PrestaShop alternatives: where to go, and how to move without losing sales
Five options matched to the reason you're leaving, plus a seven-step migration plan.
Quick answer: pick Shopify if you never want to touch hosting or a broken module again, WooCommerce if you have a developer and want to stay open source, BigCommerce for a large catalog or B2B orders, and Shopware for a bigger European B2B project. If the server is your only headache, PrestaShop Hosted (from €24 a month, excluding VAT) keeps your modules and URLs. One thing holds whatever you pick: your theme and your modules stay behind. We compared all five options against their official pricing pages in 2026.
The ranking is editorial: a sponsored spot is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a rating.
Why stores are moving off PrestaShop
PrestaShop is free, open source, and still powers a big share of small stores in France and Spain. People rarely leave because of the core software. They leave because of everything around it: the add-ons, the hosting, the upgrades, and, since 2026, the company itself. These six reasons come up again and again in forums and reviews.
Major upgrades break your store
Going from 1.6 to 1.7, then 8, then 9 is closer to a rebuild than an update. Paid modules written for one version often stop working on the next, and so does the theme. A merchant on r/ecommerce, running PrestaShop for over a decade, put it bluntly: "we are again having troubles upgrading to version 9 especially because of modules etc". His conclusion: "it's time to move on."
Modules you pay for again and again
A module from the official Addons marketplace is licensed for one store and includes 12 months of updates and support. After that, you renew or you stop getting fixes. Each developer sets their own price. The Addons marketplace sits at 1.9 out of 5 on Trustpilot, and recent reviews describe modules that "didn't even perform its core function."
Hosting is your job
PrestaShop's own offer page says it: the free Classic edition excludes hosting and domain costs. Backups, the PHP version, security patches and page speed are on you and your host. On the official forum, store owners report admin pages taking 10 to 20 seconds to load once enough modules pile up.
New owner, then layoffs
In 2026, the investment firm Fortidia sold PrestaShop to cyber_Folks, a Polish hosting and ecommerce group that also picked up Sylius and the agency BitBag. Eight weeks later, leadership announced a formal layoff process, citing "strategic realignment" in the face of its market and competition. The software is still shipping releases. But if you are choosing a platform for the next five years, that uncertainty counts.
Version 1.6 stores have been on their own since 2019
Official support for PrestaShop 1.6 ended in 2019, with no plan to support newer PHP releases. Plenty of stores still run it because the jump to 1.7 was too expensive. For them, the question is no longer whether to move but where, since a full rebuild is coming either way.
No one to call when checkout breaks
The Classic edition comes with no support. You rely on your agency, a freelancer or the community forum. Only the Hosted plan adds support, six days a week. When orders stop going through on a Friday night, that gap turns into lost revenue, and it's often what pushes small teams toward a hosted platform.
You're leaving because… go to…
Your reason for leaving almost picks the platform for you. Find your line, then jump to the full card below.
Fully hosted, updates happen without you. From $29 a month billed yearly.
Your team has no developer at allShopifyBiggest app store and freelancer pool. Import apps start free for 100 products.
Hosting is the only thing that bugs youPrestaShop HostedSame admin, same URLs, managed server. From €24 a month excluding VAT.
You have a developer and want open sourceWooCommerceFree core, your code and database, a dedicated PrestaShop migrator.
You run a big catalog or sell B2BBigCommerceMore built in, no extra fee for third-party payments.
You're planning a larger European B2B buildShopwareGerman vendor, free self-hosted edition or plans from €600 a month.
PrestaShop alternatives, one by one
For each option: why move there, who it fits, its catch, how to get your data over from PrestaShop, and what it costs. Prices come from official pricing pages in 2026. PrestaShop and Shopware only publish euro prices, so those stay in euros. For a wider view without the migration angle, see our ecommerce platform comparison. We left out three names that show up in other lists: Ecwid has no official PrestaShop import we could find, Magento (Adobe Commerce) fits large projects with a dedicated team, and OpenCart brings back the same self-hosting work you want to drop.
Shopify: stop running a server for good
EasiestWhy move to Shopify. Everything that eats your week on PrestaShop goes away: hosting, backups, version upgrades, modules that fall over. Apps update themselves and payments are built in. A French merchant who made the switch summed it up a year later on the Shopify community: no more technical problems, no more web host.
