BigCommerce and Shopify are two of the UK’s well-known eCommerce store builders. Both platforms offer a powerful eCommerce platform that retailers and merchants need to scale and grow their online business. However, there are key differences between these two platforms that can help you choose the best for your needs.
So, in this BigCommerce vs Shopify review, we tested both platforms and compared their design flexibility, features, plugins & integration, and ease of use. We also compared their payment options, security, and pricing. Keep reading to discover the best platform that suits your needs.
| BigCommerce | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | Drag-and-drop editor. The interface has a steep learning curve | Intuitive dashboard that does not need much technical knowledge to navigate and use |
| Pricing | 15-day free trials and three plans starting from $29 to $299 per month | 3-day free trials and three plans starting from £25 to £344 per month |
| Third-party Payment gateways | 70+ gateways, including Authorize.net, Bolt, Square, Stripe, Paypal, Amazon Pay, etc | 100+ gateways, including Apple Pay, Credit/Debit cards, Stripe, Square, PayPal, Amazon Pay, etc. |
| Supported Mobile OS | iOS and Android | iOS and Android |
| Customer support | 24/7 support via phone, live chat, and email | 24/7 support via phone, live chat, and email |
| Transaction fee | NO | YES |
| Templates | Over 300 | Over 100 |
| Apps | 750+ | 2500+ |
| Best for | Experienced eCommerce retailers and merchants | Beginners (newbies) |
Sections
Overview of both platforms
BigCommerce is an industry-leading hosted eCommerce platform allowing you to set up and sell with an online store easily. It was founded in 2009 and has over 50,000 stores online. This platform offers lots of eCommerce tools and features to merchants. However, its in-built tools and related terminologies can be complex and overwhelming for beginners. So, it is an ideal solution for established businesses aiming to scale and grow their eCommerce capabilities rapidly.
Shopify is an all-in-one eCommerce solution for retailers and merchants to set up and grow their online businesses. It was founded in 2006 and has over 4.5 million users in 175 countries globally. This platform offers an array of features and tools, including, PoS, an easy-of-use interface, marketing tools, social media integration, and intuitive themes.
Design flexibility
Overall, BigCommerce edges Shopify by offering more design customisation. However, Shopify’s themes and templates are relatively professional and sleek.
BigCommerce gives you complete control over your store design and many customisation options with its drag-and-drop feature. You can easily change your store’s layout, font, and colour. You can also build a website that perfectly reflects your brand. Besides, BigCommerce provides a range of amazing themes and templates created by 3rd-party developers.
Shopify offers more professional and sleek themes. And the themes come in a wide range of styles, which allows you to use them for different online businesses. Shopify allows you to customise your store’s design to some extent. However, it does not give you much control over your website.
Features
Both BigCommerce and Shopify offer retailers and merchants a range of features that suit businesses of any size.
BigCommerce is highly rated for having the best features, including hosting, security, shipping, and multi-channel sales features. It also has reporting and analytics features that enhance your online business intelligence and help you formulate pricing strategies.
Shopify has comparable baseline features, including hosting, integrated email, product management, and customer tracking. Its analytics and reporting and analytics features are more basic than BigCommerce. For instance, you will be required to integrate Google Analytics to access performance and sales data.
Plugins and Integrations
Both BigCommerce and Shopify provide a lot of plugins, apps, and integrations to extend the functionality of the users’ store.
BigCommerce’s app marketplace has 750+ apps, plugins, and integrations. While some, like QuickBooks Online and Mailchimps, are free, most apps are premium. The apps, plugins, and integrations categories include;
- Sales channels
- Product Sourcing
- Shipping & fulfilment
- Catalogue & order management
- Analytics & reporting
While BigCommerce has many apps and plugins, most users have complained that most of them do not offer enough integration variety.
Shopify’s app store has about 2,500 apps, plugins, and integrations, and 1,000 are free. For instance, Shopify offers free plugins and integrations for advanced inventory management and task automation. Other plugins and integration categories include store design, productivity, marketing, finance, and customer support.
