Magento Open Source vs Medusa: when each platform fits
If you already run a Magento store and are weighing a move, the decision turns on two things: whether your team can carry a Node.js and TypeScript stack, and how much of your current Magento estate (extensions, themes and custom modules) you need to keep. Magento Open Source fits a store that stays on a PHP monolith, relies on its extension and theme ecosystem, and accepts a heavy service stack with Adobe's 2.4.x patch cycle. Its license is the Open Software License 3.0 (OSL-3.0), and the 2.4.9 line carries standard support until May 31, 2029, according to Adobe's lifecycle policy. If your PHP team is strong and your extensions still meet your needs, staying on Magento is the lower-risk path.
Medusa fits a team that wants an MIT-licensed core of commerce modules for carts, orders, product catalogs, pricing and inventory, and that is ready to build and own a separate storefront. Its self-hosted deployment needs PostgreSQL, Redis and two Medusa instances (one in server mode, one in worker mode), so your platform engineers must be comfortable operating that topology. Expect to rebuild the front end and replace most Magento extensions with Medusa modules or custom code. Confirm with Medusa how much of your current checkout, promotion and B2B logic already has a supported equivalent before you commit.
Four decision drivers should settle the question: how many of your Magento extensions have a Medusa equivalent, whether your engineers already work in JavaScript and TypeScript, how complex your catalog is (configurable products, multiple currencies and B2B pricing), and how much migration work you can accept. On the last point, Medusa's Magento migration guide moves product data only, through a custom module that calls Magento's REST API and imports products 100 per page. It leaves customers, orders and categories to you, and it does not migrate simple products outside a configurable product. If you need order history or customer accounts carried over, scope that work as a separate build before choosing Medusa.
Which platform fits which scenario
This table maps common Magento Open Source and Medusa scenarios to the platform that usually fits better and the condition that would flip the choice. Read each row against your own catalog, extension list and front-end skills before deciding.
| Scenario | Better fit and reason | Choose the other platform when |
|---|---|---|
| Keeping a heavily customized Magento store | Magento Open Source, because custom modules, themes and checkout logic already run on the PHP monolith and Medusa's migration guide moves product data only. | Your customizations are mostly workarounds for limits the team wants to leave behind, and you can rebuild checkout, customers and orders on Medusa's modules. |
| Headless storefront with an in-house JavaScript team | Medusa, because its commerce modules sit behind an API and the storefront is a separate application your JavaScript engineers can own. | Your team has no Node.js or TypeScript experience and would need to learn the Medusa stack before the storefront ships, which favors staying on Magento. |
| B2B catalog with complex configurable products | Magento Open Source, because configurable products and the existing catalog structure are already mature, and Medusa's migration guide skips simple products that are not part of a configurable product. | You are willing to model B2B pricing and account rules yourself, since the supplied Medusa facts do not describe native B2B account features (confirm current Medusa B2B capabilities with the vendor). |
| Marketplace or point-of-sale need | Neither platform should be chosen on these facts alone. Medusa's repository lists marketplaces and point of sale among supported store types, so confirm what each requires from the vendor. | Medusa's repository describes marketplace and point-of-sale support, so consider it when those are core requirements and confirm the depth of support with MedusaJS. |
| Store that relies on specific third-party Magento extensions | Magento Open Source, because extensions built for the Magento codebase cannot be assumed to run on Medusa and each one would need a replacement or rebuild. | Those extensions are only payment or shipping connectors that Medusa offers, or the business can drop them without losing revenue features. |
| Multi-currency pricing with distinct regional prices | Magento Open Source, because it supports per-currency pricing without the caveat in Medusa's migration guide. | Your pricing can use one amount across all currencies, since Medusa's migration guide notes that variant prices use the same amount for every currency in its import. |
| Team that wants a single, familiar PHP hosting model | Magento Open Source, because the stack is PHP with OpenSearch, RabbitMQ, Valkey and a web server, which your ops team may already run. | Your team prefers a Node.js service model, where a self-hosted Medusa deployment uses PostgreSQL, Redis and two Medusa instances (server and worker). |
How Magento Open Source and Medusa are built and deployed
Magento Open Source is a PHP application that depends on a family of supporting services, while Medusa is a Node.js and TypeScript framework with a worker split and a separate storefront you build yourself. The cards below cover the components each platform asks your team to run, who owns them, and the decisions to make before a replatform.
