Why people upgrade their Magento site

Benefits of a Magento fixed cost maintenance plan

Upgrading Magento is one of the most impactful decisions an eCommerce business can make. Whether moving from Magento 1 to Magento 2 or refreshing an older M2 installation, brands do it to stay secure, future‑proof their stack, and unlock better performance, features, and user experience.

Modern Magento versions deliver faster page loads, improved checkout flows, stronger security controls, and richer admin tools, helping teams manage larger catalogues, higher traffic, and more complex B2B or omnichannel requirements with less friction.

At the same time, staying on a supported release keeps stores compliant, maintainable, and aligned with current PHP standards, hosting environments, and the wider extension ecosystem.

This guide walks through the key reasons why businesses should upgrade Magento version, what to expect from the process, and how to plan an upgrade that moves the platform forward without disrupting operations.

Why security matters when upgrading Magento

Security updates are one of the biggest sources of unease for Magento merchants. Older versions eventually lose official support, which means no more security patches, leaving your store exposed to known vulnerabilities, malware and data‑breach risks. That’s not just a technical problem, it can hit your brand reputation, customer trust and even your ability to stay compliant with PCI‑DSS, GDPR and other regulations.

Modern Magento releases come with hardened core code, regular security updates and features like two‑factor authentication, improved session handling and better encryption practices.

Staying on a supported version, you’re not just ticking a box; you’re actively reducing risk, protecting customer data and making life harder for attackers while keeping your hosting provider and payment partners happy.

PCI compliance

People often forget that in order to meet PCI compliance requirements, you have to be on a vendor supported version of your eCommerce platform, and that all security patches have to be applied within 30 days. Older Magento versions lose security patches and support, exposing stores to vulnerabilities and PCI‑DSS or GDPR‑related risks.

Increased revenue means increased risk

When order volumes are low, a short outage or minor issue can feel manageable. But as revenue scales and trading becomes more consistent, even small periods of downtime can quickly translate into lost sales.

As stores grow, merchants become far more sensitive to:

• Checkout issues during peak trading
• Unexpected downtime during campaigns
• Delays in fixing revenue-impacting bugs

At this stage, having a stable and well-maintained site is essential. Many upgrades happen shortly after a single incident highlights just how exposed the business really is.

Performance and scalability become business critical

Speed, stability and the ability to grow are non‑negotiable for any serious eCommerce business, and that’s exactly what a Magento upgrade can unlock.

• Magento 2 and later versions are built for speed: better caching, faster page loads, and more efficient handling of traffic spikes and large product catalogues.
• This translates to higher conversion rates, better Core Web Vitals scores, and easier scaling as order volume and SKUs grow.

Performance problems don’t always show up as dramatic failures. More often, they creep in quietly:

• Slower page loads
• Laggy checkout experiences
• Intermittent issues that are hard to reproduce

These don’t just affect user experience, they directly impact conversion rate, SEO performance and paid media efficiency. Merchants upgrade support when they realise performance optimisation needs to be ongoing, not something addressed only when complaints start coming in.

New features and UX improvements

Upgrading Magento isn’t just about keeping things running, it’s an opportunity to give your team and your customers a noticeably better experience. Newer versions bring a host of features that make day‑to‑day management easier, such as pagebuilder. There have also been updates to product and order workflows, smarter reporting, content staging, and B2B tools.

Depending on whether you have Magento Open Source or Adobe Commerce, there are also more features available to you.

Too many small issues and bugs

Basic support, no upgrades or patches, leaves little room for addressing ongoing refinements or lower-severity issues. As a result, minor bugs and usability problems start to accumulate, creating a backlog of small but frustrating issues that gradually slow teams down and impact the quality of the site.

These issues tend to show up in areas such as:

• Admin panel quirks that slow down day-to-day product and order management
• Small UX inconsistencies that negatively affect customer journeys
• Minor bugs that are noticeable but not severe enough to trigger urgent support requests

Individually, these issues and requests feel low priority. Collectively, they can chip away at confidence in the platform. Regular upgrades and maintenance are crucial to keeping these contained.

Delaying to upgrade in regular smaller versions compounds the level of complexity when upgrading later, with a bigger version jump. Regular updates are good for site health and reduce the effort required, whereas putting off upgrades causes bigger issues later down the line.

Maintaining server compatibility

Magento upgrades often come with updated PHP versions, stricter database requirements and changes to how services like Elasticsearch, Redis or Varnish are configured. If your hosting stack isn’t aligned with these changes, you can end up with a technically “upgraded” site that’s unstable, slow or even offline.

Planning around server compatibility means treating the upgrade as a full stack exercise, not just a code change. That includes checking PHP and MySQL versions, reviewing caching and search services, and testing any custom modules or integrations against the new environment.

Working with a team that understands both Magento and your hosting setup ensures the upgrade lands smoothly, keeps performance strong and avoids nasty surprises once the site goes live.

Keeping modules up to date and compatible

A lot of Magento upgrades are driven by the modules your site relies on, not just the platform itself. Many extensions release new features, security patches or performance improvements that only work on a specific Magento version, and their latest release may drop support for older core builds. That means your site can end up “locked out” of important updates unless you move to the required Magento version first.

This is especially common with payment gateways, shipping integrations, ERP connectors and marketing tools, where newer module versions bring required functionality or compliance changes. 

Before upgrading, it’s essential to audit your extension list, check version compatibility matrices and plan any necessary module updates or replacements. Doing this early avoids last‑minute blockers, reduces custom development overhead and ensures you get the full benefit of both the new Magento release and the latest module capabilities.

Why should you upgrade Magento?

Staying on a supported, up‑to‑date version keeps your store secure from known vulnerabilities, compliant with regulations and aligned with modern hosting and PHP standards. It gives you faster page loads, smoother checkout and the ability to scale as your traffic and product range grow. 

At the same time, it unlocks new features, better admin tools and the latest module capabilities that help your marketing, sales and operations teams work more efficiently.

For brands that want to protect their reputation, reduce technical risk and keep pace with customer expectations, regular Magento upgrades are non‑negotiable. Treating them as strategic investments, rather than emergency fixes, helps future proof your platform, minimise downtime and ensure your eCommerce site continues to perform, convert and grow over time. 

How our Magento Fixed Cost Plan keeps your store upgraded

Keeping Magento up to date doesn’t have to mean unpredictable costs or last‑minute fire fighting. Our fixed cost Magento maintenance plan gives you a clear, monthly cost for ongoing security patches and one major upgrade every 12 months, so you can plan ahead without worrying about surprise invoices.

The plan covers regular security patching, including four general security patches per year and two critical patches installed as soon as Adobe releases them, helping you stay ahead of emerging threats and keep your store PCI‑compliant.

It also includes one Magento version upgrade per year and associated development site hosting, plus server‑level software updates (when you’re hosted with Absolute) and quarterly security and maintenance reports so you always know what’s been done and why.

By upgrading more frequently and incrementally, you avoid the risk and complexity of skipping multiple versions at once, which in turn keeps your modules compatible, your performance strong and your admin workflows smoother.

With near‑zero downtime deployments, a dedicated account manager and over 16 years’ experience upgrading Magento stores, we make sure your site stays secure, stable and ready to grow.

Ongoing Magento Support from Absolute

We also offer ongoing Magento support plans designed to keep your site running smoothly while helping your brand continue to grow. Our team can assist with everything from technical fixes and security updates to performance improvements, UX enhancements and SEO support.

Speak to our Magento specialists about proactive support for your store.