Shopify vs BigCommerce In 2026: Fees, Sales Caps, B2B And Plus vs Enterprise
David Roberts
Founder and CEO
10.18.2026
Shopify and BigCommerce are the two leading hosted ecommerce platforms for brands that have outgrown simple website builders. Both run your store on fast, secure infrastructure, both scale from a first sale to eight-figure revenue, and both now have nearly identical headline prices. The differences are in the details: how each one charges as you grow, how much is built in versus bought as apps, and how well each handles B2B, large catalogues and complex operations.
2026 changed this comparison. BigCommerce renamed its plans on 1 June 2026 and introduced a new fee for stores that use payment providers outside its approved list, which removed one of its oldest selling points. Shopify, meanwhile, raised its variant limit to 2,048 per product and kept expanding its app and checkout ecosystem.
Short answer: choose Shopify for most DTC brands that want the biggest app ecosystem, the best-converting checkout and the deepest pool of agencies; choose BigCommerce if you sell B2B or wholesale, run a large and complex catalogue, need more built-in features without apps, or want an open, API-first platform for headless builds.
Core $30K and Growth $100K per year; Scale overage above $33,333/mo
Fee for outside payment providers
2%, 1%, 0.6%, 0.2% by plan
2%, 1%, 0.6% by plan; $0 for approved embedded providers
Variants per product
Up to 2,048
Up to 600
Staff accounts
None on Basic, 5 on Grow, 15 on Advanced
Included on all plans
App ecosystem
Largest in ecommerce
Smaller, more features built in
B2B
Native B2B on Plus
B2B Edition and strong native B2B tools
Best for
DTC brands, fast growth, marketing-led teams
B2B, complex catalogues, headless and multi-storefront
Prices are in USD as of October 2026, from each vendor’s pricing page. Monthly billing costs more on both.
What Is The Difference Between Shopify And BigCommerce?
The simplest way to put it: Shopify is a lean core plus the world’s biggest app store, and BigCommerce is a fuller core with a smaller app store. Shopify keeps its base platform focused and lets thousands of third-party apps fill the gaps (reviews, subscriptions, product options, advanced search, bundles). BigCommerce ships more out of the box, including more flexible product options, customer groups, price lists and multi-currency, so many stores need fewer paid apps.
The second difference is philosophy. Shopify optimizes for merchants who want to launch quickly and grow through marketing, with an extremely polished admin, Shop Pay checkout and a huge ecosystem of themes, agencies and partners. BigCommerce positions itself as an open SaaS platform, with an API-first architecture that suits headless front ends, multiple storefronts from one back end and complex B2B workflows.
Market share reflects this. Shopify powers vastly more stores and dominates DTC. BigCommerce has a smaller but loyal base, strongest among B2B, manufacturing, automotive parts and mid-market brands with large catalogues.
Shopify vs BigCommerce Pricing In 2026
The headline subscription prices are now identical tier for tier. What differs is how each platform charges you as sales grow.
Shopify has no revenue caps on any plan. If you use Shopify Payments, there is no extra transaction fee beyond card processing.
BigCommerce Pricing
BigCommerce renamed its plans on 1 June 2026: Standard became Core, Plus became Growth, Pro became Scale and Enterprise became Performance. According to the BigCommerce pricing page and its 2026 plan update notice:
BigCommerce plan
Yearly billing
Monthly billing
Annual sales threshold
Open payment provider fee
Core (was Standard)
$29/mo
$39/mo
Up to $30K
2.0%
Growth (was Plus)
$79/mo
$105/mo
Up to $100K
1.0%
Scale (was Pro)
$299/mo
$399/mo
0.9% overage above $33,333/mo
0.6%
Performance (was Enterprise)
From $1,499/mo, annual
Contracted
Custom
None
The open payment provider fee applies only when orders go through a gateway that is not on BigCommerce’s embedded list. Using an embedded provider (the list includes BigCommerce Payments, PayPal, Stripe, Adyen, Checkout.com, Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay, Amazon Pay and Worldpay among others) carries no extra platform fee. Card processing through PayPal powered by Braintree is listed at 2.89% + 29c.
