BigCommerce vs. Shopify
BigCommerce and Shopify are popular website builders for businesses that want to sell online. Shopify is known for its approachable setup and broad app ecosystem, while BigCommerce offers extensive built-in ecommerce features and tools for growing stores. Users often compare them to find the right balance of simplicity, flexibility, and scalability.
This comparison looks at key factors—including features, pricing, ease of use, design options, integrations, and support—to help you choose the platform that best fits your business.
BigCommerce VS Shopify: Which tool is the most popular?
| Tool | Reviews | Average rating | Positive reviews | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BigCommerce | 94 | 3.22/5 | 58 (61.7%) | Better-rated overall, with most reviews positive. |
| Shopify | 110 | 1.24/5 | 10 (9.1%) | Most reviewed, but rated lowest, with most reviews negative. |
Summary: Shopify has the highest review count, while BigCommerce is more popular in terms of user satisfaction. Shopify is the least popular by average rating.
BigCommerce and Shopify: Quick Comparison Overview
| Category | Ahrefs | Semrush |
|---|---|---|
| Primary features | SEO research tools for backlink analysis, keyword research, site audits, rank tracking, and content research. | Broader digital-marketing suite covering SEO, competitor research, site audits, rank tracking, content marketing, local SEO, PPC, and social media. |
| Target audience | SEO specialists, content teams, and agencies focused on organic search and link building. | In-house marketing teams, agencies, and businesses managing several digital-marketing channels. |
| Main advantages | Strong backlink and competitor research, with a focused toolkit for finding SEO and content opportunities. | Wider range of marketing tools in one platform, especially useful for combining SEO with paid, local, and social campaigns. |
| Core value proposition | Make organic-search research and link-building workflows more effective. | Manage and measure a broader digital-marketing program from one platform. |
| Ideal use cases | Analyzing competitors’ backlinks, researching keywords and content gaps, auditing a site, and tracking organic rankings. | Coordinating SEO with PPC, local visibility, content, and social efforts; conducting cross-channel competitor research. |
Sources: Ahrefs features · Semrush features
Feature availability varies by plan and may change.
Most liked vs most disliked features of BigCommerce and Shopify
| Platform | Overall sentiment | What users appreciate | Main concerns |
|---|---|---|---|
| BigCommerce | Generally positive. Users value its accessibility and broad e-commerce capabilities, though some areas need refinement. | Easy setup and day-to-day use; responsive support; customization options, API access, and PageBuilder; support for B2B and B2C businesses and different product types; useful inventory and mobile-commerce features. | Configurable products may require custom development. Users also want better geo-targeting and integrations, a smoother checkout, clearer order notes, and an easier path to learning advanced features. |
| Shopify | Mixed to negative in these reviews. Users recognize its ease of use and feature range, but many reviews focus on support and account-related problems. | User-friendly navigation and a wide range of built-in features, particularly appealing to new store owners. | Frequent complaints about slow or unhelpful customer support, account access issues, payment holds, unexpected charges, and limited responsiveness to reports of scams involving stores on the platform. |
Key Features of BigCommerce vs Shopify
BigCommerce
| Feature | How it benefits users | What stands out |
|---|---|---|
| Visual storefront editing | Lets merchants build and update pages without coding for every change. | BigCommerce’s Page Builder uses a visual, drag-and-drop approach to arrange page content. |
| Customizable themes | Provides a starting design that can be adapted to a brand and viewed across devices. | Merchants can start with a theme and make more advanced storefront changes when they need greater control. |
| Built-in ecommerce features | Keeps the website and core selling functions—such as product catalog, checkout, and order handling—in one platform. | BigCommerce is oriented toward ecommerce rather than just general-purpose page creation. |
| Sales-channel connections | Helps businesses reach customers through channels beyond their own website. | The platform supports connecting a store with external marketplaces and social channels. |
| Customization and integrations | Makes it possible to extend the store or connect it to other business systems as needs grow. | BigCommerce offers options for integrations and developer-led customization. |
Shopify
| Feature | How it benefits users | What stands out |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted online-store builder | Gives users a managed way to create an ecommerce site without setting up separate hosting. | Shopify combines the storefront with its commerce platform, so merchants can build and sell in one place. |
| Themes and visual editing | Helps users launch with a ready-made design and customize store pages without building everything from scratch. | Shopify is known for a broad ecosystem of themes and add-ons. |
| Integrated selling tools | Supports store operations such as products, checkout, payments, and order management alongside the website. | The builder is closely tied to Shopify’s wider selling platform, including in-person and online sales options. |
| Apps and extensions | Lets merchants add features or connect services as their requirements change. | Shopify’s app ecosystem is a major way to extend a store beyond its default setup. |
| Free business tools | Can help with tasks around launching and running a business, in addition to building the storefront. | The linked Shopify Tools page highlights standalone business utilities; these are useful complements, but aren’t all features of the website editor itself. |
In brief: BigCommerce stands out for its visual Page Builder and ecommerce-focused platform flexibility. Shopify’s strength is the combination of a hosted store builder, an extensive app ecosystem, and a wider set of business tools. Both offer more than basic page creation: they connect the website to online selling functions. See BigCommerce’s product page and Shopify’s tools page.