Who it's for. B2C stores without an in-house developer that would rather spend time on products and ads than on server logs.
Who it isn't for. Stores that depend on unusual pricing rules, or owners who want full control of their code and database. Before you sign, read why some merchants switch from Shopify.
The catch. Everything is monthly, apps included. Skip Shopify Payments and you pay an extra 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced. URLs are fixed (/products/, /collections/), so every old page needs a redirect. Customer passwords can't be carried over, so every shopper has to set a new one.
How to migrate. Shopify has no official PrestaShop importer, so you use an app. PrestaShop Importer by AppsByB is free up to 100 products and 50 orders or customers, then $5 to $99 one time depending on volume. The same developer offers a done-for-you migration for $299 that carries over URLs and SEO data with redirects. Run the free 100-product import before paying for anything.
- Migration
- PrestaShop Importer app
- Trial
- 3 days, then $1/month for 3 months
- Paid
- Basic $39/month, $29 billed yearly
- Best for
- stores with no developer
- Catch
- fixed URLs, passwords reset
WooCommerce: stay open source, gain a bigger talent pool
Open sourceWhy move to WooCommerce. It's the sideways move: one open source platform for another, same control over your code and data, but a much larger pool of developers and agencies, plus WordPress for content. An analysis of PrestaShop exits published in 2026 makes the same point: "Technically capable European teams often move sideways to WooCommerce."
Who it's for. Stores with a developer or an agency on call, that publish a lot of content, and that don't want to rent a closed platform.
Who it isn't for. Anyone leaving PrestaShop to escape maintenance. WooCommerce asks for just as much.
The catch. The core is free, but WooCommerce itself estimates hosting at $25 to $350 a month and paid extensions at $29 to $299 a year. Plugin compatibility checks come back with every update. Before you commit, read our guide on switching from WooCommerce to see what its own users complain about.
How to migrate. The WooCommerce marketplace lists a dedicated extension, PrestaShop Data Migrator, which imports your data and builds redirects from what it brings over. Third-party services such as Cart2Cart cover PrestaShop versions from 0.9 to 9. CMS pages and the theme are rebuilt in WordPress.
- Migration
- PrestaShop Data Migrator extension
- Software
- free
- Hosting
- $25 to $350/month per WooCommerce
- Best for
- teams with a developer
- Catch
- same upkeep as before
BigCommerce: a large catalog without a pile of add-ons
Large catalogWhy move to BigCommerce. Where PrestaShop needs a module for almost everything, BigCommerce ships more out of the box: deep product options, faceted search, B2B pricing. If you've collected thirty modules over the years, this is your chance to retire most of them. Unlike Shopify, it doesn't add a fee when you use a third-party payment provider.
Who it's for. Catalogs with thousands of SKUs and stores that also sell wholesale.
Who it isn't for. Small shops that want the widest choice of themes and apps.
The catch. Your plan follows your revenue. Past $30,000 in sales over twelve months, Core no longer fits; past $100,000, Growth doesn't either. We found no official migration guide from PrestaShop.
How to migrate. Use a migration service such as LitExtension or Cart2Cart. Cart2Cart's free demo moves 10 products, customers and orders: run it and check how your product combinations land, since that's where surprises hide.
- Migration
- LitExtension or Cart2Cart
- Paid
- Core $39/month, $29 billed yearly
- Next plan
- Growth $105/month, $79 billed yearly
- Best for
- large catalog, B2B
- Catch
- forced upgrade past $30k in sales
PrestaShop Hosted: stay put, lose the server
Don't migrateWhy stay on PrestaShop. If hosting and backups are what wear you down, a full replatform may be overkill. PrestaShop's Hosted plan includes hosting with Gandi and 50 GB of storage, automatic VAT handling, a GDPR assistant and support six days a week. Your admin, catalog logic and URL structure stay the same.
Who it's for. Merchants who know PrestaShop well, whose store works, and who mostly want the infrastructure off their plate.
Who it isn't for. Anyone leaving because of modules or upgrades. Hosted fixes neither.
The catch. Prices are in euros only, before VAT. Addons modules are still yours to buy and renew. And you stay with a vendor that is restructuring after its 2026 sale. We couldn't find official documentation on moving an existing Classic store to Hosted, so ask sales how your data and modules carry over before you sign.
