BigCommerce vs Shopify
A source-aware comparison of pricing, documented capabilities and workflow fit.
Short answer
Both are hosted storefronts, so neither needs a server. Shopify has the larger app store and theme market, the smoother checkout and point-of-sale story and its own payment processor; using a third-party gateway on Shopify adds a transaction fee on most plans. BigCommerce charges no extra transaction fee for outside gateways, ships more catalogue features natively (variants, faceted search, B2B price lists on higher tiers) and is friendlier to headless builds through its APIs. Small and mid-size brands usually pick Shopify for the ecosystem; larger catalogues, B2B sellers and teams committed to a specific payment provider lean BigCommerce.
BigCommerce is the pick when
- you must keep an existing payment gateway without an added platform fee
- a large catalogue with complex variants or B2B price lists
- a headless storefront on your own front end
Shopify is the pick when
- you want the biggest app and theme ecosystem and the most third-party help
- retail plus online with Shopify POS in the same account
- you are happy to use Shopify Payments as your processor
Written by hand from both vendors’ own documentation, checked 2026-09-15. Sources: Shopify pricing, BigCommerce. Prices below come from the pricing we track. How we score tools.
What BigCommerce is
What BigCommerce isBigCommerce is the balanced choice between Shopify's speed and Magento's depth. As a SaaS platform, it is exceptionally flexible, especially for 'Headless Commerce' setups. A major advantage is that it takes zero transaction fees, protecting your profit margins. With strong native B2B features and complex product variation support, it shines where standard e-commerce packages fall short for growing brands.
What Shopify is
What Shopify isShopify is the world's most powerful e-commerce platform, designed for everyone from individual sellers to billion-dollar global brands. It lets you open a professional store without worrying about server management or security updates. The 'Shopify App Store' adds thousands of extra features, while 'Shop Pay' offers the world's fastest checkout experience. Shopify is not just software; it is the operating system for global internet commerce.
Side by side
| BigCommerce | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | E-commerce | E-commerce |
| How to start | $29/moverified | $19/moverified |
| Public API | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | No | Yes |
| Open source / self-hostable | No | No |
| SSO (SAML) | Yes | Yes |
| Visit | BigCommerce ↗ | Shopify ↗ |
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What BigCommerce is built to do
- Multi-Storefront
- Manage all your different brands or international sites from one backend.
- B2B Edition
- Offer corporate buyers special price lists and bulk purchase options.
- Omnichannel Sync
- Instantly sync your inventory across Amazon, eBay, and Instagram.
- Open SaaS Architecture
- Combines SaaS security with the freedom of an API-based structure.
What Shopify is built to do
- Online Store Builder
- Design professional, SEO-friendly stores using drag-and-drop tools.
- Shop Pay
- Reduce cart abandonment by offering customers a one-click checkout experience.
- Shopify Audiences
- Use AI data to spend your ad budget on the most accurate potential buyers.
- Global Commerce
- Instantly translate your site into different languages and local currencies.
Choose BigCommerce if
- Stores that will use an embedded payment provider — those carry zero platform fee
- Growing merchants: the plan upgrades itself as sales pass each cap
- Trying it fully: 15-day trial with no card
Skip BigCommerce if
- You use an open payment provider — Core adds 2% of sales on top of your processor
- You are near a cap: Core auto-upgrades to Growth past $30K trailing-twelve-month sales, Growth to Scale past $100K
- You want to stay on the cheapest plan as you grow; the caps make that impossible
Choose Shopify if
- Selling online without running your own infrastructure
- Starting cheaply — $1/month for the first 3 months after a 3-day trial
- Stores that will use Shopify Payments, which avoids the extra platform cut
Skip Shopify if
- You are budgeting from the offer — $1/mo lasts 3 months; Basic is $19/mo annual ($27 monthly) after that
- You use an external payment provider: Shopify takes an extra 2% on Basic on top of your processor's fee
- You want to own the platform; you are renting a hosted store
Evidence and freshness
Where a claim on this page comes from a vendor page, it is linked here.
BigCommerce: pros & cons
- No Transaction Fees: Does not take extra commissions from your sales, unlike Shopify.
- B2B Ready: Features for wholesale are strong even in its more basic tiers.
- Variant Support: Easily handles complex products with thousands of different options.
- Headless Support: Integrates flawlessly with WordPress or React-based frontends.
- Templates: The number of free themes is lower and they may not look as modern as Shopify's.
- Sales Caps: Automatically pushes you to higher tiers as your annual revenue grows.
- App Ecosystem: Its app store is not as vast or diverse as that of Shopify.
Shopify: pros & cons
- Rapid Start: Launch a professional store in minutes with no technical hurdles.
- Huge Ecosystem: There is a Shopify app for virtually every feature you might need.
- High Reliability: Your site remains stable even during the heaviest shopping holidays.
- Shopify POS: Manage your physical and digital stores from a single unified inventory.
- Transaction Fees: Charges extra commission if you don't use Shopify Payments.
- App Costs: Monthly subscription costs for apps can add up very quickly.
- Customization Limits: Deep design changes require knowledge of the 'Liquid' code.
Our verdict on BigCommerce
The smartest choice for brands seeking corporate features without paying extra commissions.
Our verdict on Shopify
The world's best platform for starting, growing, and scaling an e-commerce empire.
Published plans, side by side
Every figure below was read from the vendor's own pricing page and is shown with the sentence it came from. Where a vendor publishes no plan prices, we say so rather than guess.
BigCommerce
- Core$29/mo billed annually
Core $29/month annual, $39 monthly
- Growth$79/mo billed annually
Growth $79/month annual, $105 monthly
- Scale$299/mo billed annually
Scale $299/month annual, $399 monthly
- Performance$1,499/mo billed annually
Performance from $1,499/month billed annually
Shopify
- Basic$19/mo billed annually
Basic $19/mo annual, $27 monthly
- Grow$54/mo billed annually
Grow $54/mo annual, $72 monthly
- Advanced$299/mo billed annually
Advanced $299/mo annual, $399 monthly
BigCommerce vs Shopify: common questions
- Is BigCommerce cheaper than Shopify?
- Shopify is the cheaper entry point at $19/mo billed annually, against $29/mo billed annually for BigCommerce. Both figures come from the vendors' own pricing pages.
- Does BigCommerce or Shopify have a free plan?
- BigCommerce has no free plan listed, while Shopify has no free plan listed.
- Which is cheaper once you start paying, BigCommerce or Shopify?
- Shopify has the cheaper first paid step: Basic at $19/mo billed annually, against Core at $29/mo billed annually for BigCommerce. Both figures come from the vendors' own pricing pages.
- What is the difference between BigCommerce and Shopify?
- On the criteria we check, only Shopify has mobile app; both offer public api and sso (saml). The table above lists every criterion side by side.