Magento open source edition and Adobe Commerce (formerly known as Magento Enterprise Edition) share a common technical history, maintain a common codebase and an overlap in ecommerce critical features. Prior to being purchased by Adobe, Varien distributed its Magento commerce platform in two versions:
Magento Community Edition (now Magento Open Source) – A free open source ecommerce platform that was often used by small to medium merchants with basic ecommerce capabilities.
Magento Enterprise Edition (now Adobe Commerce) – Effectively an expanded and enhanced version of Magento Commerce Open Source that included additional features for enterprise ecommerce merchants.
Adobe Commerce offers more advanced features and functionalities out-of-the-box than Magento Commerce Open Source. These can include advanced marketing tools, customer segmentation and personalization, a reward points system, advanced analytics and reporting among other features. Magento Open Source lacks some of these functionalities in its basic setup but allows for the addition of these functionalities through customizations or extensions.
Adobe commerce is offered as a stand alone self hosted solution or as “Adobe Commerce Cloud” – a hosted solution that treats Adobe Commerce as part of a large Cloud Infrastructure
A quick note on Adobe Commerce Cloud
Adobe Commerce Cloud is a cloud-hosted version of Adobe Commerce. It is designed to provide a more streamlined and scalable solution for businesses, as it leverages cloud infrastructure for hosting and managing the e-commerce platform. This cloud-based version offers additional benefits, including: The core software is identical with a few differences in its technical architecture.
Adobe Commerce Cloud is based off of a technical stack including Fastly (CDN), Performance tools (New Relic), Code Repository (Git) and Cloud Infrastructure (AWS). Its intent is to provide merchants with ecommerce tools and extensible architecture.
Cost Comparison: Magento OS -v- Adobe Commerce
Magento Commerce Open Source is exactly as it sounds. An open source edition that is available free of charge to download.
An Adobe Commerce license starts at $22,000/year and is calculated based on annual gross sales revenue. Adobe’s pricing is intended to be transparent with a tiered pricing structure
Adobe Commerce Cloud pricing starts at $55,000/year. Like Adobe Commerce its pricing follows a tiered structure with respect to a merchants annual gross revenue.
Development and maintenance costs are outside the scope of this article as there are factors outside of the core platforms that needs to be considered. A technically sound implementation with design and a few custom features (as is typical) will start at $100,000 irrespective of platform selected.
Magento OS & Adobe Commerce: Similarities
For the purpose of core features Adobe Commerce and Adobe Commerce cloud are treated as a single entity. There are differences in their applications as merchants will typically build their own technical stack for the self-hosted Adobe Commerce, and each stack will have some disparity in features. But this is better treated as a customization and not a “core” feature.
Open Source Foundation
Both Magento Open Source and the Adobe Commerce platform are built on an open-source foundation, meaning that the source code is freely available for developers to modify and customize to meet specific business needs.
Modularity and Extensibility
All versions of Magento and Adobe Commerce are designed to be highly modular and extensible. This original strength of Magento commerce has remained through its many iterations.
As part of the core ecommerce platform – users can add custom modules and extensions to enhance functionality and create a tailored experience for a merchants online store.
Both platforms are equally adept at integrating with 3rd party solutions (eg. ERP, CRM, WMS, PIM etc.) and support the same variety of front end frameworks. If the business needs include utilizing a Progressive Web APP (PWA) or Composable architecture then all are reasonable choices.
Wide Range of Payment and Shipping Options:
Both utilize the Magento secure payment bridge assisting merchants in meeting PCI DSS standards. The requirements for PA-DSS (Payment Application Data Security Standards) are satisfied.
They also support a wide array of payment gateways and shipping methods, making it easier for merchants to cater to different customer preferences and regions.
While Adobe Commerce and Adobe Commerce Cloud support credit card tokenization this is a feature that Magento Open Source can be extended to support.
SEO-Friendly Data
Magento has historically prioritized Search Engine Optimization (SEO) best practices, helping improve the visibility of online stores in search engine results.