Magento PHP application and search stack
Magento Open Source 2.4.9 requires PHP 8.5, MariaDB or MySQL 8.4, and OpenSearch 3 for catalog search. Your platform team owns each service, its patching and its capacity, so the stack is more than a web server and a database. Check that your hosting image can run every listed version before you plan the build. Adobe supports only the listed combinations, so confirm them against the system requirements page.
Message queues and cache services
Magento 2.4.9 expects RabbitMQ 4.3 for asynchronous messaging and Valkey 9 for caching and sessions, alongside nginx. Each adds a service to monitor, back up and upgrade on the same cadence as the application. Ask your DevOps team who owns queue consumers, since a stalled consumer can hold up orders and inventory updates without an obvious storefront error.
Self-managed Varnish versus cloud Fastly
On a self-managed Magento install, Adobe documents Varnish as the full-page cache accelerator. Cloud-hosted Adobe Commerce uses Fastly instead, so the cache layer you operate depends on where you run the store. Decide early whether your team will run and tune Varnish, or whether you need a hosting model that brings its own edge cache. Cache rules, purge behavior and cache headers are part of the build effort either way.
Medusa Node.js core on PostgreSQL
Medusa is built with Node.js and TypeScript on PostgreSQL, with modules for carts, orders, product catalogs, pricing and inventory. Your engineers will work in TypeScript modules and workflows rather than PHP extensions, which changes who can maintain customizations. Database migrations run through a predeploy script before each startup, so plan how schema changes reach production during a release.
Medusa server and worker split
A self-hosted Medusa deployment runs two instances: one in server mode for the API and admin dashboard, and one in worker mode for background tasks. Both need database credentials, COOKIE_SECRET and JWT_SECRET values, and a health check through the /health endpoint. Plan for two deployable units and their secrets from the first environment, not only the single application process you may be used to running on Magento.
Redis, S3 and the separate storefront
Medusa's production setup replaces development modules with Redis-based caching, event bus, workflow engine and locking, and uses S3 for file storage. A self-hosted Medusa store also needs a storefront built and hosted separately from the commerce backend. Ask who will build, host and secure that storefront, because Magento's theme layer does not map one to one onto this model.
Magento Open Source and Medusa side by side
This table compares the two platforms on license, stack, databases, runtimes, support windows, caching, commerce models and hosting. Read each row as a fit question: the answer decides whether the platform's architecture matches your team's skills and your store's requirements. Items marked as items to confirm are not covered by our researched facts and should be checked with each vendor before you decide.
| Capability | Magento Open Source | Medusa |
|---|---|---|
| License | OSL-3.0 for source files, with AFL 3.0 also included in the distribution | MIT for the core commerce framework; Enterprise Edition features for role-based access control need a commercial agreement with MedusaJS, Inc. |
| Language and framework | PHP monolith with extensions and themes | Node.js and TypeScript commerce modules with a separate storefront |
| Supported databases | MariaDB or MySQL 8.4 for 2.4.9 (MariaDB 12.3 or 11.8 recommended or listed) | PostgreSQL is required |
| Required services | OpenSearch 3, RabbitMQ 4.3, Valkey 9 (or Redis) and Composer 2.10 for 2.4.9 | Redis for caching, event bus, workflow engine and locking; S3 for file storage in production |
| Supported runtimes | PHP 8.5 for 2.4.9, with nginx 1.30 on Linux x86-64 | Node.js (version support to confirm against the current Medusa documentation) |
| Support window | Standard support for 2.4.9 until May 31, 2029 (Adobe lifecycle policy) | Release cadence shown by v2.21.2 released September 28, 2026; confirm the support window for your chosen version |
| Full-page cache | Varnish is documented for self-managed installations; cloud-hosted Adobe Commerce uses Fastly instead | Storefront caching is a storefront-layer decision; confirm the approach with your storefront build |
| B2B and marketplace support | Native B2B extras depend on the edition; confirm which features Magento Open Source includes versus Adobe Commerce | Supports B2B stores, marketplaces and point of sale through its modules |
| Hosting options | Self-hosted in your infrastructure (Adobe-hosted cloud is an Adobe Commerce option) | Self-hosted or Medusa Cloud managed hosting |
| Identity integration, SSO and audit logging | Confirm with Adobe for your edition and extensions | Confirm with MedusaJS, Inc., including what sits in the Enterprise Edition |
What the licenses and editions allow on each side
Magento Open Source is licensed under the Open Software License 3.0 (OSL-3.0), and the distribution also includes the Academic Free License 3.0 (AFL 3.0) for the parts of the code base that carry it. You can run, modify and host the software in your own infrastructure without a license fee from Adobe, but the license governs how you redistribute and what you owe on modified code, so have counsel read the notices that ship with the release. Adobe sells Adobe Commerce as the commercial edition built on the same code. Adobe's lifecycle policy sets standard support for the 2.4.9 release until May 31, 2029, and earlier 2.4.x releases end on earlier dates, so the support window you rely on depends on which line you install.
