Migrating from PrestaShop to Shopify: when it pays off

Migrating from PrestaShop to Shopify. Moving to Shopify removes some worries and brings others. Here is when it makes sense, what really gets transferred, where Google rankings are lost and how we prepare the switch.

When moving to Shopify makes sense, and when it does not

Shopify is a subscription platform: hosting, security updates and the payment infrastructure are included. If you do not want to deal with the server, PHP versions or modules that break at every update, that is a real advantage. You start quickly and technical maintenance almost disappears.

In exchange you accept limits that are worth knowing before you decide:

• Recurring costs. On the official price list in October 2026 plans run from 19 euros a month (Basic, billed yearly) to more than 2,100 euros a month (Plus). If you do not use Shopify Payments, there is a fee on third-party transactions: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced, 0.2% on Plus.
• Checkout. Deep checkout customisation is a Plus feature. On the other plans the options are limited. If your PrestaShop checkout today has custom fields, legal notices or extra steps, check first what is still possible.
• B2B. B2B catalogs are unlimited only on Plus; the other plans allow up to 3. Customer-group price lists, hidden prices and multi-level quote requests are solved differently from PrestaShop.
• Subscription apps. Features you have on PrestaShop with a module paid once are often monthly subscription apps on Shopify. The cost adds up every month.
• Platform dependency. Code and data are no longer yours the way they are on your own server: rules, prices and features are set by Shopify.

If you have a simple catalog, sell mostly B2C and the technical upkeep weighs on you, the move makes sense. If you have group pricing, a heavily customised checkout or a very large catalog with custom search, it can cost more than it saves. In that case the right road is often to fix PrestaShop.

What really gets migrated, and how

• Catalog. Products, categories, variants (PrestaShop combinations), prices, stock and images. Combinations have to be remapped onto Shopify’s model, which has its own limits on options and variants: this is the part that needs the most care.
• Customers. Records and addresses transfer. Passwords do not: Shopify itself states that they cannot be migrated from another store. After the import each customer receives an invitation to create a new password. A clear message is needed, otherwise many customers think they have been deleted.
• Order history. Orders are imported and stay linked to customers, as long as products and customers are loaded first. They serve history and support; they do not restart as new orders.
• Pages and blog. CMS pages and articles move to the new store, with the content to be reviewed because theme structure is different.
• URLs and redirects. Shopify has fixed paths such as /products/ and /collections/, so addresses almost always change. Every old URL must be redirected with a 301 to the new one, language by language. Shopify lets you import redirects from a CSV file, but you cannot redirect addresses that still load a valid page, and old URLs ending in .html or carrying parameters have restrictions to check one by one.
• Taxes and EU VAT. Rates, prices with or without VAT and rules for EU countries must be set and tested with test orders, market by market.
• Multiple languages. With Shopify Markets you manage markets, currencies and languages. Product and page translations have to be carried over or redone, and each language’s URLs belong in the redirect plan.

The typical risks

• Rankings lost because redirects are missing. This is the most frequent damage and the most avoidable. An address that was on page one and now returns 404 loses its ranking and the links it had earned. We cover it in detail in the guide to 301 redirects and 404s after a migration.
• Inconsistent prices and taxes. A price with VAT imported as a price without VAT, or the reverse, is only noticed when orders arrive. That is why test orders are placed.
• Features that become an app. A compatibility filter, a legal notice in the checkout, a fast search: what was a module becomes an app, a monthly cost, or a feature that does not exist. Better to know before signing.
• What happens after launch day. Cookie banner, compliance data and tracking have to be put back in place. You will find a list of what usually breaks in what breaks the week after a migration.

What we do in the service

1. Preliminary analysis. We look at catalog, languages, installed modules and traffic, and tell you whether the move really pays off and what it will cost in features to rebuild.
2. Data mapping. Together we decide how each PrestaShop data item becomes a Shopify one: combinations, customer groups, taxes, languages.
3. Test migration. First on a test store, with test orders and a check of prices and taxes. Your current store stays online and is not touched.
4. Redirects. We build the table of old and new addresses for every language and load it into Shopify.
5. SEO check before and after. We measure the indexed addresses before the switch and check them again after, with Search Console, to see at once what does not respond as it should.
6. Support afterwards. We stay with you in the weeks after the switch, with a reply within 24 hours.

An honest note

Presta365 sells PrestaShop modules and helps those who stay on PrestaShop, so we have no interest in pushing you toward Shopify. If the analysis says staying is better, we will tell you. If you do have to change, we will guide you without pushing in any direction.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a migration take?

It depends on the catalog, the languages and the features to rebuild. We are talking weeks, not days: the longest part is testing and redirects, not moving the data. A serious estimate comes only after the preliminary analysis.

Will I lose my SEO?

Not necessarily. If every old address is redirected with a 301 to the right page, in every language, most rankings are kept. A temporary drop after the switch is normal. The real drop comes when redirects are missing.

Do customers have to set a new password?

Yes. Passwords cannot be transferred from another store: after the import each customer receives an invitation to create a new one. A clear message reduces support requests.

Can I go back?

Yes, if your current store is not switched off straight away. That is why we keep PrestaShop available for a period after the switch. Going back has a cost, though: new orders and customers created on Shopify have to be carried back by hand.

Request a quote

Tell us how your store is built: PrestaShop version, number of products, languages, modules you use. We reply within 24 hours and, after the preliminary analysis, tell you whether the move pays off.

Request a quote