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Hire Magento Developers Who Build Adobe Commerce Stores That Convert
Looking to hire Magento developers in 2026? TESSA Marketing + Technology has been a Magento development agency since the early Magento 1 days, and our Magento developers ship Adobe Commerce stores, B2B portals, and PWA storefronts for clients across the United States. Whether you need to hire Magento developers for a new Adobe Commerce build, hire Magento developers for a Magento Open Source customization, or hire Magento developers to migrate an aging Magento 1 ecommerce site, our team has the technical expertise to deliver.
Magento, now known as Adobe Commerce, is one of the most popular ecommerce platforms globally. Adobe Commerce powers some of the biggest online stores in the world — and demands skilled Magento developers who understand the Adobe Commerce architecture inside and out. The Adobe Commerce platform enhances ecommerce capabilities through integration with CRM systems and software solutions, offering advanced features like improved front-end performance and security compliance.
Our Magento developers handle the full lifecycle of Adobe Commerce work: theme development, custom extensions, performance optimization, security hardening, migrations, integrations, and ongoing support. Hire Magento developers from TESSA when you want a US-based Magento agency that knows Adobe Commerce deeply.
Talk with our Magento developers about your project. Call 1-800-586-1553 or Book a Free Strategy Call
What Is a Magento Developer?
A Magento developer is a specialized software developer who builds, customizes, and maintains ecommerce stores on the Magento and Adobe Commerce platform. Magento developers write PHP, work with the Adobe Commerce module system, build custom themes, and integrate online stores with payment gateways, ERP systems, marketing tools, and shipping providers. The role spans backend Magento development, frontend web design, performance optimization, and operational maintenance of the Magento store after launch.
What Does a Magento Developer Do?
A Magento developer’s daily work covers a wide range of activities. Magento developers design and develop custom themes, build custom extensions, implement payment gateways, troubleshoot Adobe Commerce issues, optimize site performance, and collaborate with designers and project managers to ship complete ecommerce site features. The best Magento developers also bring strategic thinking — recommending Adobe Commerce architecture decisions that support sustainable growth.
A Magento developer is responsible for the technical health of the Magento commerce store. That includes managing extension conflicts, applying security patches, running performance audits, and coordinating with the broader development team on releases. Effective project management is a core part of how a Magento developer operates day-to-day — a Magento developer who can’t communicate timelines and tradeoffs to stakeholders will struggle no matter how strong their PHP chops.
Magento Developer vs Adobe Commerce Developer
The names are interchangeable. Adobe acquired Magento in 2018 and rebranded Magento Commerce as Adobe Commerce in 2021. Magento Open Source remains free and community-supported, while Adobe Commerce is the paid enterprise edition with additional features. A Magento developer working today builds on either Magento Open Source or Adobe Commerce — most working developers can do both. Adobe Commerce builds tend to be larger and more complex; Magento Open Source builds appeal to smaller online retailers with leaner budgets.
Adobe Commerce Cloud and Adobe Commerce On-Premise
Adobe Commerce comes in two deployment flavors: Adobe Commerce Cloud (managed hosting on AWS) and Adobe Commerce on-premise (self-hosted). Adobe Commerce Cloud handles infrastructure, monitoring, and deployment workflows for you. Adobe Commerce on-premise gives full control to your team but requires hands-on operational expertise. Both run the same Adobe Commerce codebase, and most Magento developers work fluently with both.
Magento Open Source vs Adobe Commerce
Magento Open Source is free, community-supported, and suitable for smaller stores and online businesses with limited budgets. Adobe Commerce is paid, includes B2B features, content staging, advanced reporting, and Adobe support. The right choice depends on store size, complexity, and budget. A Magento development agency can help evaluate the tradeoffs — for many growing brands, Magento Open Source is sufficient for years before an Adobe Commerce upgrade makes sense.
Adobe Commerce Development: A Closer Look
Adobe Commerce development is one of the most demanding disciplines in ecommerce development today. Adobe Commerce development covers backend PHP, frontend JavaScript, theme work, custom modules, performance tuning, and integration with the broader business stack. Our Adobe Commerce development services span every layer of the platform.
The Magento platform has evolved dramatically since the early Magento 1 days. The Magento platform today is Adobe Commerce — a more modern, more capable ecommerce platform than what existed five years ago. The Magento platform’s architecture supports a wide range of ecommerce solutions, from simple B2C stores to complex B2B platforms serving global markets. Our team builds on the Magento platform across all of these use cases.
Ecommerce Development Approaches on Adobe Commerce
Ecommerce development on Adobe Commerce can take several approaches. Traditional ecommerce development uses the standard Adobe Commerce frontend with custom themes. Headless ecommerce development decouples the frontend from the Adobe Commerce backend, using a PWA or custom frontend. Hybrid ecommerce development combines elements of both. The right ecommerce development approach depends on your specific business goals, scale, and team capabilities.
Our ecommerce development services cover all three approaches. Ecommerce development on Adobe Commerce is rarely a one-size-fits-all decision. We help clients pick the ecommerce development approach that fits their business model, their growth plans, and their internal team’s capabilities. Ecommerce development decisions early in a project compound for years — the right ecommerce development architecture supports sustainable growth; the wrong one creates technical debt that hampers growth.
Commerce Development on Adobe Commerce: Core Capabilities
Commerce development on Adobe Commerce covers every aspect of running an online store. Commerce development includes product catalog management, customer accounts, checkout flows, payment processing, shipping integration, tax calculation, order management, and post-purchase workflows. Adobe Commerce ships with strong defaults for all of these, but custom commerce development is usually needed to match a specific business model.
The commerce development work on a typical Adobe Commerce project involves dozens of moving parts. Commerce development for a B2C store focuses on conversion optimization, mobile experience, and discoverability. Commerce development for a B2B store focuses on account hierarchies, custom pricing, quote management, and approval workflows. Each commerce development engagement has its own priorities, and our team adapts the commerce development scope to match.
Adobe Commerce Modules and Extensions
Adobe Commerce’s module system is one of the platform’s strengths. Modules let commerce development teams extend the platform cleanly without modifying core code. Our Adobe Commerce development team writes custom modules following Adobe’s coding standards and architectural conventions — clean module boundaries, proper service contracts, and comprehensive tests. Module-based ecommerce development keeps the codebase maintainable as the store grows.
Third-party module ecosystems give Adobe Commerce development teams a head start on common ecommerce development needs — payment gateways, shipping integrations, marketing tools, search enhancements. Our team evaluates third-party modules carefully before recommending them; not every module on the Adobe Commerce Marketplace meets our quality bar. Good module selection is part of professional ecommerce development practice.
Ecommerce Solutions Tailored to Your Business
Off-the-shelf ecommerce solutions rarely fit every business perfectly. Our team builds ecommerce solutions that match your specific business model — whether that’s B2C retail, B2B wholesale, subscription commerce, marketplace operations, or hybrid models. Tailored ecommerce solutions on Adobe Commerce can support complex catalog structures, custom pricing logic, and integration with the rest of your operational stack.
Adobe Commerce is one of the most flexible ecommerce solutions on the market, and that flexibility is exactly why complex businesses choose it. Ecommerce solutions on Adobe Commerce can grow with the business — what starts as a simple Magento store can evolve into a sophisticated commerce platform over years of incremental development.
Adobe Commerce vs Other Ecommerce Platforms
Compared to other e commerce platforms, Adobe Commerce is more capable but also more complex. Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and other e commerce platforms target different segments of the market. Shopify is the easiest to start with among modern e commerce platforms. BigCommerce sits between Shopify and Adobe Commerce in complexity. WooCommerce is the most popular among smaller online stores on WordPress. Among enterprise e commerce platforms, Adobe Commerce competes with Salesforce Commerce Cloud and SAP Commerce.
The right ecommerce platform depends on store complexity, budget, and team capabilities. Smaller online stores often start on simpler e commerce platforms and migrate to Adobe Commerce as they grow. Larger online stores typically need the flexibility that Adobe Commerce offers from the start. Our team evaluates the right ecommerce platform for each client honestly — sometimes that’s Adobe Commerce, sometimes it’s not. We’re a Magento agency, but we don’t push Adobe Commerce when a different ecommerce platform fits better.
Among e commerce platforms, Adobe Commerce stands out for B2B capabilities, customization depth, and enterprise scale. Among e commerce platforms, Adobe Commerce is also the most demanding in terms of operational complexity — Adobe Commerce stores need real DevOps attention that simpler e commerce platforms don’t.