BigCommerce vs Shopify Pricing Comparison
Prices below are in USD. Annual prices are the effective monthly rates when paid annually; actual billing is upfront. Rates and promotions can vary by country.
| Brand and tier | Month-to-month price | Annual-plan price | Main differences |
|---|---|---|---|
| BigCommerce Standard | $39/month | $29/month equivalent ($348 billed annually) | Core store features, including unlimited products and staff accounts. Intended for stores with up to about $50,000 in annual online sales. |
| BigCommerce Plus | $105/month | $79/month equivalent ($948 billed annually) | Adds features such as abandoned-cart recovery, customer groups and segmentation, and stored credit cards. Sales threshold is about $180,000 annually. |
| BigCommerce Pro | $399/month | $299/month equivalent ($3,588 billed annually) | Adds product filtering and Google customer reviews. Sales threshold is about $400,000 annually; higher sales can trigger additional charges or a move to a custom plan. |
| BigCommerce Enterprise | Custom quote | Custom quote | For larger or more complex businesses; pricing and features are tailored. |
| Shopify Basic | $39/month | $29/month equivalent ($348 billed annually) | Core online store features; includes 2 staff accounts. Shopify Payments card rates in the US start at 2.9% + 30¢ online. |
| Shopify Grow | $105/month | $79/month equivalent ($948 billed annually) | Adds more staff accounts (5), professional reports, and lower Shopify Payments rates than Basic. US online card rates start at 2.7% + 30¢. |
| Shopify Advanced | $399/month | $299/month equivalent ($3,588 billed annually) | Adds advanced reporting and more staff accounts (15), plus lower Shopify Payments rates. US online card rates start at 2.5% + 30¢. |
| Shopify Plus | From about $2,500/month on a one-year term | From about $2,300/month on a three-year term | Enterprise plan with expanded customization and support for complex operations, including B2B selling. Final pricing depends on the contract and business requirements. |
| Cost or offer | BigCommerce | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Free trial or introductory deal | The pricing page offers a 15-day free trial. | The pricing page advertises a 3-day free trial, followed by an introductory offer of $1/month for 3 months. Promotions can change. |
| Annual-plan discount | Annual billing reduces the listed effective monthly price by roughly 25% compared with month-to-month billing. | Annual billing reduces the listed effective monthly price by roughly 25% on Basic, Grow, and Advanced. |
| Platform transaction fees | BigCommerce says it charges no additional transaction fees. Payment processor fees still apply. | If Shopify Payments isn’t used, Shopify charges an additional transaction fee on top of the payment provider’s fees. The listed rates are generally 2% for Basic, 1% for Grow, and 0.6% for Advanced. |
| Sales-based pricing limits | Standard, Plus, and Pro have annual online-sales thresholds; stores may be moved to a higher tier or incur additional charges as sales grow. | The listed plans don’t use the same published annual-sales thresholds as BigCommerce. |
Sources: BigCommerce pricing · Shopify pricing. Pricing, payment rates, trial offers, and plan details may vary by location or change over time.
