Shopify Plus vs Magento is the decision that sets the technical ceiling for your online store from day one. Get it wrong, and you’re paying for a migration before the platform has even paid for itself, on top of the licence fees, developer hours and app subscriptions you’ve already sunk into it. Both platforms serve serious commercial operations, but they’re built on opposite philosophies. One is a managed service you rent; the other is an open codebase you own and maintain. That single difference cascades into almost every other decision: your monthly running cost, how much developer time you need on retainer, and how much control you have over technical SEO.