually uses and how much of that work your team can absorb. The Adobe Commerce quote is the number you must obtain yourself. This section gives no Adobe Commerce price, and you should request a written quote that separates the licence, cloud hosting, support and any add-on features, so each line can be compared with the matching cost on the open-source side. Check the support end dates in the Adobe Commerce lifecycle policy, which gives each 2.4.x release three years of standard support from general availability. A store on a release nearing end of support will need an upgrade budget in either direction.
Plan for recurring costs on the open-source side as well. Mage-OS, a community distribution of Magento Open Source, has issued security releases on short notice, including an emergency release on September 8, 2026, so someone on your team or a partner must apply those patches and test them on staging. Ask your developers or implementation partner to estimate the hours for quarterly patch cycles, extension compatibility checks after each Magento release, and PHP and database version upgrades. Those are the costs that tend to grow over time, and they should appear in your three-year comparison next to the Adobe Commerce renewal figure.
Which cost components change when you leave Adobe Commerce
This table compares each cost component of Adobe Commerce with the same component on self-hosted Magento Open Source or Mage-OS, and marks whether it is one-time or recurring. Use it to see who gets paid for each item today and who would be paid after a move, then ask vendors and partners for quotes that break out the same rows. The main takeaway is that the license line is only one part of the total, and the largest shifts usually sit in hosting, extensions, patching and developer time.
| Cost component | Adobe Commerce today | Magento Open Source or Mage-OS on your infrastructure | One-time or recurring |
|---|---|---|---|
| License | Paid subscription from Adobe, with cloud hosting and AI merchandising in the paid edition | No license fee for OSL-3.0 source code; Mage-OS is also OSL-3.0 licensed | Recurring for Adobe, none for open source |
| Cloud hosting and infrastructure | Adobe cloud hosting or your own hosting for a self-managed install | Your cloud account or data center, sized for PHP, MySQL or MariaDB, OpenSearch, Redis or Valkey and RabbitMQ | Recurring |
| Cache and CDN | Fastly is used on Adobe's cloud; Varnish is documented for self-managed installs | You choose and operate Varnish or a CDN and its configuration | Recurring |
| Extensions replacing Commerce-only features | Included in the paid edition for features such as B2B | Paid or free Magento extensions chosen and licensed by you, plus any custom code | One-time build and recurring license or support |
| Implementation and migration | Usually limited to Adobe's upgrade and deployment path | Downgrade audit, module removal, Mage-OS migration script, staging tests and rollback plan | One-time |
| Security patching | Adobe ships patches on its release cadence for supported 2.4.x lines | You apply patches, or a distribution such as Mage-OS ports them; confirm the timing with the distribution | Recurring |
| Upgrades and version support | Adobe lifecycle policy sets support end dates for each 2.4.x release | You plan upgrades against the same Adobe dates, plus PHP, database and search version changes | Recurring |
| Support and internal developers | Adobe support is part of the paid contract | Partner retainers or in-house developers, plus community channels; ask for response terms in writing | Recurring |
What moves the comparison most
The gap between Adobe Commerce and a self-hosted Magento Open Source or Mage-OS store is set less by the list of features than by how your store uses them. The cards below cover the decisions and checks that move the total, so you can size the work before comparing quotes.
Commerce-only features in use
Start by listing which paid modules your store actually runs, including B2B company accounts, shared catalogs, quotes, staging, content staging and other Commerce-only tools. The more of these you depend on, the more you must replace with extensions, custom code or a different platform, and each replacement carries its own build, test and upkeep cost. A store that uses few paid modules has a much smaller replacement bill. Confirm usage in your admin and code, not in your contract.
Order and catalog volume
Order count, catalog size, customer records and search traffic determine how much infrastructure you must run for web, database, search, cache and queues. Higher volumes push up hosting size, indexing time and the load-testing effort needed before cutover. Self-hosting moves these sizing decisions to you, so ask your team or partner for a load profile based on peak months, not averages.
Version, PHP and search stack
Each Magento release fixes a specific PHP, MySQL or MariaDB, OpenSearch, Redis or Valkey, RabbitMQ and nginx combination, and Adobe supports only the listed combinations. Staying current means upgrading several components together, which costs more if your store is far behind. Check your current stack against the requirements for the release you plan to run before estimating upgrade work.