How to move. Use the 14-day trial to rebuild a copy of your store and check that your must-have modules run there.
- Migration
- rebuild a copy during the trial
- Trial
- 14 days
- Paid
- €24/month yearly, €29 monthly (ex. VAT)
- Best for
- keeping the store, not the server
- Catch
- modules still paid separately
Shopware: the European pick for serious B2B
European B2BWhy move to Shopware. Shopware is a German vendor with a strong base among mid-sized European companies. Like PrestaShop, it has a free self-hosted edition, the Community Edition. Paid plans add B2B features, advanced rules and vendor support. For a business that wants to stay European and move upmarket, it's the natural next step.
Who it's for. Companies selling to other businesses, with a project budget and a specialist agency.
Who it isn't for. A small store. The first paid plan costs more per month than a full year of PrestaShop Hosted.
The catch. Rise starts at €600 a month and Evolve at €2,400, before tax, priced in euros only. The official Migration Assistant handles Shopware 5 and Magento, not PrestaShop.
How to migrate. Through a third-party service (Cart2Cart, LitExtension) or your agency. Budget for a new theme from day one: nothing from your PrestaShop design carries over.
- Migration
- Cart2Cart, LitExtension or agency
- Free
- Community Edition, self-hosted
- Paid
- Rise from €600/month
- Best for
- mid-sized European B2B
- Catch
- no official PrestaShop importer
All 5 options side by side
Our default: Shopify if you want out of tech work, WooCommerce if you have a developer. The others solve one specific problem each.
| What you gain | Entry price and migration path | |
|---|---|---|
| PrestaShop ClassicWhere you start | Free software, full control of the code | Hosting, domain and modules extra; no support included |
| ShopifyNo server | Hosting, updates and payments built in | Basic $29/month billed yearly; import app free up to 100 products |
| WooCommerceOpen source | Your code and data, WordPress for content | Free core, hosting $25 to $350/month; PrestaShop Data Migrator extension |
| BigCommerceLarge catalog | More built in, no third-party payment fee | Core $29/month billed yearly; third-party migration service |
| PrestaShop HostedStay | Same admin, managed server, support six days a week | €24/month billed yearly, ex. VAT; Addons modules still extra |
| ShopwareEuropean B2B | German vendor, free edition or B2B plans | Rise from €600/month; third-party migration service |
Entry prices before tax, taken from official pricing pages in 2026 and subject to change. PrestaShop and Shopware only publish euro prices.
Migrate off PrestaShop in seven steps
Most of a clean migration happens before the import. Each step protects something: your data, your customers, your Google rankings. The order works for any destination.
Back up the whole store, not just products
FirstEvery list in the PrestaShop admin (products, customers, orders) has an Export button that downloads a CSV. Run it on each one. Then get a full database dump through phpMyAdmin from your host or developer, plus a copy of the image folder. The CSVs are for checking; the dump is your way back if an import goes wrong.
- Time
- half a day
- If you skip it
- order history gone
List every module and what it really does
SortOpen your installed modules and write down the job each one does: reviews, invoices, shipping carriers, filters, loyalty. On the new platform, some of those are built in and some become monthly apps. This list tells you the real monthly cost of the new store, which matters more than the plan price.
- Output
- true monthly cost
Map every URL and build your redirect table
SEOPrestaShop puts an ID in its URLs (like /12-product-name.html for a product and /3-category for a category), often with a language prefix. No other platform keeps that pattern. Pull your URL list from Search Console and your sitemap, rank pages by traffic and backlinks, and match each old URL to its new one.
- Priority
- pages with traffic and backlinks
- If you skip it
- lost rankings
Run a sample import, then the full one
DataStart with the free tier or demo of your migration tool on about a hundred products. Check three things: product combinations (size, color), images, and customer groups. On Shopify, for example, PrestaShop customer groups become tags. Once the sample looks right, import products, then customers, then orders.
- Check
- combinations and customer groups
Rebuild the theme and pages from scratch
DesignYour PrestaShop theme won't run anywhere else. Start from a theme on the new platform, move your page copy (shipping, terms, about) by hand, and drop what nobody reads. Keep the same titles and meta descriptions on pages that already rank well.