Online Stores We’ve Built on Adobe Commerce
Our team has built online stores across many industries and scales. Online stores we’ve shipped range from small boutique retailers to enterprise B2B catalogs with hundreds of thousands of SKUs. Online stores in the B2C retail space, online stores in the B2B wholesale space, and online stores serving specialized niches all benefit from Adobe Commerce’s flexibility.
The online stores we ship share certain qualities — fast page loads, clean checkout flows, strong product search, and reliable inventory management. Online stores that lack these basics struggle to convert traffic into revenue, no matter how much organic traffic they get. Online stores that have these basics dialed in can compound growth year over year. Our online stores work also emphasizes web design quality and mobile experience.
Magento Projects Across Industries
Our Magento projects span B2C retail, B2B wholesale, manufacturing, subscription commerce, and service-based businesses. Each Magento project has its own constraints, but the core engineering disciplines transfer. The breadth of our Magento projects means we’ve seen most of the problems that come up before — and our pattern recognition shortens delivery timelines on new Magento projects.
Magento Services Lineup
TESSA’s Magento services include new builds, migrations, performance optimization, security hardening, custom module development, theme work, PWA development, and ongoing support. Our Magento services are designed to cover the full lifecycle of an Adobe Commerce store. Magento services aren’t one-size-fits-all; we scope each engagement around the specific needs of the client. Magento services on retainer give clients consistent capacity from the same team month after month.
Seamless Integration With the Rest of Your Stack
Adobe Commerce rarely stands alone. Most stores need seamless integration with ERP, CRM, marketing automation, shipping carriers, payment gateways, and analytics. Our team builds seamless integration between Adobe Commerce and your existing systems so data flows cleanly across the stack. Seamless integration matters because manual data sync between Adobe Commerce and other systems is where errors creep in.
The best seamless integration work is invisible — orders flow from Adobe Commerce to the ERP, inventory updates flow back, customers and their purchase history appear in the CRM, and marketing campaigns reflect real customer behavior. Seamless integration on Adobe Commerce projects requires careful API design and ongoing monitoring to keep the connections healthy.
Magento Development Services TESSA Offers
Our Magento web development services cover the full lifecycle of an Adobe Commerce project. Whether you’re starting fresh, replatforming from another ecommerce platform, or maintaining an existing Magento store, our Magento services are built around real ecommerce outcomes — not just shipping code.
Custom Adobe Commerce Theme Development
We build custom Adobe Commerce themes from scratch when off-the-shelf themes can’t deliver the brand experience you need. Custom Adobe Commerce theme work covers responsive web design, mobile-first layouts, accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA), and conversion-focused UX. Adobe Commerce theme development gives clients commerce development outcomes that pay off a unique storefront that reinforces brand identity and supports conversion.
Adobe Commerce themes that look generic perform like generic stores. Adobe Commerce commerce development of custom themes built around your brand identity, your products, and your customers deliver better engagement and better conversion rates. Our team’s web design background means we can hand off polished design and execute it cleanly in Adobe Commerce.
Custom Magento Extension Development
We build custom extensions for Magento and Adobe Commerce when off-the-shelf modules can’t deliver. Custom modules extend Magento beyond what the core platform offers — custom product types, custom checkout flows, custom shipping rules, custom B2B workflows, and bespoke integrations. These custom modules can also fill gaps where third-party modules introduce more risk than value.
Magento Migration and Replatforming
Migrating from Magento 1 to Adobe Commerce is one of our most common engagements. Magento 1 reached end of life in 2020, and any store still on Magento 1 is running unsupported software. Complex migrations from Magento 1 to Adobe Commerce require careful planning, data mapping, and theme rebuild — a Magento 1 theme cannot be ported directly to Adobe Commerce. We also handle complex migrations from Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and custom platforms to Adobe Commerce.
Adobe Commerce Speed Tuning
Speed tuning is one of the highest-value Adobe Commerce services we offer. Speed optimization alone can increase revenue by up to 30% for large stores, highlighting the importance of performance optimization in e-commerce. Performance optimization on Adobe Commerce covers Varnish cache tuning, full-page cache strategy, Redis configuration, database query optimization, JavaScript bundling, image optimization, and Magento-specific code review.
Tuning Adobe Commerce performance is its own specialty and requires deep technical expertise. Adobe Commerce has unique performance characteristics — the EAV database structure, the heavy frontend JavaScript, the complex layout XML system — that require Adobe Commerce-specific performance optimization techniques. Our team has tuned Adobe Commerce stores with focused technical expertise ranging from small B2C boutiques to enterprise B2B catalogs with hundreds of thousands of SKUs. Performance optimization isn’t a one-time task; the best performance optimization is continuous.
Adobe Commerce Security Hardening
Currently, 87% of Magento stores are at serious risk of cyberattacks without regular updates and monitoring. Adobe Commerce security hardening covers patch management, two-factor authentication, web application firewall configuration, extension audits, and admin URL obfuscation. Implementing security measures such as two-factor authentication and patch management can reduce breach costs by up to $4.88 million per incident.
Progressive Web App (PWA) Development
Implementing Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) can increase mobile engagement by 50% and raise mobile conversion rates to about 3.7%, above the industry average of 2.9%. Mobile traffic now accounts for over 70% of e-commerce visits, making mobile performance optimization crucial for increasing engagement and conversion rates. Our commerce development team builds PWA storefronts on Adobe Commerce using PWA Studio, Vue Storefront, or custom React/Next.js implementations.
PWA development is a major investment, but for stores with significant mobile traffic, PWA development pays back fast. Our team handles PWA development end-to-end — frontend in React or Vue, backend integration with Adobe Commerce GraphQL, and the operational tooling needed to keep both moving in sync.
Adobe Commerce B2B Development
Magento B2B stores often achieve an Average Order Value (AOV) 2.5 times higher than B2C stores, highlighting the strong B2B capabilities that developers can set up. Adobe Commerce B2B features include company accounts, shared catalogs, custom price lists, quote management, and credit limits. Our commerce development team has built complex B2B Adobe Commerce stores that handle distributor networks, dealer portals, and wholesale catalogs with thousands of SKUs.
Mobile App Development for Adobe Commerce
Mobile app development around an Adobe Commerce backend is a frequent ask. Native iOS and Android mobile app development consumes Adobe Commerce REST or GraphQL APIs to deliver app experiences on top of the Magento commerce store. Mobile app development teams need stable, well-documented backend APIs — and our Magento developers build those APIs with mobile app development consumption in mind.
Native mobile app development on top of Adobe Commerce delivers a different experience than a PWA — native mobile app development gets push notifications, biometric auth, and deeper device integration. Many of our clients combine PWA development for the web with native mobile app development for iOS and Android. Our mobile app development work covers iOS, Android, and React Native projects across many verticals. Mobile app development engagements typically pair our Adobe Commerce team with our mobile app development specialists.
ERP and CRM Integration
Adobe Commerce rarely stands alone. Most enterprise online stores need integration with ERP systems (NetSuite, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics) and CRM systems (Salesforce, HubSpot). Our Magento developers handle complex integrations between Adobe Commerce and back-office platforms — bidirectional product sync, inventory updates, order routing, and financial reconciliation. Adobe Commerce integration with enterprise back-office systems is one of the more delicate parts of any enterprise build.
Magento Commerce Store Maintenance and Ongoing Support
Ensuring long-term support and maintenance for your Magento store is vital for sustaining peak performance and preventing minor issues from escalating into major problems. Continuous maintenance includes software updates and security patches, which are crucial for protecting your store against vulnerabilities and ensuring compatibility with the latest technologies.
Our ongoing support packages cover Adobe Commerce core updates, extension updates, security patches, performance monitoring, uptime monitoring, and a real human point of contact when something breaks. A dedicated Magento developer can quickly address technical glitches, minimizing downtime and maintaining a smooth shopping experience, which helps safeguard your business reputation. Ongoing support tiers range from “fix what breaks” reactive support to full retainers with dedicated developers monitoring proactively.
Regular Audits
Regular audits by Magento experts can pinpoint potential improvements in performance, usability, and security, allowing for strategic enhancements that keep your store competitive and user-friendly. We perform technical audit work on Adobe Commerce stores as a standalone engagement or as part of broader ongoing support. A technical audit covers code quality, extension audit, performance audit, security audit, and SEO audit. Each technical audit produces a written report with prioritized recommendations.