Availability and PCI scope
Required uptime, redundancy and payment handling change the architecture you must build and test. A store that must stay up through failover, or that takes card data directly, widens the scope of hardening, monitoring, backups and the evidence you prepare for assessments. Hosting on Adobe's cloud, with its managed caching and security layers, shifts some of this work to Adobe, so compare the responsibilities line by line in any quote.
In-house Magento skills
Self-hosting makes your team, or a partner you pay, responsible for patching, upgrades, extension compatibility and incident response. Teams with experienced Magento developers and operators carry less external cost, while teams without them should price in hiring, training or retainers. Ask who will own each task after launch and what the on-call expectation is.
Extension and theme dependency
Third-party extensions and custom themes are often the largest source of ongoing cost in a Magento store. Each one needs compatibility checks on every core upgrade, and some may be unmaintained or priced per site. Inventory them with their vendors, note which are tied to Adobe-only services, and ask whether each will work on Magento Open Source or Mage-OS before you commit to a path.
How to build the comparison with your own numbers
This sequence turns a vague sense that Adobe Commerce costs too much into a side-by-side annual total that your finance, security and engineering leads can each check against their own records.
Inventory Commerce-only modules and features in use
Your lead developer or Adobe Commerce administrator lists every Commerce-only module, B2B feature, staging or cloud-only service and integration your store actually calls, using the code base, the admin configuration and the logs from the last full business cycle. Record which items are used daily, which are used occasionally and which are enabled but idle. Idle features usually cost nothing to drop, so separating them early keeps the replacement scope honest. The step is done when every item has an owner, a usage note and a yes or no on whether the business depends on it.
Collect the current license and hosting quote in writing
Ask Adobe or your reseller for a written renewal quote that breaks out the license, support, cloud hosting, environments, add-on services and any AI or merchandising components as separate line items. Ask what the quote covers for staging and development environments and what changes at the next renewal date. Keep the document as the baseline for every later comparison. The step is complete when the quote is filed with the contract term and the named products, so the figure can be reproduced later.
Price infrastructure for the required stack
Your platform or infrastructure team prices a self-hosted environment that meets Adobe's published requirements for the chosen release line. For Magento Open Source 2.4.9 that includes PHP 8.5, MySQL 8.4 or MariaDB 12.3 or 11.8, OpenSearch 3, Redis or Valkey 9, RabbitMQ 4.3, Composer 2.10 and nginx 1.30, with Varnish 8 for the full-page cache on self-managed installations. Price production, staging and a disaster recovery copy separately, using the cloud or data center rates you actually pay. The step is complete when each component has a recurring monthly or annual figure and a named source for that figure.
Estimate extension replacement and migration scope
Your development lead estimates the cost of replacing each paid feature with an open-source extension, a custom build or a vendor support agreement, and the cost of testing those changes. Include payment, tax, shipping and ERP integrations, theme and checkout changes, and data migration if you move to a different platform. Ask extension vendors for written licensing terms and their upgrade policy, because these fees recur. The step is done when each replacement has a one-time build cost, a recurring license or support cost and an acceptance test owner.
Add a recurring patching and upgrade budget
Your engineering manager plans the work that recurs over the planning horizon: applying Adobe's security patches and yearly full patches on the LTS line, tracking end-of-support dates for each 2.4.x release, upgrading PHP and extensions, and regression testing on staging. Adobe's lifecycle policy gives each 2.4.x release three years of standard support, and the supported dates for 2.4.6, 2.4.7, 2.4.8 and 2.4.9 are published in its lifecycle policy, so use them to set the schedule. Confirm which party in your organization or partner agreement carries the security response obligation. The step is complete when the patch and upgrade hours are written into the plan as a recurring line.
Price a Mage-OS option separately if it applies
If you consider Mage-OS, record that its migration guide requires Composer 2.10.2 or newer and a Magento 2.4.8 or later base, and that you should first update to the latest Magento Open Source release. Plan the Commerce-only module removal and the migration script run in a staging environment, followed by setup:upgrade, compilation, static content deployment and reindexing. Have your team test extensions and customizations on staging and keep the documented rollback ready, which restores the database and files from backup and points Composer back to the Magento product package. The step is done when a staging run has passed and the rollback has been rehearsed.
