Magento to Shopify Migration: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide for 2026

A Magento to Shopify migration in 2026 is a catalog rebuild, not a file copy. You move products, customers, and orders, then you remap configurable products to Shopify's 3 option types and 2,048 variants, import reviews with a CSV (Magento is not a review-URL source), send password resets, and 301 every old .html path. Skip any of those jobs and you get 404s, locked-out buyers, and a silent reviews page.

StoreLeads still tracks 103,822 live Magento stores as of 21 Aug 2026, down from 163,714 in Q4 2022. Shopify merchants generated $378.4 billion in GMV in 2025. If you want the platform-agnostic playbook first, start with the complete Shopify migration guide. This page stays on Magento-specific work: configurables, reviews CSV, customer logins, and redirects.

Jump to a section

• Why a Magento to Shopify migration makes sense in 2026
• Which tool fits which job (no overall winner)
• What data moves, and what does not
• Configurable products to Shopify variants
• Magento reviews via CSV, not a URL scrape
• Customer accounts and password resets
• 301 redirects for Magento URL keys
• Step-by-step runbook
• Cost and timeline
• First-month checks after go-live

Why Does a Magento to Shopify Migration Make Sense in 2026?

Adobe's support calendar is the hard reason. Adobe Commerce 2.4.6 standard support ended on 11 Aug 2026, and 2.4.5 extended support ended the same week. If you are still on either line, you are already past the quality-fix window or sitting on a short security-only period.

2.4.6 extended support runs to 31 Aug 2027, then isolated security fixes until 31 May 2028. 2.4.5 is security-only until 31 May 2027. Those extra months are Adobe Commerce only. Open Source does not get the same runway. PHP 8.1 hit end of life on 31 Dec 2025, which Adobe flags as a PCI risk.

Store count tells the same story. Magento peaked at 163,714 live stores in Q4 2022 and sits at 103,822 now, a drop of about 37%. In the 90 days before 21 Aug 2026, Magento lost 1,533 merchants to other platforms. Some of those brands, including Dior and Withings, landed on Shopify.

Cost is the other honest driver. Magento means hosting, patches, a PHP developer bench, and extension licenses that often run a few hundred dollars a year each. Shopify folds hosting, SSL, and platform updates into one subscription. Basic is $39/month, Grow is $105/month, Advanced is $399/month on monthly billing (or $29 / $79 / $299 if you pay yearly). Plus starts at $2,300/month. You still pay apps. You stop paying for the server.

Which Magento to Shopify Tool Should You Pick for Your Catalog?

Pick the tool for the job, not a trophy. LitExtension and Cart2Cart move products, customers, and orders with optional 301s. Matrixify gives you spreadsheet control. Shopify's own CSV and Migratify cover products (and, for CSV, customers) only.

No app is "best overall." A 400-SKU catalog is a different job from a 20,000-SKU Adobe Commerce store with custom options and an ERP. For the wider field, see the best Shopify store migration apps in 2026.

LitExtension

LitExtension's Magento to Shopify path moves products (including configurables), categories, customers, orders, coupons, CMS pages, and blogs. Add-ons cover 301s, order IDs, and categories as automated collections. Self-serve starts around $59 by entity count. Under 100 products, customers, and orders can use the free plan. Their FAQ still quotes Shopify's old 100-variant cap in places. Trust Shopify's 2,048 / 3-option docs, not a vendor page.

Cart2Cart

Cart2Cart is the other automated service. It moves products, categories, customers, orders, coupons, taxes, CMS pages, and blogs. Reviews and 301s are extras. Pricing is by entity count, with a demo first. It moves data, not Magento checkout logic or extension behavior.

Matrixify

Matrixify understands Magento export files and turns them into Excel you can clean. Tutorials cover products, customers, and orders. Product imports can build collections, write custom fields as metafields, and generate redirects. Orders need Magento database access, not only the admin export. You pay by how much you import, then you map.

Shopify native CSV

Shopify will import a product CSV and a customer CSV. It will not import Magento passwords or bulk historical orders. Export from Magento at System > Data Transfer > Export (Adobe's data export docs), rewrite columns, then import. Fine for a small catalog. Painful once configurables and metafields pile up. See how to import products to Shopify from a CSV.

Migratify (products and URLs only)

Migratify copies products from a public URL: title, description, images, variants, price, SKU, tags, vendor, and type. It does not import customers, orders, or reviews. Named sources include Shopify, Amazon, Etsy, Lazada, Daraz, and BigCommerce, plus other public pages. A public Magento product URL can work. It is not a Magento connector. Use it for the catalog, then move accounts, orders, reviews, and redirects elsewhere.