Adobe Commerce SEO and Organic Traffic
Magento and Adobe Commerce stores live and die by organic traffic. Our Adobe Commerce SEO work covers technical SEO (URL structure, schema markup, page speed), on-page SEO (product page templates, category page optimization), and ongoing content strategy. Organic traffic on Adobe Commerce can grow consistently when the technical foundations are solid; organic traffic stalls when product page templates lack proper schema or when site speed kills crawl budget.
Adobe Commerce SEO requires careful coordination between the development team and the SEO team. Organic traffic improvements compound over time, and our integrated approach pairs Adobe Commerce work with broader digital marketing services.
Why Hire Magento Developers from TESSA
Over a Decade of Adobe Commerce Experience
TESSA has been building on Magento (now Adobe Commerce) since 2012. Our Magento developers have shipped Adobe Commerce projects across many verticals, scales, and Adobe Commerce versions. Our team’s deep understanding of Adobe Commerce internals comes from years of shipping production stores — not from bootcamp tutorials.
US-Based Magento Agency
Our Magento agency works from McLean, Virginia. You get same-time-zone collaboration with a real Magento agency team — not handoffs across ten time zones. Proactive communication from a US-based Magento agency makes a difference on complex Adobe Commerce projects. As a Magento agency with deep US business experience, we understand the regulatory, payment, and tax requirements that affect Adobe Commerce stores serving US customers.
Adobe Commerce Performance Improvements That Drive Real ROI
Magento developers can improve store performance and architecture, leading to a potential 516% ROI over three years for enterprise projects. Our team has delivered significant improvements in Adobe Commerce performance for many clients. Significant improvements in conversion rate, organic traffic, and operational efficiency translate directly to online sales and revenue.
Highly Skilled Professionals
TESSA’s Magento developers are highly skilled professionals with deep Adobe Commerce expertise. Highly skilled professionals on our team include certified Magento developers, Adobe Commerce architects, frontend specialists, and DevOps engineers. Our seasoned engineers have shipped hundreds of Adobe Commerce projects.
Tailored Solutions for Your Business Model
We deliver tailored solutions that match your business model — whether that’s B2C retail, B2B wholesale, marketplaces, subscription commerce, or hybrid models. Tailored solutions on Adobe Commerce cover everything from product catalog architecture to checkout flow design. Tailored solutions matter more in ecommerce than in most categories because every business model has its own quirks. Generic tailored solutions aren’t tailored; we build tailored solutions around the specific business model in front of us.
Proactive Communication
Proactive communication is one of the things our clients consistently praise. Proactive communication means we surface issues before they become problems, share status without waiting to be asked, and explain technical decisions in business terms. Proactive communication from our Adobe Commerce team translates directly to fewer project delays.
Effective Project Management
Every Adobe Commerce engagement at TESSA gets effective project management — weekly check-ins, shared project boards, structured design reviews, and a clear escalation path when issues arise. Effective project management is one of the most undervalued parts of Adobe Commerce development services. Effective project management is what keeps complex projects on track. Effective project management also catches scope creep before it eats the timeline and the budget.
Competitive Pricing for Adobe Commerce Development
We offer competitive pricing on Adobe Commerce engagements. Competitive pricing reflects what the work actually costs — not inflated agency rates or unsustainably low offshore rates. Competitive pricing also means transparent pricing — clients know what they’re paying for.
Trusted Since 2012
TESSA is rated 5.0 out of 5 from 70+ business owners. We’re a Google Partner, WP Engine Partner, and Shopify Partner, and we’ve won Vega, Hermes, Muse, Horizon, and New York Digital awards for our web development and digital marketing work.
Web Development on the Magento Platform
Web development on the Magento platform is its own discipline. Adobe Commerce web development combines traditional web development skills — HTML, CSS, JavaScript — with platform-specific knowledge of the Magento module system, layout XML, and Knockout.js frontend patterns. Modern web development on Adobe Commerce also increasingly uses React or Vue through PWA Studio or custom headless implementations.
Frontend Web Development
Frontend web development on Adobe Commerce historically used Knockout.js, RequireJS, and LESS. Modern frontend web development on Adobe Commerce projects is increasingly headless — using React or Vue to consume Adobe Commerce APIs through GraphQL. Frontend web development on Adobe Commerce requires deeper specialization than frontend web development on simpler platforms. Frontend web development skills like accessibility, performance optimization, and responsive design transfer cleanly between Adobe Commerce and other ecommerce platforms.
Backend Web Development
Backend web development on Adobe Commerce uses PHP, MySQL, Redis, and Elasticsearch. Backend web development on the Magento platform requires deep PHP expertise plus knowledge of Adobe Commerce’s specific architectural patterns — dependency injection, plugins/interceptors, observers, and the layout system. A strong backend web development hire for Adobe Commerce is rare — finding a senior web developer with deep Adobe Commerce experience takes time.
Website Development for Adjacent Properties
Most Adobe Commerce stores sit inside a broader website development effort. Marketing websites, blog properties, landing pages, and content sites often run on WordPress, Webflow, or custom platforms alongside the Adobe Commerce store. Our website development team handles the full digital presence across all these properties. Website development that integrates cleanly with Adobe Commerce — through SSO, shared analytics, and consistent brand identity — keeps the user experience cohesive.
Website development for ecommerce brands often expands as the business grows. A new brand might start with just a Shopify store; over time, the website development needs grow to include a marketing site on WordPress, a blog for organic traffic, and eventually a custom Adobe Commerce build. Our website development team handles all of these. Website development across multiple platforms requires coordination — and our integrated approach saves clients the headache of stitching together work from multiple vendors. Website development on multiple platforms also benefits from shared design system work and unified web design standards.
Website development decisions early in a brand’s lifecycle shape everything that comes after. Picking the right ecommerce platform, the right CMS, the right hosting setup, and the right design system avoids costly migrations later. Our website development consulting helps clients make these decisions deliberately rather than ending up with mismatched systems that need expensive rework. Website development is rarely a one-time effort; the best brands invest in continuous website development over years.
Full-Service Adobe Commerce Engagements
Our full-service Adobe Commerce offering bundles all the disciplines an Adobe Commerce store needs — backend coding, frontend work, theme design, web design, integration, and performance optimization. As a full-service Adobe Commerce provider, we deliver the entire stack rather than just one piece. Many shops focus narrowly on backend work or narrowly on frontend; our full-stack approach reduces handoff seams and produces cleaner outcomes.
Skills Strong Magento Developers Should Have
When hiring Magento developers, consider their technical expertise, including proficiency in PHP, MySQL, and front-end technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Strong Magento developers need broader technical skills than just framework knowledge.
Adobe Commerce Architecture and Platform Knowledge
Strong Magento developers need deep understanding of Adobe Commerce architecture — the module system, the dependency injection container, the layout XML system, the EAV database model, the cache layers, and how Magento commerce store requests flow through the framework. Deep understanding of Adobe Commerce internals separates strong Magento developers from those who only know how to install extensions.
PHP and Backend Development
Adobe Commerce runs on PHP. Strong Magento developers need PHP fluency — modern PHP 8.x features, OOP patterns, design patterns, and the discipline to write maintainable PHP code. Backend technical proficiency also includes MySQL fluency, Redis, RabbitMQ, and Elasticsearch — all components of a modern Adobe Commerce stack.
Frontend Development and Web Design
Adobe Commerce frontend development uses Knockout.js, RequireJS, LESS, and increasingly modern frameworks through PWA Studio. Strong Magento developers handle frontend technical skills alongside backend work. Frontend web design integration also matters — Adobe Commerce theme development requires comfort with both the PHP backend and the JavaScript frontend.
Database Design and Performance
Strong Magento developers think about database design from the start. Adobe Commerce’s EAV model is powerful but performance-sensitive — poorly designed custom attributes can drag down query performance. Database tuning and indexing are critical Adobe Commerce skills.
Version Control and DevOps
Modern Adobe Commerce development uses Git, Composer, Docker, and CI/CD pipelines. Strong Magento developers ship through deployment automation, not manual FTP. Adobe Commerce Cloud has its own deployment workflow that developers need to know.
Robust Architecture and Software Architecture Patterns
Strong Magento developers think beyond the framework to broader software architecture. Robust architecture decisions early in an Adobe Commerce project pay dividends for years. Robust architecture includes clear module boundaries, well-defined service contracts, and the discipline to keep custom code out of vendor directories.
Communication and Business Understanding
The strongest Magento developers can translate business goals into Adobe Commerce code. A Magento developer who doesn’t understand the underlying business model will build features that look right but solve the wrong problem. Communication skills, business objectives understanding, and the ability to challenge requirements when something doesn’t make sense — these matter as much as raw technical proficiency.
