Magento Open Source is the no-cost, self-hosted edition. Adobe Commerce is the licensed edition: the same PHP codebase plus B2B, content staging, RMA, Live Search and Adobe support, run on-prem or on Adobe's PaaS cloud. Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service is a third, SaaS option where Adobe runs the core and you extend it with App Builder.
So they aren't really two platforms. They're one codebase with a licence line drawn through it, plus (since 2025) a SaaS version that doesn't run your PHP at all.
I get asked which one to pick all the time. My goal here isn't to convince you one way or the other. I'll be real about the pros and cons of each based on my own experience building on them, and I'll mention a few things you'll never hear an Adobe partner say.
Open Source vs. Commerce
Magento Open Source is free to download and use. It's a flexible, customizable eCommerce framework, and it's also the base Adobe Commerce is built on. There's no official support from Adobe, and you host it yourself or with a hosting provider of your choice.
Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento Commerce, and before that Magento Enterprise Edition) is the licensed, enterprise version. Its core is Magento Open Source plus a set of Commerce-only modules, and the licence comes with official Adobe support. Adobe now sells it in three deployment models:
- On-premises: you install and host Adobe Commerce yourself.
- Adobe Commerce on Cloud (PaaS): the same application, hosted on Adobe's cloud infrastructure.
- Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service (SaaS): Adobe runs and updates the core for you. More on this one below.
Adobe's feature comparison lays out the differences between the SaaS and PaaS models in detail, and notes that on-premises works much like PaaS.
Is Adobe Commerce open source?
No. Adobe Commerce is proprietary software sold under a commercial licence. Licensees get the full PHP source code and can customize it, but that's not the same thing as open source. Only Magento Open Source is released under an open source licence.
Is Magento now Adobe Commerce?
There's been plenty of messaging over the years that "Magento is now Adobe Commerce", but that's really a miscommunication between the tech and marketing departments at Adobe. Technically, Adobe Commerce is a descendant of Magento, not a replacement for it.
Magento Open Source is still very much alive. Both editions still follow the same release line: 2.4.9 shipped for Open Source and Adobe Commerce on May 12, 2026, and Adobe's system requirements list PHP 8.5 as the supported version for it. Older lines keep dropping off the end, too: 2.4.5 and 2.4.6 left regular support in August 2026.
The two editions are siblings, not rivals. Each has its place in the market and serves different needs.
What changed since 2023
When I first wrote this comparison, "Adobe Commerce" meant one application you could run on-prem or on Adobe's cloud. Adobe has since added a few products that change the picture.
What is Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service?
Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service (ACCS) is the SaaS version of Adobe Commerce. Adobe announced it at Summit in March 2025, and it's been available since mid-2025.
The big differences from PaaS and on-prem:
- It's versionless. There are no upgrade projects. Adobe ships feature and security updates continuously, gives you 30 days to try them in a sandbox, and then applies them to production automatically.
- You can't change core code or install PHP modules. Customizations run outside the application as App Builder apps, wired up with API Mesh, events and webhooks. I covered how that works in out-of-process extensibility with App Builder.
- There's no Luma. The storefront is Adobe's Commerce Storefront, built on Edge Delivery Services.
- Some familiar features are replaced. Page Builder becomes Storefront Builder, and Media Gallery becomes Product Visuals (backed by AEM Assets). Core B2B features come pre-installed.
Adobe Commerce Optimizer and Edge Delivery Services
Adobe Commerce Optimizer is a SaaS catalog and storefront layer for merchants who want to keep their existing commerce backend. It ingests catalog data from your existing system (Commerce, a PIM, an ERP), runs Adobe's merchandising services on top, and works even when a third-party system handles cart and checkout.
ACCS and Optimizer both put the storefront on Edge Delivery Services (PaaS Commerce can use it too), through Commerce Storefront. It's a headless, document-authored frontend that talks to Commerce over GraphQL, served from Adobe's edge CDN.