Compare totals per year over the planning horizon
Your finance lead places the baseline Adobe Commerce figures and the self-hosted figures side by side, one row per component, with one-time costs spread across the horizon you choose and recurring costs shown per year. Show a sensitivity line for the most uncertain items, such as extension replacement scope and the developer hours for upgrades. Share the workbook with the CISO and the compliance lead so security patching, data residency and audit evidence are priced in, not assumed. The step is complete when each year shows a total for both options with the source of every number recorded.
How Adobe's release cadence shapes your upgrade workload
Adobe's lifecycle policy sets the clock for a self-hosted store, so the first decision is which 2.4.x line you are on and when its regular support ends. According to the lifecycle policy, 2.4.6 reaches end of regular support on August 11, 2026, 2.4.7 on May 31, 2027, 2.4.8 on May 31, 2028 and 2.4.9 on May 31, 2029. Each 2.4.x release gets three years of standard support from general availability. Put those dates in your renewal calendar next to the Adobe Commerce license date, because the upgrade budget is driven by the support window, not by the license term.
Adobe's release schedule says a full patch for the 2.4.x LTS line ships annually in May, and security patches ship at least annually for every supported release line. On Adobe Commerce, the license covers some of this work through Adobe's support channel. On Magento Open Source or Mage-OS, nobody applies these patches for you. Your internal team or implementation partner must test each patch against your extensions, theme and PHP, MySQL, OpenSearch and Valkey or Redis versions, then deploy it. Confirm with your partner who owns that patch test cycle, how long a staging run takes for your catalog size, and whether a hotfix outside the annual cycle is covered in their scope.
Mage-OS shows what community security porting looks like in practice. Its 3.5.0 emergency release on September 8, 2026 ported an Adobe hotfix for CVE-2026-75650, and the project advised that patching alone was not enough and pointed to remediation steps. Its 3.6.0 security release, dated October 14, 2026, ports Adobe's October isolated patch, APSB26-153, on top of Magento Open Source 2.4.9. Read the Mage-OS release notes before choosing a distribution, and ask any distribution or partner how fast they port Adobe security bulletins and who signs off on the remediation steps.
Who maintains the store under each option
Under Adobe's cloud hosting, Adobe operates the infrastructure your store runs on and the cache layer is Fastly, not Varnish, because Adobe's configuration guide documents Fastly for cloud-hosted Adobe Commerce. Your team still owns the storefront code, extensions, themes and the release work that goes into the store. Adobe's lifecycle policy and release schedule set the version timeline you must follow, and the contract defines which operational tasks Adobe performs.
- Hosting: Adobe runs the environments under your agreement, so confirm in writing which environments, regions and backup tasks are included.
- Cache: Fastly handles full-page caching in the cloud, and your developers configure storefront behavior around it.
- Patching: Adobe publishes security patches on its cadence, but your team must still test and deploy the changes to your custom code.
- Extensions: Third-party modules must be checked against each platform update before you accept it.
- Developers: You still need Magento developers for customizations, so ask for the support tiers and their response terms in writing.
Before signing, ask Adobe what the contract covers for hosting operations, patch timing and support, and get those terms in the quote.
Self-managed Adobe Commerce keeps the paid license but moves the infrastructure into your own accounts or data centers. Your team or a partner then owns the full stack: PHP, the database, OpenSearch, Redis or Valkey, RabbitMQ, nginx and Varnish. Adobe's system requirements for 2.4.9 list the supported combinations, and Adobe supports only those listed combinations, so the matrix drives your operating work.
- Hosting: You provision, monitor and back up every service, including the Linux x86-64 hosts that the requirements list.
- Cache: Varnish is the full-page cache for self-managed installations, so your team owns its configuration and tuning.
- Patching: Adobe supplies security patches, but your operators must apply them within your own change process.
- Extensions: Adobe Commerce modules and third-party extensions must be retested against each patch set.
- Developers: Staffing covers infrastructure engineers as well as Magento developers, which is a recurring cost on top of the license.
Ask for a written support matrix and confirm which Adobe support services are included in your license before budgeting the operations team.
