Adobe Commerce Cloud licensing has crossed $40k/year for many mid-market merchants in 2026, and the cost-benefit math is shifting fast. We migrated Adobe Cloud to Magento Open Source over the last 14 months — here's the technical reality behind the marketing version of this story.
When the math actually flips
The cost case for Magento Open Source is real, but it's also misleading without context. License savings of $22k–40k/year only matter if you weren't using the Adobe-only features that came with that license.
In our three migrations, the breakdown looked like this:
- Store 1 (apparel, ~$1.8M GMV): used B2B Suite heavily → migration required custom replacement module, ~6 weeks dev work
- Store 2 (jewellery, ~$2.4M GMV): used only core features + Page Builder → straightforward, 8 weeks total
- Store 3 (electronics, ~$3.1M GMV): used Adobe Sensei for product recommendations → replaced with self-hosted ML, complex but cheaper long-term
The actual lesson: audit your Adobe-only feature usage BEFORE running cost projections. Most merchants pay for things they don't use, but some pay for things they critically depend on.
What stays the same
Both platforms share the same Magento 2 core. The framework, module structure, GraphQL schema, and admin layout are identical. If you've worked in Magento 2 for years, nothing about your day-to-day changes after migration.
What stays:
- Database schema (mostly — see below)
- Module APIs and DI patterns
- Frontend structure (Luma, Hyvä, headless all work the same)
- Composer-based dependency management
- Magento CLI commands
What actually breaks
This is where most posts get hand-wavy. Here are the real technical issues we hit:
1. Database tables with row_id vs entity_id
Adobe Commerce uses row_id in catalog tables to support staging/preview features. Open Source uses entity_id. If you have custom modules that query catalog tables directly (instead of through the Repository pattern), they will silently break.
-- Adobe Commerce
SELECT * FROM catalog_product_entity WHERE row_id = ?
-- Magento Open Source
SELECT * FROM catalog_product_entity WHERE entity_id = ?
We found ~40 places across three projects where developers had bypassed the Repository pattern. Each one needed manual fixing.
2. B2B Suite dependencies
Adobe's B2B Suite is deeply integrated — company accounts, shared catalogs, quote workflows, requisition lists. If you used it, you're either:
- Rebuilding it from scratch (~8-12 weeks)
- Using a paid alternative (Aitoc, Wyomind, Magexperts have partial coverage)
- Removing the functionality entirely
There's no clean export-import path. We've seen this kill migration projects in week 2.
3. Adobe Sensei product recommendations
This one surprised us. The recommendation widgets aren't just disabled after migration — they leave orphaned database tables and broken admin pages. Cleanup script needed.
Replacement options:
- Self-hosted ML (we've used Bloomreach, Algolia Recommend)
- Open source modules (mgt-commerce/related-products, amasty/recommendations)
- Rebuild on Magento's native related products engine
None are drop-in. Budget 2-4 weeks.
4. Page Builder content
Page Builder content is stored as JSON. Open Source has Page Builder too, so most content loads — but some Adobe-Commerce-only widgets (like dynamic blocks tied to customer segments) render as empty divs. Audit your CMS pages before go-live.
5. Hosting migration
Adobe Cloud uses a specific Fastly + Platform.sh setup. When you move to alternatives like Hypernode, MGT Commerce, or Cloudways, you need to:
- Rebuild Fastly VCL (or move to Varnish)
- Reconfigure cron jobs (Adobe Cloud auto-provisions, others don't)
- Re-implement deploy hooks (
.magento.app.yaml → your CI/CD)
- Move secrets out of Adobe's variables system
Plan for ~2 weeks of DevOps work, not 2 days.
Cost comparison — the honest version
For a mid-market store (~$2-3M GMV), 5-year cost picture:
Adobe Commerce Cloud (current):
| Item | Cost |
|---|
| License ($30k/yr × 5) | $150,000 |
| Hosting | included |
| Adobe support | included |
| Total | $150,000 |
Magento Open Source (post-migration):
| Item | Cost |
|---|
| License | $0 |
| Hosting ($8k/yr × 5) | $40,000 |
| Dev partner / in-house ($20k/yr × 5) | $100,000 |
| One-time migration | $40,000-80,000 |
| Total | $180,000-220,000 |
So the savings aren't always there. They show up when:
- You already have an in-house Magento dev (or trusted partner)
- You use only core features
- You want infrastructure choices Adobe Cloud doesn't allow
- You're projecting beyond year 5 (license is $0 forever, infrastructure amortises)
When to migrate, when to stay
Migrate if:
- License is $25k+/year and you use ≤30% of Adobe-only features
- You need infrastructure flexibility (Hyvä, custom regions, specific cache layers)
- Your team or agency has senior Magento experience
- You're already planning a major replatform/redesign
Stay if:
- You depend heavily on B2B Suite or Sensei
- Your team doesn't have DevOps capacity for self-managed infrastructure
- You need Adobe's SLA for compliance reasons
- Your license is bundled with other Adobe products you actively use
The decision framework
For each Adobe-only feature you use, ask:
- What does it cost to replace?
- What does it cost to NOT have it?
- Is the replacement maintained?
If you can't answer those three for every feature, you're not ready to migrate.
If you've gone through this migration recently — what was the gotcha you didn't expect? I'm collecting war stories for a deeper write-up on the database schema edge cases specifically.
Full breakdown with cost tables and FAQ on the original: https://angeo.dev/migrating-from-adobe-commerce-cloud-to-magento-open-source-is-it-worth-it/