Choosing an eCommerce platform is one of the most crucial business decisions that online store owners face. Among many factors to consider, licensing costs play an important role in the decision-making process. However, this isn’t just about the initial purchase price – the real cost of an eCommerce platform typically includes not only the license fee but also maintenance costs, costs of additional functionalities, and potential additional expenses related to business scaling.
In today’s article, we’ll take a closer look at the licensing models available in the market, focusing on sylius Plus pricing and other platforms such as AdobeCommerce and Shopify Plus. Our goal will be to present the most important information about functionalities and costs of each platform, which will allow online store owners to evaluate which solution best suits their current needs and future development plans.
Let’s start with a few words about Sylius Plus.
Quick jump
Sylius Plus
Sylius Plus is an advanced version of the Sylius platform, designed with medium and large enterprises in mind. It’s a solution that combines open-source flexibility with professional support and additional enterprise-grade features, which are invaluable for running a sophisticated eCommerce business.
Currently, Sylius Plus includes nine modules:
- B2B Suite
- Marketplace Suite
- Advanced Multi-store
- Returns Management (RMA)
- Multi-source Inventory
- Loyalty System
- Role-based Access Control (RBAC)
- Partial Shipment
- One Page Checkout
Each Sylius Plus module is a separate piece of the puzzle that can be added or removed depending on the current needs of Sylius projects. Whether it’s advanced multi-store management or creating a multi-vendor marketplace – the client decides which functionalities are crucial for them at any given moment.
What does the Sylius Plus License Include?
The Sylius Plus license offers more than just access to advanced modules – it’s a comprehensive eCommerce development support package.
SLA-backed technical support
The Sylius technical team provides professional support in resolving ongoing issues and operating under clearly defined SLAs. Thanks to an efficient helpdesk system, the implementation team can focus on developing key store functionalities, knowing they have quick access to technical assistance when needed.
Dedicated contact person
Each client receives a dedicated Customer Success Manager, who serves as project success assistant and the main point of contact and coordinator for all activities. The contact person not only supports the entire process of implementation but also helps plan platform development and utilize its full potential.
Influence on product development
Sylius Plus stands out with its unique approach to platform development, where client feedback truly matters. User feedback is regularly analyzed, and their suggestions directly influence the product’s development direction.
Access to new features and updates
The license guarantees immediate access to the latest functionalities and critical security updates, ensuring the platform stays updated and secured.
Professional training and consulting
The license includes comprehensive team training and consulting services. Regular health checks help maintain optimal platform performance and identify areas requiring improvement.
Sylius Plus Licence Costs
A key advantage of the platform is its flexible pricing model, which allows you to purchase individual modules based on your needs without paying for all functionalities.
Several important factors influence the final license price when choosing multiple or all modules. First and foremost, the business scale is taken into account, which determines whether we’re dealing with a small, medium, or large enterprise. Additionally, the number of selected modules is considered, as well as whether it is a migration from another platform or an upgrade from Sylius Standard.
The flexibility extends beyond module selection to payment schedules. Clients can choose between monthly, annual, or lifetime access to the Sylius Plus license.
Let’s now look at other eCommerce platforms that serve as alternatives to Sylius Plus. The market offers many pretty flexible solutions with different licensing models – from simple ones based on monthly subscriptions to complex systems where annual license price depends on multiple factors. Each platform has its unique approach to costs, offering various packages and functionalities.
Let’s start with one of the market leaders in eCommerce platforms.
Adobe Commerce (Commercial version of Magento Open Source)
Besides the free open source version – Magento, the vendor offers Adobe Commerce, which can be further enhanced with additional options. Let’s look at what the basic version of Adobe Commerce offers.
The basic version of Adobe Commerce provides a set of features for creating and managing online stores. It offers multi-channel sales support, enabling both B2C and B2B commerce. Also, the platform provides built-in product catalog management tools, payment and shipping handling, as well as integrations with popular ERP and CRM systems. Additionally, Adobe Commerce offers shopping experience personalization features, advanced analytics through Adobe Sensei and Adobe Analytics, and AI-driven marketing automation capabilities.
Adobe Commerce Pro
Adobe Commerce Pro is an enhanced version of Adobe Commerce designed for businesses of all sizes that need additional advanced features and support. Compared to the basic version, it offers more advanced personalization tools, enabling customization of shopping experiences to individual customer needs. Additionally, Adobe Commerce Pro users receive better technical support and greater scalability options, making this version particularly attractive for larger enterprises willing to invest more for comprehensive solutions.
Adobe Commerce Pro offers a range of advanced features that aren’t available in the basic Adobe Commerce version. Key features include dedicated infrastructure, image optimization, additional infrastructure support and protection against external threats (such as DDoS), and enhanced personalization capabilities.
Adobe Commerce Managed Services
Adobe Commerce Managed Services allows enterprises to focus on business growth by taking over the burden of managing their eCommerce infrastructure. Under this option, Adobe or authorized partners take full responsibility for managing the platform environment, ensuring high performance, security, and scalability.