Optionize is not a migrate tool. After the catalog lands, it covers leftover Magento custom options and a fourth (or fifth) axis that will not fit Shopify variants. More on that below.

Most Magento to Shopify projects fail after launch because teams treat them as a weekend data dump. The work that actually decides whether shoppers can buy is variant mapping, a reviews CSV, a password email, and a complete 301 map. Agencies that only sell you a launch are selling you the easy half.

What Magento Data Can You Move to Shopify, and What Stays Behind?

Products, categories, customer records, and order history can move. Passwords cannot. Native Magento reviews do not land in Shopify by themselves. Custom options, loyalty points, and extension data need a rebuild.

What usually transfers cleanly:

• Products: titles, descriptions, images, SKUs, prices, weights, and basic variants
• Categories: mapped to Shopify manual or automated collections
• Customers: names, emails, and addresses (accounts start inactive)
• Orders: historical records for reference, not a live Magento admin clone
• CMS and blog content: if you use LitExtension, Cart2Cart, or a Matrixify template, not native Shopify CSV

What does not transfer, or needs a second tool:

• Customer passwords: Shopify will not import hashes from another store. Every customer sets a new password or uses Shopify's newer one-time email code login.
• Product reviews: Magento's native review table is not a WiseReviews URL source. Export a CSV and map handle, rating, date, and reviewer name.
• Custom attributes: Magento's EAV fields become Shopify metafields. You map them. They do not appear on the storefront until the theme reads them.
• Configurable, bundle, and grouped structures: see the next section. Shopify is not Magento's product-type list.
• Extensions: Amasty rules, loyalty balances, and custom modules stay on Magento. You replace the job with a Shopify app or you drop the feature.

Import in this order, whether you use a service or files: products first, then customers, then orders. Orders attach to SKUs and emails that already exist. Matrixify's Magento docs say the same thing, and they are right.

How Do You Map Magento Configurable Products to Shopify Variants?

A Magento configurable product is a parent with simple child SKUs. Shopify wants one product with up to 3 option types and 2,048 variants. Three axes that stay under that variant cap can map 1:1. A fourth axis, or a Magento custom option that was never a variant, needs a split or an options app.

Adobe's configurable-product docs describe a parent with simple children. Shopify stores the same idea as option1, option2, and option3 on one product. The variant-count raise from 100 to 2,048 did not add a fourth option field.

Before you export, count option axes on every configurable, not just SKU count. Flag anything with more than 3 axes, more than 2,048 combinations, or Magento custom options sitting beside the configurable (engraving, gift wrap, file upload). Those extra fields are not variants in Magento and they will not become variants on Shopify.

Three axes or fewer

Map the Magento attributes to Shopify options. Keep child SKUs as variant SKUs so inventory and historical orders still match. LitExtension and Cart2Cart will attempt this automatically. On a CSV or Matrixify run, you still check that images, prices, and inventory landed on the right combination. A 20-product test import saves a 2,000-SKU cleanup.

Four or more axes

You have three honest paths. None of them is "best" for every catalog:

1. Split the product. Turn "Blue Shirt, Cotton" and "Blue Shirt, Polyester" into two Shopify products, each with Size and Color. Simple, but reviews and SEO split across URLs.
2. Keep 3 axes as variants, move the leftovers to an options app. Optionize adds extra dropdowns, swatches, text, dates, and file uploads on top of Shopify variants. It is leftover custom options and extra axes, not a full Magento migrate. See how to add custom product options on Shopify and the Shopify product options limits write-up. A dedicated Magento-configurables deep dive is not live yet, so treat this section as the working method.
3. Simplify the catalog. If shoppers never used Length plus Fit plus Material plus Color plus Size, drop an axis. Migration is a good time to stop selling combinations nobody buys.

Shopify Plus Combined Listings can group split products onto one page. That is a Plus merchandising feature, not a fourth native option type. Basic and Grow stores still stop at 3 options per product.

Bundled and grouped products

Magento bundles let a shopper pick components (RAM, storage, display) with a calculated price. Shopify has no native bundle product type. Recreate the offer as a single product plus Optionize add-on prices, or install a bundle app. Magento grouped products are several simples on one page. The closest Shopify match is a collection, or a product that links related items. Do not expect LitExtension or Cart2Cart to rebuild bundle math for you.

How Do You Import Magento Reviews Into Shopify With a CSV?

Export Magento reviews to a spreadsheet, then import them with a review app CSV. Do not paste a Magento product URL into a marketplace importer. WiseReviews URL import supports AliExpress, Amazon, CJdropshipping, eBay, Etsy, HktvMall, Lazada, Shein, Shopee, Temu, Tokopedia, and Wish. Magento is not on that list.

