Magento to Shopify Migration: A Practical Guide for 2026

Why are so many merchants leaving Magento for Shopify?

Mostly cost of ownership and support deadlines. Magento needs hosting, security patching, version upgrades and developers who know its codebase. Shopify is fully hosted, so the platform maintenance moves off your plate.

Magento 1 and Adobe Commerce support dates

Magento 1 reached end of life on June 30, 2020, and Adobe warned that merchants staying on it take on increased responsibility for security and PCI DSS compliance. If you're still on Magento 1, migration isn't optional, it's overdue.

Magento 2 isn't exempt. Adobe's lifecycle policy lists these dates:

Adobe also lists a security-only period for 2.4.4 through 2.4.6 that runs to May 2027 or 2028. Either way, an older 2.4 store faces an upgrade project soon. That's the natural moment to compare upgrading with replatforming.

What data migrates from Magento to Shopify?

Products, categories, customers, orders, CMS pages, blog posts and redirects can all move with the right tool; extensions, custom code and passwords can't. The tricky part is mapping Magento's data model onto Shopify's.

Shopify's own Magento migration guide is explicit that custom attributes need metafield mapping, CMS blocks need rebuilding, and passwords can't be migrated in a usable format. On Shopify's current customer accounts, customers sign in with an email and a one-time 6-digit code, so they don't need a new password; you still need a clear launch email.

Which tools are used for Magento migrations?

Magento stores are usually too large and custom for manual CSV work, so a migration app or scripted import is standard.

• Matrixify: has a dedicated Magento process and imports products, customers, orders, B2B companies, pages, blog posts, redirects and metafields. Good when you want control over every field in a spreadsheet.
• LitExtension and Cart2Cart: automated, connector-based migrations that also handle reviews, coupons and SEO URLs. Useful for a fast first pass.
• Custom scripts on the Shopify Admin API: for unusual data like bundle logic, B2B price lists or ERP-driven catalogs.

Note that Shopify's free Store Migration app doesn't list Magento as a connected source, so it isn't the tool for this job.

Our take: an automated tool gets you 80% of the way quickly. The last 20%, attribute cleanup, metafield design, B2B pricing and redirects, is where migrations succeed or fail, so plan human time for it.

How do you migrate Magento to Shopify, step by step?

1. Audit the store. List extensions, integrations (ERP, PIM, OMS), attribute sets, customer groups, store views and every indexed URL.
2. Decide what to keep. Drop dead products and unused extensions. Shopify recommends importing at least the orders inside your returns window, and its Plus checklist suggests the past two to five years.
3. Design the data model. Map configurable products to variants, attributes to metafields, categories to collections, and customer groups to B2B companies and catalogs.
4. Run a test migration into a development store and QA a sample of products, customers and orders.
5. Build the storefront. Theme design, filters, product templates and app replacements for Magento extensions.
6. Set up B2B, checkout and integrations. Payment terms, catalogs, tax, ERP connections and checkout customizations.
7. Run the full import in order: products, customers, then historical orders.
8. Import the redirect map and test it.
9. Delta migration and cutover. Lower DNS TTL, import new orders and customers since the full import, migrate gift cards close to launch and switch DNS.
10. Monitor 404s, indexing, conversion and integrations closely for the first weeks.

Can Shopify handle B2B and complex catalogs from Magento?

For most B2B setups, yes. Since April 2, 2026, Basic, Grow and Advanced include native B2B: company profiles, up to three B2B catalogs, volume pricing and quantity rules, payment terms and vaulted cards. Shopify Plus adds unlimited catalogs, direct catalog assignment to companies and locations, deposits, partial payments and checkout customization.

Things to check before you commit:

• Number of price lists. If Magento has many customer groups with distinct pricing, three catalogs won't be enough and Plus becomes likely.
• Customer accounts. Shopify's Plus launch checklist notes B2B works only with the new customer accounts, and subscriptions and POS aren't compatible with B2B.
• Blended or separate store. Decide whether B2B and DTC share one store or run separately.
• Attribute-heavy catalogs. Industrial and technical catalogs rely on metafields and filters; plan them before import, not after.

Our deeper guides: Shopify B2B guide and Shopify B2B without Plus.

Do you need Shopify Plus when leaving Magento?

Not always. Plus starts at $2,300 per month on a three-year term, while Advanced is $299 per month billed annually. Plus makes sense when you need unlimited B2B catalogs, checkout customization, multiple expansion stores, or more than 100,000 redirects, since Plus allows up to 20 million according to Shopify's redirect documentation. We compare the two in Shopify Plus vs Advanced.

How do you protect SEO when leaving Magento?

Magento URLs often end in .html and include category paths, while Shopify uses fixed /products/ and /collections/ prefixes. Shopify's guide is blunt: every indexed URL needs a 301 redirect. Watch for layered-navigation and parameter URLs too; redirect the ones with traffic or backlinks, and let the rest go. Our Shopify migration SEO checklist covers the full process.

How long does a Magento to Shopify migration take?

Typically two to four months for a mid-size store, and longer for B2B with ERP integrations or multiple store views. Small, simple catalogs can move faster. Data volume matters less than the number of custom features and integrations that need replacing.

How we can help

We plan and build Magento to Shopify migrations, including B2B setups, metafield-heavy catalogs and Plus stores, set up under your own Shopify account. See our Shopify migration service or Shopify B2B work to learn how we approach it.