Magento 1 end of life happened in June 2020. That is when Adobe shipped the final official security patches and ended all support for the platform. If you are reading this in 2026, every Magento 1 store still in production has now run six full years without an official patch, a compatibility update, or a supported integration.
We published the first version of this article in early 2020, when the honest advice was "don't panic, you have options." Six years later, the calculus has changed. This page covers what the end of life meant, what six unsupported years look like in practice, where OpenMage fits, and how to decide what to do next. If you already know you are migrating and want the how, our Magento 1 to Magento 2 upgrade guide walks through the process step by step.
What happened in June 2020
Adobe (which acquired Magento in 2018) set June 30, 2020 as the end of support for Magento 1, both the free Community Edition and the paid Enterprise Edition. After that date:
- No more security patches. Adobe stopped fixing vulnerabilities in the Magento 1 codebase. Any flaw discovered after June 2020 stays open unless a third party patches it.
- No more quality or compatibility fixes. New PHP versions, new browsers, and new payment standards get no official M1 support.
- No official support channel. Enterprise Edition merchants lost their Adobe support contract for M1 on the same date.
The date was not a surprise. Adobe telegraphed it for years and pushed merchants toward Magento 2, available since 2015. Even so, tens of thousands of stores were still on Magento 1 when the deadline passed, and a long tail runs today. Open source software does not switch itself off, but "still runs" and "still supported" are very different things. Everything below flows from that gap.
What six unsupported years actually mean
In 2020 the risks were mostly theoretical: support was ending soon, and merchants had time. In 2026 they are concrete and compounding.
Security exposure with no official fix
The Magecart wave of card-skimming attacks made unpatched Magento installs one of the most reliably exploited targets on the web, and Magento 1 stores remain a persistent focus precisely because the official patch pipeline is gone. Every vulnerability found since June 2020 stays open unless the community fixes it and you apply that fix. On a platform that processes payment cards, that is a serious position to defend.
PCI DSS 4.0 makes compliance harder every audit
PCI DSS requires that systems handling cardholder data run supported, patched software, and PCI DSS 4.0, now the operative standard, tightens the expectations around vulnerability management. Certifying an unsupported platform means documenting compensating controls, and every year the conversation with your QSA, acquirer, and cyber insurer gets harder. A breach on a knowingly unsupported platform is a bad place to negotiate from.
The ecosystem left
Payment gateways, shipping carriers, tax services, and marketing platforms have retired their Magento 1 modules. When a provider updates its API and there is no M1 module update to match, your options are custom code on a dead platform or losing the integration. This is the failure mode that actually forces most migrations: not a hack, but a payment or shipping integration that quietly stops working.
The stack under M1 is also end of life
Magento 1 was built for PHP versions that reached their own end of life years ago. Running it means either unsupported PHP alongside unsupported Magento, or community compatibility patches to keep it alive on newer PHP. Either way, the foundation is aging with the platform on top of it.
Developers who know M1 are getting scarce
The Magento developer community moved on years ago. Developers who still work confidently in the Magento 1 codebase are rare, they command a premium, and modern tooling no longer supports the stack. The same fix costs more this year than last year, and that trend does not reverse.
What about OpenMage?
OpenMage is the community fork of Magento 1, maintained by volunteers who kept the codebase alive after Adobe walked away: security fixes, PHP compatibility work, and bug fixes that let existing M1 stores keep running on modern servers. Credit where it is due: OpenMage is why many M1 stores are still standing. But it is important to understand what it is and is not.
- It is a community-maintained fork that backports fixes and keeps M1 running on current PHP versions.
- It is not official vendor support. There is no SLA, no guaranteed response to a newly discovered vulnerability, and no company standing behind it in a PCI audit or a breach dispute.
- It does not solve the ecosystem problem. OpenMage cannot make your payment gateway or tax provider rebuild the M1 module they retired.
For a merchant, OpenMage is a way to buy time safely, not a destination. It keeps the lights on while you plan a move.
