Choosing an e-commerce platform is less about features than about who carries the work. Every option on this list can show products, take payment and send an order confirmation. They differ in who runs the servers, who patches the software, how far you can change checkout and pricing logic, and how painful it is to leave later.

This guide compares Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce, and a fully custom build for merchants in the United States and United Kingdom. Platform facts were checked against each vendor's own documentation in October 2026 and are linked so you can confirm them. Prices are left out on purpose: they change often and depend on your plan, region and contract.

Quick answer

• Shopify fits merchants who want to sell without running infrastructure and whose requirements sit close to a standard catalog, cart and checkout.
• WooCommerce fits merchants who already rely on WordPress, want to own the code and data, and have someone accountable for hosting, updates and security.
• Magento Open Source or Adobe Commerce fits larger or more complex operations: several stores or brands, large catalogs, negotiated B2B pricing, deep ERP integration, and a budget for specialist developers.
• A custom build fits businesses whose selling model does not look like a normal store, such as configurable products, quoting, rentals, or a marketplace with its own rules.

If you cannot name the specific requirement a hosted platform fails to meet, start hosted. Moving up later is a known, manageable project. Maintaining a platform you did not need is a permanent cost.

What each option actually is

Shopify: hosted SaaS

Shopify is software as a service. Shopify runs the hosting, the application and the checkout, and you configure a store on top through themes, apps and settings. Shopify states that it is certified Level 1 PCI DSS compliant and that this extends by default to all stores on the platform.

The trade-off is control. Checkout is the clearest example: Shopify's documentation says standard checkout customizations are available from the Basic plan, while apps that customize the information, shipping and payment pages are available only on Shopify Plus. Payment choice also has a cost angle: Shopify's help center notes that third-party transaction fees apply on third-party and alternate payment gateways. Shopify Payments is available in both the United States and the United Kingdom, subject to eligibility.

Shopify is not limited to themes. For a custom front end it offers Hydrogen, a headless framework built on React Router, with hosting on Oxygen, or its Storefront API with a framework and host of your choice. That gives design freedom while Shopify still runs the cart, checkout and admin.

WooCommerce: an open-source plugin for WordPress

WooCommerce describes itself as the open-source ecommerce platform for WordPress, and states that you retain full ownership of your store's content and data. The core plugin is free. You supply the rest: hosting, a WordPress installation, a theme, payment and shipping extensions, and the ongoing work of keeping them updated and compatible. WooCommerce publishes its current server requirements (WordPress, PHP, MySQL or MariaDB versions and HTTPS), and your host needs to keep pace with them.

Security responsibility sits with you. WooCommerce's own guidance says PCI DSS compliance is ultimately the responsibility of the store owner, that WooCommerce itself is not PCI certified, and that using a hosted payment gateway can reduce your compliance scope without removing it.

WooCommerce's strength is flexibility at low entry cost, especially for content-led businesses that already publish on WordPress. Its weakness is that quality depends heavily on the hosting and the mix of plugins chosen. A store assembled from many unrelated extensions becomes fragile to update.

Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce

These share a codebase but are different products. Magento Open Source is the freely licensed edition (OSL 3.0), which its own repository describes as delivering "basic eCommerce capabilities" to build a store from the ground up. Adobe Commerce is the licensed commercial product with additional features, support and Adobe-managed hosting options.

Three facts matter for planning:

• Release and support windows. Adobe's released versions page lists 2.4.9 as the latest release, dated May 12, 2026, with regular support ending May 31, 2029. Adobe's lifecycle policy gives each release three years of standard support, so upgrades are a recurring budget item, not a one-time event.
• A real server stack. The system requirements list PHP, MariaDB or MySQL, OpenSearch, a cache such as Valkey, a message queue, and for on-premises installs Varnish. This is not shared-hosting software.
• A SaaS option now exists. Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service is Adobe-managed SaaS infrastructure where updates are delivered continuously and extension happens through APIs, App Builder, webhooks and events instead of changes to core code. It reduces maintenance but changes how customization is done.