Shopify has no native Magento-review importer. Judge.me, Loox, Yotpo, and WiseReviews expect a file. The pattern matches our Shopee reviews guide: export the source, match each row to a Shopify handle, then import. A Magento-only reviews post is not live yet, so the working method lives here.

For WiseReviews, the CSV path is documented. Required columns are product handle, rating, review date, and reviewer name. Optional fields include the review body and media URLs. Rules that actually matter:

• Product handle must match the Shopify handle (the last part of /products/blue-widget). Invalid handles fail the row.
• Rating is a number from 1 to 5.
• Files are capped at 3,000 rows. Split bigger Magento review tables into batches.
• Imported rows count toward the app plan (100 on Free, 50,000 on Standard, unlimited on Plus).

Magento stores reviews in review tables, not in the product CSV from System > Data Transfer > Export. Pull them with a review-export extension or a query your developer trusts. Do not invent an admin button your version does not have. After import, spot-check 20 products for stars, name, date, and the right handle.

Cart2Cart lists reviews as an extra module. LitExtension mentions reviews in some Magento project write-ups, but the public Magento entity list on their product page is products, customers, orders, coupons, CMS, and blogs. If reviews are a must-have, ask the vendor to show a demo store with Magento reviews on it before you pay. Then still keep a CSV backup.

How Do Magento Customers Sign In After the Switch?

They do not keep their Magento password. Shopify's customer CSV import cannot migrate passwords because those hashes were created outside Shopify. After import, send account invites or turn on Shopify's newer customer accounts so shoppers sign in with a one-time email code.

Names, emails, and addresses move. The login secret does not. Migratify will not help here. LitExtension, Cart2Cart, Matrixify, and Shopify's own customer import all leave accounts inactive or waiting for a new credential. Matrixify can set a "Send Account Activation Email" column so Shopify fires the invite in bulk, or export activation URLs for your ESP.

Do this as a launch job, not a week-two cleanup:

1. Warn the list before DNS flips. One email: new storefront, same brand, you will set a new password (or use an email code).
2. Import customers only after products exist if you also plan to attach orders.
3. On launch day, send the invite or point them at the new account login. Subject lines that say "reset" outperform vague "we upgraded" copy.
4. Staff the inbox. Login tickets spike in the first 72 hours. An on-site chat app such as RagChat can answer "why does my old password fail?" from a short help article you write yourself. Any live-chat tool works if the answer is written down.
5. Send a second invite to anyone who has not activated after a few days. Do not invent a completion-rate statistic. Measure yours in Shopify and your ESP.

How Do You Set 301 Redirects When Magento URLs Change on Shopify?

Every Magento URL key changes shape on Shopify, so you need a 1:1 301 map before you point DNS. Magento often serves /blue-widget.html. Shopify serves /products/blue-widget. Categories lose .html and gain /collections/. Miss a row and that URL becomes a 404.

Shopify's native tool lives under Content > Menus > URL redirects and accepts a CSV with two headers: Redirect from and Redirect to. Use relative paths. The full Magento-to-Shopify mapping, reserved paths, and post-launch crawl live in how to set up 301 redirects after a Shopify migration. For the SEO risk if you skip this, read how to prevent SEO traffic loss migrating to Shopify.

Magento-specific habits that save you pain:

• Export URL keys from Magento (product and category) and from your live /sitemap.xml or /pub/sitemap.xml while the old store is still up.
• Crawl the Magento domain with Screaming Frog. The sitemap misses orphaned CMS pages and old .html variants.
• Export Google Search Console pages with clicks. Those rows get mapped first.
• Strip .html, drop store-view prefixes, and write the Shopify prefix (/products/, /collections/, /pages/, /blogs/news/).
• Map category trees that Shopify cannot nest. /clothing/mens/shirts.html often becomes /collections/mens-shirts, not a four-level path.
• LitExtension and Cart2Cart can generate 301s as an add-on. Matrixify can generate them from a Magento product import. Still download the list and spot-check your top 50 URLs yourself.

Upload the CSV before the domain cutover. Shopify only fires a redirect when the source path is actually broken, so do not create a live Shopify page on the old Magento path and then wonder why the rule does nothing. After launch, crawl the old URL list in list mode. Every row should be one 301 to a 200.

How Do You Run a Magento to Shopify Migration Step by Step?

Run it in six phases over 4 to 12 weeks. Audit and theme first, then products, customers, orders, redirects, and a watched cutover. Skipping the audit is how you discover a 5-axis configurable in week five.