How to Hire Magento Developers
When hiring Magento developers, it’s essential to define your project’s scope and requirements clearly, as this sets a solid foundation for the hiring process. Hiring Magento developers in 2026 is competitive — good Adobe Commerce talent has options, and the hiring process needs to match.
Step 1: Define Project Scope and Requirements
Start by defining clear project scope. A vague project scope produces vague hires. Project scope should clarify what’s a must-have, what’s nice-to-have, and what’s explicitly out of scope. Document business goals, integration requirements, and the level of customization needed. Project scope drives every downstream hiring decision.
Step 2: Decide Between Freelance, Agency, Offshore, or In-House
Freelance Magento developers offer flexibility and are often more cost-effective, making them suitable for smaller projects or businesses with limited budgets. Magento agencies provide a team of specialists that can handle larger projects with complex needs, offering a comprehensive package of design, development, and maintenance services. Offshore Magento developers can provide cost savings and access to a global talent pool, but may present challenges such as time zone differences and cultural barriers. In-house Magento developers offer more control over projects and direct communication with the team, but can be more expensive due to salaries and benefits.
Step 3: Source Candidates
Sourcing potential candidates for Magento development can be done through various channels, including job boards, LinkedIn, and specialized freelance platforms. For agency hires, look at portfolios, case studies, and Magento development companies with proven Adobe Commerce experience. Magento development companies that have shipped Adobe Commerce projects in your industry vertical are usually a better fit than generic developers.
Step 4: Interview and Technical Assessment
Conducting interviews and technical assessments is crucial in the hiring process to ensure that candidates possess the necessary skills and experience for your Magento project. Ask candidates about specific Adobe Commerce features — the dependency injection container, plugin/interceptor system, the layout XML, the EAV model. Generic PHP questions reveal generic answers; specific Adobe Commerce questions reveal who’s actually shipped Adobe Commerce projects.
Step 5: Evaluate Portfolio and Past Projects
It’s important to evaluate a Magento developer’s portfolio and past projects to gauge their experience and capability in handling similar e-commerce implementations. Project history in your specific vertical, at your specific scale, is the most useful signal. Past projects also reveal communication patterns — how the developer documented work, how they handled change requests, how they wrapped up engagements.
Step 6: Discovery Call Before Committing
Run a discovery call before committing to a long engagement. The discovery call lets you evaluate technical depth, communication style, and cultural fit before signing a contract. TESSA offers a free consultation for every potential Adobe Commerce engagement.
Step 7: Run a Paid Trial Project
Whatever the hiring path, a paid trial project beats any interview. A two-week scoped engagement on real Adobe Commerce work reveals whether the Magento developer ships clean code, communicates well, and delivers on time.
Types of Magento Developers: Freelance, Agency, Offshore, In-House
Freelance Magento Developers
Freelance Magento developers offer flexibility and are often more cost-effective, making them suitable for smaller projects or businesses with limited budgets. Freelance Magento developers typically work on a project-based or hourly basis. The freelance model fits well for short engagements, audits, and well-defined feature additions. Freelance Magento developers can be challenging for larger projects that need design, development, project management, and QA happening in parallel.
Magento Agency
A Magento agency like TESSA provides a team of specialists — designers, Adobe Commerce developers, frontend engineers, DevOps, QA, and project managers. A Magento agency handles larger projects with complex needs, offering a comprehensive package of design, development, and maintenance services. A Magento agency is usually the right fit for new builds, complex migrations, and ongoing engagements that need consistent capacity. Choosing the right Magento agency requires evaluating not just Adobe Commerce expertise but project management discipline, communication style, and post-launch support.
Offshore Magento Developers
Offshore Magento developers can provide cost savings and access to a global talent pool. Offshore Magento developers typically charge lower hourly rates than US-based developers. The cost savings can be substantial, but offshore engagements come with real overhead — time zone differences, communication gaps, project management complexity, and cultural barriers. For well-defined tasks with clear specs, offshore Magento developers can work well. For complex projects with evolving requirements, offshore models often struggle.
In-House Magento Developers
In-house Magento developers offer more control over projects and direct communication with the team, but can be more expensive due to salaries and benefits. In-house Magento developers work well for businesses with continuous Adobe Commerce development needs — large stores, frequent feature releases, deep integration with internal systems. In-house Magento developers also build institutional knowledge that doesn’t walk out the door at the end of an engagement. The downside is cost: in-house Magento developers come with salaries, benefits, infrastructure, and the recruiting cost to hire them in the first place.
Magento Developer Costs and Project Cost
The cost of hiring Magento developers varies significantly based on factors such as location, experience, and project complexity. Adobe Commerce project cost depends on many variables, and understanding project cost upfront helps clients budget realistically.
Hourly Rates by Region
US-based Magento developers bill $100-$250 per hour for senior freelance work, with the top end reserved for Adobe Commerce specialists. Salaried US Magento developers earn $100,000-$180,000 for senior roles. Outside the US, hourly rates run $40-$140 in Western Europe, $25-$90 in Eastern Europe, and $15-$60 in South Asia.
Project Cost Drivers
Project cost depends on project scope, customization level, integration count, performance requirements, and timeline. A simple Adobe Commerce store with minimal commerce development customization has a project cost in the $20K-$50K range. A mid-sized Adobe Commerce build with custom theme, custom modules, and ERP integration has a project cost in the $80K-$200K range. Enterprise Adobe Commerce builds — complex catalogs, multi-store setups, B2B features, PWA frontends — have a project cost that can exceed $500K. Project cost on long engagements is also driven by the project management overhead required to keep work coordinated.
Total Cost of Ownership
Project cost is just the initial build. The total project cost over three years includes hosting, ongoing support, extension licenses, periodic upgrades, and developer time for new features. Total project cost over a typical Adobe Commerce store’s lifecycle is 2-3x the initial build cost. Understanding total project cost upfront prevents budget surprises.
Freelance vs Agency vs Offshore Project Cost
Freelance Magento developers typically charge lower rates compared to agencies, making them a more budget-friendly option for smaller projects. In-house Magento developers incur additional costs beyond salaries, including benefits and infrastructure expenses, which can significantly increase the overall budget. Offshore Magento developers often provide cost savings, as their rates are typically lower than those of local developers, allowing businesses to access skilled talent at a reduced price. The right model depends on project cost tolerance and project complexity.
Hidden Costs
Project cost extends beyond hourly rates. Hidden costs include extension licenses (which often cost $200-$2,000+ each), hosting (especially for Adobe Commerce Cloud), security audits, performance audits, third-party API costs, and the time your internal team spends managing the engagement. A realistic project cost estimate accounts for all of these.
Long-Term Support and Adobe Commerce Maintenance
Ensuring long-term support and maintenance for your Magento store is vital for sustaining peak performance and preventing minor issues from escalating into major problems.
Continuous Maintenance
Continuous maintenance includes software updates and security patches, which are crucial for protecting your store against vulnerabilities and ensuring compatibility with the latest technologies. Adobe Commerce releases security patches throughout the year, and applying patches promptly is non-negotiable.
Dedicated Magento Developer for Operations
A dedicated Magento developer can quickly address technical glitches, minimizing downtime and maintaining a smooth shopping experience, which helps safeguard your business reputation. Our dedicated developers work on retainer with clients who need consistent capacity month over month.
Regular Adobe Commerce Audits
Regular audits by Magento experts can pinpoint potential improvements in performance, usability, and security, allowing for strategic enhancements that keep your store competitive and user-friendly. We recommend a quarterly technical audit at minimum, with a deeper annual audit covering performance, security, and SEO.
Adobe Commerce Security
Patching and Updates
Currently, 87% of Magento stores are at serious risk of cyberattacks without regular updates and monitoring. Adobe Commerce security depends on prompt patch application. Adobe Commerce releases patches throughout the year, and stores that fall behind on patches become attractive targets.
Two-Factor Authentication and Access Control
Implementing security measures such as two-factor authentication and patch management can reduce breach costs by up to $4.88 million per incident. Two-factor authentication is now standard on Adobe Commerce admin accounts.
Common Adobe Commerce Vulnerabilities
Common Adobe Commerce vulnerabilities include SQL injection through poorly-written custom extensions, XSS through unescaped template output, CSRF through missing form keys, and supply-chain attacks through compromised third-party extensions. Our security hardening engagements address all of these.
