BigCommerce vs
Shopify Plus

Sell more and stress less with all you need for faster launch and growth — right out of the box.

Collage Person Laptop Analytics Inventory Payment Options Visa Apple Pay Amazon Pay Klarna Paypal

BigCommerce vs Shopify Plus: Why businesses are making the switch

BigCommerce makes it simple for Enterprise brands of any size to adopt modern, API-first commerce — giving you the flexibility to create and control differentiated experiences quickly.

Growth Without Limits

With rigid API call per second limits, a cap of 100 SKUs per product and only three options per product, Shopify makes it difficult to adapt as your business grows. BigCommerce is the flexible platform — and trusted partner — that scales with you, with up to 600 SKUs per product and 250 options. No matter how big you want to go, you won't outgrow us.

Your Store, Your Way

Shopify Plus offers many built-in products that serve a wide array of ecommerce needs, but instead of encouraging merchants to use a solution that best fits their business requirements, merchants are pushed to adopt Shopify proprietary product solutions. In fact, merchants who don’t use Shopify’s proprietary payment provider face additional transaction fees of up to 2% per sale. With BigCommerce, you never have to settle for limitations. Our native features and flexible architecture give you the ultimate freedom to build innovative shopping experiences.

Greater Usability, Lower TCO

Unlike BigCommerce — which includes out-of-the-box functionality in its pricing — Shopify Plus relies on third-party apps to make up for gaps in native functionality, which can come with extra costs. With the cost savings of BigCommerce’s native apps and automatic platform updates, merchants can focus on what matters most — investing back into their business.

B2C and B2B on One Platform

Recognized as a leader in B2B by Forrester and Paradigm, BigCommerce allows merchants to deliver unified commerce to wholesale and retail customers — using a single ecommerce platform. With out-of-the-box B2B features, BigCommerce uses powerful APIs to seamlessly connect to third-party systems and supports a much higher volume of API calls per second than Shopify Plus.

BigCommerce Success Stories

“BigCommerce has done the work for us vetting hundreds of apps that allow us to pick and choose what we want and have the confidence of knowing it will work with the platform.”

Josie NatoriFounder and CEO, The Natori Company

Read their story

Quote Image Storefront Product Floral Dress Natori

Common BigCommerce vs Shopify Plus Questions

What is the difference between BigCommerce and Shopify Plus?

Shopify Plus and BigCommerce may seem similar — but, in fact, they have two very different business models. Shopify Plus heavily focuses on driving its proprietary services and thus acts as a payment gateway, a shipping and fulfillment provider and an email marketing service, all while still being an ecommerce platform.

In contrast, BigCommerce offers only one core product: its ecommerce platform. As a result, BigCommerce focuses all of its resources on building the best cloud-based, multi-channel solution in the industry. With an Open SaaS framework, BigCommerce combines the best of a SaaS platform with API-enabled openness to give Enterprise merchants more flexibility in customizations and integrations — while handling site maintenance and updates so that you can focus on scaling your business.

What is the price comparison between BigCommerce and Shopify Plus?

Shopify Plus plans start at “$2000 USD per month or a variable fee for higher volume businesses.” However, Shopify Plus does not offer many additional features beyond what is included for small businesses. In fact, Shopify merchants would need to install several third-party apps in order to reach feature parity with BigCommerce.

BigCommerce, on the other hand, provides tailored pricing to meet each merchant’s needs at any stage of growth. We take care of the heavy-lifting with core back-end commerce functionality, which can reduce the need for development dependency to build out your site. With no additional costs or website downtime for automatic platform updates, feature releases and enhancements, you can focus on what matters most — helping your business succeed.

If you’re interested in specific pricing for your business, talk to a BigCommerce expert.

What sales features do BigCommerce and Shopify Plus offer?

While both BigCommerce and Shopify Plus offer essential sales features such as basic shipping tools, multichannel selling and a customizable checkout, many of the sales features that are native on BigCommerce require a third-party app on Shopify Plus.

With BigCommerce, merchants get all of these features out-of-the-box, which means you don’t have to download tons of apps for core store functionality. BigCommerce supports up to 600 SKUs per product, multiple display option types, custom fields, manually specified prices in different currencies, price lists, quantity-based price breaks, wish lists, persistent carts and more.

Which platform is better for B2B: Shopify Plus or BigCommerce?

While Shopify Plus does offer B2B capabilities, there are several limitations — for example, Shopify Plus lacks Multi-Storefront, tiered quantity pricing and orders cannot exceed more than 500 line items. BigCommerce, however, supports all of these features and more.

Featured in the latest Gartner and Paradigm B2B reports, BigCommerce has received recognition for its ability to deliver modern buyer experiences for B2B and B2C on one platform, and for its open, API-first approach. With out-of-the-box B2B features such as native price lists, multi-currency and Multi-Storefront, BigCommerce offers merchants the flexibility needed to keep up with ever-changing buyer expectations.

Which platform has better security: BigCommerce or Shopify Plus?

As SaaS platforms, BigCommerce and Shopify Plus are both PCI DSS 3.2 certified at Level 1 to protect against data theft and fraud. Both platforms also offer additional protective measures such as multi-layer security and automatic bug fixes.

With BigCommerce, you can have peace of mind knowing that your data is secure. As your trusted ecommerce partner, BigCommerce takes care of platform updates, security patches, hosting and more (ISO/IEC 27001:2013 & PCI DSS 3.2, Level 1 certified).

Plus, there are no security patches or updates that require certified developers to install and manage. This gives non-technical merchants the ability to focus on core business activities rather than worry about the upkeep of their website.

What kind of customer support will I get with BigCommerce and Shopify Plus?

Both BigCommerce and Shopify Plus provide 24/7 customer support via phone, email and live chat, and both platforms also provide a help center, a community forum and video tutorials.

Our support is a big reason why BigCommerce leads the industry in trust and customer satisfaction (TrustRadius, G2). We provide fast, US-based support. On average, users are speaking to a live support person in under two minutes, and over 85% of issues are resolved on the first call.

With a global network of thousands of agency and tech partners, BigCommerce has the expertise you can always count on. As your partner in growth, BigCommerce offers personalized service that molds to your needs and allows you to architect the optimal solution for your business.

How do I migrate from Shopify Plus to BigCommerce?

BigCommerce allows merchants to migrate with as little friction and disruption as possible with expert support. In our app marketplace, you’ll find a variety of apps dedicated to data transfer and migration services, or you can get in touch with our Data Migration Services team who can help you seamlessly migrate and launch your store on BigCommerce.