What is the difference between Shopify and BigCommerce?

Shopify is best for Businesses wanting the most popular e-commerce platform, while BigCommerce is best for Growing businesses wanting enterprise e-commerce features. Shopify starts at $29/mo and BigCommerce starts at $29/mo.

Shopify vs BigCommerce

Shopify is leading e-commerce platform for building online stores with themes, apps, and payments, while BigCommerce is E-commerce platform with headless commerce, multi-channel selling, and B2B features. Shopify is built for businesses wanting the most popular e-commerce platform, whereas BigCommerce targets growing businesses wanting enterprise e-commerce features.

At a glance

	Shopify	BigCommerce
Best for	Businesses wanting the most popular e-commerce platform	Growing businesses wanting enterprise e-commerce features
Starting price	$29/mo	$29/mo
Free tier	—	—
Open source	—	—
Free tier available	—	—
Open source	—	—
App Store	✓	—
B2B	—	✓
Headless	—	✓
Multi-Channel	—	✓
Online Store	✓	—
Payments	✓	—
SEO	—	✓
Themes	✓	—

Shopify

Strengths

Includes Online Store as a core feature, purpose-built for e-commerce workflows
Includes Themes as a core feature, purpose-built for e-commerce workflows
Pricing starts at $29/mo, which includes the full e-commerce feature set
Established product with 20+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

Starts at $29/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Ecosystem of third-party integrations is smaller than the market leaders in e-commerce
Per-user pricing at $29/mo makes it hard to justify for large teams

Try Shopify → Full review

BigCommerce

Strengths

Includes Multi-Channel as a core feature, purpose-built for e-commerce workflows
Includes Headless as a core feature, purpose-built for e-commerce workflows
Pricing starts at $29/mo, which includes the full e-commerce feature set
Established product with 17+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

Starts at $29/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Ecosystem of third-party integrations is smaller than the market leaders in e-commerce
Per-user pricing at $29/mo makes it hard to justify for large teams

Try BigCommerce → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Shopify starts at $29/mo. BigCommerce starts at $29/mo.

Feature gaps: Shopify offers App Store, Online Store and Payments that BigCommerce lacks. BigCommerce brings B2B, Headless and Multi-Channel that Shopify does not have.

Team fit: Shopify is geared toward any size teams, while BigCommerce is aimed at mid-size teams teams. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.

Where each tool shines: Shopify's biggest strengths are: includes online store as a core feature, purpose-built for e-commerce workflows. includes themes as a core feature, purpose-built for e-commerce workflows. BigCommerce's biggest strengths are: includes multi-channel as a core feature, purpose-built for e-commerce workflows. includes headless as a core feature, purpose-built for e-commerce workflows.

Watch out for: With Shopify, users commonly note that starts at $29/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users. With BigCommerce, the main complaint is that starts at $29/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users.

Choose Shopify if...

Your profile matches its sweet spot: businesses wanting the most popular e-commerce platform
You specifically need App Store and Online Store
You care about includes themes as a core feature, purpose-built for e-commerce workflows
Your team size fits the any size profile Shopify is designed for

Choose BigCommerce if...

You need a tool built for growing businesses wanting enterprise e-commerce features
You specifically need B2B and Headless
You care about includes headless as a core feature, purpose-built for e-commerce workflows
Your team size fits the mid-size teams profile BigCommerce is designed for