BigCommerce vs. Shopify: Which One To Choose for Your Business in 2026

Getting an online store live may be the easy part, but choosing a platform you won’t outgrow is harder.

Shopify keeps setup simple and gives merchants a huge ecosystem of apps to build on. BigCommerce packs more commerce functionality into the platform itself, with deeper configuration options for businesses whose requirements get more complicated over time.

The better choice depends on how much control you need, how you plan to grow, and how much complexity you’re willing to manage.

So, which one earns the spot behind your store in 2026? We compared Shopify and BigCommerce on usability, features, customization, marketing, logistics, support, and pricing to see where each platform has the edge.

How We Compared Shopify and BigCommerce

We compared the platforms using their current 2026 product pages, pricing, documentation, support resources, and feature listings.

We focused on the factors that matter most when choosing an eCommerce platform: usability, built-in functionality, customization, marketing and sales tools, logistics, support, and total cost.

Where features or pricing vary by plan, region, or payment provider, we’ve noted those differences rather than treating either platform as one-size-fits-all.

Shopify vs. BigCommerce: Essentials

At first glance, Shopify and BigCommerce might seem identical. Both offer robust tools to set up and run an online store, but there are some key differences worth noting.

What Is Shopify?

Shopify is a commerce platform that companies can use to create an online store, sell in person, manage products and inventory, process payments, and sell through channels such as social media and online marketplaces.

It supports a myriad of businesses, including solo entrepreneurs and global brands.

Its hosted setup, store builder, themes, and app ecosystem make it relatively easy to launch and manage an eCommerce business without having to maintain the underlying infrastructure yourself.

What Is BigCommerce?

BigCommerce is a cloud-based eCommerce platform for B2C and B2B businesses. It provides tools to manage products, customers, orders, payments, shipping, analytics, and other core commerce operations from a single platform.

You can also sell through marketplaces and social channels, connect online and physical retail operations, and manage multiple storefronts for different brands, regions, or customer segments.

BigCommerce also supports integrations and custom development through its APIs, giving businesses more options as their storefront and operational requirements become more complex.

Shopify vs. BigCommerce: Goals

Shopify is a good fit for businesses prioritizing simplicity and scalability. If your goal is to start small but think big, Shopify can support growth without requiring you to switch platforms as your business expands.

Shopify also supports more advanced setups through Shopify Plus, including multi-store expansions across different regions, product lines, B2B, and other use cases.

BigCommerce is geared toward businesses that want more advanced commerce capabilities built into the platform as they grow. It supports expansion into multiple brands, regions, storefronts, and channels, with B2C and B2B capabilities available on the same platform.

As the Dark Flare Design owner, Iain Fergus, shares:

“Many small businesses just need something reliable, with minimum maintenance, that lets them get up and running and make sales as quickly as possible. Shopify allows that to happen.

Themes are customizable, and fully bespoke themes are also possible, but it removes the need to worry about payment systems, security, and hosting systems. Plus there's the bonus of a mobile app for managing orders and a plugin market to add features.”

Shopify vs. BigCommerce: Usability

Both platforms provide guided steps to set up an online store, including adding products, choosing a theme, and configuring key storefront settings.

Shopify’s theme editor uses templates, sections, and blocks that can be added, rearranged, and customized visually.

Merchants can preview changes as they work, switch between desktop and mobile views, and edit products or collections without leaving the editor. The available layouts and settings depend on the theme being used.

BigCommerce also supports visual storefront editing. Its Stencil framework includes Page Builder, where you can drag, drop, and configure widgets within the theme's supported areas.

BigCommerce offers Makeswift, a newer visual editor with drag-and-drop page building, live previews, and styling controls, although Makeswift support for Stencil storefronts is currently in beta.

We’d give Shopify the advantage for day-to-day simplicity, although BigCommerce also offers visual editing tools for routine storefront changes.

Shopify vs. BigCommerce: Features and Customization

BigCommerce includes unlimited products, SEO tools, omnichannel integrations, and support for headless and composable commerce via Catalyst.

