Magento extensions and plugins can add significant functionality to your Magento store, whether in the form of integrations, automations, or new features. Handled correctly, they can drive your store’s takings.

But as ever in eCommerce, there’s a catch with Magento 2 extensions, namely the risk of unsupported third-party code, conflicts, or performance issues stalling your store’s operation and impacting your overall profitability.

As a business owner, while it’s important to understand these risks, knowing how to install an extension in Magento or having an expert-level grasp of how different Magento plugins work – let alone custom Magento extensions – is the responsibility of your development team or a Magento agency such as Develo. 

Your role? Understanding the big picture and strategy is necessary for your developers to keep your site stable and scalable. In this article, we outline the 5 tips (plus a bonus tip) you need to get started.

1. How to Install an Extension in Magento: Use Composer

In terms of how to install an extension in Magento, ask your team to use Magento Composer. 

Composer is a built-in, easy-to-upgrade tool that helps you manage Magento 2 extension dependencies, versions, updates, and rollbacks with ease. It also helps you avoid Magento plugin conflicts.

The only exception is custom Magento extensions. Those built in-house typically go into the app/code folder, but keep these to a minimum for better control (or get in touch with us for help).

2. Be Selective About Magento Plugin Vendors

Already worked with Magento plugin vendors? Ask your developers which vendor was easiest to work with, caused the least delays, and provided the most reliable support.

At Develo, we recommend limiting the number of vendors. This simplifies support, reduces compatibility and theming problems, and helps avoid duplicate ‘core’ modules that can bloat your store. But that leaves the question: who should you choose?

Truthfully, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer here. Some Magento 2 extension suppliers include support packages, while others rely on your internal team. Our advice? Work through your options with your development team, or contact us for a no-pressure chat about what to do.

3. Limit Magento 2 Extensions

Limiting your Magento 2 extensions – as with limiting vendors (see 2 above) – can save headaches for you and your development team.

When it comes to Magento extensions, less is often more. This is because the more extensions and plugins you have:

• The longer upgrades and testing take

• The greater your risk of bugs, security holes, and slower performance

• The more CSS/JS your site must load (i.e. more ‘page weight’)

Our advice? Keep your use of Magento extensions lean. Fewer extensions typically means fewer vendors, plus lower risk and complexity.

Contact us for help consolidating your plugins, or investigate our custom Magento extensions development.

4. Repurchasing Magento Extensions During Upgrades

Repurchasing or updating Magento extensions may be required when the platform undergoes an upgrade. 

As such, it’s wise to factor these repurchases and your vendors’ pricing models (usually one-time payment or subscription) into your cost planning, especially when major version jumps come around.

(Tip: use Adobe’s Release Schedule to plan around upgrades and Magento patches)

5. Check Module Compatibility with Hyvä Theme

As Hyvä Gold Partners, we at Develo love Magento’s Hyvä theme for its performance and build simplicity. 

But if your store uses Hyvä, note that many extensions built for Magento’s default Luma and Blank themes need compatibility modules to function properly.

This is because Hyvä replaces Magento’s traditional stacks (LESS, jQuery, RequireJS) with Tailwind CSS and Alpine.js, which often requires rewriting or wrapping extensions to avoid breaking the frontend.

So, as a business owner, what should you do? Simply, ask your development team to review Hyvä’s Compatibility Module Tracker to identify which Magento extensions are already covered. For those that are missing, get in touch. We’re here to help.

6. Bonus Tip: Use Compatibility Tools & Resources

In addition to checking for compatibility modules, ask your developers to investigate vendor-specific documentation, such as:

• Amasty's Hyvä support packages, which offer Composer-based compatibility modules for certain extensions.

• Mirasvit, which provides a Magento Extensions Store with relevant resources.

• MageWorx, which publishes lists of Hyvä Themes-ready extensions to streamline shopping and installation.

Lean on these tools, or contact Develo for Magento 2 extension compatibility checks, planning, or custom module adaptation.

Magento Extensions and Plugins: Conclusion

Magento extensions and plugins are powerful and can add significant profitability to your store. But for those without a development background, they can be overwhelming.

Fortunately, as a business owner, your job is to understand the big picture and lead on strategy, not get stuck in the technical weeds. That’s where your developers, or better yet, our specialist Magento development team at Develo, can help.

So if you’re unsure how to install an extension in Magento, or you’re ready to sophisticate your Magento 2 extension strategy, contact Develo today. We’ll help you audit your module stack, plan version upgrades, and guarantee compatibility with Hyvä, so your Magento store stays fast, secure, and future-proof.

Bethany Wood

Marketing Manager

Beth has worked in marketing since 2016, delivering creative, conversion-focused campaigns across multiple industries. She specialises in social media marketing, branding, email marketing, and copywriting. As Develo’s Marketing Manager within the commercial department, Beth is responsible for managing and delivering marketing activity that supports business growth. She enjoys taking projects from concept to delivery, shaping ideas into campaigns that drive measurable results.

Develo is a leading Magento agency and eCommerce web development company based in Birmingham, in the UK, serving clients globally since 2010. Our Blog covers topics around the array of services our certified Magento Developers offer, including Hyvä themes development, Adobe Commerce, Magento Punchout catalogues, ERP integrations and much more. To speak to a friendly member of the team about your next project, contact us here.