The Real Cost Difference
For a store doing $25,000 a year, both platforms cost about the same: $29 a month plus card fees. The gap opens with growth. On BigCommerce, Core is capped at $30,000 in trailing twelve-month sales and Growth at $100,000; when you pass the cap, BigCommerce moves you up a tier automatically. A store doing $150,000 a year must be on Scale ($299 a month) on BigCommerce, but can stay on Basic ($29) or Grow ($79) on Shopify.
On the other hand, Shopify stores tend to spend more on apps, because more functionality lives outside the core. A Shopify store with reviews, subscriptions, product options, advanced search and B2B pricing apps can easily add $200 to $500 a month in app fees. BigCommerce covers more of those needs natively. Do the maths on your own revenue and must-have features; there is no universal winner.
Two practical tips before you compare quotes. First, list every app or extension you would need on each platform and add their monthly fees to the plan price. Second, check whether your preferred payment provider is on BigCommerce’s embedded list; if it is not, the open payment provider fee applies to every order processed through it, which can outweigh any savings elsewhere.
Built-In Features vs Apps
BigCommerce includes several capabilities that Shopify merchants usually add with apps or reserve for higher plans: staff accounts on every plan, customer groups with group-based pricing, flexible product options and modifiers (custom text, file uploads, add-ons) without extra SKUs, and strong faceted search. Multi-currency and multi-storefront features are also part of the platform story.
Shopify’s counterweight is its App Store. Whatever you need, there are usually several mature, well-reviewed apps, and many integrate deeply with Shopify’s checkout and admin. Shopify’s native tools are also excellent in specific areas: Shop Pay accelerated checkout, Shopify POS for retail, Shopify Markets for international selling, Shopify Email, and built-in analytics.
Our take: if you prefer to assemble a best-of-breed stack and want maximum choice, Shopify wins. If you want fewer moving parts and fewer monthly app bills, BigCommerce is often simpler to run.
Catalogue, Variants And B2B
Catalogue flexibility used to be a clear BigCommerce win. Shopify’s old 100-variant limit forced apparel and parts sellers into workarounds. That changed in October 2025, when Shopify raised the limit to 2,048 variants per product for all merchants, according to its developer changelog. BigCommerce allows up to 600 variants per product, but it also supports unlimited modifiers (options that adjust price without creating SKUs), which suits customizable products.
B2B is where BigCommerce still stands out. Its B2B Edition adds company accounts with buyer roles, quote management, purchase orders, invoice payments, shared shopping lists and customer-specific price lists. Many wholesale and manufacturing brands choose BigCommerce for exactly this reason. Shopify now has native B2B features too (company profiles, catalogues, payment terms and quantity rules), but they are reserved for Shopify Plus, so a mid-sized wholesaler on Shopify faces a big jump in cost to access them.
If you sell both DTC and wholesale with tens of thousands of SKUs, complex pricing and quote-based ordering, BigCommerce is usually the better-fitting platform. If B2B is a small side channel, Shopify plus a wholesale app may be enough.
Themes, Checkout And Conversion
Shopify’s theme ecosystem is larger and, on average, more modern, and its Online Store 2.0 editor makes it easy for marketers to build landing pages from sections and blocks. Shopify’s checkout is its biggest conversion asset. Shop Pay remembers customer details across millions of Shopify stores, which shortens checkout to a tap for returning buyers. Checkout customization is limited on standard plans and more open on Plus through checkout extensibility.
BigCommerce offers fewer themes, built on its Stencil framework, plus Page Builder for visual editing. It gives more freedom to customize checkout on standard plans and supports a wide range of payment gateways without penalty, as long as they are on the embedded list. For headless builds, BigCommerce’s APIs and its Catalyst storefront framework make it a strong back end behind a custom Next.js front end.