Additional functionality is available through the BigCommerce ecosystem, which currently includes 1,200+ apps and integrations.

Shopify also covers the core features needed to run and customize an online store, backed by a considerably large app ecosystem. The Shopify App Store has 16,000+ apps, covering areas such as marketing, shipping, subscriptions, analytics, store design, and sales channels.

Shopify also offers a broad selection of themes. Its Theme Store currently lists 1,223 themes, including 24 free options, with filters for industry, catalog size, and storefront features.

What we like about BigCommerce here is how much functionality is available without immediately needing to reach for another app.

Both platforms are pushing further into AI and agentic commerce. Shopify pairs Sidekick, its in-admin assistant for store data, workflows, and task execution, with newer features such as Agentic Storefronts and developer tools for commerce agents.

BigCommerce is taking a similarly broad approach through BigAI, Feedonomics enrichment, AI discovery, conversational shopping, agentic checkout, and BigCommerce Companion.

The Advantages of "Open SaaS" and Native Functionality

As brands scale, the choice between flexibility and ease of use becomes critical. BigCommerce bridges this gap with its "Open SaaS" architecture, which offers the stability of a cloud-hosted platform alongside deep API access for bespoke customizations.

Unlike many competitors that rely on a library of third-party apps for basic scaling needs, BigCommerce includes powerful features such as multi-storefront management, advanced SEO controls, and advanced B2B tools natively.

This reduces "app bloat," ensures faster site performance, and provides a more secure environment for high-volume retailers. For businesses that need to innovate without technical constraints, this architectural freedom is a significant competitive advantage.

Shopify vs. BigCommerce: Marketing and Sales

Shopify includes native tools for email and SMS marketing, forms, customer segmentation, marketing automations, discounts, campaign tracking, and analytics.

You can also sell through channels such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Google, Amazon, Walmart, and Shop, with products and orders managed through Shopify.

Shopify also offers Campaign Autopilot for AI-assisted campaign management, plus Shop Campaigns that can run on channels including Pinterest, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Monetize.

BigCommerce provides SEO tools, customer segmentation, promotions, and omnichannel selling capabilities.

Its Channel Manager connects stores with marketplaces and social platforms, and its Feedonomics integration helps businesses distribute and manage product data for channels such as Google Shopping, Meta, TikTok, Amazon, and Walmart.

The platform includes technical SEO features such as SEO-friendly URLs, automatic 301 redirects, sitemaps, and rich snippets, helping merchants manage search visibility without relying entirely on additional apps.

Shopify vs. BigCommerce: Logistics

Both platforms support built-in shipping management, but the available carrier options and fulfillment setups differ.

Shopify Shipping lets eligible merchants buy, print, and manage discounted shipping labels directly from the Shopify admin. Supported carriers vary by country and include USPS, UPS, DHL, and Canada Post. Shopify also supports flat, free, and carrier-calculated rates at checkout.

Built-in carrier-calculated rates are available on all Shopify plans in supported regions.

Merchants who want to connect their own carrier accounts need third-party carrier-calculated shipping, which is included with Advanced and Plus and available on Grow with annual billing or an additional monthly fee.

BigCommerce gives businesses several ways to configure shipping through its Shipping Manager, including real-time carrier quotes, flat-rate shipping, and rates based on order weight or value.

You can also connect shipping and fulfillment services such as ShipperHQ, ShipStation, ShipBob, and Fulfillment by Amazon.

For international sellers, BigCommerce supports cross-border shipping through integrations that can handle localized storefronts, duties, taxes, documentation, and other parts of the international fulfillment process.

Its BOPIS capabilities also connect online storefronts with physical retail locations, allowing customers to buy online and pick up their orders in-store.

Businesses with more complex logistics operations can integrate BigCommerce with ERP, warehouse management, order management, and other fulfillment systems rather than managing the entire process within the platform itself.