- License terms: OSL-3.0 with AFL 3.0 included in the distribution, according to the magento/magento2 repository.
- Commercial edition: Adobe sells Adobe Commerce, which is built on the same code base.
- Support window for 2.4.9: Standard support runs until May 31, 2029, per Adobe's lifecycle policy.
- Earlier lines: 2.4.6 reached end of regular support on August 11, 2026, and 2.4.7 and 2.4.8 end on May 31, 2027 and May 31, 2028.
- Patch cadence: Adobe documents an annual full patch for the 2.4.x LTS line in May and at least annual security patches for supported lines.
Confirm with Adobe which line you will target and when you plan to move to the next one, since that date sets your upgrade budget.
Adobe Commerce is the commercial edition of Magento, built on the same code as Magento Open Source. Choosing it is a licensing decision that sits on top of the platform decision, not a different codebase to learn. The licensed features, support terms and hosting options are covered in the sibling comparison, so this tab does not repeat them. Ask Adobe for the current license terms, the included support, and whether the cloud or on-premises deployment model applies to your store, because those terms are set in your agreement with Adobe and are not stated here.
- Same code base: Adobe Commerce is built on the Magento Open Source code, so extensions and themes written for one generally apply to the other, subject to testing.
- Licensed features: The Commerce-only features are described in the Magento Open Source vs Adobe Commerce comparison.
- Support and patches: Licensed customers receive Adobe's support and patch lifecycle, which you should confirm in writing.
- Hosting options: On-premises and Adobe-hosted cloud options come with the license, so confirm which one is included in your quote.
- Pricing: Exact commercial terms and pricing must come from Adobe.
Before comparing, ask Adobe for the written license scope and which features you would need from it.
Medusa is open core. The core commerce framework is MIT licensed, so you can self-host the commerce modules for carts, orders, product catalogs, pricing and inventory without a license fee for that core. Enterprise Edition features based on role-based access control are not part of the MIT core. Using them requires a commercial agreement with MedusaJS, Inc., and the terms of that agreement are set by the vendor. Medusa is also available as Medusa Cloud, a managed hosting option, so you can choose between operating the stack yourself and paying for managed hosting.
- MIT core: The core commerce framework is MIT licensed and available for self-hosting.
- Enterprise features: Role-based access control features in the Enterprise Edition need a commercial agreement with MedusaJS, Inc.
- Managed hosting: Medusa Cloud is the managed hosting option, while self-hosting remains available.
- Editions to compare: Check which features your team needs against the Enterprise scope before assuming the MIT core covers them.
- Pricing: Exact commercial terms and pricing must come from the vendor.
Ask MedusaJS, Inc. which Enterprise features are in scope for your access model and what the agreement covers for support and upgrades.
