Shopify vs BigCommerce – Which One Is Best For You?

Quick Summary

Shopify and BigCommerce are well-known and Ecommerce famous platforms, Below is a quick summary of both platforms.

#7 Main Differences

1. Ease of Use

Shopify is comparably easier to set up and manage than Bigcommerce, Shopify’s learning curve is minimal than Bigcommerce
Winner: Shopify

2. Domain and Hosting

Both Shopify and Bigcommerce provide inbuilt hosting. Bigcommerce doesn’t provide a custom domain, but Shopify provides a free custom domain upon registering for the annual plan.
Winner: Shopify

3. Themes & Editor

Both Shopify and BigCommerce provide similar no of free & paid themes, In Shopify’s Theme editor you can Customize the homepage, product, Collection, blog, Newsletter page, etc. whereas you can edit the Bigcommerce homepage by drag and drop mechanism.
Winner: Shopify

4. E-commerce Features:

Both Shopify and Bigcommerce are well-known online store builders, they also have similar prices but Bigcommerce includes lots of inbuilt features which doesn’t need any third-party integrations, but Shopify needs integrations to access more features.
Winner: Tie

5. Cart Features:

Shopify’s lite feature provides a cart feature to sell on other websites and pages, whereas Bigcommerce has a plugin for WordPress to facilitate cart features on WordPress websites that are limited to one platform.
Winner: Shopify

6. Payments and Charges

Both Shopify and BigCommerce offer more than 70+ payment providers but Shopify charges transactional charges on sales if used any other payment method than Shopify Payments. (Shopify payment is limited to a few countries)
Winner: BigCommerce

7. App store

Apps help in automation and adding new features to your store, Shopify has over 6000+ apps to assist in online business, Whereas BigCommerce has around 1000+ apps.
Winner: Shopify

Winner Table

Features	Winner	Shopify	BigCommerce
Shopping cart and Ecommerce Features	BigCommerce	4.4	4.7
Themes and Customization	Shopify	4.7	4.5
Multichannel selling and automation	Tie	4.5	4.5
Order and Product Management	BigCommerce	4.7	4.4
Pricing and Plans	Tie	4.4	4.4
Payment option and Charges	BigCommerce	4.6	4.4
Marketing and Shipping	Shopify	4.6	4.4
SEO	BigCommerce	4.5	4.7
Hostings and Security	Tie	4.5	4.5
Support and Resources	Shopify	4.7	4.5
Analytics & Reporting	Shopify	4.7	4.4

Overall Winner: Shopify But it depends on your exact requirements. For an in-depth comparison scroll below.

Comparison: In-Depth

FAQ: Shopify Vs BigCommerce

In-Depth Review Comparison – Shopify V/s Bigcommerce

1. Hostings and Security

Both Shopify and BigCommerce Offer inbuilt Hosting and SSL Security

Shopify provides powerful hosting, a 99.98% Uptime speed, It Covers all six PCI Standards. With really fast Uptime it ensures a smooth and fast loading of the store. Shopify Provides Unlimited Bandwidth, Fast CDN, and Strong SSL. Shopify protects you from external threats and fraud, also provides admin security, Customer data protection.

Bigcommerce hosting offers multi-level security to your store, They have industry-leading uptime of 99.99% which loads your site Faster & also helps in SEO. BigCommerce offers PCI DSS level 1 security, which means customers’ credit card information will be secure, you can unlock advanced SSL Security upon upgrading to the PRO plan.

Both Shopify and BigCommercce Provide a similar level of hosting and security hence it’s a tie

We analyzed the Top 10 Websites of both platforms for their server response and we found that most of Shopify website’s avg serve response time is 350-400ms, Whereas the BigCommerce website’s avg speed response time, is 375-430 ms. that means websites hosted on Shopify load slightly faster in comparison to BigCommerce

Key Takeaways: There is no significant difference between the speed.

Winner Of Hostings and Security Features: Tie

2. Shopping cart and E-commerce Features

Both Bigcommerce and Shopify are inbuilt hostings & “all in one” eCommerce platforms, They offer PCI DSS-level1 Security, and They take care of all the Technical Aspects of your store. Shopify has a “Shopify lite” feature that enables you to sell on blogs, channels & Social Media with their Buy Button, which costs around $9. (It’s just a buy button that you can share anywhere).