Shopify vs. BigCommerce: Customer Support and Resources

Shopify provides 24/7 chat support on all plans, as well as its Help Center and community resources. Phone and email support are available on Shopify Plus and Retail, with phone support also available to Shopify POS Pro users.

Shopify Academy offers free and paid courses, learning paths, assessments, and training on topics such as store management, B2B commerce, POS, headless commerce, and app and theme development.

Partners can also earn Verified Skills badges by completing eligible assessments.

BigCommerce support varies by plan. Core includes 24/7 chat and email support, Growth and Scale add 24/7 live phone support, and Performance customers also receive a dedicated Customer Success Manager.

For training, Commerce University provides self-paced courses, certifications, and instructor-led learning for both business and technical users.

BigCommerce also maintains a knowledge base, guides, webinars, and community resources for ongoing support.

Shopify vs. BigCommerce: Pricing

Both platforms start at $29 per month when billed annually, but the monthly subscription is only part of the cost equation. Payment fees, sales volume, and the features you need can all change what you end up paying.

On paper, the first three plan prices line up. We’d look more closely at payment fees and sales-volume rules before calling either platform cheaper.

Shopify pricing:

• Basic: $29/month
• Grow: $79/month
• Advanced: $299/month
• Plus: Starts at $2,300/month

Moving up the Shopify tiers gives you more staff accounts, greater API capacity, broader international selling features, and lower payment rates.

There’s another cost to watch if you don’t use Shopify Payments. Third-party payment providers come with an additional Shopify transaction fee:

• Basic: 2%
• Grow: 1%
• Advanced: 0.6%
• Plus: 0.2%

BigCommerce pricing:

• Core: $29/month
• Growth: $79/month
• Scale: $299/month
• Performance: Custom pricing starting at $1,499/month

BigCommerce takes sales volume into account as well. Core covers up to $30,000 in trailing 12-month GMV, Growth up to $100,000, and Scale up to $33,333 in monthly GMV, with overage pricing once you move past that threshold.

Payment provider choice also affects the final bill. BigCommerce doesn’t add a fee when you use one of its listed Embedded Payment Providers. With an Open Payment Provider, the additional fee is:

• Core: 2%
• Growth: 1%
• Scale: 0.6%
• Performance: Contracted terms

Multi-Storefront is available as a paid add-on, costing $30 per additional storefront on Core, $50 on Growth, and $100 on Scale, with plan limits of three, five, and eight storefronts respectively.

Shopify or BigCommerce: Which One To Choose

Shopify and BigCommerce can both support growing eCommerce businesses, but they tend to suit different operating styles.

Shopify is the more straightforward choice for teams that want an easier day-to-day experience and a large ecosystem of apps, themes, and integrations to extend the store over time.

BigCommerce is better suited to businesses with more complex requirements, especially if B2B, multi-storefront management, native commerce functionality, or deeper technical control are already part of your roadmap.

BigCommerce vs. Shopify FAQs

1. Is Shopify or BigCommerce better for B2B?

Both offer native B2B capabilities. Shopify opened B2B to all paid plans in April 2026, including company profiles, catalogs, volume pricing, payment terms, and other wholesale tools.

BigCommerce B2B Edition adds dedicated workflows such as quotes, invoices, company accounts, and buyer management.

2. Which platform is better for multiple storefronts - BigCommerce or Shopify?

BigCommerce offers dedicated Multi-Storefront functionality to manage different brands, regions, or customer segments. Shopify also supports multi-store setups through Markets and expansion stores, depending on the plan.

3. Does Shopify or BigCommerce have more apps?

Shopify has a larger ecosystem, with 16,000+ apps, compared with BigCommerce's 1,200+ apps and integrations.

4. Which platform offers more built-in functionality?

BigCommerce includes more commerce capabilities natively, particularly around B2B and multi-storefront management. Shopify relies more heavily on its extensive app ecosystem for added functionality.

5. Can Shopify and BigCommerce support headless commerce?

Yes. Shopify supports headless builds through Hydrogen and its APIs, while BigCommerce offers APIs and Catalyst for headless and composable storefronts.