What drives the running cost of each platform
The largest difference in running cost is the number of moving parts you keep alive. A self-hosted Magento Open Source store runs a PHP application alongside the services Adobe's 2.4.9 requirements list: MariaDB or MySQL 8.4, OpenSearch 3, Redis or Valkey 9, RabbitMQ 4.3, Composer 2.10 and nginx 1.30, with Varnish 8 as the full-page cache on self-managed installs. A self-hosted Medusa deployment needs PostgreSQL, Redis, S3 for file storage and two Medusa instances, one in server mode and one in worker mode. Each service carries its own hosting, backup, monitoring and upgrade work, so ask your team to cost the full list, not only the application servers. Confirm current versions with Adobe and Medusa before you size anything.
Staff skills drive the recurring cost as much as infrastructure. Magento estates are usually run by PHP developers with Magento administration experience, and extensions, themes and indexing or cache issues tend to need that specialist knowledge. Medusa asks for Node.js and TypeScript engineers who can work across the API, admin and worker processes and the modules for carts, orders, pricing and inventory. Medusa's Magento migration guide moves products only, so customers, orders and categories are yours to script, and the two sets of skills are rarely interchangeable. Check whether your current team can keep both stacks running during the transition, or whether you need a retainer for the period.
Patching and licensing set the rhythm of recurring work. Adobe documents a full patch for the 2.4.x LTS line each May and security patches at least annually, and 2.4.9 has standard support until May 31, 2029. Extension licensing, theme updates and any Adobe Commerce license are separate line items, and Adobe Commerce is the paid route if you need its commercial features. Medusa is MIT licensed at its core, but Enterprise Edition features based on role-based access control require a commercial agreement with MedusaJ, Inc., and Medusa Cloud is an optional managed hosting cost. In a written quote, ask who owns extension rewrites, whether the migration covers only products, who maintains the storefront after launch, and what retainer covers upgrades, security patches and testing.
How to move from Magento to Medusa without losing data
This sequence gives you a verified inventory of what must move, a clear split between what Medusa's Magento guide migrates and what your team must build, and a cutover plan you can roll back. The guide covers product data only, so the rest of the store needs deliberate work before anything goes live.
Inventory extensions, customizations and data types
Your team lists every Magento extension, custom module, theme override, payment and shipping integration, and each data type the store relies on, including customers, orders, categories, CMS pages, tax rules, promotions and URL rewrites. Map each item to an owner and to a Medusa module or a custom build. The step is done when every item has a decision recorded: migrate, rebuild, retire or keep in Magento for a while. Confirm the list with the business owners who run promotions and fulfillment, since those rules are often undocumented in code.
Confirm the guide's data scope against your store
Read Medusa's Magento migration guide against your inventory. The guide imports products through a custom module that calls Magento's REST API, with a scheduled workflow that pulls products 100 per page. It covers product data only. Customers, orders and categories are not included and must be built as extensions that follow the same pattern. Check whether your product types match what the guide supports, and run a small test import to confirm the page size and the calls work with your Magento version and API permissions. The step is done when you have a written list of gaps.
Resolve product structure and pricing gaps
The guide states that simple products outside a configurable product are not migrated because of Magento API limitations. Identify every such product in your catalog and decide whether to restructure it in Magento before export, or to create it manually or through a custom import in Medusa. The guide also states that variant prices use the same amount for every currency. If your store prices by currency or by customer group, plan a price model in Medusa and test each currency before launch. The step is done when every product type and price rule has a documented path into Medusa.
Build the customer, order and category extensions
Your developers build the extensions for customers, orders and categories using the same REST-based pattern as the product import. Customers need credentials handling that does not expose passwords, and order history needs a clear rule for whether it lives in Medusa, in an archive, or in Magento for read-only access. Categories must map to Medusa's collections or product categories without losing hierarchy. The step is done when each extension runs on a staging copy of the Magento store and the record counts match the source system.
Rebuild the storefront and integrations
Medusa separates the commerce backend from the storefront, so the Magento theme, layout and templates do not carry over. Your front-end team rebuilds the storefront against Medusa's APIs and connects payment, tax, shipping, search and email services. Replicate the checkout flow and test every payment path end to end. Plan the effort against the feature list in your inventory, not against the original theme. The step is done when the storefront passes functional tests for browsing, cart, checkout, account pages and order confirmation in a staging environment.