Performance Optimization for Adobe Commerce
Speed Optimization Drives Revenue
Speed optimization alone can increase revenue by up to 30% for large stores, highlighting the importance of performance in e-commerce. Adobe Commerce commerce development for performance is one of the highest-ROI investments an online store can make.
Mobile Performance Optimization
Mobile traffic now accounts for over 70% of e-commerce visits, making mobile performance optimization crucial for increasing engagement and conversion rates. Mobile performance optimization on Adobe Commerce includes image optimization, lazy loading, code splitting, and PWA development for stores ready to invest in a Progressive Web App.
Caching Strategy
Performance commerce development on Adobe Commerce depends on proper caching. Varnish full-page cache, Redis for sessions and cache, and Elasticsearch for catalog search are standard for production Adobe Commerce deployments. Our performance optimization work tunes each layer of the cache stack for the specific traffic patterns of each Magento store.
Adobe Commerce B2B Features
Adobe Commerce includes B2B features that Magento Open Source doesn’t ship with out of the box. B2B-specific functionality on Adobe Commerce includes company accounts, shared catalogs, custom pricing per customer group, quote management, requisition lists, and credit limits.
B2B Average Order Value
Magento B2B stores often achieve an Average Order Value (AOV) 2.5 times higher than B2C stores, highlighting the strong B2B capabilities that developers can set up. The B2B opportunity on Adobe Commerce is substantial for the right business model.
Custom B2B Workflows
B2B workflows on Adobe Commerce often need customization beyond what the platform ships with. Custom B2B workflows include approval chains, multi-step checkout, custom shipping rules for wholesale, and integration with ERP for inventory and pricing. Our commerce development team has built many custom B2B implementations on Adobe Commerce.
PWA Development on Adobe Commerce
PWA development is one of the biggest shifts in Adobe Commerce over the last few years. PWA development decouples the storefront from the Adobe Commerce backend, delivering a faster, app-like experience to users.
Mobile Engagement and PWA
Implementing Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) can increase mobile engagement by 50% and raise mobile conversion rates to about 3.7%, above the industry average of 2.9%. For stores with significant mobile traffic, PWA development is one of the highest-ROI Adobe Commerce investments.
PWA Studio, Vue Storefront, and Custom PWAs
Adobe Commerce supports several PWA approaches. PWA Studio is Adobe’s official framework. Vue Storefront is a popular open-source alternative. For stores that need maximum flexibility, custom PWA implementations on React or Next.js consume Adobe Commerce GraphQL APIs directly. Our team has shipped all three approaches.
Mobile App Development With Adobe Commerce Backends
Mobile app development around an Adobe Commerce backend is increasingly common. Native mobile app development — iOS and Android — consumes Adobe Commerce REST APIs or GraphQL endpoints to deliver app-quality experiences on top of the Magento commerce store. Mobile app development requires careful API design so the mobile app development team isn’t starved for endpoints or data.
iOS Mobile App Development
iOS mobile app development for Adobe Commerce uses Swift and SwiftUI to deliver native iPhone and iPad experiences. iOS mobile app development teams need stable Adobe Commerce APIs, proper authentication, and push notification integration. iOS mobile app development for ecommerce typically includes features like wishlists, push notifications for order status, biometric authentication for checkout, and Apple Pay integration.
Android Mobile App Development
Android mobile app development for Adobe Commerce uses Kotlin or Java to build native Android experiences. Android mobile app development for ecommerce has similar needs to iOS — stable APIs, authentication, push notifications. Android mobile app development teams often work in parallel with iOS teams, sharing API contracts but delivering platform-specific UX.
Cross-Platform Mobile App Development
Cross-platform mobile app development with React Native or Flutter delivers iOS and Android from a single codebase. Cross-platform mobile app development reduces engineering cost when iOS and Android share most of their UX. Cross-platform mobile app development frameworks have matured significantly — modern React Native and Flutter mobile apps perform nearly as well as native apps for most ecommerce use cases.
Mobile App Development Costs
Mobile app development is a significant investment. Native iOS and native Android mobile app development typically runs $80K-$300K per platform for a full ecommerce app. Cross-platform mobile app development can reduce that cost by 30-50% by sharing code between platforms. Mobile app development for Adobe Commerce backends is on top of the cost of the Adobe Commerce build itself.
When to Choose Mobile App Development vs PWA
PWA development and native mobile app development serve different purposes. PWAs deliver an app-like experience without requiring users to install anything. Native mobile app development delivers deeper device integration, push notifications, biometric auth, and app store presence. Many clients eventually do both — PWA for the web experience and native mobile app development for engaged customers. The right choice depends on customer behavior and business priorities.
Dedicated Developers and Adobe Commerce Engagement Models
Many clients hire dedicated developers for ongoing Adobe Commerce work. Dedicated developers give clients consistent capacity from the same engineers month after month — no re-onboarding, no context loss, no scrambling to find help when something breaks. Hiring dedicated developers from TESSA means the same Adobe Commerce specialists work on your store every week.
Dedicated developers are most valuable for clients with continuous Adobe Commerce needs — frequent feature releases, integration work, performance tuning, and ongoing support. Dedicated developers also build deep context on your specific store over time, which means each subsequent project ships faster. Hiring dedicated developers through a Magento development agency like TESSA is also lower-risk than hiring in-house — when a dedicated developer is unavailable, the agency rotates capacity rather than leaving the work stranded.
Our dedicated developers come in several tiers: half-time, full-time, and surge capacity. Half-time dedicated developers work 20 hours a week on your Adobe Commerce store. Full-time dedicated developers are 40 hours a week. Surge capacity scales up when you have a major release or migration coming. Most clients hiring dedicated developers settle into a half-time or full-time arrangement after the first few months.
Why Dedicated Developers Outperform Pooled Resources
Hiring dedicated developers consistently produces better outcomes than pooled resourcing models where different developers touch your codebase each sprint. Dedicated developers know your code, your conventions, your team, and your priorities. When a bug surfaces in production, a dedicated developer fixes it in minutes instead of spending hours getting oriented. Dedicated developers also catch architectural drift early because they see every change.
Hire Magento Developers for Specific Engagements
Beyond dedicated developers, some clients hire Magento developers for specific scoped engagements — a migration, a PWA build, a performance optimization sprint, or a complex integration. These scoped engagements use the same dedicated developers from our pool, but with a defined start and end. Whether you hire Magento developers for ongoing work or hire Magento developers for a one-time engagement, our team is set up to deliver.
When you hire Magento developers from TESSA, the engagement starts with a kickoff call to align on goals, timeline, and communication patterns. We hire Magento developers carefully ourselves so the team we put on your project has the technical expertise to deliver. Hire Magento developers from us when you want predictable timely delivery and strong communication. We hire Magento developers who care about the work, not just the paycheck.
TESSA as a Development Company Beyond Magento
TESSA isn’t just a Magento agency. As a full-service development company, we ship work across PHP, JavaScript, Python, and .NET. Our development company brings web development, mobile app development, design, and digital marketing under one roof. The development company approach means clients don’t have to coordinate across multiple vendors to get a full digital project shipped.
Development Company Structure
Our development company structure pairs specialists with project management leads. Each Adobe Commerce engagement at our development company gets a project manager, a lead Magento developer, supporting developers, a designer when web design work is part of scope, and QA. The development company structure scales up or down depending on project complexity. Larger development company engagements bring more resources; smaller engagements run leaner.
Development Company Process and Discipline
A serious development company runs serious processes. Our development company process covers discovery, scoping, design reviews, code review, automated testing, staging deployments, and structured launches. Process discipline at our development company is one of the things our clients consistently praise. A development company without process discipline produces unpredictable results; we work hard to be predictable.
Magento Development Agency Plus Broader Services
As a Magento development agency, we lead with Adobe Commerce expertise. As a broader development company, we round out the Magento development agency work with related services — SEO, paid search, content services, web design, and managed hosting. Clients hiring a Magento development agency that’s also a broader development company get the convenience of one vendor across many disciplines.
Adobe Commerce Development for Different Business Objectives
Different clients come to us with different business objectives. Some want to grow online sales aggressively. Others want operational efficiency improvements. Others want to enter new markets. Adobe Commerce can serve all of these business objectives, but the specific Magento development work varies. Our team aligns commerce development work with the underlying business objectives from kickoff.
Business objectives also shape the right ecommerce platform choice. For clients whose primary business objective is rapid online sales growth in a single market, simpler platforms might fit better than Adobe Commerce. For clients with global business objectives or complex B2B needs, Adobe Commerce is usually the right call. We help clients map business objectives to ecommerce platform choices honestly.
