Elastic Path vs. Adobe Commerce (Magento)

A monolithic solution provides core commerce capabilities such as checkout, search, and catalog management, in addition to a front-end store, which is what your customers see and engage with.

Headless solutions, on the other hand, are when the front-end is removed from core commerce capabilities. Brands can choose best-of-breed front and back-end solutions that power the customer experiences they aim to deliver.

Extensibility allows brands to tailor their commerce solution to their needs and is a key benefit of an API-based solution.

From an eCommerce perspective, not all “headless” platforms are built equally. A “retrofitted” headless solution removes the front-end layer of an all-in-one solution while keeping the back-end commerce monolithic. This means that the core commerce capabilities are still tightly linked or coupled. That means making changes or customizing is slow and more expensive, as it requires in-depth implementation and testing.

In contrast, a microservices-based headless solution gives you control over the components that make up your commerce offering. You can quickly and easily swap one technology for another so that you’re employing the best components for your brand and your customers.

Magento advertises a headless solution. But, as noted above, not all headless solutions are equal. Magento’s headless solution is retrofitted.

A retrofitted solution means that Magento has modified their platform to allow for more design freedom on the front-end to create unique customer experiences. However, because the back-end is essentially still a monolith, making changes or innovating fast is difficult.

Elastic Path is a fully microservices-based headless commerce solution. This means that the front-end and the back-end are decoupled. An API layer helps the front-end and back-end communicate so that brands like yours have the freedom to deliver unique front-end experiences without clunky, expensive, time-consuming changes to the back-end.

Typically, we see a roughly 50% reduction over three years on total cost of ownership for brands moving to a composable commerce solution from a monolith or retrofitted headless solution.

Different replatforming projects take different amounts of time. Typically, replatforming ranges from eight to 16 months. We make it possible to replatform much faster with our Pre-Composed Solutions™, which allow your brand to select and customize an existing solution to your needs in a matter of weeks, not months.

In some cases, your brand might be well served by staying on Adobe Commerce. For example, if your brand has limited catalog updates (new products, sale pricing, promotion featuring product bundles) it's perfectly reasonable to maintain the status quo.

Alternatively, you might be outgrowing your current all-in-one commerce solution and would be better served by switching to a composable commerce solution that fits your needs. Learn more about the signs of outgrowing your current commerce solution.

It depends on your business and the complexity inherent in your strategy or industry. Chat with us today to better understand what eCommerce solution would be best for you.