None of this applies to Magento Open Source. If you're on Open Source or PaaS/on-prem Commerce, you still write PHP modules the same way you always have. But if a merchant is weighing Adobe Commerce today, the real question is often SaaS versus PaaS, not just Commerce versus Open Source.
Functionality and features
Adobe Commerce delivers a lot more out-of-the-box functionality than Open Source. For a licensed product, that's to be expected.
Here's how the key areas compare:
- The core commerce experience (browsing products, managing the cart, a customizable checkout) exists in both editions. That solid base, plus a framework you can extend almost anywhere, is why Magento has been such a popular choice in the mid- to upper-level market for so long.
- For marketing tools, Adobe Commerce integrates with Adobe Experience Manager and the rest of Adobe's suite. That's a great customer experience you can't get from Open Source. The catch is lock-in: once AEM and Adobe's SaaS services carry your storefront, leaving Adobe is a replatform.
- Commerce-only modules are what make Adobe Commerce, Adobe Commerce. They sit on top of Magento Open Source and include the complete B2B toolset, content staging and preview, RMA, customer segments, reward points, gift cards, Visual Merchandiser, seller-assisted shopping, and access to Adobe services like Live Search, Product Recommendations and App Builder. This is the real differentiator, so if you need these features, Commerce is a solid choice. Some features make their way down to Open Source over time, as happened with the wonderful Page Builder content tool.
- Hosting on Adobe's cloud (PaaS or SaaS) is a big reason merchants choose Commerce. Magento Open Source can't run on Adobe's cloud, so you'll need an outside hosting provider. For Open Source, I always personally recommend a managed hosting provider who is also an Adobe technology partner, as this helps close the gap between the two editions.
- For flexibility, the open source nature of Magento gives developers room to build truly custom features and workflows. PaaS and on-prem Commerce share the same codebase, so they're just as flexible. ACCS is the exception: you extend it through APIs and App Builder, not by changing the code.
- Both deliver excellent performance with proper hosting and development practices. Commerce has a few extra performance features, but they're really only noticeable on extremely large stores that need extreme scaling.
If you need the extra modules, the Adobe marketing tools and support and hosting straight from Adobe, Adobe Commerce is a clear choice.
If you're alright doing a fit-gap analysis on every feature you need, or building custom modules that contain exactly the functionality your business needs, Open Source is also an extremely solid choice.
Features such as Content Staging are only available in Adobe Commerce.
Because Open Source and PaaS/on-prem Commerce share a codebase, there's no reason an enterprise-level company can't build its entire eCommerce stack on Open Source instead of Commerce. In most cases, though, that means building yourself what Commerce would have given you from the start.
Ease of use
The admin panels of both editions give you access to the same backend functions: the product catalog, customers and sales. They're skinned a bit differently, but they do just about the same things. The Commerce-only modules add their own screens for things like B2B, staging and customer segments.
For managing products, both editions have the same capabilities: all product details and attributes, related products, up-sells and cross-sells, and mass actions.
Order management is robust in both, with the same tools for orders, invoices, credit memos and shipments. Commerce has a slight edge with RMA, its built-in returns process.
Maintenance and upgrades work the same way on Open Source and on PaaS/on-prem Commerce. Updates go through Composer, and an upgrade can be quite an involved process. Security fixes ship for both editions from the same Adobe security bulletins (the StyleSmuggler patch covered Magento Open Source too), and you apply them yourself either way. Adobe's support team can help Commerce merchants troubleshoot, but nobody patches a PaaS or on-prem store for you. Only ACCS updates itself.
To learn more, see Adobe's How patches work guide.
Overall, the two are extremely comparable to use and manage, and neither has a distinct advantage when it comes to ease of use.
Pricing
Magento Open Source has a $0 licence. Adobe Commerce requires a licence from Adobe, and Adobe doesn't publish a price list. Licences are quoted per merchant, and a Cloud licence includes hosting on Adobe's infrastructure while an on-prem licence doesn't.