- Tip
- keep titles on ranking pages
Load 301 redirects before you switch the domain
CutoverImport your redirect table into the new platform, then click through your top twenty URLs by hand. The goal is simple: no page that gets traffic should land on a 404. A merchant who moved to Shopify said redirecting his best-ranking pages first was "very easy" once the list was ready.
- Type
- 301, page by page
Switch over, email customers, keep the old database
AfterPick a quiet week, not the one before Black Friday. Email customers to explain they'll need a new password, since most platforms can't read PrestaShop's. Keep the old store and its database offline for a few weeks while you check orders and redirects in Search Console.
- Keep
- old database for a few weeks
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
What makes a PrestaShop exit go wrong
The same mistakes show up in Shopify community threads, on the PrestaShop forum and in migration app reviews. None of them are hard technical problems. They're things people forget.
Skipping redirects
This is the expensive one. Your ID-based URLs disappear, Google hits empty pages, and years of rankings fade. A redirect table built before cutover prevents most of the damage.
Comparing plans, not apps
A $29 plan says nothing about your real bill. Features your PrestaShop modules handled, like invoices, reviews or loyalty, often turn into monthly apps. Add them up first.
Promising the same passwords
PrestaShop hashes passwords in a way other platforms can't reuse. Have the "set your new password" email ready, or your support inbox finds out on day one.
Shutting down the old store too soon
Cancel hosting on launch day and you lose your only reference copy if an order or a customer is missing. Keep it a few weeks, closed to the public.
Moving in peak season
A cutover between sales peaks gives you time to fix the redirects you missed. During Black Friday, every small gap costs revenue.
Picking the platform before the reason
Leaving to escape server work? WooCommerce won't help. Leaving because of modules? Hosted won't either. Go back to why you're leaving before you sign. Thinking about a site builder like Squarespace instead? Read why its users switch from Squarespace once their store grows.
- CSV export of products, customers and orders
- Full database and image backup
- Module audit with a replacement for each
- URL list ranked by traffic and backlinks
- Sample import checked (combinations, images, groups)
- 301 redirect table loaded and spot-checked
- Password reset email ready
- Old store kept offline for a few weeks
PrestaShop alternatives: common questions
What is the best alternative to PrestaShop?
For most small stores, Shopify, because it removes the hosting and upgrade work that pushes people off PrestaShop. If you have a developer and want to own your stack, WooCommerce. For large catalogs or B2B, BigCommerce or Shopware.
Is PrestaShop still supported after the cyber_Folks acquisition?
Yes. cyber_Folks bought PrestaShop in 2026 and announced layoffs soon after, but the project keeps shipping, including PrestaShop 9. The risk is about priorities, not a shutdown. If your store is business-critical, keep an exit plan current even if you stay.
Is it better to move from PrestaShop to Shopify or to WooCommerce?
Shopify if you want to stop doing technical work, WooCommerce if someone on your team enjoys it. WooCommerce keeps PrestaShop's model (open source, your own server), so it keeps the same upkeep. Shopify trades that for a monthly bill and fixed URLs.
How much does a PrestaShop to Shopify migration cost?
From free to a few hundred dollars for the data, plus the theme. PrestaShop Importer is free up to 100 products and 50 orders or customers, then $5 to $99 one time; the developer's done-for-you service is $299. The new design is usually the bigger line item.
Will I lose SEO when I leave PrestaShop?
Only if you skip redirects. PrestaShop URLs carry an ID no other platform uses, so every indexed page needs a 301 to its new address. Start with pages that get traffic or backlinks, and watch Search Console for several weeks.
I don't use euros. What do PrestaShop Hosted and Shopware cost me?
Both publish prices in euros only, before VAT: €24 a month billed yearly for PrestaShop Hosted, from €600 a month for Shopware Rise. Your bank or card provider sets the conversion, so check the official pricing page and your card terms rather than a fixed dollar figure. Shopify and BigCommerce bill in dollars.
Can my customers log in after the move?
With their email, yes; with their old password, almost never. Passwords are hashed and don't transfer to Shopify. Send a password reset invite on launch day.
I'm still on PrestaShop 1.6. Upgrade or switch?
Get a quote for both. Version 1.6 lost support in 2019, and moving to 9 means rebuilding your theme and modules anyway. If you're rebuilding regardless, switching platforms may not cost more, so this is the right time to ask.
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One store to move, one destination, one clear plan. That's it.