Compared to Adobe Commerce Pro, Managed Services offers additional features providing stability and operational optimization, including 99.9% application availability guarantees (SLA), Customer Success Engineer support, Upgrade & Patching Development Assistance, and Dedicated Escalation Management.
Adobe Commerce Cloud
Adobe Commerce Cloud is an advanced eCommerce solution delivered as a Platform as a Service (PaaS). The platform combines all Adobe Commerce functionalities with a flexible cloud environment, providing a comprehensive sales solution.
The system stands out from standard on-premise deployment with several key features. First and foremost, it offers enhanced security and advanced performance monitoring tools. For development teams, the built-in CI/CD process support is particularly important, as it streamlines eCommerce project development and maintenance work.
Adobe Commerce Cloud provides automated hosting and tools essential for the efficient deployment and management of eCommerce applications. Thanks to dedicated cloud infrastructure, businesses can focus on growth while leaving technical matters to Adobe developers or their partners.
Adobe Commerce Licensing Cost
Adobe Commerce licensing is based on a flexible model that takes into account the scale of the online store’s operations. The annual Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) is the primary factor affecting the cost, meaning the price increases as the business grows. For Adobe Commerce Cloud, the pricing model is also based on GMV but includes additional costs related to cloud infrastructure.
It’s important to note that on top of the base license price, businesses need to factor in the costs of additional extensions, as most of them are paid. The exact monthly/annual license pricing is determined individually after contacting Adobe’s sales department.
Shopware 6
Shopware is an eCommerce platform that has established itself as a market leader in Germany and is rapidly expanding in other European markets. Besides the free Community Edition, the platform offers three commercial license options: Rise for growing businesses, Evolve for medium-sized enterprises, and Beyond for the largest online stores. Shopware powers over 100,000 online stores worldwide, with clients including major brands like Philips, Acer, and Discovery Channel.
The Shopware platform is characterized by intuitive management, scalability, and a flexible architecture based on PHP Symfony and Vue.js, ensuring performance and operational stability. Thanks to its API-first approach, the platform enables easy integration with external systems and the creation of headless solutions.
Key Shopware Functionalities
Shopping Experiences – Shopware CMS
Shopping Experiences is an integrated content management system (CMS) that enables creating and editing online store content without programming knowledge. With its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, users can design page layouts using responsive, predefined blocks that are easily customizable to their needs. The system uses the Shopware Twig template engine, providing a flexible and secure tool for creating advanced user interfaces. Page Builder, as part of Shopping Experiences, allows for quick visual page creation, aligning with Shopware’s philosophy of operational simplicity.
AI Copilot
AI Copilot is a tool integrated into the platform to automate and streamline daily store management tasks. Shopware’s AI currently offers nine innovative features that enable, among other things, automatic creation and translation of landing page content, product description generation based on keywords, and automatic filter creation and product variants based on their descriptions. AI Copilot is available to users of Rise, Evolve, and Beyond editions.
Shopware PWA
Shopware, in collaboration with Alokai, has created a Progressive Web Application (PWA) that provides customers with the highest quality online shopping experience across all devices. The application is fully compatible with Shopware 6 features, guaranteeing not only high performance but also access to all of the platform’s marketing tools. PWA installation is straightforward – simply add it as a plugin that works right out of the box.
Advanced product management
Shopware offers comprehensive product catalog management through three key functionalities. The system enables creation and management of product variants with individual prices and stock levels, as well as allows for configurable product sales, where customers can personalize their orders according to their preferences. Additionally, the platform introduces dynamic product groups, which automatically categorize inventory according to defined rules, making it easier to organize and present products in the store.
Marketing tools
Shopware stands out with its advanced approach to omnichannel sales, offering an integrated solution for managing all customer touchpoints. The platform enables consistent sales management across online stores, marketplaces, social media, and physical locations from a single admin panel.
Shopware Licence Costs
Shopware pricing depends on the chosen license variant and business scale. The Rise edition, designed for growing businesses, starts at 600€ per month, while the more comprehensive Evolve version starts at 2,400€ per month. The Beyond Edition, dedicated to large enterprises, is priced individually based on specific client needs, with prices starting at 6,500€ per month.
It’s important to note that hosting and extension costs often add to the license fees, especially in case of custom solutions. The Shopware Store contains about 3,000 extensions; however, from the entire collection, only about 500 of them are available for free.
OroCommerce
The OroCommerce platform focuses on customers operating in the B2B model, including manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors. It’s a versatile tool that combines an eCommerce platform, CRM system, and Order Management System (OMS). Like Sylius, the platform is built on the Symfony framework and offers access to source code, enabling adaptation to complex business processes. Let’s look at the main advantages of this solution.
Key Functionalities of OroCommerce
OroCommerce CRM
OroCRM is an advanced customer relationship management system that supports businesses in sales and marketing automation. It enables tracking customer interactions, analyzing their behaviors, and segmentation for better offer targeting. Through comprehensive reporting features and integration with various sales channels, it enables more effective business decision-making.
Advanced pricing system
The platform offers advanced price management, enabling the creation of different price lists, promotions, and discounts tailored to specific customer groups.