SEO And Marketing
Both platforms cover SEO basics: editable titles and meta descriptions, alt text, canonical tags, XML sitemaps, 301 redirects and fast CDN hosting. BigCommerce has traditionally given more control over URL structures, while Shopify enforces fixed prefixes such as /products/ and /collections/. For most stores this does not affect rankings, but it matters to some SEO teams on large migrations.
Shopify leads on marketing ecosystem. Its integrations with Meta, Google, TikTok, Pinterest, email platforms and marketplaces are deep, and the pool of Shopify-specialist SEO and PPC agencies is far larger. If you will rely on paid social and influencer-driven growth, that ecosystem is a real advantage. Our lists of top Shopify SEO agencies and top Shopify marketing agencies are good places to compare partners.
International Selling, POS And Omnichannel
Selling across borders is now a standard requirement, and both platforms handle it, with different emphases. Shopify Markets lets one store sell in multiple countries with local currencies, translated content, regional domains or subfolders and market-specific pricing, managed from a single admin. Shopify also offers managed duties and import tax collection at checkout on eligible plans, which reduces surprise fees for international customers. For brands expanding into Europe, the UK, Canada and Australia, this is one of Shopify’s strongest features.
BigCommerce approaches international selling through multi-currency support and multi-storefront, which lets you run separate storefronts for different regions or brands from one back end with shared catalogue and inventory. That architecture is powerful for companies with distinct regional sites, different assortments or separate B2B and DTC storefronts. It takes more setup than Shopify Markets but offers more structural separation.
For physical retail, Shopify has a clear lead. Shopify POS is built into the platform, so inventory, customers, orders and loyalty sync between online and in-store automatically. BigCommerce relies on integrations with third-party POS systems such as Square, Clover or Lightspeed. If you run shops, pop-ups or market stalls alongside your website, Shopify is usually the simpler choice.
Both platforms connect to major marketplaces and social channels. Shopify’s integrations with Meta, TikTok, Google and Amazon tend to be deeper and better maintained, while BigCommerce has historically marketed strong multichannel listing tools for marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay through partners.
Support, Security And Day-To-Day Operations
Both platforms are fully hosted, PCI-compliant and handle SSL, uptime and security patching for you. Neither requires you to manage servers, which is the main reason growing brands choose them over self-hosted options.
Support differs by tier. Shopify offers round-the-clock support on its plans, with dedicated success managers and priority support on Plus. BigCommerce’s 2026 update moved phone support off the entry plan: per its update notice, 24/7 live phone and chat support is included from Growth upward, while Performance customers get a customer success manager. In practice, most merchants on both platforms lean on their agency for anything complex.
Daily operations feel slightly different. Shopify’s admin is widely considered the most intuitive in ecommerce, and its mobile app is excellent for checking orders and inventory on the move. BigCommerce’s admin is more dense because it exposes more settings natively, which power users appreciate and beginners sometimes find overwhelming. Both have strong APIs and webhooks for connecting ERPs, inventory systems and automation tools.
Switching Platforms Later
Neither platform locks you in technically: products, customers and orders can be exported and imported with migration tools or agency help. The real switching costs are a new theme build, app replacements, retraining staff and SEO risk from changed URLs. Migrations between the two typically take from a few weeks for a simple store to several months for a complex B2B or multi-storefront setup. Choosing well at the start saves that cost entirely.
Shopify Plus vs BigCommerce Enterprise
At the top end, the comparison becomes Shopify Plus versus BigCommerce Performance (the plan formerly called BigCommerce Enterprise). Both are negotiated contracts aimed at brands doing seven figures and up.
Factor
Shopify Plus
BigCommerce Performance
Published starting price
$2,300/mo on a 3-year term ($2,500 on a 1-year term)
From $1,499/mo, billed annually
Revenue-based fees
High-volume brands may get a variable platform fee; rate not published
Custom, contracted terms
B2B
Native B2B included
B2B Edition and native B2B tools
Checkout
Checkout extensibility, Shop Pay
Open checkout, wide gateway choice
Multi-store
Expansion stores for regions and brands
Multi-storefront from one back end
Ecosystem
Largest partner and agency network
Smaller, more B2B-focused partners
Shopify Plus pricing above comes from a third-party check of Shopify’s terms on 5 October 2026; Shopify does not publish its variable fee rate or threshold, so treat any estimate you see as a starting point for negotiation.