Self-hosted Magento Open Source removes the Adobe Commerce license and the Commerce-only modules, but it keeps the same codebase and the same infrastructure duties as self-managed Adobe Commerce. Source files are under OSL-3.0, so there is no per-store license fee, and your team takes over the patch decisions that Adobe otherwise handles inside the paid contract. Adobe still publishes the Open Source release line and its support dates, which you need to plan against.
- Hosting: You run the full stack yourself, using the 2.4.9 requirements or the version you choose.
- Cache: Varnish is used for full-page caching, and it is configured and tuned by your team.
- Patching: Track Adobe's lifecycle dates and security releases, since the 2.4.6 line reaches end of regular support on August 11, 2026.
- Extensions: Paid Commerce features such as B2B need open-source replacements or custom work, and those must be tested on staging.
- Developers: Plan for Magento developers and infrastructure staff, and confirm whether any extension vendors offer paid support.
Before cutover, confirm which Commerce-only features your store uses and who will maintain each replacement after launch.
Mage-OS is a community distribution of Magento Open Source maintained by the Mage-OS Association, a nonprofit with no shareholders or investors. You run the same stack as Magento Open Source, but the security patch porting and the release pace come from the association and its members. Its security releases port Adobe's patches, so your team's job is to adopt each release quickly and test it against your own store.
- Hosting: You operate the infrastructure yourself, with the Composer 2.10.2 or newer requirement for migration.
- Cache: Varnish or your chosen cache layer is configured by your team, as with Magento Open Source.
- Patching: Mage-OS releases such as 3.5.0 and 3.6.0 port Adobe security fixes, and you must apply them promptly on your own schedule.
- Extensions: Mage-OS guidance says extensions should keep working with little or no change, without a guarantee, so test on staging first.
- Developers: Association membership is optional, so ask whether your staffing plan relies on community support or a paid partner.
Confirm with the Mage-OS Association and your extension vendors which support options exist for your version before you commit to the operating model.
Questions buyers ask before comparing costs
How much does self-hosting Magento cost compared with Adobe Commerce?
The honest answer depends on which costs you compare, so the right comparison is by component, not by a single number. Adobe Commerce adds a commercial license and, in its cloud form, hosted infrastructure, while Magento Open Source carries no license fee, but you pay for your own hosting, search, caching, message queue and monitoring. The main drivers are store size, traffic peaks, the number of paid Commerce features you actually use, and how much of the platform your team staffs in-house. Ask any vendor or partner for a quote broken into license, infrastructure, extensions, developer time, security patching and upgrades, so each line can be compared with your current invoices.
How long does a migration from Adobe Commerce to Magento Open Source take?
Duration depends on how much Commerce-only functionality your store uses and how much custom code depends on it. A store with few Commerce-only modules and a small set of extensions has a much shorter path than one with B2B company accounts, shared catalogs, custom checkout logic or a large custom theme. The phases usually include auditing the store, replacing paid features, removing Commerce-only modules, moving hosting, and testing on staging before cutover. Ask for a timeline tied to a written scope with named deliverables, and confirm which Adobe Commerce modules and data your store relies on before any date is agreed.
Can our internal team run a self-hosted Magento store alone?
Some teams can, but the question is whether they have people who cover the full stack, not whether they know PHP. Running Magento Open Source means operating PHP, MySQL or MariaDB, OpenSearch, Redis or Valkey, RabbitMQ, nginx and a full-page cache, and keeping each at the versions Adobe supports for your release. Security patches arrive on Adobe's schedule, so someone must apply them, test them and watch for breaking changes. Check whether your team can cover on-call, patch cycles and upgrades without the Adobe support contract, and identify the gaps you would need to fill with a partner or a retainer.
What does our team need to provide during a migration?
A migration needs decisions and access from your side more than it needs code. You will need to name the business owners for catalog, pricing, checkout, B2B rules and customer data, provide access to the Adobe Commerce admin, database, file system and extensions, and approve the feature replacements that a paid edition currently provides. Your developers will need to review custom modules, and your operations team will need to agree on hosting, backup and rollback procedures. Ask any implementation partner to list these inputs in the written scope so you can plan staff time before the work starts.
What does an implementation partner scope include for a Magento move?