Phase 1: Audit the Magento store

Count products, configurables with more than 3 axes, custom options, customers, orders, reviews, CMS pages, and paid extensions. Note the Magento version and Open Source vs Adobe Commerce. Export a backup, sitemap, and Search Console page list. The Shopify migration checklist covers the platform-wide items.

Phase 2: Stand up Shopify

Create the store, pick a theme, and set currency, timezone, tax, shipping, and payments before any import. Matrixify reads those settings for order times and inventory locations. Install only the apps you already need: migrate, reviews, leftover options, analytics.

Phase 3: Move products

Choose one product path. LitExtension or Cart2Cart if you also want customers and orders in the same vendor. Matrixify if you want Excel control and Magento file mapping. Native CSV or Migratify if you only need the catalog. Run 20 to 30 products first. Check images, variant SKUs, prices, and handles. Then run the rest. Freeze Magento catalog edits once the full product pass starts, or plan a delta import.

Phase 4: Customers, orders, reviews

Import customers, then orders. Send no activation email until launch day unless you are running a long parallel period and have a clear story. Build the reviews CSV against the new handles. Do not wait until week two after go-live to notice an empty review widget on your bestseller.

Phase 5: Redirects and theme QA

Upload the 301 CSV. Click the top 50 organic URLs in an incognito window on the Shopify preview domain (or a temp domain). Place a real test order. Check option leftover fields. Confirm review stars on collection pages if you use them.

Phase 6: Cut over and watch

Point DNS. Send the password or account-invite campaign. Watch Google Search Console, checkout, and login tickets for 72 hours. Keep Magento in read-only or maintenance once DNS is yours, then run one delta for late orders if the store stayed live during the bulk move.

How Much Does a Magento to Shopify Migration Cost in 2026?

A small DIY catalog can stay under $2,000 in tools and theme cost plus your time. Automated data tools start around $59 to a few thousand dollars by entity count. Agency rebuilds for complex Magento stores commonly land between $10,000 and $50,000, and enterprise work goes higher.

LitExtension quotes self-serve from $59 and a managed package from about $169. Cart2Cart is entity-priced. Matrixify is a Shopify app subscription sized to row count. Migratify has a free plan for a handful of products. None of those fees replace theme work or your hours.

A realistic mid-size stack:

• Shopify plan: $39 to $399/month, or Plus from $2,300/month, per Shopify's pricing page
• Data tool: $0 to a few thousand for DIY or automated migrate; $10,000+ if an agency owns the project
• Theme: free Dawn-class theme, or a paid theme plus a developer if you need Magento-like merchandising
• Apps that replace extensions: reviews, options, search, subscriptions, wholesale. Budget $50 to $300/month until you prune
• Redirect and SEO QA: your time, or $500 to $3,000 if you hire it out

Time follows complexity, not a vendor's "few hours" demo. A 500-product store with 3-axis configurables and no ERP can finish in 3 to 4 weeks. A 10,000-SKU Adobe Commerce store with custom options, multi-store views, and live order flow needs 8 to 12 weeks. Keep selling on Magento during the bulk move if downtime is unacceptable, then run a delta. That is slower and safer than a weekend cutover.

What Should You Check in the First Month After Go-Live?

Test checkout, spot-check products, send the account email, and watch 404s in the first 24 hours. The first week is conversion and login follow-up. The first month is sitemap, rankings, and turning Magento off without deleting the backup.

First 24 hours

1. Place a real paid order on every shipping method you offer. Apply a discount code.
2. Open 50 products: image, price, variant, leftover custom option, review widget.
3. Send the password or account-invite campaign. Keep the Magento "forgot password" page from lingering in search ads.
4. Crawl your redirect sample. Fix any 404 the same day.
5. Confirm GA4, ads pixels, and email tracking fire on Shopify checkout, not the old Magento domain.

First week

• Compare conversion to the last Magento week. A small dip is normal. A 50% drop is a broken theme, payment, or variant.
• Read abandoned checkouts. New platform friction shows up there first.
• Resend invites to customers who have not activated.
• Audit the 20 landing pages that earned the most Magento organic clicks. Each one must 301 to a live 200.

First month

• Submit the Shopify sitemap in Google Search Console.
• Watch ranking movement for 2 to 4 weeks. If it has not settled by week 6, you missed redirects. Use the SEO traffic-loss guide as the punch list.
• Turn the Magento storefront off. Keep a database backup for at least 12 months. You will need an old order or a custom attribute you forgot.
• Uninstall apps you installed only to test the migration.

The Magento to Shopify migration is done when shoppers can find the old URL, log in, see their reviews, and buy the same configurable they used to buy. The CSV landing in Shopify is the midpoint, not the finish.