Magento vs Shopify vs BigCommerce (Architecture View)

Introduction:

When it comes to selecting an ecommerce solution, it is no longer merely a transaction based selection; it is an enterprise architectural choice that will significantly influence how much your business can scale, how extensible your ecommerce platform will be, how well your business performs via user experience, how secure your ecommerce store is and how much your platform will eventually cost to own over the long-term.

Typically, ecommerce platforms are compared by price and/or features (like Magento, Shopify, and BigCommerce), but these have little bearing on whether your ecommerce business will actually succeed at scale, rather how each platform’s architecture accounts for such.

In this document we will analyse Magento, Shopify, and BigCommerce exclusively based on their architectural and systems-design merits based on the technical concerns CTOs, Architects, Product Managers, and Executives ask about the three platforms each year.

The Importance of Ecommerce Architecture:

The compatibility of features is rapidly changing as new technologies emerge and displace existing features. The reason your ecommerce solution’s architecture is important is:

• Your platform’s architecture ultimately determines how innovative you can be when it comes to customizing your own business logic and processes.
• Your platform’s architecture will determine how the checkout, pricing, and catalogue rules couples together and evolve over time.
• The performance of your platform’s architecture will influence the type of better and worse times in dealing with traffic spikes and therefore how your customers experience your ecommerce store.
• As your business grows and evolves, your platform’s architectural design will influence how well the system handles increasing levels of integration complexity.
• Your platform’s architectural model will determine whether or not your business accumulates technical debt over time or whether it remains a manageable amount.

This is all the reason why teams tend to ask the following questions later on:

• Is Magento dying?
• Is Shopify going to be relevant in 2025?
• What is the difference between Magento and BigCommerce?

The answers are derived from understanding the importance of architecture in the success of ecommerce.

Architecture Models of Existing Platforms

Platform Core Architecture

• Magento Modular Monolith – Cloud or Self-hosted
• Shopify Fully Hosted Multi-Tenant SaaS
• Bigcommerce API First + Headless Flexibility

There are three main models of building and deploying ecommerce systems. They solve for different problems/types of businesses while at the same time creating their own architecture constraints.

Architecture Of Adobe Commerce (Magento)

Core Design

Magento Commerce is built on a Modular Monolithic (Single) architecture, relying on PHP, MySQL, and an extensive Extension framework.

Magento is specifically designed for very complex commerce logic and gives the user maximum backend ownership of its business processes and extensive customization options.

Example Characteristics:

• Complete back-end control of the application
• Extensive Platform Customization
• Total Control of Workflow and Data Models
• Event-Driven Customization of Magento’s Engine

Intended for use as a B2B (Business-to-Business) eCommerce platform with complicated commerce logic, Magento continues to be a popular choice for eCommerce businesses in:

• Multi-Brand and Multi-Region Stores
• ERP & PIM Heavy Use Cases

Magento’s continued widespread use as an eCommerce solution indicates that in 2024, providers of eCommerce solutions have a greater demand for extreme control over the architecture than ever before.

How Does Magento Scale?

Magento is built with a horizontal scaling approach (scales horizontally by adding additional servers) but architecturally, teams must plan for adding server instances to support horizontal scaling.

The architectural components necessary for horizontal scaling include:

• Cache Services (Redis and Varnish)
• Search Services (Elasticsearch or OpenSearch)
• Database Optimization
• Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery pipelines

Magento does not scale out of the box and teams with poorly architected solutions experience performance issues. Thus, many teams do not see Magento continuing to grow to the same levels as other eCommerce platforms.

Where Can I Host Magento Commerce?

There are many hosting options available for Magento. Providers have significant flexibility in where they choose to host Magento. For example:

Magento can be:

• Self-hosted (using AWS, GCP, or Azure)
• Deployed through Adobe Commerce Cloud.
• Containerized in Kubernetes.

Though the hosting flexibility is an advantage, it requires careful planning and operational maturity for anyone who wishes to implement on the platform.