In practice, Shopify Plus wins most high-growth DTC and omnichannel retail deals because of its checkout, ecosystem and speed. BigCommerce Performance wins more often with B2B manufacturers, distributors and brands with very complex catalogues or headless ambitions. If you are replatforming at this level, a specialist partner is worth the money; see our lists of top Shopify Plus agencies for high-volume merchants and enterprise Shopify Plus agency partners.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Shopify If…
You are a DTC brand that will grow through paid social, influencers and marketplaces.
You want the highest-converting checkout available, with Shop Pay.
You expect fast revenue growth and do not want sales caps forcing plan upgrades.
You also sell in physical retail and want integrated POS.
You want the widest choice of themes, apps and specialist agencies.
Choose BigCommerce If…
B2B or wholesale is a core channel, with quotes, price lists and purchase orders.
You run a large catalogue with complex options and customizable products.
You want more features built in and fewer monthly app subscriptions.
You plan a headless or multi-storefront architecture.
You need many staff accounts without moving to a higher plan.
When Neither Fits
If you need complete control over code and hosting, or very unusual business logic, look at open-source platforms such as WooCommerce or Magento Open Source. Our WooCommerce vs Shopify comparison covers that trade-off. If you sell a handful of products alongside a content-led website, a website builder with ecommerce may be cheaper and simpler.
Who To Hire For A Shopify Or BigCommerce Store
Choosing the platform is half the decision; choosing the build partner is the other half. These ReVerb lists cover vetted agencies for both platforms and for moving between them:
Shopify is better for most DTC brands thanks to its checkout, app ecosystem and agency network. BigCommerce is better for B2B, complex catalogues and merchants who want more built-in features. Neither is better for every store.
Is BigCommerce cheaper than Shopify?
Their plan prices are identical as of October 2026 ($29, $79 and $299 per month billed annually). BigCommerce can be cheaper if it replaces several paid Shopify apps, but its sales caps can force growing stores onto higher plans sooner, which often makes Shopify cheaper for fast-growing brands.
Does BigCommerce still have no transaction fees?
Not entirely. Since 1 June 2026, BigCommerce charges an open payment provider fee (2%, 1% or 0.6% depending on plan) on orders processed through gateways outside its embedded list. Orders through embedded providers such as BigCommerce Payments, PayPal or Stripe have no extra platform fee.
What is the difference between Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise?
Shopify Plus starts at $2,300 per month on a three-year term and is strongest for high-growth DTC and omnichannel retail. BigCommerce Enterprise, now called Performance, starts at $1,499 per month billed annually and is strongest for B2B, complex catalogues and headless builds. Both negotiate custom terms at scale.
Can I migrate from BigCommerce to Shopify?
Yes. Products, customers and orders can be moved with migration apps or a specialist agency. Plan 301 redirects carefully, because Shopify’s fixed URL prefixes usually mean most product and category URLs will change.
Which is better for B2B, Shopify or BigCommerce?
BigCommerce is usually stronger for B2B below enterprise level, because its B2B Edition and native customer group pricing are available without moving to a top-tier contract. Shopify’s native B2B features are excellent but require Shopify Plus.
How do Shopify vs BigCommerce vs WooCommerce compare?
Shopify and BigCommerce are hosted SaaS platforms that handle security and hosting for you. WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that gives full control and ownership but requires you to manage hosting, updates and security. WooCommerce suits content-heavy brands already on WordPress; Shopify and BigCommerce suit teams that want less maintenance.
Conclusion
Shopify vs BigCommerce is closer on price than ever, so the decision rests on business model. Shopify is the default for DTC brands that grow through marketing and want the best checkout and the largest ecosystem. BigCommerce earns its place with B2B sellers, complex catalogues and teams that value built-in features and open architecture. Model your next two years of revenue, list your must-have features, and compare the full cost including apps, sales caps and payment fees before you sign.