A fixed-scope engagement with DeployOpen plans, implements, customizes, integrates, hardens, backs up, upgrades, documents and supports self-hosted open-source platforms inside your own cloud accounts, data centers or air-gapped networks. For a Magento move, that can cover the audit of Commerce-only modules, environment design, migration on staging, security hardening, backup and rollback setup, testing support and documentation. Scope, deliverables and timelines are agreed in writing before work starts, and a quote follows from that written scope. Ongoing upgrades and support are available as a retainer. DeployOpen does not issue audit reports or certifications, so ask your auditor to confirm any compliance evidence you need.
Will Mage-OS extensions work unchanged after the switch?
Mage-OS says that extensions, themes and customizations should continue to work with little or no change, but it does not guarantee this. Its migration guide recommends testing third-party extensions on a staging environment before any production change. Extensions that depend on Adobe Commerce-only modules, on custom core overrides or on specific patched versions will need more attention than standard extensions. Make an inventory of every extension, its version and its vendor support status, then test each one on staging and decide in advance what happens to any extension that fails.
How does security patching change when we leave Adobe Commerce?
Adobe publishes security patches at least annually for supported release lines, and Mage-OS publishes its own security releases based on Magento Open Source. Whichever path you take, the patching work moves to your team or partner, including monitoring advisories, testing patches and deploying them on a schedule. Confirm how quickly your chosen distribution ports Adobe fixes, which versions it supports, and who on your side is responsible for emergency patches. Ask for a written patch process before cutover, since this is the cost most often underestimated.
What to ask for in a quote from each side
Before comparing totals, ask Adobe or its reseller for the Adobe Commerce quote in writing, covering the license term, the edition and any modules it includes, the hosting tier (on-premises, Adobe's cloud infrastructure or Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service), the support scope and the renewal conditions, including how price changes are applied at renewal and what happens to the license if you stop paying. Ask which Commerce-only modules are bundled and which would need a separate purchase, because the paid edition's feature list is the main thing you are paying for. Ask whether hosting, staging environments and any CDN or cache layer are priced separately. Confirm each of these with Adobe or the reseller directly, since terms differ by agreement and this page cannot state them.
Ask the implementation partner for a fixed-scope proposal in writing before work starts. It should list the deliverables (the migration or hosting build, the extensions to be installed or replaced, the theme work, and the documentation), the testing approach (functional, performance and payment testing on staging, and who signs off each stage), the handover format and the acceptance criteria. Make the patch responsibilities explicit: who applies Adobe's security releases or a community distribution's security releases, who tests them against your extensions, how long a security patch is expected to take to deploy under the agreement, and whether continued support or upgrades after handover are a separate retainer. A quote that does not name these items is not comparable with the others, however low the total.
How DeployOpen scopes a fixed-price Magento migration
DeployOpen plans, implements, hardens, documents and supports self-hosted open-source platforms inside your own infrastructure, so a move from Adobe Commerce to Magento Open Source or Mage-OS can be planned against your actual license, hosting and extension inventory. Most engagements are fixed-scope, with scope, deliverables and timelines agreed in writing before work starts.
How we scope
- Inventory the Adobe Commerce license terms, hosting bills, Commerce-only modules and third-party extensions in use today.
- Agree in writing which cost components are in scope, including hosting, extension replacements, patch cadence and upgrade work.
- Confirm the target platform, PHP and search versions, and the environments where your own infrastructure will run the store.
How we build
- Stand up the target store in your cloud account or data center, with staging matched to production configuration.
- Replace or customize paid-feature extensions and test each one against your catalog, checkout and customer data.
- Run performance, security and regression testing on staging before any cutover is scheduled.
How we hand over
- Document the architecture, cost components, patch procedure and rollback steps so your team can operate the store.
- Deliver a written record of the controls and evidence prepared for your compliance assessor, without issuing any audit opinion.
- Walk your developers and operations staff through the runbooks and agreed acceptance criteria before handover closes.
How we support
- Offer ongoing support, upgrades and continuous security testing as a retainer after handover.
- Plan periodic upgrades and security patch rollouts against the release schedule you choose to follow.
- Ask any quote to state recurring versus one-time costs, retainer scope and the fixed-scope boundaries in writing.