A little-known fact is that these licence fees can often be negotiated. Two merchants with very different financials can pay completely different licence fees, even though they receive the exact same deliverables. Be prudent, and negotiate both when you buy and when you renew.
A few things to consider on cost:
- Open Source has no licence fee, but you pay for hosting and for any functionality you have to build yourself.
- Adobe Commerce has licence costs every year, and on PaaS or SaaS, hosting is part of that.
- Only Adobe Commerce comes with official support and SLAs.
- Development and maintenance costs tend to be lower for Open Source, since it needs less platform-specific expertise. ACCS projects also need App Builder and Edge Delivery skills, not just Magento PHP.
Open Source usually wins on price, but not always. If you're a very large company, or your requirements line up with the Commerce-only features, Commerce can end up the more affordable option once you count everything you'd otherwise build, host and support yourself.
Community and support
Whichever edition you choose becomes a big part of your business, so the community and support behind it matter.
- Magento Open Source has no official support, but it has an extremely large and active open source community. There are Meet Magento events all over the world, multiple Slack groups and forums, and developers all throughout the ecosystem willing to help out.
- Adobe Commerce comes with official support and SLAs, so your support requests get answered. Commerce teams also tap into the same Magento community, since most developers and agencies work with both editions.
- Both have strong third-party extension support. The Commerce Marketplace has a wide selection of extensions for both Open Source and Commerce, and many list Adobe Commerce and B2B compatibility. ACCS is different again: PHP extensions don't install there, so vendors ship App Builder apps through Adobe Exchange instead.
- Both use the official Adobe Commerce Developer Documentation. The name says Adobe Commerce, but nearly all of it applies to Magento Open Source too. There's a wealth of information there, though sifting through it can be a challenge.
- There are many other resources for learning Magento that cover both editions, including the Magento courses here on M.academy, so agencies and merchants can train developers on either edition and eventually have them become Magento Certified Developers.
Both editions have a thriving community behind them, while only Commerce has official support. If your company would benefit from direct support from Adobe and you don't mind the extra cost, Commerce is the easy decision here.
Version comparison
Here's how the options stack up side by side:
| Magento Open Source | Adobe Commerce (on-prem or PaaS) | Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licence | $0 | Quoted by Adobe | Quoted by Adobe |
| Support | Community | Official Adobe support and SLAs | Official Adobe support and SLAs |
| Hosting | Self-hosted or third-party host | Your own servers, or Adobe Commerce on Cloud | Run by Adobe |
| Upgrades | You run them | You run them | Automatic, continuous |
| Functionality | Core eCommerce features | Plus B2B, staging, RMA and other Commerce modules | Commerce features plus SaaS-only replacements |
| Customization | PHP modules, full code access | PHP modules, full code access | App Builder, API Mesh, events and webhooks |
| Storefront | Luma, Hyvä or headless | Luma, Hyvä, headless or Edge Delivery | Edge Delivery (Commerce Storefront) |
| Community | Large and active | Same community | Same community, plus App Builder developers |
So, which should I choose?
Both Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce are amazing pieces of software and leaders in the space, with features and flexibility you won't find in most other commerce platforms.
There's no hard-cut answer. Many enterprise-level companies still choose Magento Open Source, because its out-of-the-box features at zero licence cost are an amazing value proposition. Meanwhile, some smaller and medium-sized businesses choose Adobe Commerce to lessen their development burden, or to fill the gap between what they need and what the platform offers.
Do your own research and fit-gap analysis, and weigh the level of support and features you need against what each option provides. If Commerce is on the table, decide on SaaS versus PaaS early, because that choice decides whether your team is writing PHP modules or App Builder apps.
If you've moved a store between Open Source and Commerce, or from PaaS to Cloud Service, I'd like to hear what the fit-gap analysis missed.