Shopify Cart has strong SSL Security that keeps all transactions private and Secure, Shopify cart features include Flexible shipping rates, Real-time Shipping carrier rates, and Automated tax calculation on customer’s location, product, region, etc. Customers can checkout in 20+ languages, and Shopify’s cart recovery option lets you recover abandoned carts. Shopify Doesn’t offer MultiCurrency checkout you can look for a third-party app that can do it for you.

Shopify mobile checkout

BigCommerce integrates with WordPress as a blog and also as a store, it also integrates with other CMS through third-party apps. BigCommerce’s single-page checkout page offers a smooth experience for the customer to complete their purchase, Its Cart persistence feature allows users to checkout when users visit from different devices and Abandon Cart recovery helps in recovering sales. Bigcommerce is the only platform to offer a one-touch checkout solution for customers using PayPal, Apple & Google Play. Bigcommerce has an inbuilt feature to display multi-currencies on the store so users can checkout in their local currency. BigCommerce offers to Automate tax calculations on Customers’ location, payment gateway used, region, etc

BigCommerce one-page checkout

Key Takeaways: As BigCommerce offers more eCommerce and inbuilt cart features hence it’s a winner

Winner Of Shopping cart and Ecommerce Features: BigCommerce

3. Themes and Customization

Shopify Offers 10 free and over 70 paid themes, These free themes are mobile responsive and customizable. Shopify Provides Customization options, With basic HTML, and CSS so you can fully customize and design your store. You can work with Shopify Expert to get the store of your choice. Shopify is easy to design, it provides Themes according to the size of the business and the Industry

Shopify Themes

Shopify theme editor can customize all sorts of pages which including the Homepage, Collections, blogs, products, gift cards, carts, checkout pages, etc. In the Shopify theme editor, You can add or remove sections. You can sort out the sections based on your store design. Each section can be further customized to add different styles and layouts to your store.

Shopify theme editor

In the theme setting, you can access various styles of theme and can also customize each of the sections for various colors, fonts, styles, and more.

If you want to make custom changes to the theme, sections it can be done in the code editor or custom liquid section which requires a bit of coding.

BigCommerce has 12 free themes and over 100+ Paid themes, Each theme has more than 3 Styles, They also provide theme collections according to the size of the business and Industry. Themes can be customized in a theme file editor, using Custom HTML, and CSS. You Can Change the Design and layouts of themes in the theme editor section.

Bigcommerce Themes

Bigcommerce’s drag and drop feature makes it super easy to customize the homepage and product pages, While you can add Basic sections to the homepage but you can’t rearrange them. Bigcommerce page builder can’t customize blog posts, newsletters, Collections page, etc. You can preview the changes you made to your store in the theme editor itself. it also lets you check the Compatibility of your store for mobile and Tablet.

Bigcommerce theme editor

Key Takeaways: Shopify has an edge over Bigcommerce, as it provides more customization options hence it’s a winner

Winner Of Themes and Customization Features: Shopify

4. Multichannel selling and automation

Shopify is a beginner-friendly platform that sets up your business easily and Fast, Shopify’s integration with various marketing channels Amazon, eBay, Etsy, etc. lets you sell more, Shopify also integrates with Social Channels like Facebook, Google, Tiktok shopping, Instagram, Pinterest. You can run Facebook and google ad campaigns within Shopify Dashboard. Shopify’s Point of Sale Feature lets you sell products in person or Offline store.

Shopify multi selling channels

BigCommerce is easy to use platform, it has some inbuilt features which set it apart from Shopify. BigCommerce also allows you to list and sell on platforms like Walmart, Amazon,eBay, etc. Bigcommerce integrates with Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, Square, etc. Bigcommerce’s POS Third-party apps like Vend, hike POS, etc let you sell in person or offline store.

BigCommerce multichannel

Key Takeaways: Both of the eCommerce platforms have similar multichannel to sell on other platforms and social media hence it’s a tie

Winner Of Multichannel sellings and automation: Tie

5. Order and Product Management

Shopify’s product layout page lets you fill out product information like product title, Description. You can upload CSV files to import your products, You can add product variants such as color, size, etc. each variant can be edited for different prices, SKUs, etc. products can be grouped as a type, and tags to create automated and manual collections. you can manage tax, inventory, custom charges, and shipping from the product dashboard.

