PrestaShop 9: a discreet but decisive change – What every PrestaShop merchant (and agency) needs to know

No flashy revolution, but a real turning point for PrestaShop

The release of a major new version of an e-commerce CMS is often accompanied by a lot of hype: revolutionary design, spectacular features, a complete overhaul of the user experience, etc. This is not the case with PrestaShop 9. And that’s not a flaw.

PrestaShop 9 is not a visible revolution. It’s a strategic, far-reaching but discreet evolution. It’s a version that doesn’t seek to seduce by its appearance, but to lay solid foundations for the years to come.

At 202-ecommerce, a PrestaShop agency for over 10 years, we’ve studied this version closely. What we’ve seen is a paradigm shift: fewer functional innovations, but a technical reinvention that opens up some serious prospects.

In this article, we explain why PrestaShop 9 deserves your attention, without exaggeration or false enthusiasm. What it brings. What it really changes. And why, even if you don’t immediately see it, this version is undoubtedly one of the most important in the history of PrestaShop.

Symfony 6.4, PHP 8.4: the real transformation is in the engine

Let’s start with what’s changing in depth, even if you can’t see it on the screen.

PrestaShop 9 is now based on Symfony 6.4, a modern PHP framework with long-term maintenance. This means that everything that structures the platform’s code – controllers, forms, routes – has been migrated to a more reliable, higher-performance, more maintainable environment.

This technical choice has several concrete consequences:

• It will be easier to upgrade the site in the years to come.
• Developers will be able to create cleaner, more robust modules.
• Future updates will be less risky.
• The code is better protected against known security flaws.

At the same time, PrestaShop 9 is compatible with PHP up to version 8.4, which opens the door to significant performance gains and improved server stability.

But it’s like switching from a diesel engine to a state-of-the-art hybrid: you gain in power, range and safety, without necessarily seeing the change on the dashboard.

2. Code clean-up: PrestaShop gets off to a clean start

Another of PrestaShop 9’s strengths is its spring cleaning. Many elements that had become obsolete have been removed:

• The advanced stock system, never stabilised, has been withdrawn.
• The old XML webservice API is still there, but is doomed to disappear.
• Some poorly documented PHP classes and modules have been removed.
• The legacy product form has been permanently removed.

What this means is: less technical debt, fewer bugs, fewer surprises. And above all, a much cleaner base from which to build.

For merchants, this means fewer long-term risks. For agencies, more clarity to code quickly and well.

3. A slightly refreshed back office, but far from transformed

We have sometimes read that PrestaShop 9 offers a ‘new back office’. In reality, it’s a slight improvement, not an overhaul.

Yes, the colours have been modernised. Yes, some buttons have been harmonised. And yes, some pages (like the product page) now use the new Symfony/Twig components.

But the structure of the interface remains very similar to that of PrestaShop 8. Merchants used to the previous version will not be disorientated.

So it’s a little brushwork, not a change of use. And that’s no big deal. The essential transformation lies elsewhere.

4. Hummingbird: a good step forward, but not a paradigm shift

PrestaShop 9 introduces a new front-end theme, Hummingbird, based on modern technologies: Bootstrap 5, SCSS, TypeScript, and a BEM structure.

It’s a real improvement on the Classic theme – cleaner, lighter, better structured.

But at 202-ecommerce, it doesn’t fundamentally change our approach:

we’ve already been integrating these standards for several years into our own Atomic Suite framework, designed as a modular foundation with a more advanced design system logic.

But for bespoke, high-performance sites, we continue to favour our in-house framework, which is more mature and tried and tested.

5. SEO, speed, modern formats: real benefits

Even if the appearance doesn’t change, PrestaShop 9 brings a number of invisible but very useful improvements, particularly in terms of SEO and performance.

Shorter, cleaner URLs

By default, the category is no longer automatically integrated into the product URL.

Why is it better?

• Less URL duplication if a product belongs to several categories.
• A stable URL even if the product changes category.
• A better click-through rate in Google results.

Native support for WebP and AVIF

These new image formats enable :

• Lighter files (up to 50% lighter),
• faster display,
• a higher score on Core Web Vitals (Google performance criteria).

Integrated redirects and noindex tags

• Filter or sort pages are automatically excluded from the Google index,
• Deactivated categories can be cleanly redirected to other pages.

Result: better SEO control, less indexing pollution, less need for third-party modules.

6. The Admin API: the real revolution in the making

This is the real long-term turning point for PrestaShop 9.
With the arrival of the Admin API, PrestaShop is finally opening up to modern, automated, composable operation.

In concrete terms :

• The API is based on API Platform, a web standard.
• It enables you to interact with your products, orders, customers, etc. in read and write mode.
• It is authenticated, extensible and documented.

This is where the transformation is real.

By doing so, PrestaShop is catching up technologically with some of its competitors and giving itself the means to become an open, modern, modular platform – in short, one that is adapted to a more structured and connected e-commerce world.

7. The real limits not to be ignored

PrestaShop 9 is a promising base, but it is not yet mature enough for all projects.

Here’s what you need to bear in mind:

• Many modules are not yet compatible (payment, transport, SEO, etc.).
• Customised themes often need to be adapted.
• The ecosystem (Addons, third-party publishers) is still being fine-tuned.
• The Admin API is not complete, and some advanced functions are not yet accessible via the API.

For this reason, we do not currently recommend migrating an existing shop to PrestaShop 9 without a prior audit, unless you are technophile and prepared to make emergency updates at the time of launch. The version is stable and therefore usable, it’s the merchant ecosystem that still needs a few weeks to adapt.

What the agency is already doing with PrestaShop 9

At 202-ecommerce, we’re keeping a very close eye on the development of PrestaShop 9.

We have begun updating our entire catalogue of modules to ensure that they are compatible with this new version. This work is ongoing, and we are doing our utmost to ensure that all our modules are quickly available to merchants on PS9.

We’re also carefully analysing the new possibilities offered by this version, particularly around the Admin API, which is still in the exploration phase. We’re continuing to explore this in order to fully understand how it works and the concrete use cases that we’ll be revealing to you in future articles.

Today, the majority of our projects are still based on PrestaShop 8.2, which remains the most stable version for sites in production.

Our goal: by the end of the year, to start all the creations and redesigns on Prestashop 9 and to draw up an update plan for our customers by mid-2026.

Conclusion – A pivotal version, sober but structuring

PrestaShop 9 doesn’t try to impress with visual effects.

But it is the start of a major technical evolution:

• more modern,
• more efficient,
• more secure
• and above all, more open to the e-commerce tools of today and tomorrow.

This is a transitional version, which does not yet transform the daily lives of merchants, but which lays the foundations for a more modular, more professional and more connected PrestaShop.

At 202-ecommerce, we welcome this development.

And we’re already working with merchants who want to anticipate this transition or build new projects on this solid foundation.