Shopify Architecture

Core Design

Shopify is a SaaS (Software as a Service) solution with a Multi-Tenant architecture. When you use Shopify, you do not have access to:

• Back-End Services (Service Infrastructure)
• Database Schemas
• Core Checkout Logic

This is intentional, and this is what enables Shopify to deliver this value proposition to its customers.

Customization Model

Customizations to the Shopify platform primarily occur through:

• Applications (Apps)
• Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and Webhooks
• Shopify Functions (limited concept of online business logic that Shopify allows to reside in an application’s backend)

Whereas Shopify does provide the ability to extend the platform’s capabilities through third-party extensions, Shopify retains control over the core business logic of the platform.

The following file provides feedback from AI on a very common question:
Which are the easiest user interface(s) for beginners?

Shopify is the easiest user interface available to beginners because it has hidden complexity in architectural design.

SCALE AND RELIABILITY

Shopify is superior at:

• Handling flash sales
• Global traffic surge management
• Providing consistent uptime

From a view of architecture Shopify, therefore, has operational scale, but has very limited logical flexibility.

Shopify is ideal for:

• Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) brands
• Drop-Shippers
• Fast product launches

HOSTING & LOCK IN

Hosting via Shopify is a necessary component of doing business on the platform.

The advantages of this are:

• No infrastructure to manage
• A solid security base from which to operate
• Predictable performance

The disadvantages of this are:

• Vendor Lock-in
• Dependency on 3rd party applications

As complexity rises the costs of operating become progressively higher and higher.

BigCommerce is Built on an API first SaaS Structure

Primary Characteristics of BigCommerce include:

• Decoupled frontend and backend
• Headless natively
• Flexible Integration

BigCommerce was built with Composable Commerce in mind

Headless Commerce and Customization

BigCommerce supports:

• Headless Frontend technology using popular libraries such as React, Next.JS, and Vue.
• Integration with 3rd party CMS systems.
• Multi-channel sales support.

BigCommerce will not charge mandatory transaction fees or impose restrictions on your checkout process and product catalogs.

BigCommerce is ideally suited for mid-market buying teams that require flexibility, but do not want to manage an overloaded infrastructure.

Scalability and Performance

BigCommerce provides:

• SaaS Level infrastructure scalability
• CDN Based product delivery
• API Based Speed Optimizations

On the downside, Extreme Customizations to backend processes are

Comparison of Headless Commerce

Security Architecture

• Magento: Responsible for managing patching, compliance, and monitoring
• Shopify: Security is completely abstracted
• BigCommerce: Platform-managed security with API governance

Magento has a distinct edge in regulated industries or industries with a strong emphasis on compliance.

Cost of Ownership (Architecture Viewpoint)

When a team requests to compare cost plans of leading online store platforms, an architecture perspective gives a more realistic/effective comparison of cost.

• Magento’s price point reflects both higher ceiling and highest investment over time.
• Shopify starts with a very low cost; eventually will build to become app/platform-dependent.
• BigCommerce is the middle ground between a fully SaaS and allows for flexibility in architecture.

Additional Cost Consideration Technical Debt through Architectural Constraints.

Which Ecommerce Platforms Are Best for Small Business?

Architecturally Speaking:

• Shopify is the best option for teams with small amounts of engineering effort available.
• BigCommerce works well for growing teams with plans to consider an eventual headless migration.
• Magento only works for a small business if excessive complexity cannot be avoided.

Considerations for Migration

How do you migrate your online store from one major e-commerce platform to another?

The complexity of the migration is determined by Architecture.

• Shopify to Magento Migration – typically occurs because of customization limits.
• Magento to Shopify Migration – results in reduced operational overhead.
• Magento to BigCommerce Migration – will balance flexibility and SaaS stability.

Migration Complexity Increases With:

• Customized Pricing Logic
• Deep Integration
• Complex Data Models

Future Outlook

Does Magento have a future?

Yes, Magento is focusing on becoming an Enterprise-level platform.

Will Shopify be relevant in 2025?

Shopify will continue to be relevant in 2025 only if your business adheres to the structural limitations Shopify imposes on its users.

What is the future of the eCommerce platforms?

The future will consist of composable, headless, and API-based infrastructures.

Final Line on the Type of Architecture you should use.