BigCommerce has more product options than Shopify, it has Features like gift wrapping, Purchasibility, Product Identifiers, Storefront details, etc. You can offer discounts on certain products on the product dashboard, you can do SEO for your storefront. you can let people choose if the product can be gift wrapped, and you can take pre-orders on products that you are launching soon. You can Sync the orders you got from other channels and update them from here.

Bigcommerce product options

Key Takeaways: BigCommerce has offered various product options and inventory management features, hence it’s a winner

Winner Of Order and Product Management: BigCommerce

6. Pricing & Plans

Basic Shopify:$29/m($26)
Shopify:$79/m ($71)
Advance Shopify: $299/m ($269)

(Prices in the Bracket are applicable when you buy a year plan)

Shopify’s new plan “Shopify Lite” offers a buy button that can be used to sell on other CMS and Social Channels.

Shopify has Enterprise Plan “Shopify plus” which costs $2000/month. It offers Advance features like Priority Support, customizable checkout, and more

Shopify Plans and Pricing

Standard:$29.95/m($29.95)
Plus:$79.95/m ($71.95)
Pro: $299.95/m ($269.95)

(Prices in the Bracket are applicable when you buy a year plan)

BigCommerc plans and pricing

Bigcommerce covers all Shopify features, Additionally, it offers multicurrency checkout, product rating, and reviews, persistent carts, & also charges zero transaction fees.

Key Takeaways: Both of them offer similar plans and pricing, also the same discounts on prices so it’s a tie

Winner Of Pricing and Plans Features: Tie

7. Payment option and Charges

Shopify Covers almost all payment methods From Cash to Bitcoin. Shopify has a list of domestic and international payment providers, it integrates with Paypal,2Checkout, Razorpay, etc. Shopify has its Own Payment Method Called “Shopify Payments” But it’s Supported only in a few countries. You can also offer Manual methods like COD, Bank Deposit, and Money Transfer through Shopify

Shopify charges 2% (basic),1%(Shopify), and 0.5%(advanced) as transaction fees which will be added to the next billing period. The online credit Credit card rates are 2.9%+30¢ (Basic), 2.6%+30¢(Shopify), and 2.4%+30¢ (Advanced) for each transaction.

Shopify has fraud analysis features to report fake transactions or scams, it will provide indicators on the level of fraud and provides details on why it is suspected to be a fraudulent transaction.

BigCommerce has 70+ payment providers, it also integrates smoothly with popular payment providers like Paypal, Stripe, etc. Bigcommerce offers single-click checkout on payment methods like Paypal, Apple Pay, and Google pay. They offer multicurrency checkout for customers that includes cross-border fees if you and the customer have different banks. Bigcommerce offers more payment options than Shopify like Buy Now Pay Later, Accelerated Checkout, etc.

Bigcommerce doesn’t charge fees on store transactions, The online credit Credit card rates are 2.59%+49¢ (Standard), 2.35%+49¢(Basic), and 2.05%+49¢ (pro) for each transaction.

Key Takeaways: Bigcommerce provides multiple payment methods and also doesn’t charge transaction fees also has low credit card fees hence it’s a winner

Winner Of Payment option and Charges Features: BigCommerce

8. Marketing

Shopify has Multiple Sales Channels and Social Media integration that helps in Selling and running ad Campaigns on their Platforms. Shopify POS Lets customers checkout at their offline Store. You Can offer Discount Coupons, and Giftcards to your customer, and set up email automation for Customers who have subscribed to newsletters. Shopify abandon cart recovery helps in recovering your Sells, Shopify App Store has over 1400+ marketing apps.

Bigcommerce also has great Features for Marketing, They offer plenty of inbuilt marketing features like offering Discount codes on the product dashboard, customizing the Product URL, etc. Bigcommerce Provides Professional reports on all of their plans, It also benefits Multichannel selling and One-click google shop integrations. BigCommerce also has over 240+ Marketing apps to assist your Marketing automation.

Winner Of Marketing Features: Shopify

9. Shipping

Shopify has its own Fullfilement service which will take care of your inventory and shipping, but it’s only available in US and Cannada. Shopify Integrates with Popular Shipping Services like USPS, UPS, DHL, FedEx, etc, Shopify displays estimated real-time shipping rates and flat shipping costs according to the region of the customer. Shopify has over 950+ Fullfilemt service apps.

