Shopify vs. BigCommerce

Shopify vs. BigCommerce: the real differences that affect cost

Shopify and BigCommerce solve the same problem — running an online store without managing your own server — but they get there differently. Shopify wins on ecosystem size and ease of use. BigCommerce wins on built-in functionality that Shopify often makes you pay extra apps for. Which one costs less and works better depends heavily on what your store actually needs to do.

Ecosystem and ease of use: Shopify's strength

Shopify has the larger market share, and that shows up in practical ways: more themes, more apps, more developers who know the platform, more tutorials and community support when something breaks. If you want to hire freelance help or find a pre-built app for almost anything — subscriptions, loyalty programs, print-on-demand — Shopify's app store has more options and more mature versions of each.

The admin interface is also generally considered more polished and easier for a non-technical store owner to run day to day. Product management, order fulfillment, and basic reporting all feel more refined in Shopify, which matters if you don't have a developer on staff and need to manage the store yourself.

The tradeoff is that Shopify's core plans are intentionally lean. Feature after feature — advanced product filtering, more robust B2B pricing, deeper reporting — gets pushed onto paid apps, and app subscription costs add up fast. It's not unusual for a Shopify store's monthly app bill to exceed the platform subscription itself once you've added a handful of "essential" apps.

Built-in features: BigCommerce's strength

BigCommerce takes the opposite approach — it tries to include more advanced e-commerce features natively so you need fewer paid apps to get a full-featured store. Multi-currency, product filtering, B2B functionality (customer groups, bulk pricing), and more sophisticated shipping rules are available on BigCommerce's core plans in ways that would require third-party apps on Shopify.

For a store that needs this kind of functionality from day one — a wholesale/B2B operation, or a store with complex product variants — BigCommerce can end up cheaper overall even if its plan pricing looks similar to Shopify's, because you're not stacking app subscriptions on top.

BigCommerce's tradeoff is a smaller app and theme ecosystem, and a platform that generally has a steeper learning curve for store owners managing things themselves. Fewer developers specialize in BigCommerce compared to Shopify, which can make finding help slightly harder, though this gap has narrowed over time.

Transaction fees and payment processing

Shopify charges an additional transaction fee if you use a payment processor other than Shopify Payments, which effectively pushes most US merchants toward Shopify Payments (built on Stripe) to avoid the extra cut. BigCommerce doesn't charge its own transaction fees regardless of which payment gateway you use, which gives you more flexibility if you have a preferred processor or need one Shopify Payments doesn't support in your region.

Sales channel limits

BigCommerce has historically imposed annual sales thresholds on its standard plans — cross a revenue limit and you're pushed to upgrade to a higher tier, even if you don't need any new features. Shopify's plans are not tied to revenue in the same way, so a fast-growing store won't be forced into a plan change purely because of sales volume. This is worth checking against current published pricing before committing, since thresholds and plan structures change.

Theme and design flexibility

Both platforms offer free and paid themes that are mobile-responsive and reasonably customizable through drag-and-drop editors. Shopify's theme marketplace is larger and its Liquid templating language is well documented for developers who want deeper customization. BigCommerce uses Stencil, which is capable but has a smaller community of specialists to draw on. For most small business stores, either platform's default theme options are more than sufficient without custom development.

Which one to choose

Choose Shopify if you want the largest ecosystem, the easiest day-to-day management, and you're comfortable paying for apps to add specific functionality as you need it. It's the safer default for a general retail store without unusual requirements.

Choose BigCommerce if you know upfront that you need B2B pricing, multi-currency, or advanced product options, and you'd rather have that built into your plan than pay for a stack of apps to replicate it. It's also worth a look if avoiding payment processor transaction fees matters to your margins.

Either platform is a legitimate choice for a serious online store — see our broader comparison of Shopify vs. a fully custom e-commerce build if you're also weighing whether a hosted platform is the right call at all versus something built from scratch.

FAQ

Which is cheaper, Shopify or BigCommerce?

It depends on your feature needs — Shopify's base plans look cheaper but often require paid apps to match features BigCommerce includes natively, so total monthly cost can come out similar or even favor BigCommerce for feature-heavy stores.

Does Shopify charge extra fees BigCommerce doesn't?

Shopify charges an additional transaction fee if you don't use Shopify Payments as your processor; BigCommerce does not charge its own transaction fees regardless of payment gateway.

Is BigCommerce good for B2B and wholesale stores?

Yes, its native customer groups, bulk pricing, and B2B-oriented features are generally stronger out of the box than what Shopify offers without third-party apps.

Can I migrate from Shopify to BigCommerce or vice versa later?

Yes, both support product and customer data export/import, though migrating themes, apps, and custom functionality takes real project work and isn't a simple one-click move.

Which platform has better customer support?

Both offer 24/7 support channels; Shopify's larger user base means more community resources and third-party help are available, while BigCommerce's support is generally considered solid but reaches a smaller audience.