BigCommerce vs Shopify Comparison 2026
Both cover digital products & storefronts and monetization & payments. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
A hosted store priced against how much you sell
A storefront whose card rate falls by plan
At a glance
- Neither has a free tier.
Side by side
BigCommerce | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $29 | From $29 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free trial, then paid | Paid subscription |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing | Not stated | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on (they differ) | Web | Web, iOS, Android |
| Covers | Digital Products & Storefronts, Monetization & Payments |
Shaded rows are where the two answers disagree and both listings have answered. A row where one side has not stated a fact is left plain, because silence is not a difference.
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.
Shopify
A storefront whose card rate falls by plan
Shopify runs the shop itself, the checkout and the card processing, which is why its pricing has two numbers rather than one: a monthly plan and a card rate that drops as the plan rises. Selling on social, in person and through a site all report into the same catalogue and stock count. The plans are otherwise similar enough that most people choose on the card rate and the staff seats. Using a payment provider other than Shopify's own adds a transaction fee on top, so the cheap plan is not always the cheap option.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.