The best e-commerce platform for mid-market brands with a limited budget

Shopify lists its Plus plan from $2,300 a month on a three-year term for standard setups and integrations, so a mid-market brand whose store fits that description starts its budget from a known license figure. That published rate, and Shopify's statement that it helps keep a merchant's site secure automatically, make Shopify our pick for a mid-market brand on a limited budget whose requirements fit the plan as offered. Paid themes, third-party apps and custom development are priced on top of the license.

Adobe's edition comparison gives Adobe Commerce on Cloud, its PaaS edition, in-process PHP customization and full data-model customization, so Adobe Commerce is the better pick for a brand whose store depends on changes inside the application and that will fund the patching Adobe assigns to that edition's merchant. Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service is the SaaS edition: Adobe installs its core updates, and customizations run outside the application through APIs, events and App Builder.

What should a mid-market brand on a limited budget weigh in an e-commerce platform?

Adobe's pricing page directs buyers of both full Commerce editions to request pricing tailored to the business. A quoted license and a published one only compare once each is confirmed for your own store, so ask both vendors for the price in writing over the same contract length, along with whatever would change it during the term.

Adobe's shared responsibility guide for the PaaS edition makes the merchant responsible for applying Commerce core patches and for patching its own custom code and extensions, and the guide for the Cloud Service has Adobe publish and install core updates. Whichever platform you choose, ask the proposed partner to name the maintenance work on your custom code, integrations and apps and to price it.

Shopify charges a Plus merchant 0.20% per transaction when a third-party processor is the primary gateway, on top of that processor's own fees. The charge grows with sales, so its weight in your budget depends on which gateway you plan to keep and how much volume runs through it. Adobe documents native gateway integrations and others from its Commerce Marketplace, and its quote should itemize any platform and processor charges for your intended gateway and edition. Stripe's payments RFP guide calls for the same fee breakdown from every processor, from setup and monthly charges to cross-border and chargeback costs.

A paid theme from Shopify's Theme Store is licensed to the store where it was bought, and each Plus expansion store that uses it needs a license of its own. Adobe's Marketplace sells extensions for a flat fee or as annual subscriptions that renew automatically. List every app and extension you need for each proposed build, with its billing basis, its renewal, and the stores and edition it covers.

Pivotal Digital, a commerce agency, budgets a platform across license, payment fees, apps or extensions, hosting, build, maintenance, agency support and internal team time. Give each partner one written scope covering catalog, store count, integrations, customizations, migration, and support and maintenance duties over the same term, then ask for hours and rates where the partner offers them and for the exclusions in writing.

Shopify and Adobe Commerce compared

Shopify: a published Plus price and a platform that helps keep the site secure

Shopify's Plus pricing page sets a higher monthly rate, $2,500, for a one-year term, and both published rates cover standard setups and integrations. More complex, higher-volume businesses move to a variable platform fee based on revenue and business model, which Shopify's sales team quotes. A merchant on either term can cancel when the commitment expires, Shopify's plan pricing FAQ says, so plan on paying for the full term you sign.

Shopify's developer documentation tells developers to follow its release notes for API changes that require action, so a store with custom apps or integrations carries maintenance work of its own. The Plus pricing page tells buyers to budget for custom development with Plus Partners and names one-time theme purchases and third-party apps as the other optional costs. Ask the partner that builds your custom code to state what it will maintain and at what price.

Shopify's help page on third-party transaction fees applies the gateway fee to the value of products after discounts, plus tax and shipping. A refund does not return the fee, and point-of-sale orders and manual payment methods fall outside it. Orders processed through Shopify Payments as the primary gateway carry no third-party transaction fee, and the Plus pricing page says its card rates vary by country and are quoted by sales. The plan pricing FAQ adds that Shopify Payments is available only in certain countries, so confirm the rates and your eligibility before you budget without the gateway fee.

The Impact theme page in Shopify's Theme Store describes its purchase as a one-time payment for a lifetime license for that store. Shopify does not charge to migrate a store, and its Plus pricing FAQ makes the migration itself the merchant's responsibility, with a Plus representative available to outline the costs. Ask Shopify to confirm in writing whether your proposed store qualifies for a standard rate or requires variable pricing, then compare the license it confirms.

Adobe Commerce: in-process customization on PaaS and Adobe-run updates on the Cloud Service

Adobe's pricing page presents Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service as a multi-tenant SaaS offering with automatic feature and security updates, and Adobe Commerce on Cloud as a single-tenant PaaS offering with dedicated infrastructure. Adobe Commerce Optimizer appears on the same page as a separate storefront and merchandising offering that works with an existing commerce engine, so confirm which offering your quote names.

On the PaaS edition, Adobe's shared responsibility guide has Adobe issue updates for the core code and the merchant apply them. The merchant also patches its custom code and extensions when their vendors release fixes and keeps third-party dependencies on supported versions, and Adobe patches the supporting services it runs, such as Nginx and MySQL. The edition comparison pairs that work with in-process PHP customization and full data-model customization, and with PHP extensions from the Magento Marketplace.

Adobe's responsibility matrix for the Cloud Service makes Adobe responsible for publishing and installing core updates and patches and for releasing infrastructure patches. The customer keeps responsibility for integrating external applications and for installing and testing its App Builder apps. Customization on this edition is out of process, through APIs, events and App Builder, with apps drawn from Adobe's Exchange marketplace.

A flat-fee extension from Adobe's Marketplace is licensed in perpetuity, and an active subscription keeps the merchant eligible for the extension vendor's support, Adobe's guide to buying subscriptions says. Adobe's payments documentation badges its PayPal Express Checkout and Braintree integrations for the PaaS edition. Ask Adobe for a quote that names the edition, the contract term and any platform or processor charge for the gateway you intend to use.

Which e-commerce platform should a mid-market brand on a limited budget choose?

We crown Shopify for a mid-market brand on a limited budget whose store fits the standard Plus offer. Its entry license is a published rate with a stated term, and Shopify's own FAQ takes on helping keep the site secure. The costs that sit outside the license are named on its pages, so a buyer can price each of them before signing. An Adobe license for either edition starts as a quote, which a brand with a fixed budget can only weigh once it arrives. The published rate settles the license line alone, and the build, the apps and the support still need the same-scope partner prices before either contract is signed.

Shopify adds one charge that grows with sales: a Plus brand that keeps a third-party processor as its primary gateway pays Shopify a transaction fee on top of that processor's charges, and the lower published monthly rate carries the longer commitment. We weigh both below the published license for a brand whose intended gateway and quoted plan fit, because the fee is a stated rate the buyer can apply to its own sales forecast in advance. A brand that runs high volume through an outside gateway, or that Shopify moves to the variable platform fee, should set those charges beside Adobe's itemized quote before it chooses.

Choose Adobe Commerce on Cloud when the store needs changes inside the application, such as custom PHP running in process or a reshaped data model, and the budget includes developers to apply core patches and keep extensions current. A brand that wants Adobe to install core updates and can build its customizations as App Builder apps and API integrations should request a Cloud Service quote and compare it with Shopify on the same scope.

Other e-commerce platforms