BigCommerce vs Shopify
Both are hosted stores on published monthly plans. BigCommerce puts customer groups and product filtering into its higher plans and caps each plan by annual sales; Shopify leaves more to a large app store and has no sales caps. Both charge up to 2% on orders outside their preferred payment providers. Mid-size catalogues tend towards BigCommerce, first stores towards Shopify.
Niels AbrahamsenAnalyst, Security & Infrastructure
Tomasz Wierzbicki
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Choose BigCommerce ifyour catalogue is mid-size, you want customer groups, product filtering and extra storefronts inside the plan rather than as separate app subscriptions, and your payment provider is on BigCommerce's embedded list.
Choose Shopify ifthis is a first or small store that must launch quickly, you want the widest choice of apps and themes, and checkout conversion matters more than built-in features.
BigCommerce and Shopify side by side
| BigCommerce | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Our ecommerce platform rank | #2 of 14 | #9 of 14 |
| Established in | United States | Canada |
| Pricing | Per month by plan, published; 0.6% to 2% fee outside embedded payment providers | Per month by plan, published; 0.6% to 2% fee outside Shopify Payments |
| List price, 30 September 2026 | Core: $39 per month billed monthly, or $29 per month billed annually | Basic: €28 per month billed monthly, or €21 per month billed yearly |
| Free tier | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Self-hostable | — | — |
| Built for | A mid-size catalogue that would otherwise buy five Shopify apps | A store that wants to sell this month rather than build all quarter |
| Not for | A first store with ten products | A B2B seller who needs more than three price catalogues without paying for Plus |
Both are reviewed in full in our ecommerce platform ranking: BigCommerce and Shopify.
Where they differ
BigCommerce 1 · Shopify 1 · open 3- 01
Built in or bought as an app
BigCommerce includes customer groups from its Growth plan at 105 dollars a month and product filtering from Scale at 399 dollars; SKU-level price lists are reserved for Performance, from 1,499 dollars. Extra storefronts cost 30 to 100 dollars a month each. Shopify covers much of this ground through its app store, typically four or five subscriptions on top of the plan.
Edge: BigCommerce
- 02
The fee that grows with turnover
Shopify charges 2%, 1% or 0.6% by plan on orders paid through a third-party provider, and nothing extra with Shopify Payments. BigCommerce charges the same three percentages for open payment providers and nothing for embedded ones such as Stripe, Adyen or PayPal. BigCommerce also moves Core to Growth at 30,000 dollars of trailing annual sales and Growth to Scale at 100,000.
Depends on the buyer
- 03
Themes, apps and agencies
Shopify's pricing page promises integration with thousands of apps on every plan, and the ecosystem of themes and agencies around it is the broadest in this category. BigCommerce has a thinner theme and agency ecosystem. That matters if you expect to lean on ready-made themes, outside help or an unusual integration, because the choice on the BigCommerce side is narrower.
Edge: Shopify
- 04
B2B and per-customer pricing
Shopify lists B2B on every plan with up to three catalogues, and unlimited catalogues on Plus from 2,100 euros a month. BigCommerce offers customer groups for pricing and product access from Growth, but SKU-level price lists only on Performance. A seller with a handful of wholesale tiers is served by either; many individual price lists mean the top plan on both.
Depends on the buyer
- 05
Selling in more than one country
BigCommerce lists multi-currency on all plans, accepting payments in over 100 currencies, and sells extra storefronts as add-ons, up to three on Core and eight on Scale. Shopify includes Markets on every plan with local-currency prices and duty estimates, but full multi-currency checkout needs Shopify Payments. Merchants tied to another payment provider have more freedom on BigCommerce.
Depends on the buyer
When neither fits
Neither suits a team that wants to own the code and hosting or has truly complicated catalogue, tax and B2B rules. WooCommerce fits if you already run WordPress with someone technical; Shopware fits the complex catalogue, though it expects an implementation partner.
BigCommerce or Shopify: questions
4 answersDoes BigCommerce really cost less than Shopify?
It depends on the app bill and on billing currency. BigCommerce lists Core at 39 dollars a month and Shopify lists Basic at 28 euros.
BigCommerce folds customer groups and filtering into higher plans, which pays off once a Shopify app stack grows. For a ten-product first store, BigCommerce is the wrong choice.
Do BigCommerce and Shopify both charge transaction fees?
Yes, in similar ways. Shopify charges 2%, 1% or 0.6% by plan unless Shopify Payments is active.
BigCommerce charges the same percentages for orders through open payment providers and nothing for its embedded providers, a list of about twenty that includes Stripe, Adyen, Klarna and PayPal.
Is BigCommerce or Shopify quicker to launch?
Shopify: nothing else gets from nothing to a working store as fast, and the checkout converts well.
BigCommerce offers a 15-day free trial without a credit card but is aimed at a mid-size catalogue rather than a first store, and its thinner theme ecosystem gives fewer ready-made starting points.
What happens on BigCommerce when sales grow?
Plans are tied to trailing twelve-month sales. Core upgrades automatically to Growth above 30,000 dollars and Growth to Scale above 100,000. Scale covers 33,333 dollars of sales a month, with a 0.9% charge on anything above that. Shopify's plans carry no sales thresholds.
Sources
Checked 30 September 2026- BigCommerce pricing page: BigCommerce plan prices, sales caps, open payment provider fees, plan features, storefront add-ons and trial.
- Shopify pricing page: Shopify plan prices, third-party fees, B2B catalogue limits, Markets and app integrations.
- Shopify help: third-party transaction fees: Shopify third-party fee applies only without Shopify Payments.
- Shopify help: selling in multiple currencies: Shopify multi-currency checkout requires Shopify Payments.