
Is Magento Dying?
There’s a common misconception that is finding a lot of takers in the e-commerce space, which is about the increasing irrelevance of Magento as a platform. One of the major contributing factors is that Magento doesn’t appear in some of the top e-commerce trend reports, unlike in the past. On the other hand, e-commerce platforms such as Shopify are growing quickly and even becoming everyone’s go-to choice.
However, the reality is a lot more complex and falls in the grey area instead of being simply black or white. It’s a fact that Magento’s active store count is on the decline, and even the merchants seem to be packing their bags. The reason behind this is that the merchants are leaving because of lower costs, swift iterations, or less technical reliability. But, still, the Magento platform is getting users from distinct legacy platforms and holding its ground.
In this insightful guide, you’ll get to learn about the source of this statement about whether Magento is dying or not in today’s era. Alongside this, you’ll know what the numbers are telling regarding platform switching, which types of businesses are opting for Magento, and where it stands now. So, shall we begin?
The Seed of “Magento is Dying” Narrative
Did you know that the rumours around whether Magento is dying are not without their share of reasons? The reality is that it’s because of the changing nature of the e-commerce space and many other reasons.
The Magento Rebranding to Adobe
Are you aware of the fact that Adobe acquired Magento in 2018? Magento was once a single platform with a brand that people were aware of! But nowadays, Magento means two different products, which are Magento Open Source(free) and Adobe Commerce(enterprise edition). You must know that Adobe’s branding depends a lot on the paid version. That’s why many of the product updates and official documentation focus on it. So, it creates a level of uncertainty for merchants who are using the free version or are thinking about using it in the future.
Modular Modernization
You know, there’s always a rub-off effect when your competitor in the e-commerce space transitions from one platform to another. That’s why, when one brand moves from Magento to Shopify, Salesforce, or any other platform, those stories spread like wildfires. On the other hand, the successful case studies won’t make headlines. That’s why it may seem that every business is transitioning from Magento to another platform, even when there are so many businesses that are still using it.
The SaaS Shift
The recent data has shown that Magento’s store count is decreasing gradually. As per BuiltWith, Magento is supporting only 100,000 live sites as of January 2026, which is a lot lower than in previous years. To put things into perspective, Shopify gained close to 600 stores in the last 90 days, whereas Magento lost more stores than it had gained.
Running Expenses
Magento needs a lot more technical expertise to take care of ongoing operations and maintenance. You need to understand that Adobe Commerce isn’t like Shopify or BigCommerce. It still needs the merchants to handle hosting, PCI compliance, and security patches, along with several other important tasks. There may be some people who cherish this flexibility, but for most individuals, it’s quite daunting and a probable reason for leaving.
The EOL Stage of Magento 1 & Magento 2
Did you know that Magento 1 reached its end-of-life stage in 2020? In fact, most of the merchants remember the chaos it caused. However, Magento 2 is on a different path, in which Adobe is continuing to release the latest versions by investing in it fully. The best part about it is that it also provides Magento support for the functions, which will be extended with each release.
The most cutting-edge version, 2.4.8, will be supported till the end of April 2028. But that’s not really the end of Magento 2. Future versions are also expected to follow up with new support timelines that will surely extend further. For teams who want to plan for the long term, Adobe Commerce, Magento Open Source, along with the developer community, are playing their part in ensuring stability and longevity.
The Battle of Magento & Shopify

Shopify is the go-to choice for people who want to leave Magento. The reason behind this is simple: Shopify makes it a lot easier to go to market. On the other hand, Magento gives development teams a lot more control over the catalogue structure, costs, and integration adaptability.
Why are Merchants Shifting from Magento to Shopify?
Some of the reasons why merchants are switching from Magento to Shopify are as follows:-
- Cost of Ownership: Shopify’s monthly packaging structure and properly managed infrastructure make it a lot more lucrative for brands who doesn’t have big technical teams.
- Integrated Checkout System: Shopify is fully hosted and optimized by default. On the other hand, Magento merchants use tailored or optimized checkout flows which can match or even exceed the performance of Shopify. However, it needs a lot more hands-on approach for development and optimization.
- App Integrations: Shopify has more than 16,000 apps, whereas Magento only has 5,700. Alongside this, the Shopify apps have a lot shorter time-to-value and integrations that can be carried out easily.
- Lesser Operational Costs: Shopify is sufficient to manage hosting, PCI compliance, and security patching at just the platform level. It is one of the most common reasons behind switching from Magento to Shopify for most merchants.
- B2B Support: There have been many improved features, such as company profiles, personalized catalogues, payment terms, and even order management in Shopify. It has made Shopify a much better replacement for Adobe Commerce in the B2B marketplace.
When Shopify is the Ideal Option
Shopify is most often the best choice for brands that give priority to speed and a properly managed service model that has limited in-house development resources. The streamlined backend and even built-in checkout have made it a lot easier to change things quickly for DTC-first businesses that are focused on improving the conversion rate. It works wonderfully well for merchants who want to consolidate the retail and wholesale operations. They will be able to do so within a single admin environment, having a lot more expanded B2B features.
When Magento is the Optimum Choice
Magento is still the right choice when it comes to setups that require complex product data, pricing rules, and even tailored business logic. It might include multi-store setups that have regional distinctions in the catalogue and currency. Furthermore, it is also opted for by clients that require full control over infrastructure and ERP, PIM, or different system integrations. Alongside this, it remains the best platform for projects that are dependent upon custom middleware.
The Status of the Magento Platform in 2026
Did you know that in January 2026, BuiltWith has tracked roughly 105,000 live Magento sites. In fact, Magento 2 development has the majority of the live sites, which make up close to 72,700 live stores. On the other hand, Magento 2.4 has 40,000 such stores. If you think about Magento’s real share in the top 1 million websites, the stat is 1.05% currently. This makes it the fourth most popular open-source e-commerce platform in that aspect. Magento is still ahead of many niche platforms, but it is down significantly from last year. For the U.S. alone, more than 23,500 sites run on Magento 2.
Magento’s Active Releases
Are you aware of the fact that Magento is still under active development? Here are some facts for you:-
- Magento Open Source 2.4.8 was released in April 2025 and provides support for PHP 8.4 and MariaDB 11.4.
- The security-only patches for 2.4.7 and 2.4.8 will continue to ship on Adobe’s monthly Patch Tuesday cycle.
Adobe Commerce follows the same versioning and even gets additional enterprise modules along with service integrations. Both of them benefit from shared security infrastructure. However, the support models and SLAs can differ as per the licensing type.
Magento isn’t Going Anywhere
You need to understand that Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce are quite alive in 2026. Even though their releases are shipping on schedule, security patches have become routine work, and the contemporary frontends are getting a lot of traction. As a matter of fact, the platform is still powering thousands of stores that have the potential to customize different elements. Some of those elements are the checkout, product logic, and even infrastructure.
It’s a fact that Magento is losing some of its existing customer base to SaaS. However, the organizations that need it and the developers who will build upon it are still there. So, here’s the blanket statement: Magento is here to stay, and it won’t go anywhere in the foreseeable future.
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