Support Options Comparison: BigCommerce vs Shopify
| Support option | BigCommerce | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Live chat | Offers live chat through its Support portal, alongside other ways to contact support. | Offers 24/7 chat support through the Shopify Help Center. |
| Phone support | Phone support is available; contact options may depend on the account or support request. | Phone support is not listed as a standard contact option on the Help Center; support is directed through online chat. |
| Documentation | The Support portal provides searchable help articles and setup and troubleshooting guidance. | The Help Center provides searchable guides covering store setup, products, orders, payments, and other Shopify features. |
| Tutorials and other resources | Support resources include learning materials and a community for advice and peer discussion. | The Help Center links to tutorials and other learning resources, as well as the Shopify Community for peer support. |
| Overall | Offers a mix of self-service material and direct support, including phone and live chat. | Emphasizes self-service documentation and online chat; phone support is not presented as a standard option. |
Unique Features of BigCommerce Vs Shopify
| Brand and feature | Added value | Why it may be a deciding factor |
|---|---|---|
| BigCommerce — Multi-Storefront | Lets a business manage multiple storefronts from one platform, such as separate sites for different brands, regions or customer groups. | Useful for businesses expanding into new markets or running several brands. It can reduce the need to manage separate ecommerce systems. |
| BigCommerce — B2B capabilities | Supports business-to-business selling, including workflows and buying needs that differ from standard consumer checkout. | A stronger fit for wholesalers and manufacturers that need both B2B and consumer sales, rather than adapting a basic website builder to complex trade sales. |
| BigCommerce — Headless and API-led commerce | Allows the commerce backend to connect to custom storefronts and other digital experiences through APIs. | Matters when a business needs more control over its customer experience, or plans to sell through custom apps, content sites or other channels. |
| BigCommerce — Built-in ecommerce functionality | Emphasizes commerce features within the platform rather than relying as heavily on third-party add-ons for core selling needs. | Can simplify operations and limit the cost or maintenance of assembling a store from separate tools. |
| Shopify — Free business tools | The Shopify tools page brings together practical tools such as business-name and logo makers, QR-code and image tools, calculators, and policy generators. | These can help someone move from an idea to a launch-ready business without sourcing each tool separately. They are especially useful before a merchant is ready to pay for a full ecommerce platform. |
| Shopify — Tools for different stages of starting a business | The listed tools cover tasks beyond designing a website, including branding, basic business calculations and store policies. | A useful deciding factor for first-time entrepreneurs who want support with launch preparation as well as site creation. |
BigCommerce’s product page describes ecommerce-platform capabilities, while Shopify’s tools page is a directory of standalone business tools. These features are uncommon in a basic website builder, though they are not necessarily unique across ecommerce platforms.
Most frequently asked questions about BigCommerce vs Shopify
Which is easier to use: Shopify or BigCommerce?
Reviewers commonly describe Shopify as easier to learn, especially for first-time store owners: its setup flow and admin tools make it relatively simple to launch and manage a store. BigCommerce is also considered capable, but users more often note a steeper learning curve because it exposes more settings and built-in features.
Which platform offers better value for money?
Review feedback often frames the trade-off this way: Shopify can be affordable to start, but costs may rise as merchants add paid apps or higher-tier plans. BigCommerce includes more ecommerce features in its plans and does not charge its own transaction fee, though reviewers may factor in plan limits tied to annual online sales and the cost of moving up a tier.
Which is better for ecommerce features?
BigCommerce reviewers often value the larger set of commerce tools available without installing extra apps, particularly for more complex catalogs and selling rules. Shopify reviews tend to praise its straightforward core selling tools and the ability to extend them through apps. The better fit depends on whether you prefer built-in functionality or a simpler base product you can customize.
Which platform is better for scaling a growing business?
Shopify is frequently praised in reviews for being approachable as a store grows, with a large app ecosystem and higher-tier options. BigCommerce is often viewed as a strong choice for stores with more complex requirements because many capabilities are built in. Reviewers weighing BigCommerce should also check how sales-volume thresholds affect plan pricing as the business expands.
Which has better themes and design flexibility?
Shopify reviewers commonly praise its polished storefront themes and relatively accessible editing experience. BigCommerce offers customizable themes too, but reviewers sometimes describe design changes as less straightforward. For either platform, the amount of customization available depends on the theme and, for deeper changes, the user’s technical skills.
Which has the better app and integration ecosystem?
Shopify is more often singled out in reviews for the breadth of its app marketplace, which makes it easy to add specialized tools. BigCommerce also supports integrations, and reviewers may appreciate that more functionality is included natively. A recurring trade-off in feedback is Shopify’s flexibility versus the extra cost and upkeep that can come with multiple apps.
Which platform is better for SEO?
Reviewers generally regard both as capable of supporting standard SEO work, including page metadata, redirects, and content optimization. Feedback tends to focus less on one platform being an automatic SEO winner and more on how easily a merchant can manage technical settings and use the right content strategy. Check specific URL and structured-data requirements if they matter to your store.
Which has better payment options and transaction fees?
Shopify reviews often praise the convenience of Shopify Payments, where it is available, while merchants using an external payment provider may encounter Shopify transaction fees depending on their plan and region. BigCommerce does not add its own transaction fee, though payment processors still charge their fees. Reviewers should compare the full cost for their location, payment methods, and sales volume.
Which platform provides better customer support?
Support experiences in customer reviews can vary for both providers. Shopify users often value its help resources and support channels, while BigCommerce users also report helpful assistance; some reviews across both platforms describe delays or difficulty resolving more complex issues. For a fair comparison, look at recent reviews and test the support options available on the plan you expect to use.
Which is better for selling across multiple channels?
Shopify is often praised in reviews for its broad ecosystem of sales-channel connections and its centralized store-management experience. BigCommerce supports multichannel selling as well, with the available setup depending on the channel and integrations involved. Reviewers commonly recommend checking the exact marketplaces, social platforms, and point-of-sale systems you use rather than choosing on headline feature lists alone.
