Magento was originally released in 2008 by Varien Inc., later renamed Magento Inc. The platform quickly became the go-to choice for mid-size to large e-commerce operations that needed more flexibility than hosted solutions could offer. eBay acquired a stake in 2011 and full ownership in 2015, before spinning it off. Adobe then acquired Magento in 2018 for $1.68 billion.
Under Adobe’s ownership, Magento became Adobe Commerce, integrated into the Adobe Experience Cloud alongside tools like Adobe Analytics and Adobe Target. The open-source version, Magento Open Source, remains free and community-maintained.
Magento powers over 250,000 online stores worldwide. It’s known for handling complex catalogs, multi-store setups, and high-traffic scenarios that simpler platforms struggle with. Brands like HP, Coca-Cola, and Land Rover have run Magento-based stores.
The platform is built on PHP and uses MySQL (or MariaDB) for data storage. Magento 2, the current major version, brought significant performance improvements, a modernized codebase, and better support for APIs and headless commerce. Extensions are available through the Adobe Commerce Marketplace.
The main drawback is complexity. Magento requires skilled developers to set up and maintain, and hosting costs run higher than simpler platforms. Development agencies specializing in Magento form a large ecosystem, particularly in Europe and North America. Despite competition from Shopify and BigCommerce, Magento remains a strong choice for enterprises that need deep customization and multi-market support.