The decision framework for merchants still on M1
If your store is still on Magento 1 in 2026, you have three realistic paths.
1. Move to Magento 2 or Adobe Commerce. The natural path if Magento fits your business: your team's platform knowledge carries over, and Magento 2 has native features (B2B, content staging, modern checkout) that were third-party extensions on M1. Merchants with complex catalogs or deep ERP integrations usually land here. Magento 2 Open Source covers most mid-market stores; Adobe Commerce adds the enterprise feature set on the same codebase. The move is a true migration, not a version bump. The upgrade guide covers the full sequence, and the cost of upgrading Magento breaks down what drives the budget.
2. Replatform to SaaS. Smaller merchants without heavy customization are often better served by Shopify or BigCommerce: automatic updates, PCI compliance handled by the platform, and no server maintenance. If most of your M1 customization was working around platform limits rather than expressing real business logic, SaaS deserves a serious look. We build on all the major platforms and will tell you honestly which one fits.
3. Stay on M1 with OpenMage, deliberately and temporarily. If a migration genuinely cannot start this quarter, run OpenMage, keep patches current, put a firewall and malware scanning in front of the store, and treat it as a bridge with an end date. What we do not recommend is the fourth path most stuck merchants are actually on: unpatched M1, no plan, and hoping.
Not sure which path fits? A store health check against your actual catalog, customizations, and integrations is the fastest way to a real answer.
The upside of moving is real
The case for leaving Magento 1 is not only about avoiding risk. When we migrated QC Supply from Magento 1 to Magento 2, revenue rose 61.72%, conversion improved 18.29%, and sessions grew 44.46%. A platform with modern performance and a maintained ecosystem is not just safer, it converts better.
Frequently asked questions
Is Magento 1 still supported?
No. Adobe ended all official support for Magento 1 in June 2020, including security patches for both Community and Enterprise editions. The only ongoing maintenance comes from the OpenMage community fork, which is volunteer-run and not a substitute for vendor support in a compliance context.
Can I still run my store on Magento 1?
Technically, yes. Open source software keeps running, and OpenMage keeps the codebase compatible with modern PHP. Practically, you are running a payment-processing platform with no vendor security patches, shrinking gateway support, rising PCI DSS 4.0 friction, and a thinning pool of developers. Treat continued M1 operation as a bridge, not a plan.
What is OpenMage?
OpenMage is the community fork of the Magento 1 codebase, maintained by volunteers since Adobe ended support. It backports security fixes and keeps M1 running on current PHP versions. It is a credible way to keep an existing store safe while you plan a migration, but it carries no SLA, no vendor accountability, and it cannot restore the third-party integrations that have dropped Magento 1.
How long does it take to move off Magento 1?
A straightforward store migrating to Magento 2 typically takes around three to four months. Complex catalogs, heavy custom code, or ERP integrations push that to six months or more. The reliable first step is an audit of your catalog, customizations, and integrations, which turns a generic estimate into a real timeline. Our Magento migration services start every project there.
Should I move to Magento 2 or a different platform?
If your business relies on complex catalogs, B2B workflows, or deep customization, Magento 2 or Adobe Commerce preserves your team's platform knowledge and supports that complexity natively. If your M1 store is relatively standard, Shopify or BigCommerce may serve you better. The honest answer depends on your store, which is why we recommend an audit before a platform decision.
Related reading
Magento 1 to Magento 2 upgrade guide · Cost of upgrading Magento · What is Magento · QC Supply: +61.72% revenue after migrating · Magento migration services
Work with IWD
IWD has built and maintained Magento stores since 2008, and we have moved merchants off Magento 1 to Magento 2, Adobe Commerce, and SaaS platforms alike, part of why 300+ brands have trusted us and 94% of clients stay with us. If your store is still on M1, start with a store health check for a prioritized, honest plan, or talk to our Magento migration team about the move itself.