Magento Open Source vs Adobe Commerce: Which One Fits Your Store?

Choosing between Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce depends on your business goals, technical capacity, and growth plans. Both use the same core codebase, but they offer very different experiences in pricing, features, scalability, and support.

Magento Open Source vs Adobe Commerce: Quick Overview

Core Differences Between Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce

1. Pricing & Ownership

Magento Open Source is free and open-source. You host it yourself and own the entire codebase. It's ideal if you're technically inclined or working with a dev team.

Adobe Commerce is licensed software with a cost. You're paying for extra modules, official support, cloud hosting, and deeper integrations. It’s an investment, but with fewer infrastructure headaches.

2. Features

Both versions share the same base code. Adobe Commerce adds extra modules on top of Magento Open Source.

Key exclusive features in Adobe Commerce:

• Adobe Sensei-powered Live Search
• B2B suite (company accounts, shared catalogs, quote negotiation)
• Visual merchandising tools
• Customer segmentation and personalization
• Adobe Experience Manager integration
• Adobe App Builder access
• Seller-assisted shopping
• Advanced business intelligence tools

Magento Open Source covers basic features like product catalog, checkout, order management, and simple marketing tools. It lacks the deep analytics and enterprise features of Adobe Commerce.

3. Security & Maintenance

Magento Open Source requires manual patching, updates, and security monitoring. It doesn’t come with automatic security features out of the box.

Adobe Commerce includes automated security patches, dedicated support, and proactive monitoring — all backed by Adobe.

4. Hosting

Magento Open Source must be self-hosted. You can choose your own infrastructure provider. Performance depends on how you configure your environment.

Adobe Commerce is available with Adobe Commerce Cloud — a fully managed, scalable, and secure environment maintained by Adobe.

5. Support

Magento Open Source relies on community forums, documentation, and your development team.

Adobe Commerce includes dedicated technical support, priority patching, and faster issue resolution through Adobe’s enterprise services.

Shared Strengths

Despite the differences, both platforms offer:

• Customization flexibility
• Open architecture
• Support for headless commerce
• Scalability (with the right hosting)
• Magento Page Builder (now also in Open Source)

Common Misunderstanding: Is Magento Now Adobe Commerce?

No, Magento Open Source still exists. Adobe Commerce is built on top of it. Adobe’s branding may have confused users, but technically they’re siblings, not replacements. Magento Open Source remains actively maintained by Adobe.

We’ve seen confusion in the past — some assumed Magento was discontinued. That’s not true. Adobe continues to support both, with Open Source getting regular updates.

Which One Should You Use?

Choose Magento Open Source if:

• You have dev resources
• You want full control
• Your budget is limited
• You only need basic eCommerce features

Choose Adobe Commerce if:

• You need advanced B2B or personalization features
• You want scalable hosting with built-in support
• You rely heavily on data-driven marketing
• Your store handles high traffic and complex operations

Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce serve different use cases. There's no one-size-fits-all answer. Instead, assess your current needs, growth plan, and technical capacity. A small store might thrive on Open Source, while an enterprise brand could benefit from the deeper capabilities of Adobe Commerce.