Bigcommerce doesn’t have Shipping and Fulfillment Service, But they do have 110+ third-party services which include Amazon, Spocket, and ShipBob Fullfilement networks. BigCommerce also helps in displaying estimated real-time shipping rates and flat shipping costs according to the region of the customer

Try Shopify Dropshipping for free

Winner Of Shipping Features: Shopify

10. SEO

Both Shopify and BigCommerce are good for SEO, Shopify has Box Layout after every Product and Collection page to optimize according to the search engine. following are the SEO Advantages of Using Shopify

• Auto-Generated Sitemap and Robot.txt
• Inbuilt Blogging Feature
• Auto Page Redirect

BigCommerce has a Slight Edge Over Shopify, It also offers the box type layout to do an on-page SEO. following are SEO Advantages of Using BigCommerce

• Editable Robot.txt
• Integrates With WordPress
• HTTP Headers Customization with WordPress
• User-Friendly URLs and AMP addition

Key Takeaways: BigCommerce is really good for SEO it offers more advanced SEO features hence it’s a winner

Winner Of SEO Features: BigCommerce

11. Analytics & Reporting

Shopify Dashboard is good for reporting, It has a live view to track real-time customer behavior, It gives reports around the most bought, most searched, and returning customers rates. Shopify reporting helps in understanding your customer behavior in your store, it provides all the data of customers so you can start setting up your campaign.

Shopify Analytics

Shopify Live View lets you witness your real-time visitors turning into customers. You can notice visitors around the Globe turning into your customers. It’s one of my favorite analytics tools.

Shopify Live view

BigCommerce Provides really good data to look around your store, Bigcommerce provides data around orders, Revenue, Customers, and AOV. A graph view of your store is provided to compare with the previous period of time. The data around abandoned carts help you improve marketing Campaigns.

BigCommerce Analytics

BigCommerce Provides a Purchase Funnel to track your conversion rate, You can track your marketing campaigns through the Bigcommerce purchase funnels. The cart section also notifies you about the Revenue you can recover by reducing the abandoned cart rate. It provides data on the most bought and most abandoned Products.

BigCommerce Reports

Key Takeaways: Shopify has good analytics dashboard than Bigcommerce hence it’s a winner

Winner Of Analytics & Reporting Features: Shopify

12. Support and Resources

Shopify Customer Support team is available 24*7. They Offer Live Chat, phone, and email support. Shopify’s Active Forum Community will help you in solving queries, There are plenty of Shopify Blogs and videos for your support. Shopify support also helps in solving Issues occurring from third-party apps. You can also hire Shopify experts to help you in building your store. Shopify offers support to over 20+ languages

BigCommerce also has similar support and Resources, they also offer Live Chat, phone, and email support. Bigcommerce provides blogs, videos, and forums to solve your queries. BigCoommerce Provides support in 5 languages

In Shopify to get support, you don’t need an account with Shopify but with Bigcommerce you require an account and a support pin to get help.

Key Takeaways: Shopify offers support in more languages and also has resources all over the internet hence it’s a winner

Winner Of Support and Resources Features: Shopify

Top Shopify websites

Top BigCommerce websites

Pros and Cons: Shopify vs BigCommerce

Conclusion

Use Shopify over BigCommerce

• If you have a business that needs lots of automation to operate and manage then Shopify is the best choice over BigCommerce
• If you sell online as well as offline and looking to scale then Shopify is a better choice as it has an online platform and POS systems better than Bigcommerce.

Use BigCommerce Over Shopify

• If you have a small or large business and want to avoid lots of transaction fees then Bigcommerce is better as it charges zero transaction fees and also has low Braintree credit card rates.
• If you don’t want to spend on third-party apps and have most of the features then Bigcommerce is better as it has lots of inbuilt features and product options, also free apps.

Declan Kingston

Declan Kingston mainly works around strong Data to create powerful visuals, complex graphs to make the right decision for companies. He has been working in this field for over 8 years, has a strong knowledge of eCommerce platforms and website builders. He has worked with Ethereum and Looker Data Sciences, Inc. (now part of Google Cloud).