BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a fully hosted e-commerce platform similar to Shopify, but positioned more toward mid-size and larger sellers with built-in B2B features, multi-channel selling, and no forced transaction fees regardless of payment gateway. It's a common Shopify alternative for stores that have outgrown smaller platforms.

What Makes BigCommerce Stand Out

No mandatory transaction fees regardless of which payment gateway you use, unlike Shopify's surcharge for third-party gateways. Strong built-in B2B features (customer-specific pricing, bulk ordering) without needing extra apps

Solid multi-channel selling (Amazon, eBay, social) built into core plans

Pricing and Plans

BigCommerce is a paid product, reflecting its position as a professional tool. Pricing is structured to match the scale and needs of the organizations that use it.

Who Should Use BigCommerce

BigCommerce is best for teams and individuals who need ecommerce platforms capabilities and where no mandatory transaction fees regardless of which payment gateway you use, unlike shopify's surcharge for third-party gateways. It may not be the right fit when smaller app ecosystem than shopify, so some features need custom development.

Verdict

BigCommerce delivers on its core promise as a ecommerce platforms tool. BigCommerce is a fully hosted e-commerce platform similar to Shopify, but positioned more toward mid... For teams evaluating ecommerce platforms options, BigCommerce is worth considering based on its specific strengths and how they align with your requirements.

BigCommerce B2B Edition

BigCommerce's B2B Edition adds quote management, account-based pricing, and corporate account structures — making it one of the few e-commerce platforms that handles both B2C and B2B selling natively.

Overall rating: 4.0 / 5

BigCommerce is the enterprise e-commerce platform competing with Shopify for mid-market and enterprise merchants — providing lower transaction fees (zero additional fees regardless of payment processor), more built-in features without requiring paid apps, and stronger B2B capabilities for merchants selling to businesses rather than consumers.

The Shopify Alternative for Mid-Market

BigCommerce's competitive positioning against Shopify is explicit: zero additional transaction fees (Shopify charges 0.5-2% when not using Shopify Payments), more functionality in base plans without paid app requirements, and native multi-currency support for international merchants.

These differences matter significantly at scale: a merchant processing $5M annually using third-party payment processing pays $25,000-$100,000 in Shopify transaction fees — zero on BigCommerce. The fee savings alone often justify the platform migration effort at meaningful transaction volumes.

Multi-Storefront and Headless Commerce

BigCommerce's enterprise features include multi-storefront capability — operating multiple distinct storefronts from one BigCommerce backend, each with different products, pricing, and designs. This matters for enterprise brands with multiple sub-brands or regional stores that share inventory and order management but need distinct customer-facing experiences.

BigCommerce's headless commerce API enables decoupling the frontend presentation layer from the backend commerce engine — using BigCommerce for catalog, cart, and checkout while building custom frontends in Next.js, Gatsby, or other frameworks for maximum design flexibility.

B2B Features

BigCommerce B2B Edition provides wholesale and B2B features native to the platform: customer groups with different pricing, quote management, purchase order support, net payment terms, and corporate account management. These B2B features require significant third-party integration or custom development on Shopify; BigCommerce includes them in the enterprise tier.

Overall rating: 4.0 / 5