Shopify vs BigCommerce: Which Is Better in 2026?

At a glance

	Shopify	BigCommerce
Best for	Most online stores	Brands that sell B2B and B2C
Starting price	$29 / month billed yearly ($39 monthly), Basic	$29 / month billed yearly ($39 monthly), Core
Mid and upper plans	Grow $79, Advanced $299, Plus from $2,300 / month	Growth $79, Scale $299, Performance from $1,499 / month
Free plan or trial	Free trial, then discounted first months	15-day free trial, no credit card
Deployment	Hosted (SaaS)	Hosted (SaaS), with headless options
Sales limits	No sales thresholds on self-serve plans	Core up to $30K and Growth up to $100K trailing 12-month sales, then automatic upgrade
Outside payment providers	Extra fee when you skip Shopify Payments	2% (Core), 1% (Growth), 0.6% (Scale) outside the embedded provider list
B2B features	On all plans since April 2026: company profiles, payment terms, volume pricing, up to 3 B2B catalogs; more on Plus	Customer groups from Growth, price lists on Performance
In-person selling	Shopify POS built in	Through third-party POS integrations

Shopify is the better fit for most online stores, from first-time sellers to fast-growing direct-to-consumer brands, while BigCommerce suits brands that sell both wholesale and retail and want more of those features built in rather than added through apps. Both are hosted platforms with the same $29 a month entry price on yearly billing, and both can scale to large enterprise stores. The differences come down to ecosystem, built-in features, fees and how each one charges as you grow.

Ease of use and setup

Shopify is the fastest way to get a store live. The admin is clean, themes look good out of the box, and its checkout is one of the most polished in ecommerce. A new owner can add products, connect Shopify Payments and take a first order in an afternoon.

BigCommerce is not difficult, but it has more settings to work through because more is built in. That is a benefit once you know what you need and a slower start if you do not. Its 15-day trial with no credit card gives you time to explore.

Winner: Shopify. Faster setup and a simpler admin for new sellers.

Built-in features versus apps

BigCommerce includes more out of the box. Customer groups, faceted search, multi-storefront management and headless commerce APIs are part of the platform, so many stores need fewer paid apps for core functions.

Shopify keeps its core lean and relies on its huge app and theme ecosystem. You can find an app for almost anything: subscriptions, reviews, loyalty, bundles and advanced search. The catch is that many useful features come from paid apps, and those subscriptions add up fast.

Winner: BigCommerce for built-in features. Shopify wins on choice, if you are willing to pay for apps.

B2B and wholesale

This is BigCommerce’s strongest card. Its customer groups, available from the Growth plan up, let you segment wholesale and retail buyers, and price lists on the Performance plan set SKU-level pricing for each group. Strong native B2B tools mean a brand can serve trade accounts and consumers from one catalog without building a separate store.

Shopify has closed much of the gap. Since April 2026, its Basic, Grow and Advanced plans include company profiles, payment terms, volume pricing and up to three active B2B catalogs at no extra cost, plus ACH payments in the US. Unlimited catalogs for customer-specific pricing, assigning catalogs directly to companies and locations, partial payments and deposits remain on Shopify Plus, which starts at $2,300 a month.

Winner: BigCommerce, narrowly. A small wholesale program now fits on any Shopify plan, but BigCommerce’s group-based setup still suits brands that run trade and retail side by side, and the B2B tools are part of the platform’s core design rather than a recent addition.

Payments, fees and total cost

On paper, the plans line up almost exactly. Shopify Basic is $29 a month billed yearly or $39 monthly, Grow is $79 and Advanced is $299, with Shopify Plus from $2,300 a month. BigCommerce Core is $29 billed yearly or $39 monthly, Growth is $79, Scale is $299, and Performance starts at $1,499 a month billed annually.

The differences are in the fine print. Shopify adds extra fees when you skip Shopify Payments, so stores that need a specific outside gateway pay more. BigCommerce charges no fee on orders through its embedded payment providers, but adds 2% on Core, 1% on Growth and 0.6% on Scale for providers outside that list. Its online card rates start at 2.89% plus $0.29 per transaction.

The bigger BigCommerce catch is sales thresholds. Core covers up to $30,000 in trailing 12-month sales and Growth up to $100,000, and the platform upgrades you automatically above those limits. Scale charges an extra 0.9% on monthly sales above $33,333 and moves stores to Performance at $2 million in trailing 12-month sales. Shopify’s self-serve plans do not tie your plan to revenue in this way, though app costs rise as you grow.

Winner: Shopify for most growing stores, because costs are easier to predict. BigCommerce can still come out cheaper for a store that would otherwise need many paid Shopify apps, so price both with your real app list.

Customization and headless

Shopify themes are built on Liquid, its templating language. Light changes are easy in the theme editor, but deep customization needs Liquid code or a developer familiar with Shopify.

BigCommerce has long promoted headless commerce, where you run a custom storefront on top of its backend through APIs. That suits brands with a development team that want full control over the front end, or several storefronts on one backend through its multi-storefront tools.

Winner: BigCommerce for headless and multi-storefront flexibility. Shopify is easier for theme-level changes.

Selling everywhere: POS and multichannel

Shopify POS lets you sell in person from the same admin, with inventory shared across your store, pop-ups and retail locations. Shopify also supports multichannel selling to social platforms and marketplaces from the admin. For brands with a shop or event sales, that unified setup is a real advantage.

BigCommerce supports channel selling as well, and connects to point-of-sale systems through integrations rather than its own built-in POS.

Winner: Shopify. Built-in POS and an easier path to multichannel selling.

Themes, design and SEO

Shopify has the larger theme and app selection, which makes it easier to find a design that fits your brand and a specialist app for nearly any marketing need. BigCommerce has a smaller theme and app catalog, so brands with very specific design ideas may need more custom work.

On search, both platforms cover the basics: editable titles, meta descriptions, product URLs and automatic sitemaps. BigCommerce’s built-in faceted search helps shoppers filter large catalogs without an extra app. Shopify uses fixed URL patterns for products and collections, which some SEO teams find limiting, though it rarely holds a well-run store back.

Winner: Shopify for design choice. Large catalogs may prefer BigCommerce’s built-in filtering.

Scaling to enterprise

Both platforms have an enterprise tier for large brands. Shopify Plus starts at $2,300 a month and is where Shopify’s most advanced B2B and customization features live. BigCommerce Performance starts at $1,499 a month billed annually, with custom sales limits and, under contract, no fee on outside payment providers.

The real decision at this level is less about the plan price and more about architecture. Brands that want a single, well-supported storefront with a deep partner ecosystem tend to choose Shopify Plus. Brands planning headless storefronts, several regional or brand sites on one backend, or a large wholesale operation often shortlist BigCommerce. Get quotes from both, because enterprise pricing is negotiated and depends on sales volume.

Winner: tie. Both scale well. The right choice depends on your storefront plans and B2B depth.

Which one should you choose?

Pick Shopify if you sell mainly to consumers, want to launch quickly, sell in person, or expect to rely on apps for marketing and growth. Pick BigCommerce if wholesale is a meaningful part of your business, you want more built in without stacking apps, or you plan a headless or multi-storefront build. If neither fits, compare WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace and Adobe Commerce in our ranked list of the best ecommerce platforms.

Pros and cons

Shopify

BigCommerce

Which should you choose?

Frequently asked questions