Multi-brand business support
Comprehensive management of B2B organization structure that accounts for all departments, multiple business units, and locations. The system allows functionality customization for each department while providing full visibility into the entire organization’s operations – regardless of the number of teams or branches.
Promotion and tax management
The advanced promotion system enables the creation of one-time discount codes, scheduled sales, and special offers. The platform allows the configuration of various promotional activities, including order-wide discounts, product-specific discounts, and “buy X, get Y” offers. Additionally, the built-in tax system enables flexible VAT rate management based on customer groups, product categories, and locations, with the ability to integrate with external tax systems.
OroCloud
OroCommerce offers a flexible cloud solution based on Google Cloud Platform (GCP), which allows platform deployment without the need to manage your own infrastructure. The hosting service provides automatic resource scaling based on system load, regular backups, and security monitoring.
OroCommerce Licensing Costs
In addition to the free Community Edition, OroCommerce uses an Enterprise Edition licensing model that is customized to individual needs and business scale. The final price is influenced by three main factors: Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) processed through the platform, number of administrative users (starter packages include 25 accounts with the possibility of expansion), and selected OroCloud hosting options.
However, the commercial license retains all platform functionalities. As a result, companies must pay for all features, even if they only need a few of them.
Shopify Plus
The final platform we’re discussing today is Shopify Plus. It’s an advanced paid version of the eCommerce platform designed for enterprises with complex business needs. Launched in 2014 as an enterprise-level SaaS solution, the platform stands out from standard Shopify plans (Basic, Standard, and Advanced) with significantly greater customization capabilities and control over the online store. The platform was designed to meet the demands of large organizations, offering advanced tools for sales management and business scaling.
Key Functionalities of Shopify Plus
Checkout customization
Shopify Plus stands out from standard plans with its complete shopping process personalization capabilities. Unlike the basic Shopify version, where checkout is predefined, the Plus version allows customization of both appearance and functionality to match brand needs. Businesses can add custom fields (e.g., VAT ID for the European market), create custom pricing rules and validation, and utilize support for 20 languages. All these features aim to optimize the purchasing process and increase conversion rates through better adaptation to specific market requirements and customer expectations.
Shopify POS Pro
Shopify POS Pro is an advanced point-of-sale solution that enables seamless integration of online and physical sales. The system is designed for multi-location businesses, offering support through Shopify Plus for the first 20 points of sale at no additional cost. POS Pro features employee permission management, detailed sales analytics, and real-time inventory synchronization across all sales channels.
Custom Scripts
Custom Scripts is a tool that allows businesses to create personalized solutions automating key sales processes. The system enables automatic discount calculations, shipping and tax management, as well as product page personalization through custom options and recommendations.
Abandoned cart recovery
Shopify Plus introduces an intelligent system that automatically responds to abandoned carts by sending email reminders and optional product discounts to encourage purchase completion.
Enhanced scalability
As mentioned earlier, Shopify Plus was created to handle businesses that generate high traffic and substantial online sales. Unlike standard Shopify plans, the Plus version can handle thousands of simultaneous transactions, ensuring stable operation even during sales peaks such as Black Friday or seasonal sales.
Shopify Plus Licensing Cost
Shopify Plus license starts at $2,500 per month with a standard plan. For long-term commitment (3-year contract), the price drops to $2,300 per month. It’s worth noting that this is the base license cost, to which you need to add expenses related to additional applications and sales commission.
When using external payment systems other than Shopify Payments (a service not available in Poland), Shopify Plus charges an additional commission on each transaction.
As described above, the eCommerce platform market offers a wide range of solutions, each with its own licensing model and pricing specifics. From the flexible Sylius Plus model through complex enterprise systems like Adobe Commerce to SaaS solutions like Shopify Plus – each platform has its unique approach to costs and functionality.
However, it’s worth paying special attention to how Sylius Plus’s modular approach stands out from the competition.
Why is it Worth Choosing Sylius Plus License?
Choosing an eCommerce platform is a decision that has a long-term impact on business development. Sylius Plus stands out from the competition in several key aspects. Firstly, the platform is built on modern architecture, providing much greater flexibility than traditional solutions and enabling a modular architecture. Unlike SaaS systems, Sylius Plus doesn’t limit the ability to customize the store to individual needs.
From a technical perspective, Sylius Plus distinguishes itself from competitors like Magento, Shopware, or OroCommerce thanks to its high-quality source code and refined system structure that significantly streamline developers’ work, making the platform particularly appreciated among development teams and software houses.
Thanks to its API-first approach, Sylius Plus can be easily integrated with any external system, which is crucial for businesses requiring advanced automation and customization. Although the platform might offer fewer “out-of-the-box” features compared to some platforms, its flexibility and integration capabilities make it an ideal solution for companies focusing on an individual approach to eCommerce.
The financial aspect is also a significant argument. Sylius Plus’s licensing model allows for cost optimization by selecting only those modules that are actually needed in a given project.
If you need more information about Sylius Plus, check our website or contact us!