Skip to content
beginner Phase 13 · What Magento Is

Magento Open Source

Magento Open Source (formerly Community Edition) - features, limitations, what's included vs Adobe Commerce

30m
0 problems
Topic Progress 0%

What's Included in Open Source

Core Features

Magento Open Source (Magento OS) includes a comprehensive set of e-commerce features:

Catalog Management

  • ✅ Unlimited products (simple, configurable, bundle, grouped, virtual, downloadable)
  • ✅ Product attributes and attribute sets
  • ✅ Category management with drag-and-drop
  • ✅ Product reviews and ratings
  • ✅ Wish lists
  • ✅ Inventory management

Checkout & Orders

  • ✅ One-page checkout
  • ✅ Guest checkout
  • ✅ Order management
  • ✅ Invoice, shipment, credit memo
  • ✅ Email notifications
  • ✅ Order status tracking

Payment & Shipping

  • ✅ PayPal integration
  • ✅ Braintree (built-in)
  • ✅ Flat rate / free shipping
  • ✅ Table rates (weight, price, destination)
  • ✅ ShipStation integration

Marketing

  • ✅ Promotions (catalog price rules, cart price rules)
  • ✅ SEO (URL rewrites, meta tags, sitemaps)
  • ✅ Newsletter management
  • ✅ Google Analytics integration
  • ✅ Product tags

Admin

  • ✅ HTML5 admin theme
  • ✅ Dashboard with reports
  • ✅ Role-based access control
  • ✅ Import/Export (CSV)
  • ✅ Multi-language support

Technical

  • ✅ REST API
  • ✅ GraphQL API
  • ✅ Varnish full-page cache
  • ✅ Elasticsearch/OpenSearch
  • ✅ Content staging (basic)
  • ✅ Multi-website/store/store view

Limitations vs Adobe Commerce

What Adobe Commerce Adds

Feature Open Source Adobe Commerce
B2B Features ❌ ✅ Company accounts, quotes, requisition lists
Content Staging Basic ✅ Full scheduling, preview, approval workflows
Customer Segments ❌ ✅ Dynamic rule-based segments
Product Recommendations ❌ ✅ Adobe Sensei AI-powered
Visual Merchandiser ❌ ✅ Drag-and-drop category sorting
Gift Cards ❌ ✅ Physical, virtual, combined
Store Credit ❌ ✅ Customer account credit
Multiple Wishlists ❌ ✅ Unlimited named wishlists
Return Merchandise (RMA) ❌ ✅ Built-in RMA system
Cloud Hosting ❌ ✅ Managed cloud infrastructure
Fastly CDN ❌ ✅ Included CDN
Page Builder ❌ ✅ Drag-and-drop content creation
Blue Footprint/Content ❌ ✅ Enterprise CMS
Shared Catalogs ❌ ✅ B2B custom pricing per company
Negotiable Quotes ❌ ✅ B2B quote workflow
Purchase Orders ❌ ✅ B2B PO workflow
Analytics Dashboard Basic ✅ Advanced reporting
Support Community only ✅ Adobe support
SLA ❌ ✅ Guaranteed uptime

Cost Comparison

Item Open Source Adobe Commerce
License Free (OSL 3.0) $22,000 - $125,000+/year
Hosting $100-500/month Included (cloud)
Support Community Included
Extensions $50-300 each Many included
Total (annual) $2,000-10,000 $25,000-150,000+

Choosing Between Open Source and Commerce

Choose Open Source When:

  • ✅ Budget is limited: No license fees
  • ✅ B2C focused: Standard e-commerce features
  • ✅ Custom development: You have developer resources
  • ✅ Simple requirements: Don't need B2B, advanced segmentation
  • ✅ Self-managed hosting: Comfortable managing infrastructure

Choose Adobe Commerce When:

  • ✅ B2B + B2C: Need company accounts, quotes, POs
  • ✅ Enterprise scale: $50M+ revenue, complex requirements
  • ✅ Need managed hosting: Want cloud infrastructure included
  • ✅ Adobe ecosystem: Using AEM, Analytics, Target
  • ✅ Compliance requirements: Need SLA and enterprise support

Migration Path

Many businesses start with Open Source and migrate to Commerce:

Open Source → Commerce (add license, keep code)

Most code is compatible — the differences are in specific modules and features.

Licensing

Magento Open Source uses the Open Software License (OSL 3.0):

  • ✅ Free to use and modify
  • ✅ Free to distribute
  • ⚠️ Source code must be available to users
  • ⚠️ Modifications must be shared
  • ❌ Cannot create proprietary closed-source forks

This is different from MIT/Apache — OSL has copyleft provisions.

Quiz

1. What is the main difference between Open Source and Adobe Commerce?

Question 1 options

2. Can Open Source handle multi-store setups?

Question 2 options

3. Magento Open Source uses which license?

Question 3 options

Flashcards

Question

What license does Magento Open Source use?

Click to reveal answer

Answer

OSL 3.0 (Open Software License)

Question

What does Adobe Commerce add?

Click to reveal answer

Answer

B2B features, cloud hosting, Page Builder, AI recommendations, enterprise support

Question

Does Open Source support multi-store?

Click to reveal answer

Answer

Yes, website/store/store view hierarchy is fully supported

Question

Can you migrate from Open Source to Commerce?

Click to reveal answer

Answer

Yes, add license while keeping most code compatible

Revision Notes

Key Takeaways

  • 1. Open Source includes: catalog, checkout, payments, shipping, promotions, API, GraphQL
  • 2. Commerce adds: B2B, Page Builder, AI recommendations, cloud, enterprise support
  • 3. Open Source is free (OSL 3.0), Commerce is $22K-$125K+/year
  • 4. Open Source supports multi-store, REST, GraphQL, Varnish caching
  • 5. Many businesses start with Open Source and migrate to Commerce

Interview Tips

  • • List what's included in Open Source vs what requires Commerce
  • • Explain OSL 3.0 license implications
  • • Discuss when Open Source is sufficient vs when Commerce is needed

Cheat Sheet

Open Source (OSL 3.0):
  ✅ Full catalog, checkout, payments
  ✅ REST + GraphQL APIs
  ✅ Multi-store support
  ✅ Varnish + Elasticsearch
  ✅ Promotions, SEO, reviews
  ❌ B2B features
  ❌ Page Builder
  ❌ AI recommendations
  ❌ Cloud hosting
  ❌ Enterprise support

Commerce adds: B2B, Page Builder, cloud, AI, support ($22K+/year)