Run both platforms in parallel and reconcile
Keep Magento live while Medusa runs in staging or a limited pilot. Repeat the data import on a schedule so the two systems do not drift, and reconcile product counts, prices, stock levels and customer records between them each cycle. Compare order flows, tax calculations and promotions on the same test baskets. The step is done when reconciliation reports show no unexplained differences for a sustained period that your team sets, and when the people who run fulfillment have signed off the workflow.
Plan redirects and search visibility
Map every Magento URL that has search traffic or inbound links to its new Medusa storefront address. Build the redirect rules as a tested file, check canonical tags, and submit updated sitemaps. Confirm that URL rewrites from Magento are covered by your list, since the guide does not handle them. The step is done when a crawl of the old site returns the expected redirect for every mapped URL, and no mapped URL returns an error on the new storefront.
Cut over and keep Magento for rollback
Freeze catalog and customer changes on Magento for a short window, run the final import, verify the reconciliation, switch DNS or the storefront route to Medusa, and monitor orders and errors closely. Keep Magento in read-only mode with its database and media files intact until your team agrees the rollback window has closed. Confirm the rollback plan in writing before the switch, including who decides to revert and how orders placed during the window are recovered. The step is done when the business signs off that new orders flow through Medusa and the rollback path is documented.
Where Magento to Medusa projects usually run long
Most Magento to Medusa projects run long in the storefront and the data migration, not in the backend setup. Medusa is a commerce framework with modules for carts, orders, product catalogs, pricing and inventory, and the storefront is a separate application you build yourself. That means the theme, product detail pages, cart and checkout must be rebuilt, usually with more front-end work than teams expect. Every Magento extension in your store also needs a decision: find a Medusa module that covers the same job, or write custom code. Confirm that list of extensions, with each one's role, before any build starts, because it drives most of the estimate.
Data is the second common delay. Medusa's Magento migration guide covers product data only, using a custom module that calls Magento's REST API and a scheduled workflow that imports products 100 per page. Customers, orders and categories are not covered and must be built as extensions that follow the same pattern. The guide also says simple products outside a configurable product are not migrated because of Magento API limitations, and that variant prices use the same amount for every currency. If you sell in several currencies with different prices, plan that reconciliation explicitly. Ask the implementer to show how each entity type will move and how it will be checked.
Standing up Medusa in production adds its own work. A self-hosted deployment needs PostgreSQL, Redis, S3 for file storage, and two Medusa instances, one in server mode and one in worker mode. Migrations run through a predeploy script before each startup, and both instances need database credentials plus COOKIE_SECRET and JWT_SECRET values. Magento's recurring work is different but not small: applying 2.4.x patches, moving PHP and services such as OpenSearch, RabbitMQ and Valkey to supported versions, and keeping Varnish or Fastly configuration correct. Effort on both sides depends on extension count, customization depth and catalog shape. Require a fixed-scope written plan that names each item above, its owner and its acceptance check.
Questions buyers ask before replatforming from Magento
How much does a Magento to Medusa replatform cost?
No supplied fact gives a price for this work, and DeployOpen does not publish a price list, so the cost comes from a written scope. The main cost drivers are the number of storefront templates and pages to rebuild, the custom Magento extensions that need a replacement, the volume of customer, order and category data to move beyond products, and the integrations with payment, tax, ERP and fulfillment systems. Costs recur for hosting, Redis, PostgreSQL, S3 storage, and ongoing upgrades and security testing. Ask for a quote that separates one-time work (discovery, data migration, storefront build, testing, cutover) from recurring items, and ask which Medusa edition or Medusa Cloud plan is assumed.
How long does a Magento to Medusa migration take?
No supplied fact gives a duration, so treat any timeline as something to agree in writing. The timeline depends on how much of the storefront is rebuilt, how many Magento extensions must be replaced, how much data is migrated beyond the product catalog, and how many currencies and price rules the store uses. Medusa's migration guide imports products only, so customer, order and category work adds scope. Parallel running, cutover planning and load testing also take time. Ask for milestones and the assumptions behind them in the fixed-scope proposal.