Ecommerce Development for B2C Growth
B2C ecommerce development on Adobe Commerce focuses on conversion optimization, mobile UX, and discoverability. B2C ecommerce development engagements typically include extensive A/B testing, performance optimization for mobile, and tight integration with marketing automation. Our B2C ecommerce development work has helped clients grow online sales significantly year over year.
Ecommerce Development for B2B Wholesale
B2B ecommerce development on Adobe Commerce is its own discipline. B2B ecommerce development requires deep understanding of company hierarchies, custom pricing, approval workflows, and integration with ERP for inventory and pricing. Our B2B ecommerce development work has shipped complex distributor portals, manufacturer storefronts, and wholesale catalogs.
Ecommerce Development for Marketplace Operations
Marketplace ecommerce development on Adobe Commerce uses extensions like Webkul or custom development to support multi-vendor scenarios. Marketplace ecommerce development is among the more complex Adobe Commerce engagements because the platform wasn’t originally designed as a marketplace. Our team has shipped several marketplace builds on Adobe Commerce.
Adobe Commerce Operations Beyond the Build
Running an e commerce store on Adobe Commerce involves more than just the technology. The store needs daily operational attention — inventory management, order processing, customer service, marketing, and analytics. Our team helps clients structure operations around the Adobe Commerce platform so the technology supports the operational team rather than fighting it.
Daily Operations
An e commerce store operates on a rhythm — orders come in, products go out, customer questions get answered, inventory gets replenished. Adobe Commerce supports all of these operations through the admin panel, the API layer, and integrations with operational tools. Smooth operations depend on tight integration between Adobe Commerce and the rest of the operational stack.
Reporting and Analytics
Modern operations rely on data. Adobe Commerce ships with reporting features, but most serious operators integrate with dedicated BI platforms (Looker, Tableau, Metabase) and customer data platforms. Good analytics let operators make data-driven decisions about merchandising, pricing, and customer segmentation.
Digital Strategy and Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce is a digital strategy decision, not just a technology choice. Our digital strategy work helps clients plan multi-year ecommerce roadmaps that align with broader business goals. A coherent digital strategy guides decisions about platform selection, custom development priorities, marketing investment, and team structure.
Strong planning reduces wasted spend on features that don’t matter. Weak planning leads to feature sprawl, custom code that doesn’t compose, and stores that look like they were built by committee. Our digital strategy consulting helps clients focus their Adobe Commerce investment on the things that move the metrics that matter.
Long-Term Roadmaps
A roadmap for Adobe Commerce typically covers 18-36 months. The roadmap identifies major initiatives — replatforms, integrations, new market launches, mobile app development efforts — and sequences them based on business value and technical dependencies. Our roadmaps live as working documents that update as the business evolves.
Timely Delivery on Adobe Commerce Projects
Timely delivery on Adobe Commerce projects depends on careful scoping, disciplined project management, and realistic timelines. Many Adobe Commerce projects miss deadlines because the original scope was unrealistic. Our team works hard to set timelines we can actually hit — and then to deliver on those timelines.
Why Timely Delivery Matters
Timely delivery matters because ecommerce launches often align with marketing campaigns, seasonal sales, or business deadlines. A holiday launch that slips into January misses the entire holiday season. We treat timely delivery as a first-class commitment, not an aspiration. Our timely delivery record across Adobe Commerce projects is one of our strongest competitive advantages.
How We Achieve Timely Delivery
Timely delivery comes from realistic scoping, structured project management, weekly check-ins, and proactive flagging of risks. We surface schedule risks early, not at the end. Timely delivery also requires saying no to scope creep mid-project; we manage scope changes through a formal change request process so the schedule stays predictable.
What “Timely Delivery” Looks Like in Practice
On a typical mid-sized Adobe Commerce build, timely delivery means the launch date we set at kickoff is the launch date we hit. On larger projects with more uncertainty, timely delivery means meaningful milestones land on schedule and any slippage is communicated weeks ahead. We don’t always deliver early, but we deliver when we say we will.
Ecommerce Site Considerations Beyond Adobe Commerce
An ecommerce site is more than the platform underneath it. Every successful ecommerce site combines a solid technology foundation with strong web design, fast hosting, good content, and effective marketing. Our team helps clients think about the ecommerce site holistically rather than focusing narrowly on Adobe Commerce alone.
Hosting and Infrastructure
An Adobe Commerce ecommerce site needs serious hosting. Options include Adobe Commerce Cloud, AWS, Google Cloud, and specialized Magento hosts (Sonassi, Hypernode, Nexcess). The right hosting choice depends on traffic patterns, technical requirements, and budget. We help clients pick the right hosting for their specific ecommerce site needs.
Content and Merchandising
The content on an ecommerce site drives conversion. Product titles, descriptions, images, videos, and merchandising decisions all affect how the ecommerce site performs. Our team supports content strategy alongside the technical work — the best Adobe Commerce ecommerce site fails if the content doesn’t sell. Good ecommerce site content is a continuous investment.
Industries TESSA Serves with Adobe Commerce
Our Magento developers have shipped Adobe Commerce projects across many industries — each with its own constraints and requirements.
B2C Retail and Consumer Brands
We build Adobe Commerce stores for product manufacturers, direct-to-consumer brands, and B2C retailers. B2C Adobe Commerce builds emphasize web design, mobile experience, and conversion optimization. Online sales for B2C clients depend on smooth checkout, fast page loads, and clear product presentation.
B2B Wholesale and Manufacturing
B2B Adobe Commerce builds emphasize complex catalogs, customer-specific pricing, quote management, and ERP integration. Our team has shipped B2B Adobe Commerce stores for distributors, manufacturers, and wholesale operations.
Subscription Commerce
Subscription commerce on Adobe Commerce uses extensions like Aheadworks Subscriptions or Amasty Subscriptions, plus custom development for unique business model needs. Subscription commerce builds require careful attention to recurring billing, customer management, and lifecycle communication.
Real Estate and Property Services
A real estate company selling rental services, property management subscriptions, or related products can benefit from Adobe Commerce. A real estate company with a catalog of listings, services, and add-ons needs many of the same features as a traditional online store. We’ve helped a real estate company build an Adobe Commerce-powered services portal.
Health and Beauty
Health and beauty brands use Adobe Commerce for direct-to-consumer sales, subscription replenishment, and influencer/affiliate programs. Commerce development for health brands requires compliance with FDA labeling requirements adds complexity to product page design.
Apparel and Fashion
Apparel brands use Adobe Commerce for size guides, configurable products, lookbooks, and seasonal merchandising. Apparel-specific PWA experiences improve mobile engagement for fashion brands.
Home Goods and Furniture
Home goods retailers use Adobe Commerce for large catalogs, custom configurations, and integration with shipping providers handling large items. Home goods Adobe Commerce builds emphasize product visualization and detailed specs.
Food and Beverage
Food and beverage brands use Adobe Commerce for direct-to-consumer sales, subscription models, and gift card systems. Local delivery, perishable shipping, and compliance with food regulations add complexity.
Our Adobe Commerce Development Process
Every Adobe Commerce engagement at TESSA follows a structured development process. The development process exists to keep complex projects on track and deliver consistent timely delivery.
Discovery and Initial Consultation
Every engagement starts with discovery — a free consultation where we understand the business model, the project scope, and the goals. The first call is also where we determine whether we’re the right fit for the work. The free consultation typically runs 30-60 minutes.
Requirements and Project Scope
We document business requirements, identify integration points, and translate everything into a detailed project scope. Clear project scope at this stage prevents most downstream problems.
Technical Audit
For existing Adobe Commerce stores, a technical audit comes early. The technical audit covers code quality, performance, security, and extension health. The technical audit informs every downstream decision about migration, refactoring, and prioritization.
Architecture and Planning
Our development team plans the Adobe Commerce architecture, picks the major modules, identifies integration points, and lays out the development roadmap. For complex projects, this produces a written architecture document.
Web Design
For new builds, our team produces web design wireframes and high-fidelity mockups. Web design reviews happen with the client, the lead designer, and the lead Adobe Commerce developer. Web design that hands off cleanly to development is one of the biggest differentiators between a good and great Magento agency. Web design also drives much of the project cost on new Adobe Commerce builds, so getting web design right early matters.
Implementation
Our Magento developers implement the architecture, starting with the riskiest parts. Code review is built into every change, and we push to staging frequently so clients can see real progress, not just status reports.