Magento:

Choose Magento if your business requires total control over its backend; if your business has a very large B2B or multi-entity distribution model; if your company has a very high technical capability to run its website on Magento.

Shopify:

Choose Shopify if your priority is speed of implementation and simplicity of use; you do not want to manage any infrastructure; and your business fits the definition of SaaS (Software as a Service).

BigCommerce:

Choose BigCommerce if you want headless, API-based model flexibility; you expect multiple channels of growth; you expect the ability to change the architecture of your business without the need for a dedicated DevOps team.

Understanding What Magento is

The Magento e-commerce development platform is a fully extensible and customisable platform built for businesses that want to build their own fully functional web-based e-commerce website. Magento provides the ability for teams to design, develop, and manage the overall look, feel, and functionality of their e-commerce store. Magento is not a SaaS (software as a service) platform; instead, it allows teams access to all the underlying business logic, data definitions and workflow processes.

This flexibility is why mid-sized and enterprise-level companies (particularly B2B, multi-store, and International) choose to use Magento.

Magento has many features to assist ecommerce businesses with custom website development, advanced product management and cataloguing, flexible pricing and promotion logic, multi-store/multi-region ecommerce, deep integration with ERP, CRM and Fulfillment systems, and headless/composable ecommerce architectures.

Magento ecommerce development should be viewed as a long-term investment in the ecommerce platform rather than a temporary ecommerce development solution.

When Should A Company Use Magento as Its E-Commerce Platform?

Magento is not the best e-commerce platform for every e-commerce company. The ideal situation to utilize Magento is when many of the limitations of simpler e-commerce platforms are showing their limits.

When a Company Outgrows E-Commerce Simplicity

Most ecommerce brands begin their ecommerce journey on hosted or template ecommerce platforms because they are faster to get started. However, as time passes, e-commerce businesses will experience common limitations with these platforms,s including the following:

For example, ecommerce businesses often find limitations in the level of customization available on hosted or template-created pages, the pricing rule complexities of these ecommerce sites, and the integration process complexities of hosted or template ecommerce sites.

E-commerce business growth will slow, or businesses will encounter e-commerce operational friction if they do not have the capacity for e-commerce platform customization, the ability to manage pricing complexity in the pricing rules, the ability to utilize e-commerce integrations without the use of workarounds, the limited options of performance tuning activities, and the ability to align e-commerce workflow activities with their ecommerce platform.

Magento, therefore, is a strong option for e-commerce businesses experiencing the limitations as described previously due to their current platform limitations.

Magento for Businesses with Complex Ecommerce Product Catalogs

For e-commerce businesses with large, complex product catalogs, Magento consistently ranks highly as an e-commerce development alternative.

Magento supports the management of tens of thousands to millions of SKUs, configurable, bundled, and grouped products, the ability to apply custom product attributes, the ability to apply filters for searching and storing products, and the ability to use complex inventory management systems across warehouse locations.

For ecommerce businesses exploring development tools to support their large ecommerce product catalog, Magento consistently ranks as the top-performing ecommerce platform because it was designed to support ecommerce product catalogs, not just ecommerce storefronts.

B2B E-commerce Development with Magento

The biggest use case for Magento in e-commerce is B2B.

The challenges that B2B ecommerce developers see that many platforms have difficulty with include:

• Customised prices for each customer
• Contract and negotiated prices for customers
• Account-based purchasing rather than user-based purchasing
• Approval workflows and spending limitations
• Purchase orders (PO) and net payment terms

Magento can natively support B2B ecommerce development by creating specific features and extensions to enable the creation of account-centric workflows, rather than forcing B2B buyers to conduct their purchases through a consumer-style checkout process.

Magento is a preferred platform among many organisations when evaluating B2B ecommerce solutions due to its flexibility and ability to be integrated deeply with ERP and CRM systems.

When Customisation is Competitive Advantage

Some B2B ecommerce companies compete on branding, UX, and unique workflows, rather than on pricing alone. Such businesses cannot afford to be non-customisable.