Ease of Use
Shopify slightly edges BigCommerce when it comes to ease of use, but it is a close call. For instance, while Shopify’s onboarding process and editor are intuitive and user-friendly for beginners, BigCommerce’s drag-and-drop builder gives Shopify a run for its value.
BigCommerce is not a perfect option for beginners as it uses complex terminologies on its dashboard. However, the initial setup is user-friendly and easy since you will answer some questions to enable the store builder to tailor a perfect website for your business. After the initial setup, the dashboard includes many features that can be challenging to navigate. Besides, the themes can be hard to customise as BigCommerce’s editor requires a command-line action to change. Its drag-and-drop builder outdoes Shopify, as you only need to grab an element and place it where you want.
Shopify is relatively more user-friendly and straightforward, especially for beginners. For instance, its clean and intuitive interface has everything labelled clearly. It also provides comprehensive guides that can assist users in case they get stuck during any process. The pre-made templates and themes make it easy to design your online store. Besides, the toolbars and dashboards are easy to navigate.
Payment Options
Both BigCommerce and Shopify offer complete integration with almost all major payment gateways. Shopify edges BigCommerce by charging no transaction fee if you use their in-house Shopify Payments.
BigCommerce does not have an in-house payment gateway. However, it integrates its store with a wide range of payment options in the BigCommerce app store. For instance, it provides over 70 payment option integrations in 100+ countries with more than 200 local payment methods. These include Authorize.net, Bolt, Square, Stripe, Paypal, Amazon Pay, etc. And they all come with amazing features, such as;
- Mobile- optimised
- PCI compliant
Shopify has an in-built payment gateway, Shopify Payments. You will not be charged any transaction fee whenever you use Shopify Payments. It also ensures a smooth, quick, and secure payment transaction between Shopify sellers and buyers. However, if your country does not support Shopify Payments or you do not like it, Shopify offers over 100 third-party payment gateways according to your location.
Security
You do not need to worry about security with either BigCommerce or Shopify. However, BigCommerce goes beyond and above to fight fraudulent activities on your behalf.
As a SaaS platform, BigCommerce offers multiple strong security layers for every site they host. For instance, all their servers are PSS-DSS Level 1 certified. BigCommerce’s other security measures include file integrity scanners, fraudulent protection, 24/7 human monitoring, intrusion detection software, and perimeter & server-specific firewalls. Besides, it is SSL certified by a reputable third party for a specific subdomain or domain. This ensures that all the customers’ data and information are private and properly encrypted.
Similarly, Shopify is PCI DSS Level 1 compliant by default. This is vital in keeping the users’ customers and online businesses secure. It also ensures that all business data and payment information is kept safe. It also offers SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificates to your online store. For instance, SSL encrypts your online store’s content and info and publishes it safely using HTTPS rather than HTTP.
Pricing
Both BigCommerce and Shopify offer fantastic value for money and are almost similarly priced.
BigCommerce offers three different pricing plans, starting from $29.05 per month to $299.95 per month. It also has one Enterprise pricing plan that gives users access to more advanced and exclusive features. The plans are as follows:
- Standard: $29/month
- Plus: $79/month
- Pro: $299/month
- Enterprise: Custom
You can also try its free 15-day trial before picking a premium pricing plan that suits your needs. This will give you a great idea of what BigCommerce can offer to your online store.
Shopify offers three pricing plans with a fixed price starting from £35 to £344 per month. It also has one customisable plan, Shopify Plus. The plans are as follows;
- Basic: £25/month
- Shopify: £65/month
- Advanced: £344/month
- Shopify Plus: Custom
You can also try Shopify’s 3-day free trial before switching to premium plans.
Conclusion
BigCommerce vs Shopify is a tight battle, and there can be different winners depending on who judges the race. They are all highly rated and recommended by eCommerce retailers and merchants. However, Shopify has a higher rating;
BigCommerce scores 1.5/5 stars on TrustPilot and 4.4/5 stars on Capterra
Shopify scores 1.7/5 stars on TrustPilot and 4.5/5 stars on Capterra
However, the best choice comes down to personal preference and needs. From our testing, Shopify edged BigCommerce for its design flexibility, ease of use, payment options, user satisfaction, and customer support.