BigCommerce vs Ecwid Comparison 2026
BigCommerce is a full hosted storefront priced by how much a shop sells: $29 a month for up to $30,000 a year, rising through $79 and $299 as volume grows, with the account moving up a tier on its own once a ceiling is crossed. Ecwid instead bolts a shop onto a site you already have, starting at $5 a month for ten products and $29 for a hundred, with Instagram and Facebook selling added from that second tier. The real choice is simple: a storefront that is the whole site, which is BigCommerce, or an add-on to one that already exists, which is Ecwid.
A hosted store priced against how much you sell
A store that bolts onto a site you already have
At a glance
- Ecwid starts cheaper, at $5.
- Neither has a free tier.
Side by side
BigCommerce | Ecwid | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $29 | From $5 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free trial, then paid | Paid subscription |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing | Not stated | Not stated |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes | Yes |
BigCommerce
A hosted store priced against how much you sell
BigCommerce is a hosted storefront whose tiers are drawn around sales volume rather than around features, so the question at signup is what a shop turns over rather than which capabilities it needs. Crossing a tier's ceiling moves the account up on its own, which is worth knowing before the first busy quarter. The platform adds no transaction fee of its own on top of the payment provider's. Anybody below the first threshold is paying for headroom they will not use for a while.
Our note
The automatic upgrade is the thing to plan for, because a good quarter moves you a tier without anybody approving it and the jump from $29 to $79 arrives at $30,000 of sales. Compare with Shopify on the card rate rather than the subscription, since that is where the two platforms actually differ.
Ecwid
A store that bolts onto a site you already have
Ecwid adds a shop to a site that already exists rather than asking anybody to rebuild on a new platform, which is what makes it the answer when the site is fine and only the selling is missing. It will also stand on its own with an included site builder and a free subdomain. Plans are separated by product count first: ten on the cheapest, a hundred on the next. Selling through Instagram and Facebook, the mobile management app and automated tax all start one tier above the entry plan.
Why people weigh these two
- Ecwid instead of BigCommerce
- Bolts a store onto a site you already have, from $5; the light entry where BigCommerce sells volume-priced headroom from $29.
- BigCommerce instead of Ecwid
- BigCommerce is a hosted store priced against how much you sell, from $29 with a free trial, a shop-first platform for when the embed stops being enough.
Which one should you pick
Choose BigCommerce when the shop is the business and volume will keep growing. Core is $29 a month for up to $30,000 in yearly sales, and the account upgrades itself at $79 and $299 as that volume rises, with no extra fee charged on top of whatever the payment provider takes. It is wrong for a small catalogue bolted onto an existing site, since there is no product-count option anywhere near Ecwid's $5 entry tier.
Choose Ecwid when a website already exists and only the selling is missing. Starter is $5 a month for up to ten products, and Venture at $29 raises that to a hundred and adds Instagram and Facebook selling plus a mobile management app. Ten products is a hard wall, not a soft limit. It is wrong for a large catalogue, since that jump between the first two tiers is where most shops get stuck.
Common questions
- Which is cheaper, BigCommerce or Ecwid?
- Ecwid, at the entry level. Starter is $5 a month for up to ten products, well under BigCommerce's $29 Core plan. BigCommerce prices by how much a shop sells rather than by product count, so it only starts to look reasonable once yearly sales are heading toward $30,000.
- Can I add BigCommerce to a website I already built?
- Not in the way Ecwid does. BigCommerce is a full storefront meant to be the site itself, while Ecwid is built specifically to bolt a shop onto an existing page, including places where a full storefront cannot be installed.
- Which one sells through Instagram and Facebook?
- Ecwid does, from its $29 Venture tier upward. BigCommerce does not list social selling among its features, and its tiers are drawn on sales volume rather than on which channels are available.
- What happens when I outgrow Ecwid's product limit?
- Venture, at $29 a month, raises the cap from ten products to a hundred. Past that, the sensible move is a platform built to be the storefront from the start, such as BigCommerce, rather than raising an add-on's ceiling again later.
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