A celebration, an announcement & a new chapter
Meet Magento Netherlands holds a special place in our hearts. It's where our roots are, where our incredible partners Mollie, Hypernode stand alongside us, and where the community gathers to share ideas, celebrate wins, and push Magento forward together.
This year's event, organised by Mage-OS Netherlands—truly for the community, by the community—was something else entirely. We celebrated five years of Hyvä, yes. But more importantly, we made an announcement that we've been building towards for the past half-decade.
An evening with our Platinum Partners
It all kicked off the day before with a dinner bringing together our Platinum Partners, the agencies at the heart of the Hyvä ecosystem. Once a year, we gather around the table to strengthen the relationships that power our daily work. Beyond our dedicated Slack channels, where we share insights, troubleshoot technical challenges, and exchange business feedback in real-time, this dinner provided an opportunity for us to connect face-to-face and celebrate what we're building together.
Our Partnership Programme brings agencies closer to the Hyvä kernel and keeps them in permanent contact with our team of experts. From Bronze to Platinum, each tier unlocks new opportunities to collaborate, innovate, and grow. Together, we create powerful eCommerce solutions, develop compelling content, and build brand awareness that benefits the entire Magento community. This is how we grow, by sharing knowledge, giving back, and lifting up the whole industry.
This year's dinner welcomed an incredible group from Cream, Foundation Commerce, Trinos, Magebit, Vendic, Integer, and Elgentos. These are the partners who don't just use Hyvä, they shape it, challenge it, and help us make it better every day. Here's to making eCommerce happy, together.
Celebrating five years with Mollie
The next morning, we gathered again over coffee in a venue designed to make everyone feel genuinely welcome. A proper breakfast buffet with excellent coffee and snacks set the tone for the day, and for celebrating our 5th anniversary in style.
For the first time at Meet Magento Netherlands, we shared booth space with Mollie. It felt right. We've built a brilliant partnership over the years, and having a common space reflected that. The photo wall became an instant hit, people scribbled their wishes for the next five years and stuck up Polaroid snaps, capturing the warmth and friendship that defines our community. It wasn't just branding; it was a proper conversation starter.
The birthday celebrations brought the fun: Mario Kart proved wildly popular (competitive developers, who knew?), and cocktails with Hypernode rounded off the day perfectly. The atmosphere made it easy to do more than just follow presentations. People chatted between talks, made connections, and built relationships that'll last well beyond the event. That's what it's all about: bringing people together and keeping things simple.
Five years in the making
When Willem took the stage, he didn't just recap where we've been. He explained why we've been on this journey at all.
Five years ago, Hyvä was born out of necessity. We said "no" to solutions that didn't fit our ecosystem. “No” to forced Single Page Applications, “no” to decomposing the monolith. We knew Open Source had changed, offering less traction and fewer contributions. So we built something different: a commercial route with a clear proposition, long-term support, and a partnership model that rewarded agencies and extension vendors for their contributions.
But building Hyvä was never just about growing a business. We had two driving ambitions:
Growing Hyvä: Today, we're 28 people strong, powering over 6,000 live stores. Reddit calls us the "de facto standard" frontend for Magento. We've firmly established ourselves in the mid-market, and now we're entering Phase Two: building Hyvä Commerce as the definitive revival of Magento—100% independent, self-funded, and backed by industry leaders like Mollie and Hypernode.
Giving Back: Growing Hyvä allowed us to give back consistently. We've invested in the Magento Association, Mage-OS, and local chapters worldwide. We've sponsored and co-organised Meet Magento events from the Netherlands to India, Brazil, Canada, and the UK. We expanded our Community’s visibility to bigger industry events like Webwinkelvakdagen in the Netherlands or DMEXCO in Germany.
We've always been objective, never pushing our own agenda.
Want the full story? Read Willem's detailed blog post for all the details.
And here is Willem’s talk on MM25NL.
The announcement: Hyvä Theme is now Open Source and Free
For five years, we've been preparing. Buffing up. Putting every penny back into the company to grow it and make it sustainable. And now, we're ready to give back in the most meaningful way we know how.
Hyvä Theme release 1.4, code name Aava, is now Open Source and FREE
Yes, you read that right. As of 10 November, Hyvä Theme is available on GitHub, and you can grab up to five free Packagist keys via hyva.io.
This is our answer to the community's call to action. It's a massive boost for the Open Source ecosystem, granting access to everyone, especially independent developers, juniors, students, and small businesses working on tight budgets. It's about sparking a new wave of Open Source extensions and collaborations. It's about nurturing the sustainability of our ecosystem.
As Willem says: "Those who own the lower end of the market will own the middle market." We're opening the door for new businesses to grow with Magento, knowing that a thriving ecosystem lifts everyone.
What's changing (and what's not)
What this means practically:
What's changing:
- Hyvä Theme 1.4 is now Open Source and free
- Hyvä UI is now a separate product—just €250 for lifetime use per Magento instance
- Previously purchased Theme licences still include premium support
What's not changing:
- Our other products (Hyvä Checkout, Enterprise, and Commerce) remain unchanged
- Cashbacks are still available when buying Hyvä Commerce
- Community support continues via Slack
The Ecosystem is everything
Later in the day, John walked us through the full Hyvä product landscape, where we are now, what's in beta, and what's on the Roadmap. A massive shout-out to our early adopters, agency partners, and vendors who've supported us and built compatibility modules that make the ecosystem stronger.
John also dove deep into Hyvä CMS, our brand-new solution that we're incredibly proud of. His message? Stop putting squares in circular holes. Lose the page builder mindset. Use the power of our framework. Create your own components. Build for users, not developers. And most importantly: enjoy your work.
If you want to learn more about Hyvä CMS, join John in person at upcoming events in Manila and Poznań.
Quality First: building the future with Hyvä Certification
Five years in, and we're taking the next step in building our ecosystem the right way. On the occasion of our 5th anniversary and Hyvä Theme going open source, we're launching the Hyvä Professional Developer Certification. With more developers expected to discover Hyvä, we want to ensure the ecosystem grows with the same values we've always held: simplicity, performance, and doing things properly.
Professional certification is designed for developers with real project experience, solid Magento frontend knowledge, hands-on Hyvä work, and expertise in Tailwind, Alpine, and performance optimisation. If you've earned (or you're working towards) your Associate certification, this is the natural next step. Pass the exam, and you'll receive a digital certificate and Credly badge. More importantly, it's recognition that matters—for developers, it validates your skills; for agencies and merchants, it's a reliable way to identify talent who build with Hyvä the right way.
As Hyvä Theme opens up to more developers, certification ensures the ecosystem grows strong, not just fast. Quality over quantity, always.
What makes #MM25NL special
Of course, Meet Magento Netherlands isn't just about the announcements. It's about the people, the conversations, and yes, the afterparty. Here's what made this year's event unforgettable:
🧡 A delicious start with breakfast and good coffee
🧡 An inspiring keynote to kick off the day
🧡 Engaging talks full of insights and real-world experience
🧡 A tasty lunch to recharge
🧡 Even more talks and inspiration in the afternoon
🧡 Networking over dinner
🧡 And an epic afterparty to end the day in style
And here we've got the video to prove it
What's next
We're immensely proud of what we've built together over these five years. This announcement isn't the end of our journey—it's the beginning of a new chapter. One where Magento Open Source is more accessible, where small businesses can grow into thriving enterprises, and where the community has the tools to innovate without barriers.
Thank you for believing in better. Thank you for standing with us. And here's to the next five years.
