How Much Does it Cost to Run a Magento Store in 2024?
When it comes to eCommerce platforms, Magento remains the top choice for most merchants due to its features and customisability. However, it is important to understand that running a Magento 2 store can be financially taxing since there are various costs which need to be considered. As the title indicates, this article discusses how much does it cost to run a Magento 2 store in 2024. This will help store owners understand the true cost of setting up a store in Magento and deciding if it fits their budget.
Before moving onto the costs, we need to elaborate a few things.
Understanding Magento
Magento is now part of Adobe since its acquisition in 2018. Since then, Magento has been rebranded as Adobe Commerce. However, developers, store owners, and eCommerce enthusiasts continue to refer to it as Magento 2. For those of you who don’t know, Magento has two versions:
- Magento Open Source: This is the free to use version. The merchant is responsible for every aspect of the store, ranging from the hosting to its development.
- Magento Commerce: It is a fully hosted platform like Shopify. It offers advanced features and dedicated support.
For this article, we’ll only be focusing on the Open-Source version. The reason is that most merchants utilise the Open-Source version. Magento Commerce is more inclined towards large stores. Now, let’s focus on the cost.
How Much Does Magento 2 Cost?
There’s no straightforward answer to this question. A better approach is to consider the individual cost for different components such as hosting, development, marketing, and so on. Once we know the individual costs, we can simply add them up to get the overall cost.
1. Hosting
Since we are focusing on the Magento Open-Source version, the merchant is responsible for arranging their own hosting. You may know that there are different types of hosting solutions. For example:
Shared Hosting
It refers to a hosting service which allows multiple websites to share the same server. This is the cheapest hosting type and ideal for small stores with very little traffic. This is ideal for stores which deal in a very niche product and do not expect high traffic at all. The cost is $10 to $30 per month.
Virtual Private Server (VPS)
As the name indicates, it provides a dedicated virtual server for hosting your Magento 2 store. Compared to the shared hosting, VPS offers much better performance. However, the costs can range anywhere between $30 to $100 per month.
Dedicated Server
A third option is to use a dedicated server, which is ideal for medium to large size stores. The reason they should use a dedicated server is because of their resource demands and high traffic. Based on our experience, a dedicated server can cost anywhere between $200 to $500 per month.
Cloud Hosting
If you are expecting your Magento 2 store to experience rapid growth, then a cloud hosting solution is the ideal solution. These servers are scalable, allowing you to focus on growth without worrying about performance degradation. The typical costs range from $100 to $500. However, if your store consumes more resources than the ones included in the plan, the costs can end up considerably higher.
2. Magento Licensing
As the name indicates, the Open-Source version is free to use. The only costs associated with this version is the development and additional features.
3. Development and Design
This is the biggest cost associated with running a store on the Magento 2 platform. It is challenging to give an estimated cost since it depends on numerous factors. For example, if you wish to use a custom theme, total development costs may rise to $10,000. If you are using a template, the costs may come down to $5,000.
Of course, the theme is not the only thing which adds to the cost. Depending on the features you want, costs can range from $5,000 to $50,000. Due to the platform’s complexity, development costs are quite high. FME offers quality and cost-effective Magento Development Services which can provide you with a competitive advantage.
4. Updates
The development work does not end with setting up the website alone. Naturally, you will need to optimise the existing code every now and then. For that, you can expect to spend anywhere between $2,000 to 10,000 annually. Of course, if the project’s scope is small, the costs can be significantly lower.
5. Extensions
As mentioned earlier, the reason that most merchants opt for Magento is because of its customisation. Store owners can add new features through extensions. While there are free extensions, most of them range from $50 to $500. Depending on the developer, you can subscribe for updates and support at an additional cost. If you don’t want to use third-party extensions, you can engage a Magento Development Company for the custom work. However, the costs will be quite high compared to using a readily available extension.
6. Maintenance
Apart from the regular code optimisation, there’s a need to maintain the store. It involves adding new features, improving the store’s security, and more. For this purpose, you will need a team of expert Magento developers. You can either have this team in-house or outsource it to a third-party. Depending on your area, Magento developer salaries range from $70,000 to $200,000 per year.
As far as outsourced service providers are concerned, they may charge anywhere between $500 to $2,000 per month.
7. Security
Magento is a highly secure platform. So, you don’t have to spend as much on security compared to the other platforms. Nevertheless, you do need to take additional steps to ensure that sensitive data remains secure. For example, you need an SSL Certificate which ranges from $50 to $300 per year. Apart from it, you’ll require a security extension which can cost $100 to $500 per year.
If you have an in-house team that can conduct the penetration testing, you can save money here. If not, you must hire a specialist Magento security company that will security audit your store, including penetration testing. Depending on the store’s size, they may charge anywhere between $500 to $5,000 per year. For PCI Compliance, the average costs are between $1,000 to $10,000 per year.
