Magento 1 reached its official end of life in June 2020, yet a surprising number of e-commerce stores are still running on it in 2026. If your business is among them, the urgency to migrate has never been greater. Security vulnerabilities are no longer being patched, PCI compliance is increasingly difficult to maintain, and your platform is falling further behind in features, performance, and integrations.
Migrating from Magento 1 to Adobe Commerce 2 is not a simple upgrade. It is a replatforming project. The two platforms share a name and a heritage, but Adobe Commerce 2 is a fundamentally different system with a new architecture, new database schema, new frontend framework, and new API layer. This guide walks you through what to expect and how to plan for a successful migration.
Why Migrate to Adobe Commerce 2?
Beyond the security imperative, there are compelling business reasons to make the move:
- Modern architecture: Adobe Commerce 2 is built on modern PHP practices with a service-oriented architecture, dependency injection, and a robust API layer that makes integrations cleaner and more maintainable.
- Better performance: Built-in full-page caching, Varnish support, and optimized database queries deliver significantly faster page loads out of the box.
- Enhanced admin experience: The redesigned admin panel is faster, more intuitive, and more capable, reducing the time your team spends on daily operations.
- Native B2B features: If you sell to other businesses, Adobe Commerce 2’s B2B module provides company accounts, shared catalogs, quote management, and purchase orders natively.
- GraphQL and REST APIs: Modern API support enables headless commerce, mobile apps, and sophisticated third-party integrations.
- Page Builder: Content teams can create and manage rich landing pages without developer involvement.
- Active ecosystem: Extensions, patches, and community support are focused entirely on Adobe Commerce 2.
Planning Your Migration
A successful migration starts with thorough planning. Here are the key areas to address before writing a single line of code:
Audit Your Current Store
Document everything: your custom modules, third-party extensions, integrations, custom theme modifications, and any business logic that lives in your Magento 1 codebase. This audit will form the foundation of your migration plan and help you estimate the scope of work accurately.
Decide What to Keep, Rebuild, and Drop
Migration is an opportunity to clean house. Not every custom feature from your Magento 1 store needs to come along. Some functionality may now be available natively in Adobe Commerce 2. Some extensions may have better alternatives. And some features may no longer serve a business purpose. Be ruthless about what you carry forward.
Data Migration Strategy
Adobe provides a Data Migration Tool that handles the transfer of products, customers, orders, and configuration from Magento 1 to Adobe Commerce 2. However, it requires careful configuration and testing. Key considerations include:
- Product data: attributes, categories, images, and inventory all need to be mapped to the new schema
- Customer data: accounts, addresses, and password hashes can be migrated, preserving customer logins
- Order history: historical orders should be migrated for customer service and reporting purposes
- URL rewrites: preserving your URL structure is critical for SEO
- Custom data: any custom database tables or attributes need special handling
SEO Preservation
Protecting your search engine rankings during a migration is essential. Map all existing URLs to their new equivalents and implement 301 redirects for any that change. Migrate meta titles, descriptions, and any structured data. Plan for a temporary dip in rankings, which is normal during any migration, and monitor your search performance closely after launch.
The Migration Process
A typical Magento 1 to Adobe Commerce 2 migration follows these phases:
- Discovery and planning: Audit, requirements gathering, and project scoping
- Environment setup: Provision Adobe Commerce 2 environment (cloud or on-premise) and configure development workflows
- Theme development: Build the new frontend, either using a Luma-based theme, a Hyvae React Checkout, or a fully headless approach
- Custom development: Rebuild custom modules and business logic for Adobe Commerce 2’s architecture
- Data migration: Configure and test the data migration tool, run iterative test migrations
- Integration setup: Reconnect all third-party systems (ERP, PIM, payment gateways, shipping providers)
- Testing: Comprehensive QA including functional testing, performance testing, UAT, and payment testing
- Launch: Final data migration, DNS cutover, and go-live monitoring
- Post-launch: Performance monitoring, bug fixes, and optimization
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- Underestimating scope: Migration projects consistently take longer than expected. Build buffer into your timeline.
- Skipping the audit: Discovering undocumented customizations mid-migration causes delays and cost overruns.
- Ignoring performance testing: Adobe Commerce 2 needs proper caching and infrastructure configuration to perform well. Test under realistic load before launch.
- Neglecting training: The admin interface is different. Invest time in training your team before launch.
- Big bang approach: Consider a phased migration if your store is large and complex, rather than trying to migrate everything at once.
How Long Does Migration Take?
Timeline depends heavily on the complexity of your store. A relatively straightforward migration with a standard catalog and minimal custom functionality might take 3 to 4 months. A complex enterprise store with extensive customizations, multiple integrations, and a large catalog could take 6 to 12 months or more.
Ready to Migrate?
At Paxento, we have completed numerous Magento 1 to Adobe Commerce 2 migrations across a wide range of industries and store sizes. We understand the technical challenges, the data complexities, and the business risks involved, and we plan meticulously to ensure a smooth transition. Contact us to discuss your migration project.
