Comparison
Shopify vs BigCommerce
How Shopify and BigCommerce compare on price, pricing model, features and reviews, with every fact checked on October 24, 2026.
Quick verdict
Choose Shopify if
- Small and mid-size brands that want a hosted store without managing servers.
- Merchants that will use Shopify Payments to avoid the third-party gateway fee.
- Brands that need a path from a cheap plan to Plus without replatforming.
Choose BigCommerce if
- Growing stores wanting B2B tools and open APIs on a hosted platform.
- Merchants that want no transaction fee on embedded payment providers.
- Mid-market brands expecting to cross sales tiers.
Shopify vs BigCommerce side by side
| Shopify | BigCommerce | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Hosted ecommerce platform sold in Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus tiers, with payment fees that drop as the plan price rises. | Hosted ecommerce platform whose plans are capped by trailing twelve month sales, with Enterprise-style Performance tier. |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Starting price | $29/month billed yearly ($39 monthly) for Basic | $29/month billed yearly (Core), $39 monthly |
| Pricing model | flat monthly plan plus payment fees | flat monthly plan with sales caps |
| Free plan or trial | Free trial | Free trial |
| Per seat per month | Not published | Not published |
| Billing | Monthly and annual. | Monthly and annual. |
| Annual discount | 25% vs monthly on Basic, Grow, Advanced (Shopify states 25% for yearly) | About 26% vs monthly on Core (29 vs 39, computed) |
| Minimum seats | Not published | Not published |
| 20 users per year | Not published | Not published |
| G2 rating | 4.4 (4,964 reviews) | 4.2 (574 reviews) |
| Founded | 2006 | 2009 |
| Headquarters | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | Austin, US |
| Employees | 7,600 (2025) | Not verified |
| Hosted versus self-hosted | Hosted SaaS. | Hosted SaaS. |
| Payment processing and transaction fees | Shopify Payments online card 2.1% + EUR 0.30 on Basic down to 1.3% + EUR 0.30 on Plus; third-party gateways add 2% / 1% / 0.6% / 0.2% by plan. | Card rates from 2.89% + $0.29 (Amex 3.50%); Open Payment Provider fee 2.0% / 1.0% / 0.6% / none by plan. |
| B2B and wholesale features | Not verified | Price Lists on Performance only; customer groups on Growth and up. |
| Scalability and checkout limits | Staff seats rise from none (Basic) to 5, 15 and unlimited (Plus) | Sales caps: $30K, $100K TTM GMV, $33,333/month on Scale; 0.9% overage on Scale. |
| Pricing model and transparency | Four tiers, about 25% cheaper when paid yearly; fees fall as plan rises. | Tiered with GMV caps, about 25% discount yearly. |
| Target company size | Starter stores to enterprise (Plus) | Small to enterprise. |
| Ecommerce capability | Native checkout, POS Pro add-on at EUR 79/mo per location. | Native ecommerce. |
| Hosting, uptime and speed | Vendor-hosted. | Vendor-hosted. |
Differences most comparisons miss
Worth knowing about Shopify
- Third-party payment gateway fee is 2% on Basic and 0.2% on Plus, on top of the gateway's own fees, so gateway choice changes plan economics.
- Basic includes no additional staff accounts; Grow adds 5, Advanced 15, Plus unlimited.
- Plus starts at EUR 2,100/month and the FAQ offers 1 or 3 year terms.
- Yearly billing cuts the headline price by roughly 25%.
Worth knowing about BigCommerce
- Plans are capped by trailing twelve month sales ($30K on Core, $100K on Growth), so growth forces upgrades.
- Scale charges 0.9% overage above its $33,333 monthly cap.
- Price Lists (B2B) appear only on Performance per the pricing page.
- Embedded payment providers add no fee; Open Payment Providers do (2.0% to 0.6%).
Sources
Both columns use the same sources: vendor pricing and product pages, documentation, G2 and company records, checked on October 24, 2026. Full source lists are on the Shopify and BigCommerce reviews.