Adobe Commerce is the strongest of the three packaged options for B2B. Its documented B2B features include company accounts with hierarchies and roles, shared catalogs with custom pricing, quick order, negotiable quotes, purchase order approvals and requisition lists. Adobe documents these as part of Adobe Commerce; if you plan to use Magento Open Source, confirm with your developer what is and is not included before assuming B2B parity.

Fully custom e-commerce

A custom build means your own application, typically on a general framework such as Laravel or Node.js, with your own data model, admin and checkout flow, plus third-party services for payments, tax, search and email. Nothing is constrained by a vendor's roadmap, and nothing is provided for free either. Promotions, refunds, stock reservations, tax handling, fraud checks and the admin screens your staff use every day all have to be designed, built and tested.

There is a middle route: a packaged commerce engine behind a custom front end or alongside custom services. Many businesses that think they need a custom store actually need this.

Side-by-side comparison

On Shopify B2B specifically, the features-by-plan page lists companies and locations, quantity rules, price breaks and net payment terms on all plans, limits the number of active B2B catalogs below Plus, and reserves direct company catalogs, deposits and partial payments for Plus. On Adobe's cloud infrastructure, the shared responsibility model makes the merchant responsible for custom code security, applying patches and maintaining PCI compliance of the customized application.

One point applies to all four: the PCI Security Standards Council states that PCI DSS is intended for all entities that store, process or transmit cardholder data, including merchants regardless of size. A platform can reduce your scope. It does not remove your obligations. Ask your payment provider what you must validate.

US and UK differences that affect the choice

The platforms are the same in both countries; tax and payments are not. In the US, the Small Business Administration notes that tax laws vary by location, so you need to check with state and local governments. A US store selling across states therefore needs tax calculation that handles many jurisdictions, usually through a built-in service or a third-party integration. In the UK, VAT is national, and GOV.UK states that you must register once taxable turnover goes over GBP 90,000 in the last 12 months. Stores selling into both markets need multi-currency pricing and separate tax logic per market. This is a general description, not tax or legal advice; confirm your obligations with an accountant.

When you evaluate a platform, ask to see a real order placed from each country you sell to, with tax, shipping and payment method shown.

When a merchant outgrows a hosted platform

Revenue alone is not a reason to leave a hosted platform. The real triggers are structural:

• Pricing logic the platform cannot express. Contract pricing per customer with approval chains, quotes negotiated line by line, or prices calculated from measurements or configurations.
• Workarounds stacked on workarounds. When many apps each patch one gap, the monthly bill grows, pages slow down, and one app update can break another.
• Checkout or order flow that must differ. Split shipments with partial payment, regulated-product checks, or a multi-vendor order that pays out to several sellers.
• Integration depth. When an ERP or warehouse system must be the source of truth and API limits or data-model mismatches force constant reconciliation.
• Several stores sharing one back office. Multiple brands, regions and price lists managed from one catalog and one stock pool.

Before replatforming, check whether a higher plan, a headless front end or one custom app solves the issue. Often it does, for far less than a migration.

When custom is overkill

Custom is the wrong choice when the store is conventional and the motivation is ownership for its own sake. Warning signs:

• The requirements list is mostly things every platform already does.
• There is no in-house or retained team to maintain the system after launch.
• The business model is unproven and likely to change in the first year.
• The main complaint about the current platform is design, which a new theme or headless front end would fix.

Illustrative scenario (not a client case): a UK homeware brand with 400 products and a US distributor wants "a custom site" because its theme looks dated and wholesale orders arrive by email. A redesign plus the platform's built-in B2B features covers both. A custom build would recreate cart, checkout and refunds to solve a problem that was never about them.

Replatforming and migration risks

Migration is where good platform decisions go wrong. Three areas need a plan before any design work starts.

SEO and URLs

Platforms use different URL patterns, so product and category addresses usually change. Shopify, for example, treats /products and /collections as fixed paths, and caps redirects at 100,000 per store (20,000,000 on Plus). Google's guidance for site moves with URL changes is to map every old URL to a new one, use permanent server-side redirects such as 301, avoid chains, and keep redirects for as long as possible, generally at least one year. Google says permanent redirects do not cause a loss of PageRank, but also that ranking fluctuations are normal while the site is recrawled. Plan the move outside your peak season.

