Shopify vs BigCommerce
Shopify's entry plan costs less per month, while BigCommerce has a longer trial and ties each plan to a sales cap.
Pick Shopify if…
Pick Shopify if you want the lowest monthly entry price (US$24 a month billed yearly) and a store with over 21,000 apps in its App Store.
Pick BigCommerce if…
Pick BigCommerce if you want a 15-day trial with no credit card, built-in B2B and multi-storefront features, and open APIs with a headless option.
Price
- Paid
- Paid
Starting price
Free plan
Open source
Works on
| Feature | Hosted commerce platform for building and running an online store, selling in person and on other channels. | Hosted online store platform with open APIs, headless options and built-in B2B features. |
|---|---|---|
| Price |
|
|
| Starting price | Basic: $24/month billed yearly, or $32/month billed monthly (USD) | Core: US$29/month billed annually, or US$39/month billed monthly |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Open source | No | No |
| Works on | Web, API | Web, API |
| Try Shopify (opens the Shopify website in a new tab) | Try BigCommerce (opens the BigCommerce website in a new tab) |
Both are hosted platforms with no free store plan. Shopify's Basic plan is US$24 a month billed yearly (US$32 monthly). BigCommerce's Core is US$29 a month billed annually (US$39 monthly). Further up, Shopify Grow is US$69 and Advanced US$299 (yearly billing), while BigCommerce Growth is US$79 and Scale US$299. Shopify Plus starts at US$2,300 a month and BigCommerce Performance at US$1,499 a month billed annually.
Trials differ. Shopify advertises 3 days free, then US$1 a month for 3 months. BigCommerce offers a 15-day trial with no credit card. Both charge extra fees if you use a payment provider other than their own: Shopify lists 2%, 1%, 0.6% and 0.2% across its four plans, and BigCommerce lists 2.0%, 1.0% and 0.6% on Core, Growth and Scale, with none on Performance.
BigCommerce ties each plan to trailing 12-month sales (US$30K on Core, US$100K on Growth) and moves you up automatically when you pass the cap. Shopify's pricing page as researched lists no such caps.
On apps, Shopify's App Store lists over 21,000 apps and BigCommerce lists over 1,200. Both offer API access. Neither is open source.
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Last updated 16 October 2026. How we make money