Testing and QA
Every Adobe Commerce build goes through QA — functional testing, browser testing, mobile testing, accessibility testing, performance testing, and security testing. The QA phase catches what implementation missed.
Launch
We coordinate Adobe Commerce launches carefully — DNS, redirects, payment gateway switchover, monitoring, and a post-launch window where we watch closely. Timely delivery on launch day depends on rehearsing the deploy in staging first.
Post-Launch Support and Ongoing Support
After launch, clients typically move into ongoing support arrangements. Ongoing support tiers range from reactive (“fix what breaks”) to proactive (dedicated capacity, regular audits, ongoing optimization). Ongoing support is where many of our long-term client relationships live.
Working With Our Magento Development Team
Collaborative Approach
We work with clients as partners, not order-takers. Our collaborative approach means our Adobe Commerce developers ask questions, propose alternatives, and bring ideas you didn’t ask for. A collaborative approach produces better outcomes than transactional engagements. The best Adobe Commerce projects come from a collaborative approach where the client and the agency trust each other to surface problems early.
Clear Project Manager Assignment
Every engagement gets a clear project manager — a single point of contact, predictable communication rhythms, and proactive flagging of issues. A dedicated project manager keeps complex Adobe Commerce projects coordinated.
Project Management Tools and Visibility
We use project management tools (Jira, Linear, Asana — client preference) that give clients real-time visibility into project status. Project management tools matter more on Adobe Commerce projects because the work is complex and the moving parts are many.
Real People, Real Hours
You’ll have direct access to the Magento developers working on your project, not just an account manager who relays messages. Our dedicated developers answer questions, jump on calls, and explain technical decisions in plain language.
Common Questions About Magento Developers
What does a Magento developer do?
A Magento developer designs, develops, and maintains ecommerce stores on the Magento and Adobe Commerce platform. Day-to-day, a Magento developer writes PHP code for custom extensions, builds Adobe Commerce themes, integrates payment gateways, troubleshoots issues, optimizes performance, and collaborates with project managers, designers, and stakeholders. The role spans backend Adobe Commerce work, frontend web design, performance optimization, and ongoing support.
What is Magento developer salary?
US-based Magento developer salaries range from $75,000 for junior roles to $180,000+ for senior Adobe Commerce architects. Senior Magento developers at US tech companies in major metros can exceed $200,000 in total compensation. Hourly contract rates for freelance Magento developers in the US run $100-$250. Outside the US, salaries vary significantly: $50,000-$110,000 in Western Europe, $30,000-$70,000 in Eastern Europe, $15,000-$45,000 in South Asia. Senior Adobe Commerce specialists command premium rates because the talent pool is small relative to demand.
Who developed Magento?
Magento was originally developed by Varien Inc., a US company founded by Roy Rubin and Yoav Kutner. Varien released the first public beta of Magento in 2007 and reached general availability in 2008. eBay acquired Varien in 2011. Magento was spun off as an independent company in 2015, then acquired by Adobe in 2018 for $1.68 billion. Adobe rebranded Magento Commerce as Adobe Commerce in 2021. The open-source version remains as Magento Open Source.
What is Magento used for?
Magento (Adobe Commerce) is used for building ecommerce stores. Adobe Commerce powers both B2C retail stores and B2B wholesale platforms. The platform supports multi-store configurations (one Adobe Commerce instance running many storefronts), multi-language and multi-currency commerce, complex product catalogs, custom workflows, and deep integration with ERP and CRM systems. Adobe Commerce is used by online stores ranging from small boutiques to enterprise brands processing billions in annual revenue.
Is Magento Open Source still maintained?
Yes. Magento Open Source continues to receive security patches and feature updates from Adobe and the community. The codebase shares the same core as Adobe Commerce, with the paid version adding B2B features, content staging, advanced reporting, and Adobe support.
How long does an Adobe Commerce build take?
A simple Adobe Commerce build with off-the-shelf themes takes 8-16 weeks. A mid-sized custom Adobe Commerce build with custom theme, custom modules, and ERP integration takes 16-32 weeks. Enterprise Adobe Commerce builds — complex catalogs, B2B features, PWA frontends — can run 6-12 months. Project scope, integration complexity, and team velocity all drive the timeline.
Should I migrate from Magento 1 to Adobe Commerce?
Yes — Magento 1 reached end of life in 2020 and is no longer receiving security patches. Any store still on Magento 1 is running unsupported software with growing security risk. Migration to Adobe Commerce typically requires a theme rebuild and careful data migration, but the work is necessary.
Is Magento better than Shopify?
Neither is universally better. Shopify is easier to start with and works well for smaller stores. Adobe Commerce is more flexible and works better for complex catalogs, B2B, and enterprise scale. The right platform depends on store complexity, customization needs, and budget.
Adobe Commerce, Digital Marketing, and Business Growth
Adobe Commerce isn’t just a technology investment — it’s a digital marketing channel. The best Adobe Commerce builds combine technical excellence with digital marketing strategy.
SEO and Organic Traffic
Adobe Commerce stores rely on organic traffic for sustainable growth. Our digital marketing team works alongside our Magento development team to optimize for organic traffic from day one — clean URL structure, proper schema markup, fast page loads, and content optimization.
Digital Marketing Integration
We connect Adobe Commerce to the digital marketing stack — Google Analytics, Google Ads, Meta ads, email marketing platforms, and customer data platforms. Digital marketing on Adobe Commerce works best when the data flows are clean from the start.
Sustainable Growth Through Digital Strategy
Sustainable growth on Adobe Commerce comes from compounding improvements over time — better organic traffic, higher conversion rates, larger average order values, and stronger customer loyalty. We help clients build a digital strategy that drives sustainable growth. Sustainable growth isn’t about chasing the latest tactic; it’s about consistent improvement across the metrics that matter. Our digital strategy work covers the broader picture beyond just Adobe Commerce.
Brand Identity and Web Design
Strong brand identity drives recognition, trust, and customer loyalty. Our Adobe Commerce theme work reinforces brand identity through web design, typography, color, and copy. Brand identity on an ecommerce store also affects organic traffic — branded search volume grows when brand identity is strong.
Competitive Edge Through Technology
The right Adobe Commerce setup delivers a competitive edge in the market. Better performance, smoother checkout, more accurate search, and richer product information all contribute to competitive edge. Adobe Commerce gives stores a competitive edge over generic platforms when it’s implemented well.
Customer Loyalty and Retention
Customer retention drives long-term ecommerce success. Adobe Commerce supports customer loyalty programs natively, plus extensive integration with third-party loyalty platforms. Customer loyalty grows when the experience is excellent and the brand is trusted.
Adobe Commerce for Global Markets
Multi-Language and Multi-Currency
Adobe Commerce supports multi-language and multi-currency commerce natively. For brands selling into global markets, Adobe Commerce can run a single backend with localized storefronts per region.
Localizing for Different Regions
Identifying target markets and localizing the experience for each is one of the biggest Adobe Commerce opportunities for growing brands. Different regions vary in language, currency, payment preference, and shopping behavior — and Adobe Commerce can handle all of it with the right configuration.
Tax, Compliance, and Global Markets
Selling into global markets means handling tax compliance, GDPR, and country-specific regulations. Adobe Commerce integrates with Avalara, TaxJar, and other tax automation platforms. Global markets each have their own compliance landscape, and Adobe Commerce builds for global expansion need careful planning.
Beyond Adobe Commerce: Related Services
TESSA isn’t just a Magento agency. As a development company with a broad practice, we ship work across PHP, JavaScript, Python, and .NET. Our development company structure pairs Magento developers with designers, project managers, and DevOps engineers.
Custom Solutions Beyond the Platform
We build custom solutions that go beyond standard Adobe Commerce. Custom solutions include headless commerce architectures, custom integrations, and custom microservices that complement the Adobe Commerce store. Custom solutions on Adobe Commerce projects often unlock significant improvements in operational efficiency and customer experience.
Digital Marketing Services
Our digital marketing services include SEO, paid search, social media advertising, and content marketing. Adobe Commerce works best when paired with strong digital marketing. Clients hiring our development company for Adobe Commerce often add digital marketing services as the store goes live.
Website Development for Adjacent Properties
Adobe Commerce often sits inside a broader website development effort. Marketing sites, content sites, blog properties, and landing page systems often run on WordPress or a custom platform alongside the Adobe Commerce store. Our website development team handles the whole digital presence.
