Shopify B2B vs Magento B2B — which platform fits your wholesale business?

Many larger wholesalers and manufacturers run on Magento (Adobe Commerce). But more and more of them are looking at Shopify B2B as an alternative. In this article I compare both platforms on the points that really matter for B2B.

Magento B2B: powerful but heavy

Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento Commerce) has an extensive B2B package with features like company accounts, shared catalogues, quote requests (RFQ), purchase orders and approval workflows. The platform offers a lot of flexibility and has long been the standard for complex B2B environments.

But that power comes with a price. Magento is a developer-oriented platform: virtually every customisation requires PHP development, updates regularly disrupt custom work, and the management burden is high. Hosting, security, performance optimisation and upgrades are all the responsibility of the customer (or their development team).

Shopify B2B: native and scalable

Shopify Plus offers native B2B functionality that has expanded significantly in recent years:

• Company accounts with multiple contacts, locations and roles
• Price lists per company or customer group — automatically applied on login
• Payment terms (net 30/60/90 days) in the standard checkout
• Minimum order quantities and pack units per product
• Blended store: B2C and B2B in one store, each with their own prices and experience
• Headless commerce via the Storefront API for fully custom frontend

Shopify is a SaaS platform: Shopify manages hosting, security and updates. You focus on your business.

Direct comparison

Criterion	Shopify B2B (Plus)	Magento B2B (Adobe Commerce)
Company accounts	Native	Native
Shared catalogues	Via price lists	Native (more granularity)
Quote requests (RFQ)	Via app	Native
Approval workflows	Limited / via app	Native
Payment terms	Native (net terms)	Native
Technical maintenance	Minimal (SaaS)	High (self-hosted)
Hosting costs	Included	Separate (€500–€5,000+/month)
Time to market	Fast (weeks)	Slow (months)
Developer dependency	Low	High
Licence costs	From €2,300/month	From €1,800/month (excl. hosting)
ERP integrations	Broad app store + API	Broad marketplace + custom
SEO performance	Excellent (SaaS optimisations)	Variable (own responsibility)

Where Magento B2B still wins

There are situations where Magento remains the better choice:

• Complex quote processes with multiple approval layers and negotiation rounds (RFQ)
• Heavy customisation in order flows that have been custom-built in Magento for years
• Industry-specific modules for which no Shopify equivalent exists
• On-premise requirements from security or compliance policy (sometimes in industry, government)

But for most SME wholesalers these are edge cases. The day-to-day reality is that Magento installations age, updates get delayed out of fear of conflicts, and development costs increase without direct business value.

When to switch to Shopify B2B?

The most common triggers for migrating from Magento to Shopify:

• Magento 1 end-of-life — many stores still run on an unsupported version
• High maintenance burden — development team spends more time on updates than innovation
• Slow load times — Magento stores perform poorly without active performance investment
• Complex ERP integrations that keep failing — Shopify’s API layer is more stable and better documented
• Higher total cost of ownership than expected

A Magento-to-Shopify migration is a serious project, but for most situations a one-time investment that pays for itself in lower maintenance costs, higher conversion rate and more development velocity.

What does the switch cost?

A Magento-to-Shopify B2B migration typically includes:

1. Migrating the product catalogue (including variants, metafields, categories)
2. Creating B2B customer accounts (company accounts, price lists per customer)
3. Reconnecting the ERP (Exact, AFAS, SAP, Unit4)
4. Exporting and importing existing order history
5. Setting up redirects for all existing URLs (SEO preservation)
6. Training and handover to the internal team

We manage the complete migration process. See our Shopify migration page or book a free conversation to discuss what the switch would mean for your business.