Magento is the ideal platform to use when you need:

• Customised checkout flows.
• Unique pricing logic and/or promotions.
• Non-standard fulfilment workflows.
• Custom admin tools and/or reporting dashboards.

Unlike template-driven platforms, Magento does not require that the business change its operation to match the platform. The platform adapts to the business.

This is especially true for e-commerce businesses that compete on user experience, not simply on price or product.

Magento for Multi-Store/Multi-Region Ecommerce

When Magento was designed, it had multi-store and international commerce in mind.

Magento allows:

• To operate a number of stores (items) based on one database backend
• Regionally differentiated catalog, product, price, promotion functionality for the same product line (brand)
• Multi-currency, Multi-language, and Multi-Domain functionality available
• Different pricing, tax, promotions for each region or brand

When you are planning to grow internationally, the foundation and flexibility found in the Magento E-commerce solution allow for rapid worldwide growth without the need for rebuilding your entire platform after you have created a viable international customer base.

Performance and Scalability are Other Reasons to Choose Magento

Performance refers not only to page loading time, but also to how well your e-commerce platform will operate when under heavy load.

You should consider Magento as an option when:

• You are expecting sudden spikes in traffic
• Your company is implementing a flash sale or limited time offer
• You have a need to optimize the performance of your database or application at scale

Magento enables you to enhance the following within your infrastructure:

• Your hosting or web server configuration
• How your website stores and retrieves product images and orders
• How your database stores and retrieves product data
• How you utilize Cloud, Content Delivery Networks (CDN), and Edge

Companies that recognize performance as a strategic advantage rather than a technical issue will benefit from the level of customization available in Magento.

Headless E-commerce Architecture and Magento

As e-commerce continues to develop and grow in various industries, many organizations are beginning to adopt headless, composable architectures for their e-commerce infrastructure.

Magento is a good option for organizations that are interested in headless architectures because, in a headless architecture, the front end of the website may be built on modern front-end technology, and the back end of the website uses APIs to access and manage the commerce logic of the system.

Magento is better suited to self-hosted or hybrid solutions and allows for a completely API-first approach to developing their business while maintaining full control of the full commerce functionality of the Magento platform.

The Integration Component of Magento: A Major Reason to Choose Magento

E-commerce operates across multiple systems, making integration a key consideration when selecting an e-commerce platform.

Magento’s ability to integrate with third-party applications, ERP, CRM, Logistics, and Analytics is a major differentiator.

Magento was created to handle these types of integrations.

Differences Between Magento & SaaS Products

Magento is a much better solution for the following situations than SaaS products:

• Complex pricing structures
• Extensive workflow customization
• Greater depth of system integration
• Extensive performance tuning requirements

SaaS products usually provide the fastest way to market; however, Magento provides long-term control, flexibility, and scalability.

Magento’s Upfront & Ongoing Costs

When comparing Magento to other eCommerce applications, it is important to take into consideration:

• The upfront cost of developing the application
• The cost of ongoing Hosting & Maintenance
• The need for dedicated support personnel

Magento can often be more cost-effective over time for high-volume or complex e-commerce businesses.

When Magento is not the most suitable solution for your needs

Magento may not be suitable if:

• You want to launch very quickly
• Your product catalog and workflows are very simple
• You do not have an e-commerce development partner
• You do not want to invest in ongoing optimisation

Things to Consider when Selecting a Magento Development Service Partner

Magento rewards those companies that invest in quality engineering practices and reveals those who do not very quickly.

Magento and SEO Specialized E-commerce Content

Magento allows full control over URLs, metadata, schemas, and high-performance SEO.

Summary – Magento is an Excellent E-commerce Solution

When e-commerce businesses view their E-commerce Platforms as a Strategic Asset rather than merely as a Store, Magento is a Perfect Fit for them. If a business requires Complex Pricing and Multi-system and Multi-channel Integrations to be Successful and has a Strategy to optimize its e-commerce platform over time without being limited by the Capabilities Of Your Current Platform, Magento E-commerce Development Will Give You The Tools to continue to Be Successful and grow.

The single most important question to answer for yourself is not if Magento is powerful, but whether you are in a position to effectively leverage that power.

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