Adobe Commerce Project Success Factors
Project success on Adobe Commerce depends on factors beyond just code quality. Project success requires clear requirements, effective project management, strong communication, and a Magento agency that brings both technical depth and business understanding.
Clear Business Goals
Project success starts with clear business goals. Adobe Commerce projects without clear business goals drift. Business goals should be specific, measurable, and tied to revenue or operational outcomes. Our team works with clients to translate vague business goals into concrete project goals.
Realistic Timelines
Adobe Commerce projects fail more often from unrealistic timelines than from technical complexity. Rushed Adobe Commerce projects accumulate technical debt that costs more to undo than to do right the first time. We push back on timelines that don’t fit the project scope.
Strong Project Management
Effective project management determines project success more than almost any other factor on Adobe Commerce engagements. A skilled project manager keeps the team coordinated, surfaces issues early, and protects the project scope from creep.
Communication Throughout the Entire Process
Communication throughout the entire process matters. Clients should know what we’re working on at every stage — not just at milestones. Our proactive communication keeps clients informed through the entire process from kickoff to launch.
Right-Sized Investment
Project success also requires investment proportional to ambition. A $20K project cost can’t deliver enterprise-grade Adobe Commerce. Setting realistic project cost expectations early prevents disappointment later.
Adobe Commerce and Complex Challenges
Some Adobe Commerce engagements involve complex challenges that go beyond a typical store build. The hardest projects involve massive product catalogs, multi-region deployments, real-time inventory across many warehouses, and integration with legacy systems that weren’t built for ecommerce.
Massive Product Catalogs
Adobe Commerce stores with millions of SKUs face hard problems around indexing, search relevance, and admin usability. Solving these issues requires deep Adobe Commerce expertise and often custom development beyond what extensions provide.
Multi-Region and Multi-Site
Multi-region Adobe Commerce builds with localized storefronts, currencies, and tax rules introduce real complexity that single-region builds avoid. The right architecture upfront prevents the complex challenges from compounding later.
Legacy System Integration
Integrating Adobe Commerce with legacy enterprise systems, mainframes, or custom internal systems introduces hard problems around data formats, real-time vs batch sync, and error handling. Our team has tackled these problems across many client engagements.
Adobe Commerce Migration Deep Dive
Migrating to Adobe Commerce from another ecommerce platform is one of the most common engagements we handle. Migration projects vary widely — some are technical lift-and-shift from Magento 1 to Adobe Commerce; others are full replatforms from Shopify, BigCommerce, or WooCommerce; still others are internal migrations from custom-built ecommerce systems to Adobe Commerce.
Magento 1 to Adobe Commerce Migration
Magento 1 reached end of life in June 2020. Stores still running Magento 1 face mounting security risk, increasing compatibility issues with modern payment gateways, and a shrinking pool of developers willing to work on the platform. Migrating from Magento 1 to Adobe Commerce is necessary work — and it’s not a simple upgrade. Magento 1 themes cannot be ported directly; the entire theme layer needs to be rebuilt for Adobe Commerce.
Magento 1 to Adobe Commerce migrations typically involve data migration (products, customers, orders, content), extension audit and replacement (most Magento 1 extensions have Adobe Commerce equivalents but not all), theme rebuild from scratch using Adobe Commerce conventions, and careful URL redirect mapping so search rankings survive the transition. The typical Magento 1 to Adobe Commerce migration runs 16-32 weeks depending on complexity.
Shopify to Adobe Commerce Migration
Brands that outgrow Shopify often migrate to Adobe Commerce when they need deeper customization, B2B functionality, or more sophisticated catalog management. Shopify to Adobe Commerce migrations require careful planning because the two platforms have very different data models. Product data, customer data, and order history all need translation between Shopify’s structure and Adobe Commerce’s structure.
We’ve shipped many Shopify to Adobe Commerce migrations. The typical Shopify to Adobe Commerce migration runs 12-24 weeks. URL redirect mapping is critical to preserve organic traffic during the transition; we map every Shopify URL to its Adobe Commerce equivalent and set up 301 redirects.
WooCommerce to Adobe Commerce Migration
WooCommerce works well for smaller stores on WordPress, but stores with growing complexity often migrate to Adobe Commerce. WooCommerce to Adobe Commerce migrations need similar care to other migrations — data migration, theme rebuild, extension audit, and URL redirect mapping. The WordPress content layer often stays on WordPress as a separate marketing site, with Adobe Commerce handling the ecommerce side.
BigCommerce to Adobe Commerce Migration
BigCommerce sits between Shopify and Adobe Commerce in complexity. Stores migrating from BigCommerce to Adobe Commerce typically want more customization flexibility than BigCommerce’s “Stencil” theming and API limits allow. BigCommerce to Adobe Commerce migrations preserve URL structures where possible and rebuild the theme layer for Adobe Commerce conventions.
Custom CMS to Adobe Commerce Migration
Some clients have ecommerce running on custom-built CMS systems that have grown beyond what the original developers anticipated. Migrating from a custom CMS to Adobe Commerce typically requires substantial data archeology — figuring out what data exists, in what format, and how to map it to Adobe Commerce’s structure. Custom CMS migrations are higher-risk than platform-to-platform migrations because the source data is less predictable.
Adobe Commerce PWA Studio Deep Dive
PWA Studio is Adobe’s official framework for building Progressive Web Apps on top of Adobe Commerce. PWA Studio uses React, GraphQL, and a set of Adobe-provided components to deliver app-like experiences. Our team works fluently with PWA Studio for clients who want Adobe-supported tooling.
PWA Studio Architecture
PWA Studio decouples the storefront from the Adobe Commerce backend. The storefront runs as a React application, consuming Adobe Commerce data through GraphQL. This decoupling means storefront changes can ship independently of backend changes, and the storefront can be optimized for mobile in ways that traditional Adobe Commerce frontends cannot.
PWA Studio Tradeoffs
PWA Studio is powerful but has tradeoffs. The architecture is more complex than traditional Adobe Commerce frontends. The GraphQL API surface is more limited than the underlying Adobe Commerce capabilities, so some custom GraphQL work is usually needed. PWA Studio also moves faster than the broader Adobe Commerce release cycle, which can create version-mismatch issues.
Vue Storefront as an Alternative
Vue Storefront is a popular open-source alternative to PWA Studio. Built on Vue.js (and increasingly Nuxt), Vue Storefront delivers similar architectural benefits with a different framework. Some teams prefer Vue Storefront because Vue’s developer experience is more approachable than React’s.
Custom PWA Implementations
For clients who want maximum flexibility, custom PWA implementations on Next.js, Remix, or pure React work well. Custom PWAs consume Adobe Commerce GraphQL APIs directly. The tradeoff is more upfront engineering work; the benefit is exactly the architecture you want, not what an opinionated framework prescribes.
Adobe Commerce Development Best Practices
Adobe Commerce commerce development best practices have evolved over the platform’s history. Modern Adobe Commerce commerce development emphasizes clean module boundaries, comprehensive unit testing, automated deployment pipelines, and disciplined performance monitoring. Following these best practices from kickoff produces Adobe Commerce stores that scale gracefully as the business grows. Skipping the best practices produces stores that work fine at launch but become harder and harder to maintain over time.
The Magento community publishes commerce development best practices through events like Meet Magento, Imagine, and MageConf. Our team participates in the community and brings community best practices to client engagements. Magento commerce development is a craft, and craftsmanship gets sharper with community input.
Drive Growth With Adobe Commerce
The right Adobe Commerce build can accelerate growth across every metric that matters — revenue, conversion rate, average order value, customer retention. Our team helps clients drive expansion through technical excellence and strategic digital marketing.
Adobe Commerce is one of the most powerful ecommerce platforms available, and the platform’s capabilities reward businesses that invest in doing it right. We’ve seen clients drive significant improvements in online sales, organic traffic, and customer engagement after a thoughtful Adobe Commerce engagement.
Ready to Hire Magento Developers?
Whether you need to hire Magento developers for a new Adobe Commerce build, hire Magento developers for ongoing support, or migrate from Magento 1 to Adobe Commerce, our team is ready. We’ll give you a straight answer about scope, timeline, and project cost.
What you’ll get: A free consultation — a 30-minute strategy call with a senior Magento developer from our team.
What it costs: 30 minutes of your time.
Who it’s for: Business owners, ecommerce leaders, and product managers who need to hire Magento developers and want a no-BS assessment from a US-based Magento agency.
Or call 1-800-586-1553.