Magento 1 reached end of life on June 30, 2020, when Adobe stopped providing support and security patches, so a store still running it has gone more than six years without official fixes. The way out is not an upgrade but a migration, to Magento 2 / Adobe Commerce or to another platform, and while that is planned the store should be hardened as a temporary measure with an expiration date.
At DCisGlobal we see the same pattern in stores in Spain and Latin America: the catalog sells, nobody wants to touch anything, and the problem grows every month. Then there is the server: the official version of Magento 1 reached PHP 7.2 at most, and PHP 7.2 stopped receiving patches on November 30, 2020.
This guide explains the real risk, why moving to Magento 2 is a project and not a click, and how to choose a path.
What it means when Magento 1 is out of support
It means Adobe no longer publishes fixes. Flaws discovered since then remain open in the official software.
It does not mean the store will stop working tomorrow. It means it keeps piling up known, unfixed flaws, and there is no longer a vendor standing behind it.
The risks a Magento 1 store faces
Payments and cards
This is the most expensive risk. A store that processes cards has to comply with PCI DSS, the payment industry's security standard, and running unpatched software makes that harder.
Back in 2020, Mastercard warned that merchants still on Magento 1 after June 30 of that year were at higher risk of a data breach and might not be PCI DSS compliant. In practice, that turns into uncomfortable questions from your payment processor, your bank or your insurer.
Payment modules also depend on the provider maintaining them. When the gateway changes its API, a Magento 1 store is left waiting for a patch that may never come.
Integrations
ERP, e-invoicing, shipping, marketplaces, email marketing: each connection is a module written for a platform that no longer evolves.
The cost rarely shows up as an incident. It shows up as friction: an integration that breaks and nobody knows how to fix, a new provider with no Magento 1 connector, a tax change that forces manual patching.
Security and old PHP
PHP is the language Magento is written in. Because the official version of Magento 1 stopped at PHP 7.2, the whole server stays tied to unsupported versions, along with everything else running on it.
On October 21, 2026, PHP fixed two critical flaws known as PHP2Shell. Versions 8.1 and earlier do not get that official fix, so a Magento 1 server is left out of it.
An exposed store can leak customer data, go down in the middle of a campaign or lose trust that took years to build.
Why moving from Magento 1 to 2 is not an upgrade
Magento 2 shares the name, but it is a different application: a different architecture, a different database structure and a different way of building modules and themes. That is why we call it a migration.
| Component | What happens in the migration | Business impact |
|---|---|---|
| Data: products, customers, orders, settings | Adobe provides an official tool that moves them in stages | History is kept, but it has to be validated |
| Images, design, admin users and permissions | Adobe's documentation lists them as manual migration | Hours of work and testing |
| Theme (the store's design) | Rebuilt | A chance to improve the mobile experience |
| Extensions | The code does not carry over: it is replaced by its Magento 2 version, if one exists, or rewritten | The most variable line in the budget |
| Custom features | Rewritten | A good moment to review which ones are still needed |
The business takeaway is simple: the budget is driven not by catalog size but by the number of extensions and customizations. A store with ten modules and its own logic looks nothing like a near-standard one.
Where Magento 2.4 stands today
If the destination is Magento 2, the version matters. Adobe provides three years of standard support from each version's release, and some versions get an extended period.
| Version | Release | End of regular support | Compatible PHP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.4.9 | May 12, 2026 | May 31, 2029 | 8.5 |
| 2.4.8 | April 8, 2025 | May 31, 2028 | 8.3 and 8.4 |
| 2.4.7 | April 9, 2024 | May 31, 2027 (extended to May 31, 2028) | 8.2 and 8.3 |
| 2.4.6 | March 14, 2023 | Ended August 11, 2026 (extended to August 31, 2027) | 8.1 and 8.2 |
Our view: migrating today to anything older than 2.4.8 means buying a second migration in the short term. Version 2.4.6 supports PHP 8.1, which no longer gets patches, and 2.4.7 tops out at PHP 8.3, supported until December 31, 2027.
If you run Adobe Commerce in the cloud, there is another clock: Adobe has announced that starting June 1, 2027, it will stop maintaining environments running unsupported versions.
The three possible paths
1. Migrate to Magento 2 / Adobe Commerce
It makes sense for large or complex catalogs, multiple stores or languages, or in-house processes that a closed platform cannot handle. Magento Open Source has no license fee; Adobe Commerce does, in exchange for vendor support.
It requires a team able to maintain it. Magento 2 is very flexible, but it is not lightweight.
2. Switch platforms
If the store is fairly standard, another platform may be cheaper to run. The work is similar (data, design, integrations), but you gain simplicity in exchange for flexibility.
Old versions are not just a Magento problem: we cover the same issue for PrestaShop 1.6 end of support.
3. Harden while you plan
This is a bridge, not a destination. These measures reduce exposure while you decide:
- Move card data off your own server with a hosted payment page from the gateway.
- Restrict access to the admin panel and review who has an account.
- Put a web application firewall (WAF) in front of the store.
- Keep tested backups and monitor file changes.
- Uninstall extensions that are no longer used.
All of this buys time, but it does not fix the software. We recommend giving it a deadline: six months, not six years.
How to decide
Four questions frame the decision:
- What does a week of downtime cost? That sets how much to invest in doing it right.
- How many extensions and customizations are critical? If there are many and they are your own, Magento 2 or custom development usually wins.
- Who will maintain it? A powerful platform without a technical team becomes another legacy system within three years.
- Which integrations are mandatory? ERP, invoicing and shipping determine which platform fits.
For the server side, see our guide to upgrading PHP on unsupported systems and our article on PHP 7.4 end of life.
What to do now
- Confirm the exact Magento version and the server's PHP version.
- Take inventory of extensions, customizations and integrations, and flag the critical ones.
- Review how payments are processed and whether card data passes through your own server.
- Apply the minimum hardening: admin access, WAF and tested backups.
- Choose the destination using the four questions above and set an exit date.
- Plan the migration with a staging store and a cutover outside peak sales periods.
How we solve it at DCisGlobal
We start with a technology assessment of the store: version, server, extensions, integrations and payment risk. From there we propose the path (migrate, switch platforms or harden with a deadline) and a phased plan that does not interrupt sales.
During the transition we can add support and maintenance so the current store stays up until switchover day.
See our legacy system modernization service · Message us on WhatsApp