8. Payment Gateways and Transaction Fees
After setting up your Magento 2 store, you need to set up the payment gateways. Each payment gateway has a different approach to the payments. Some don’t charge a setup fee, while others do. This is a one-time fee and can reach up to $500. Apart from it, the gateways charge a transaction fee which can be between 2.5% to 3.5%. Also, you may have to pay a monthly or annual subscription fees. Monthly costs can be between $20 to $100.
9. Marketing
After the development, the biggest cost you will incur is on the marketing. Without marketing, you can’t expect your store to reach its full potential. Depending on your budget, you can expect to spend anywhere between $1,000 to $20,000 per month. Here’s an overview of the costs.
Search Engine Optimisation Services
Most agencies charge anywhere between $2,000 to $10,000 per month.
Content Marketing
$1,000 to $10,000 per month.
Pay-Per-Click Campaigns
This cost is largely dependent upon your budget. You can set any budget you wish. So, the cost can be anywhere between $50 to $10,000.
Email Marketing
This is one of the most effective marketing strategies when implemented correctly. Depending on which platform you use, the costs will be between $50 to $500 per month.
Social Media Marketing
Again, the cost depends upon your budget and which platforms you use. The typical spending per month is $200 to $10,000 per month.
10. Human Resource Costs
To ensure that your store functionals optimally, you’ll need the following resources:
- Developers: $70,000 to $200,000 per year.
- Designers: $50,000 to $150,000 per year.
- Marketing Experts: $50,000 to $170,000 per year.
- Support Agent: $40,000 to $80,000 per year.
Of course, you can lower these costs by letting FME Extensions handle your work. As a multinational Magento Development Company, we have offices worldwide, including Asia. This allows us to keep our costs low without compromising on the work quality.
11. Other Costs
Other expected costs are:
Domain Registration: Depends on the domain name, since a premium name can reach up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Typically, you will be paying anywhere between $50 to $200.
Analytical Tools: Up to $1,000 Per Month.
Training: Up to $1,000. This is a one-time cost only.
Now, let’s summarise the cost.
Cost Breakdown
Here's a comparative overview of the costs associated with each version:
| Cost Category | Details | Cost Range |
| Hosting | Shared Hosting: For small stores with low traffic. | $10–$30/month |
| VPS: Dedicated virtual server for better performance. | $30–$100/month | |
| Dedicated Server: For medium to large stores with high traffic. | $200–$500/month | |
| Cloud Hosting: Scalable solution for growing stores. | $100–$500+/month | |
| Magento Licensing | Magento Open-Source is free to use. | Free |
| Development & Design | Custom theme development or templates; cost depends on complexity and features. | $5,000–$50,000 |
| Updates | Regular code optimization and updates. | $2,000–$10,000/year |
| Extensions | Adding new features with free or paid extensions. | $50–$500 (per extension) |
| Custom extensions may cost more. | Higher costs possible | |
| Maintenance | Store maintenance (features, security, etc.). | $500–$2,000/month |
| In-house team costs. | $70,000–$200,000/year | |
| Security | SSL Certificates, security extensions, audits, PCI compliance. | $500–$15,800/year |
| Payment Gateways | Setup fees, transaction fees (2.5–3.5%), and subscription fees. | $20–$100/month |
| Setup fees (if applicable). | Up to $500 (one-time) | |
| Marketing | Includes SEO, content marketing, PPC, email, and social media marketing. | $1,000–$20,000/month |
| SEO Services: $2,000–$10,000/month. | ||
| Content Marketing: $1,000–$10,000/month. | ||
| PPC Campaigns: Flexible budget, typically $50–$10,000/month. | ||
| Email Marketing: Depends on the platform, $50–$500/month. | ||
| Social Media Marketing: $200–$10,000/month. | ||
| Human Resources | Costs for developers, designers, marketers, and support agents. | $40,000–$200,000/year |
| Other Costs | Domain Registration: Premium domains can cost more. | $50–$200 (or more) |
| Analytical Tools: For monitoring performance. | Up to $1,000/month | |
| Training: One-time training cost. | Up to $1,000 (one-time) |
Final Thoughts on How Much Does Magento Cost?
This concludes our discussion on the total Magento website cost. Of course, this cost is only an indicator, and your actual expenses vary depending on numerous factors. Therefore, if you are considering migrating to Magento 2 or setting up a new store, ensure that you plan carefully. Otherwise, the costs can increase substantially, affecting your store’s viability. We recommend dealing with each cost separately and then trying to bring down the costs for each. For instance, when checking the hosting cost, talk to the provider to negotiate for a lower cost.
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