BigCommerce vs Shopify: which fits your store?

Last verified 2026-10-01

BigCommerce and Shopify are both ecommerce platform tools compared here on pricing verified 2026-10-01, published plans, App Store standing, and themes from recent merchant reviews. Shopify starts cheaper (≈ $30/mo vs $39/mo); neither offers a free tier. — auto-generated from tracked data; editorial verdict pending.

How do BigCommerce and Shopify compare?

	BigCommerce	Shopify
App Store rating	—	—
Price from	$39/mo	≈ $30/mo
Free tier	✗ no	✗ no
Published plans	4	5
Data confidence	high	high

Detected on 3,796 tracked DTC storefronts

BigCommerce 12 brands

Shopify 2885 brands

→ Shopify leads among brands we track

What would you actually pay?

BigCommerce plans

Plan	Monthly	Limits / notes
Core	$39	Up to $30K trailing-12-month GMV; automatically upgrades to Growth above the threshold; Open Payment Provider fee is 2.0% of eligible order GMV; additional storefronts cost $30/month, maximum 3.
Growth	$105	Up to $100K trailing-12-month GMV; automatically upgrades to Scale above the threshold; Open Payment Provider fee is 1.0% of eligible order GMV; additional storefronts cost $50/month, maximum 5.
Scale	$399	Up to $33,333/month GMV; 0.9% overage on GMV above the cap; automatically upgrades to Performance at $2 million trailing-12-month GMV; Open Payment Provider fee is 0.6% of eligible order GMV; additional storefronts cost $100/month, maximum 8.
Performance	—	Custom terms for businesses with $1M+ in annual sales; GMV limits, payment terms, storefront capacity, and support are contract-based.

Prices are in US dollars and exclude applicable taxes. Annual prices are stated as monthly equivalents billed annually.

Verified 2026-10-01 from vendor pricing page.

Shopify plans

Plan	Monthly	Limits / notes
Basic	≈ $30	10 inventory locations; no additional staff accounts listed; 50 synced marketplace orders/month free, then 1% up to $99 USD/month; 2% fee for third-party payment providers; limited checkout customization and API data access; 1 headless storefront.
Grow	≈ $83	Up to 5 staff accounts; 10 inventory locations; 50 synced marketplace orders/month free, then 1% up to $99 USD/month; 1% fee for third-party payment providers; limited checkout customization; full API data access; 1 headless storefront.
Advanced	≈ $430	Up to 15 staff accounts; 10 inventory locations; 50 synced marketplace orders/month free, then 1% up to $99 USD/month; 0.6% fee for third-party payment providers; limited checkout customization; up to 2x rate on select APIs; 1 headless storefront.
Plus	—	Unlimited staff accounts and B2B catalogs; 200 inventory locations; up to 200 POS Pro locations, with 20 locations included according to the comparison table; 50 synced marketplace orders/month free, then 1% up to $99 USD/month; 0.2% fee for third-party payment providers; full checkout customization and API data access; up to 10x rate on select APIs; 25 headless storefronts; up to 9 expansion stores.
POS Pro	≈ $89	Priced per physical retail location; includes advanced staff roles and permissions, in-store inventory management, in-store pickup, and flexible delivery.

≈ prices converted from EUR at 1.1205 (ECB, 2026-10-22).

Prices are displayed in EUR and were not converted to USD. Some credits, marketplace overage caps, and promotional benefits are separately stated in USD.

Verified 2026-10-01 from vendor pricing page.

Which features does each include?

Feature	BigCommerce	Shopify
Hosted online store	✓	✓
Point of sale	✓	✓
Multichannel selling	✓	✓
B2B / wholesale	✓	✓
Headless / API-first	✓	✓
App ecosystem	✓	✓
Themes & templates	—	✓
Abandoned cart recovery	✓ paid	✓
Multi-currency	✓	✓
Multilingual storefronts	—	✓
Native subscriptions	—	—
Carrier shipping rates	✓	✓ paid
Built-in email marketing	—	✓
SEO tools	✓	✓
Zero platform transaction fees	✓ paid	✓
Free plan	✗	✗

Extracted from each vendor's App Store listing (2026-07-15); "—" = not stated there. Verify tier availability on vendor pricing pages.

FAQ

Which is cheaper, BigCommerce or Shopify?

Shopify starts lower at ≈ $30/mo, vs $39/mo for BigCommerce (verified 2026-10-01).

Does BigCommerce or Shopify have a free plan?

Neither publishes a free tier.

Which is rated higher on the Shopify App Store?

App Store ratings are shown in the table above where available.

How we compare: pricing and plans are collected automatically from vendor pages on a schedule and shown with verification dates; ratings come from the Shopify App Store; merchant sentiment is synthesized from the most recent App Store reviews (paraphrased, never quoted). We currently have no affiliate relationship with either vendor. Found an error? The data snapshot behind this page is dated — check the vendor's page for same-day changes.

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