Can our in-house team run a Magento to Medusa replatform alone?
It depends on whether your team has Node.js and TypeScript engineers, PostgreSQL and Redis operations experience, and front-end developers who can rebuild the storefront. Medusa is a separate backend and storefront, so the work is closer to building a new commerce stack than upgrading a PHP monolith. Teams that already run Magento well may still need outside help for the data migration scripts, the storefront, security testing and cutover. DeployOpen plans, implements and hardens self-hosted platforms in your own infrastructure under a fixed scope, so you can split the work between your staff and an outside partner.
What does Medusa's Magento migration guide leave out?
The guide covers product data only. It calls Magento's REST API through a custom module and imports products 100 per page on a scheduled workflow. Customers, orders and categories are not covered and must be built as extensions that follow the same pattern. Simple products that are not part of a configurable product are not migrated because of Magento API limitations, and variant prices use the same amount for every currency. If your store prices per currency or sells simple products individually, plan that work before you commit to a timeline.
Can Medusa run without Redis or a separate worker instance?
Medusa's deployment documentation describes a self-hosted setup with a PostgreSQL database, a Redis database and two Medusa instances: one in server mode for the API and admin dashboard and one in worker mode for background tasks. Production replaces development modules with Redis-based caching, event bus, workflow engine and locking, plus S3 for file storage. Running without these components is not described in the supplied material, so confirm with Medusa before you design around it. Plan for the extra services in hosting, backups, monitoring and on-call duties.
Which Magento support dates matter when planning a replatform?
Adobe's lifecycle policy gives each 2.4.x release three years of standard support from general availability. The supplied dates are end of regular support on August 11, 2026 for 2.4.6, May 31, 2027 for 2.4.7, May 31, 2028 for 2.4.8 and May 31, 2029 for 2.4.9. If you run 2.4.6 or 2.4.7, the 2027 date is the one that forces a decision on your timeline. Magento Open Source 2.4.9 requires PHP 8.5, MariaDB or MySQL 8.4, OpenSearch 3, RabbitMQ 4.3 and Valkey 9. Confirm your current version and its end date in the Adobe Commerce lifecycle policy before you set a cutover date.
When is staying on Magento Open Source the better choice?
Stay on Magento Open Source when your catalog, pricing rules, B2B logic and integrations already run well, your team knows PHP and the Magento service stack, and your extensions cover your needs. A replatform adds rebuild cost, data migration risk and a new operating model, and that cost only pays off if Medusa solves a problem you have. Staying also keeps you on Adobe's patch cycle, which carries a planning cost of its own. Compare the upgrade effort to 2.4.9 with the rebuild scope before you decide, and confirm the extension compatibility of your current stack with your integrator.
How DeployOpen helps teams choose and move between these platforms
DeployOpen plans, implements, customizes, integrates, hardens, documents and supports self-hosted open-source platforms inside the client's own infrastructure. For a Magento Open Source vs Medusa decision, we start with written scope so the team can compare the real migration work before committing to either platform.
How we scope
- Engagements are fixed-scope, with scope, deliverables and timelines agreed in writing before work starts.
- Scope can separate a platform fit review from a product data migration and a front-end rebuild, so each cost is visible.
- Written scope should name which Magento data is moved, which stays in place and which needs custom extensions.
How we build
- Build work can cover a self-hosted Medusa deployment with PostgreSQL, Redis, a server instance and a worker instance.
- A separate storefront build, the Magento-to-Medusa product import and integration with existing systems can be scoped together.
- Testing covers the migrated catalog, pricing per currency and the storefront checkout path before go-live.
How we hand over
- Handover documentation covers deployment steps, secrets handling, database migrations and health checks for each instance.
- Runbooks describe how the Magento source system is retired, read-only, or kept for reference during cutover.
- Clients receive the configuration, evidence and operating notes their own teams need to run the platform after handover.
How we support
- Ongoing support, upgrades and continuous testing are available as retainers after handover.
- A retainer can cover Medusa version upgrades and Magento patch cycles if the team keeps a Magento system during transition.
- Ask for the support scope, response expectations and upgrade responsibilities in the written quote before signing.
