BigCommerce and Shopify are both SaaS ecommerce platforms, but they are built for different growth paths. BigCommerce leans into native depth: built-in…
| BigCommerce | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary category | Ecommerce | Ecommerce |
| Rating | Not documented | Not documented |
| Pricing model | Subscription | Tiered SaaS subscription plus transaction and payment processing fees |
| Starting price | $39/month | $5/month (Starter plan) |
| Free plan | Not documented | Not documented |
| Free trial | Yes | Not documented |
| Platforms | Web | Not documented |
| Team collaboration | Not documented | Not documented |
| AI features | Not documented | Yes |
| Public API | Yes | Not documented |
Entry-level pricing
BigCommerce: Core plan starts at $29/month billed annually, or $39/month billed monthly
Shopify: Basic plan starts at $21/month billed yearly
For cost-sensitive new merchants, the lowest recurring monthly commitment is a first-order decision factor
Free trial and low-cost onboarding
BigCommerce: Offers a free trial with no permanent free plan
Shopify: Freemium onboarding: 3 free days, then $1/month for 3 months before standard pricing applies
An extended low-cost runway lowers the risk of testing a store before committing to full price
Plan tier escalation mechanics
BigCommerce: Plans are tied to annual online sales volume; exceeding a plan's threshold automatically moves the store to the next tier
Shopify: Flat monthly tiers (Basic, Grow, Advanced, Plus) with pricing not documented as tied to sales volume
Sales-based auto-upgrades mean growing merchants can be moved to a pricier tier without actively choosing it
Payment fee structure
BigCommerce: New Open Payment Provider Fee (added June 2026) charges up to roughly 2 percent of GMV on the entry Core plan for orders processed through a gateway outside BigCommerce's approved embedded-payments list, including offline and B2B purchase-order transactions
Shopify: Tiered payment processing rates that decrease as plan tier increases, with the highest rate on the entry Basic tier
Both models penalize smaller or lower-tier merchants more than larger ones, just through different mechanisms: gateway choice versus plan tier
Built-in AI assistant
BigCommerce: No AI assistant is documented in BigCommerce's listed feature set
Shopify: Sidekick AI assistant is included on all plans, including the entry Basic tier
Built-in AI assistance for tasks like store setup and content can meaningfully lower the skill floor for new merchants
B2B and wholesale tooling
BigCommerce: B2B Edition includes quoting, customer-specific catalogs and pricing, purchase orders, and account hierarchies built directly into the platform
Shopify: Not documented in the provided Shopify feature data
Native B2B functionality avoids needing a separate wholesale platform or a stack of third-party apps
Headless and composable architecture
BigCommerce: GraphQL Storefront API and the Catalyst framework, built on Next.js, let developers fully decouple the front end from the BigCommerce backend
Shopify: Not documented in the provided Shopify feature data
A documented headless framework signals first-party support for custom or composable front-end builds rather than relying on undocumented workarounds
Multi-storefront support
BigCommerce: Multi-storefront capability runs multiple branded storefronts from a single backend and shared product catalog, included at the Performance tier
Shopify: Not documented in the provided Shopify feature data
Running several brands or regions from one backend and catalog reduces duplicate inventory and admin overhead
Third-party app and theme ecosystem
BigCommerce: BigCommerce itself lists a smaller third-party app and theme marketplace as a documented drawback compared to Shopify
Shopify: Not separately quantified in the provided Shopify data, but positioned by BigCommerce's own comparison as the larger ecosystem
A larger app and theme marketplace generally means more off-the-shelf options before custom development is needed
| Feature | BigCommerce | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Permanent free plan | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| Free or low-cost trial period | Available | Available |
| Custom enterprise-level pricing tier | Available | Available |
| Sales-volume-based automatic tier upgrades | Available | Not documented |
| Feature | BigCommerce | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-currency selling | Available | Not documented |
| Built-in abandoned cart recovery | Available | Not documented |
| Faceted search and product filtering | Available | Not documented |
| Customer groups and segmentation | Available | Not documented |
| Feature | BigCommerce | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Quoting tools | Available | Not documented |
| Customer-specific catalogs and pricing | Available | Not documented |
| Purchase order support | Available | Not documented |
| Account hierarchies | Available | Not documented |
| Feature | BigCommerce | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Headless or composable storefront framework | Available | Not documented |
| Multi-storefront from one backend | Available | Not documented |
| Custom SSL support | Available | Not documented |
| Higher or custom API rate limits | Available | Not documented |
| Feature | BigCommerce | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Built-in AI assistant | Not documented | Available |
| AI included on the cheapest plan | Not documented | Available |
| Feature | BigCommerce | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplace integrations such as Amazon, eBay, and Walmart | Available | Available |
| Social selling on Facebook and Instagram | Available | Available |
| Point-of-sale for physical retail | Not documented | Available |
| Feature | BigCommerce | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Open choice of payment gateway, no mandated processor | Available | Not documented |
| Additional fee for using a non-approved payment gateway | Available | Not documented |
| Payment processing rate decreases with higher plan tier | Not documented | Available |
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
Pros
Cons
Pros
Cons
Shopify's entry-level Basic plan starts at $21/month billed yearly, undercutting BigCommerce's Core plan at $29/month billed annually, though BigCommerce's lowest tier has no equivalent to Shopify's extended $1-per-month introductory trial period.
Shopify is generally the simpler starting point for beginners, with flat monthly pricing tiers, an included AI assistant called Sidekick on every plan, and a long low-cost trial, while BigCommerce's deeper native B2B and headless tooling are better suited to teams with more technical resources.
Yes, BigCommerce documents a GraphQL Storefront API and the Catalyst framework, built on Next.js, that let developers build a fully custom front end while using BigCommerce for catalog, checkout, and order management; Shopify's headless capabilities are not addressed in the available documented data here.
BigCommerce is the documented choice for B2B and wholesale selling, with its B2B Edition covering quoting, customer-specific catalogs and pricing, purchase orders, and account hierarchies built directly into the platform; no equivalent B2B feature set is documented for Shopify here.
Shopify's documented data shows tiered payment processing rates that decrease as plan tier increases, with the highest rate charged on the entry Basic tier, meaning smaller merchants pay proportionally more per transaction.
Historically BigCommerce marketed itself as charging no transaction fees regardless of payment gateway, but as of June 2026 it introduced an Open Payment Provider Fee of roughly 2 percent on the entry Core plan, lower on higher tiers, that applies to orders processed through a gateway outside its approved embedded-payments list, including offline and purchase-order transactions.
Read the full BigCommerce review · Read the full Shopify review