Migrating from PrestaShop to Bagisto - When It Makes Sense and When It's a Mistake
Every so often I get the same question from store owners: "I've heard about Bagisto, maybe it's time to switch?". My answer is always the same - it depends. Let me walk you through why.
Why does this question keep coming back?
PrestaShop 1.6 formally lost support a long time ago, yet the Polish e-commerce market is still heavily anchored to it. I see it constantly: stores that fear updates like the plague, because they know what's waiting underneath. Modules patched for years by three different developers, code nobody understands anymore, and a budget you'll have to spend just to stay in place. That's not an update, that's clearing a minefield.
At the same time, Bagisto keeps getting louder - an open source platform built on Laravel, promising a more modern architecture and less headache. Whether it's actually a way out of the trap, or just a move to a different cage, deserves an honest answer, not a sales pitch.
Architecture in a nutshell
PrestaShop today is a hybrid - part of the core runs on modern Symfony, part still drags along the old engine from the 1.6 era. It works, but it requires a developer fluent in both worlds at once, and there are fewer and fewer of those on the market.
Bagisto is pure Laravel, modular from the ground up, with headless support built in (GraphQL API out of the box). If you're thinking about separating the presentation layer from business logic, you're a lot closer to that with Bagisto than with PrestaShop.
But here's the card worth actually playing, one most surface-level comparisons skip: the Polish IT market runs on PHP and Laravel. That's not trivia, it's a hard business argument. For a store owner, Bagisto means easier and usually cheaper access to independent developers - almost every PHP developer you'll meet in a hiring process knows Laravel. Maintaining a full PrestaShop core in Symfony is already narrow, specialized knowledge, and you pay a premium for that specialization on the job market.
When migration makes sense
- You need deep customization of business logic, not just a visual refresh
- You're scaling toward multi-store or multi-channel and PrestaShop is starting to hold you back technically
- Headless or PWA is your target architecture, not just a buzzword from a brief
- You have an in-house dev team that knows Laravel and doesn't want to fight PrestaShop legacy - this genuinely affects how fast you can ship
When migration is a mistake
- Your store is small or mid-sized, and PrestaShop simply does its job without issues
- The Addons module ecosystem covers 90% of your needs, and you're still considering migration "because that's what people are talking about"
- Your budget can't absorb the migration cost, and you don't have a clear answer for what it will actually get you
- An important point rarely discussed: you have stable, ready-made integrations with Polish systems. PrestaShop has proven modules for Subiekt GT, Comarch Optima, Enova, or Allegro (Poland's leading marketplace and ERP/accounting tools) - they work out of the box, tested across hundreds of deployments. On Bagisto, some of these bridges need to be built from scratch or heavily customized, which drives up upfront cost before you see a single benefit from the new architecture
Migrating just for the sake of migrating, without a hard business case, is like changing your basketball shoes mid-season because a friend said the new model looks better on Instagram. Sure, it might look better, but if it doesn't improve your vertical, you're left with a nicer shoe and the same knee injury.
What it actually costs and how long it takes
There's no single magic number, scope makes all the difference here. Roughly, based on my own practice:
Small store: a few hundred products, 2-3 standard integrations - expect 15,000-40,000 PLN and about 6-8 weeks.
Larger store: a full ERP system, multi-store architecture, large volumes of historical data - here we're talking 60,000-150,000+ PLN and 10-16 weeks, depending on how many fully custom bridges need to be built from scratch.
It's worth looking beyond just the implementation cost though - calculate TCO (total cost of ownership) over a 2-3 year horizon. PrestaShop can be cheaper upfront, since the Addons plugin ecosystem lets you close functionality gaps quickly without writing code from scratch. At larger scale, modular Bagisto often ends up cheaper long-term - you're not constantly paying to fight a monolith and old code that needs to be carefully tamed with every new feature.
Decision checklist
Before you decide, answer these questions honestly:
- Does my current PrestaShop actually limit my business, or do I just "feel like I should change something"?
- Do I have specific integrations with Polish systems that I'll have to rebuild from scratch on a new platform?
- Does my team (in-house or external) know Laravel, or will I be teaching them from zero?
- Have I calculated TCO for the next 2-3 years, not just the one-time implementation cost?
- Do I have the budget and time for a project that could realistically tie up other work for several months?
FAQ
Is migrating from PrestaShop to Bagisto worth it for a small store?
In most cases, no. Small stores usually rely on the PrestaShop module ecosystem more than they realize. The migration cost won't pay off fast enough without a solid, real business need.
Can I migrate customer, order, and product data without losing history?
Yes, that's a standard part of migration. It requires careful data mapping between the two platform structures. The more years of history and custom fields you have, the more work this step takes.
Does Bagisto support Polish payment systems and ERP integrations?
Partially. Popular payment gateways are usually easy to connect, but integrations with local systems like Subiekt, Comarch Optima, or Enova typically need to be built from scratch or heavily customized. You won't find the same plug and play, battle-tested bridges that PrestaShop offers.
How long does a full migration take?
From about 6 weeks for a relatively simple store, up to several months for a large, multi-channel deployment with extensive external integrations.
Ready to decide? Let's do it right
Before making a final call on migration, it's always worth running an audit - calculating the real cost, checking what moves smoothly and what will cause technical pain.
If you want support figuring this out, get in touch - we'll talk through your specific business case, no pushing you toward any pre-decided solution.
