Magento
Magento Open Source or Adobe Commerce: what is the difference?
Short answer
Magento Open Source is the free version; Adobe Commerce is the same software with a paid licence and extra components, such as a B2B package, scheduled content, customer segments and support from Adobe. The core is the same. For most online shops among small and medium-sized businesses, Open Source is enough, topped up with a few modules. Adobe Commerce pays off if you need many of the extras at once, or if your organisation requires a contract with the maker.
What is the same?
Almost everything a visitor and a staff member see every day. The catalogue, the basket, the checkout, order management, several stores and languages in one installation, the way modules work. A developer who knows Open Source mostly knows Adobe Commerce too.
Until 2021 the paid version was called Magento Commerce, and before that Enterprise Edition. The free version was called Community Edition. If you come across those names, they describe the same split.
What does Adobe Commerce add?
| Component | Open Source | Adobe Commerce |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | None | Paid, depending on your revenue |
| Company accounts, quotes, catalogue per customer | With modules or custom work | Built in |
| Scheduling and previewing content and promotions | With a module | Built in |
| Customer segments and targeted promotions | Limited | Built in |
| Gift cards, reward points, store credit | With modules | Built in |
| Support from Adobe | No | Yes |
| Hosting by Adobe | No | Possible, in the cloud edition |
| Security patches | Yes | Yes |
Adobe moves components between the versions now and then. For a current list, check with Adobe itself at the time you choose.
When is Open Source enough?
For most shops we come across. You sell to consumers, or to businesses with a simple price structure. You have a developer or administrator who knows the shop. The features you miss can be filled with two or three modules.
In that case a licence pays for components you do not use. The money does more if you put it into hosting, speed and maintenance.
When does Adobe Commerce pay off?
In three situations.
You need the whole B2B package. Company accounts with roles, quotes, order lists, a separate catalogue and prices per customer, credit limits. Building all of that with separate modules is possible, but you end up with a patchwork that needs attention at every upgrade. What can be done without a licence is covered under Magento B2B.
Your marketing team plans weeks ahead. Preparing promotions, having them approved and putting them live at a set time, for several countries. That is what content scheduling is made for.
Your organisation requires a contract with the maker. Some purchasing departments and shareholders want a supplier that is liable. That is a valid reason, whatever the technology.
Where do people choose wrongly?
Adobe Commerce as a precaution. “We will grow into it.” The licence runs from day one, the features stay unused for years.
Open Source with forty modules. Every wish is solved with a module from a different maker. It works, until the first big upgrade. Then half of them turn out not to be updated. What can be built to measure with less code is often the better choice; see custom modules.
Choosing on the feature list. The real question is who looks after the shop. A well-maintained Open Source shop is safer and faster than an Adobe Commerce shop that nobody looks after.
And the hosting?
You host Open Source wherever you like. You can host Adobe Commerce yourself too; only the cloud edition runs at Adobe. For both, Magento needs a stack of components that are well matched to each other.
We host and manage both versions on our own hardware, see Magento hosting. If you are torn between the two, or between Magento and something else, Magento or Shopify and Magento or WooCommerce will help further.