It’s important to note that, with the advent of Google’s “Core Web Vitals”, performance has become a more significant factor with SEO ranking. In this sense there are some strong arguments for Adobe Commerce cloud and its robust capabilities with content delivery network and performance tracking tools.
Mobile Responsiveness
Both platforms offer responsive design themes and templates, ensuring that online stores are accessible and visually appealing across various devices, including smartphones and tablets.
Multi-Store Capabilities
They support the creation of multiple online stores within a single installation, allowing merchants to manage different brands, product catalogs, and customer groups effectively.
Advanced Product Management
Both versions provide robust product management capabilities, enabling merchants to handle large catalogs, set up configurable products, and manage inventory efficiently.
Flexible Pricing Rules
Merchants can define various pricing rules, such as discounts, coupons, special offers, and tiered pricing, to attract and retain customers.
Customer Accounts and Segmentation
Both platforms allow customers to create accounts, manage their profiles, and track order histories. Additionally, they support customer segmentation for targeted marketing efforts.
Analytics and Reporting
They come with built-in analytics tools and reporting features, helping merchants gather insights into sales, customer behavior, and other performance metrics.
Multilingual and Multi-Currency Support
Both versions cater to global businesses by supporting multiple languages and currencies, facilitating international expansion.
Security and Performance
Magento, as a whole, emphasizes security and performance, providing regular updates and patches to address potential vulnerabilities and ensure a smooth shopping experience.
Magento OS & Adobe Commerce: Differences
Adobe Commerce provides 24/7 technical support, account management, and dedicated customer success management, which is not available in the Magento Open Source version.
This does not remove the need for a development team. The Adobe support services can be better thought of as a team of experts available to help merchants best utilize Adobe Commerce (or Adobe Commerce Cloud)
Support Services
Adobe Commerce provides 24/7 technical support, account management, and dedicated customer success management, which is not available in the Magento Open Source version.
This does not remove the need for a development team. The Adobe support services can be better thought of as a team of experts available to help merchants best utilize Adobe Commerce (or Adobe Commerce Cloud)
Performance and Scalability
Adobe Commerce has advanced performance and scalability tools such as Elasticsearch, database scalability, compatibility with CDN networks, Varnish page caching, and RabbitMQ message queue framework capabilities.
The Magento platform is able to support these tools but it would require additional development, integration and cost.
Advanced Marketing Tools
Adobe Commerce provides advanced marketing, segmentation, and personalization tools. This includes customer segmentation and targeting capabilities, dynamic rule-based product relations, visual merchandising, and scheduled import/export functionality.
In 2018 Adobe acquired Marketo and its extremely powerful marketing automation tools are able to be integrated with Adobe Commerce.
B2B Functionality
Adobe Commerce provides a suite of B2B features that includes company account management, customizable catalogs and price lists, quote management, quick order forms, requisition lists, and credit purchase order management.
Content Staging and Preview
Adobe Commerce provides content staging and preview capabilities that allow you to schedule, preview, and stage site changes in advance of their going live.
Page Builder
Adobe Commerce edition includes a full-page layout tool that makes it easier for non-technical users to create and manage their store’s look and feel.
Business Intelligence
Adobe Commerce provides a cloud-based, business intelligence tool that offers advanced reporting and data visualization tools.
Still both Magento and Adobe Commerce support integrations with other Business Intelligence and analytics tools.
Reward Points and Store Credit Features:
The premium version includes built-in reward points, gift card, and store credit features, which can help with customer retention and loyalty.
Order Management
Adobe Commerce includes features like return management authorization, customer order status tracking, and additional tools for comprehensive order management.
Security
Adobe Commerce edition comes with enhanced security features, regular security updates, and patches, ensuring a safer environment for your online store.
Summary
- Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce share many of the same core features
Adobe Commerce is more an enterprise platform that includes several additional features out of the box.
Adobe Commerce offers a hosted solution with expansive cloud infrastructure marketed as “Adobe Commerce Cloud”
Adobe Commerce Cloud and Adobe Commerce share the same out of the box features.
In considering either Magento Open Source or Adobe Commerce for an ecommerce store its good to focus on the core features required for success with implementing digital commerce for your brand.