Order history and customer data

Decide early what must move and what can be archived. Shopify's migration guide lists products, customers, historical orders, gift cards and store credits, blogs and pages as importable data, and its considerations page recommends importing products first, then customers, then orders so the records link correctly. Whatever the destination, ask how customer logins will carry over, since many migrations require customers to reset passwords, and how subscriptions, saved payment tokens, loyalty balances and reviews will be handled. These are usually held by third-party services, not the platform.

Integrations and operations

List every system that touches an order: ERP, warehouse, accounting, email, returns, marketplaces. Each connection has to be rebuilt or reconfigured. Run both systems in parallel on test orders, freeze catalog changes during cutover, and agree a rollback point.

For technical readers

• Shopify: customization happens through themes, apps and APIs, not core code. Headless is supported with Hydrogen on Oxygen or the Storefront API with your own stack. Plan around API rate limits and plan-gated checkout extension points.
• WooCommerce: order data moved out of the WordPress posts tables with High-Performance Order Storage, enabled by default for new installations since WooCommerce 8.2. Older stores and older extensions may still depend on the legacy storage, so audit plugin compatibility before upgrading.
• Adobe Commerce: choose the deployment model first. Self-hosted and cloud infrastructure allow in-process modules; Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service uses out-of-process extensibility. Existing modules do not transfer between those models unchanged.
• Custom: keep card data out of your servers by using a hosted payment page or provider-hosted fields, and treat tax, search and email as bought services. Spend build effort on what is unique to the business.

Decision checklist

1. Write down the three requirements that are unusual about your store. If you cannot, choose hosted.
2. Name the person or team who will apply updates and respond to a security incident. If nobody, choose hosted.
3. Is the business already built on WordPress content? WooCommerce deserves a look.
4. Do you need company accounts, negotiated quotes, approval workflows or several stores on one back office? Compare Shopify Plus and Adobe Commerce feature by feature.
5. Does the selling model break the product, cart, checkout pattern? Consider custom, or a commerce engine with custom services around it.
6. Estimate five-year cost, including upgrades, app or extension fees, hosting and developer time, not just the build.
7. Ask each vendor or agency how you would export your data and leave.

FAQ

Is Magento the same as Adobe Commerce?

No. Magento Open Source is the free, open-source edition. Adobe Commerce is the licensed commercial product built on the same core, with extra features, support and Adobe-managed hosting options, including a SaaS version.

Is WooCommerce really free?

The core plugin is free and open source. Running a store on it is not: you pay for hosting, any premium extensions and themes, payment processing, and the time of whoever maintains it.

Does Shopify handle PCI compliance for me?

Shopify states that it is Level 1 PCI DSS compliant and that this covers stores on its platform by default. You are still responsible for your own practices, such as staff access, account security and the apps you install. Confirm validation requirements with your payment provider.

Can Shopify handle B2B and wholesale?

Yes, within limits. Shopify lists company profiles, quantity rules, price breaks and net payment terms on all plans, with some catalog and payment features reserved for Plus. Complex quoting and approval workflows are documented features of Adobe Commerce and may need apps or custom work on Shopify.

Will I lose search rankings if I change platform?

Not necessarily. Google states that permanent redirects do not cause a loss of PageRank, but it also says to expect ranking fluctuations during recrawling. The risk comes from missed redirects, changed content and removed pages, so a complete URL map is essential.

How long does a replatform take?

It depends on catalog size, the number of integrations, how much custom logic must be rebuilt, and how clean the existing data is. The integration and data migration work usually takes longer than the storefront design, so scope those first.

Conclusion

Pick the least complex option that meets your genuinely unusual requirements. For most new and growing stores that is a hosted platform. WordPress-centered businesses with technical support can do well on WooCommerce. Complex B2B and multi-store operations justify Adobe Commerce, and a custom build is for selling models that packaged platforms cannot represent. Whichever way you go, treat migration, security ownership and the exit route as part of the decision, not afterthoughts.

Entrant Technologies builds websites, web applications and custom software, including WordPress and Magento stores. If you are weighing an agency abroad for the work, our guide on outsourcing software development from the US and UK covers contracts and vetting. If you would like a second opinion on which option fits your requirements, you can send us your requirements list and we will tell you plainly where a hosted platform is enough.