Shopify vs BigCommerce 2026: Fees, Plans and Which to Pick

Shopify wins on total cost for most stores in 2026, and BigCommerce wins on what the plan includes. The two charge the same $29, $79 and $299 a month billed yearly, but BigCommerce assigns your tier by trailing sales, so a store doing $10,000 a month pays about $636 all-in on BigCommerce against $369 on Shopify by our arithmetic. Pick BigCommerce for built-in B2B, multi-currency and unlimited staff seats; pick Shopify for the lower bill. Prices verified on both vendors' US pricing pages, 17 October 2026.

Toolradar data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, evaluated 108 ecommerce platforms for its October 2026 ranking, and it tracks both Shopify and BigCommerce. Our view: the sticker prices stopped being the difference once BigCommerce renamed its plans and tied them to sales volume, so this page compares the bill a store actually gets at five sales levels, not the pricing grid.

Shopify vs BigCommerce at a glance

The grid says tie; the bill says Shopify. The reason is the rightmost rows of the next two tables: BigCommerce's sales caps and Shopify's freedom to stay on Basic at any volume.

How each platform charges

Shopify sells three self-service plans and lets any store sit on any of them. A $150,000-a-month store can run on Basic if it accepts the 2.9% card rate and no staff logins, and plenty do. The plan is a choice about staff seats, support and a lower card rate, and the break-even points are worked out in our Shopify pricing guide.

BigCommerce sells three self-service plans and decides which one you are on. Core covers up to $30K of trailing 12-month GMV, Growth up to $100K, and the pricing page says the plan auto-upgrades when you pass the threshold. GMV is gross order value minus 10%, so those caps are about $33,300 and $111,100 of actual orders a year. Scale includes $33,333 of GMV a month and charges a 0.9% overage on GMV above it, and accounts move to Performance at $2M of trailing GMV. The bands are detailed in our BigCommerce pricing guide.

That design is the whole comparison. A store with $9,300 a month in orders has outgrown Growth and pays Scale money on BigCommerce, while the same store on Shopify pays Basic money if it wants to. BigCommerce's answer is that Scale includes things Shopify charges for, and the feature rounds below test that claim.

What a store pays at $2,500 to $150,000 a month

The scenario: a US store selling online with standard cards, a $60 average order and yearly billing. On Shopify, the store takes the cheapest plan whose total is lowest at that volume, through Shopify Payments. On BigCommerce, the plan is the one the caps assign, through PayPal Braintree at the published 2.89% + 29¢ base rate, with the Scale overage added. Totals are our arithmetic on the published rates, not vendor quotes, and exclude apps, themes, shipping and tax.

Under $3,000 a month the two are the same bill, and BigCommerce's 29¢ per order against Shopify's 30¢ is the only difference. The gap opens the moment trailing sales push a BigCommerce store onto Growth, and it jumps at the Scale cap, where a store doing $10,000 a month pays ten times as much for the platform on BigCommerce as on Shopify Basic. Card fees are the same size on both, so the gap is almost entirely the plan.

The gap would shrink if the BigCommerce store needed what Scale includes. A Shopify store that wants five staff logins is on Grow, and one that wants 15 is on Advanced, so a six-person team at $10,000 a month pays Shopify about $50 more than our table shows. Even then Shopify remains cheaper at that volume by about $237.

Round 1: plan price and billing. Shopify wins

Both discount yearly billing by 25%, both bill in USD, and both print the same three numbers. Shopify wins the round because the store chooses the number. BigCommerce's auto-upgrade is sold as growth without hard limits, and on Scale the overage is a smooth 0.9%, but a $5,000-a-month store still goes from $29 to $79 and then to $299 on a timetable set by its sales, not its needs.

Shopify's trial is shorter at 3 days against BigCommerce's 15, though Shopify follows it with an introductory price for the first 3 months. BigCommerce's self-service plans have no contract and cancel from the control panel. Neither has a free plan, and our free ecommerce website comparison covers the $0 options.

Round 2: payment fees. Tie

The card rates are close enough to ignore. Shopify Payments charges 2.9% + 30¢ online on Basic and drops the percentage on higher plans; BigCommerce's Braintree base rate is 2.89% + 29¢ on every plan, with negotiated rates available to Growth, Scale and Performance stores that sign a Braintree pricing contract. On $50,000 a month, Shopify Grow's 2.7% beats the Braintree base by $95, and a BigCommerce store with a negotiated rate could close that.

The gateway fee is where BigCommerce has quietly matched Shopify. Shopify adds 2%, 1% or 0.6% by plan when you process through anyone other than Shopify Payments. BigCommerce now charges the same ladder on orders through "open" providers, but its embedded list of 20 fee-free providers includes Stripe, PayPal Braintree, PayPal Complete Payments, Adyen, Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay and Amazon Pay. A store that wants Stripe pays nothing extra on BigCommerce and a plan-based fee on Shopify. That is a real win for BigCommerce if your processor is on the list, and a wash otherwise.

Round 3: included features. BigCommerce wins

BigCommerce Core ships unlimited staff accounts, multi-currency selling, coupons and gift cards, real-time shipping quotes, a blog, product reviews and the ShipperHQ rules engine. Growth adds customer groups, the abandoned cart saver, persistent cart and stored cards; Scale adds product filtering and Google customer reviews. B2B price lists and advanced promotions are Performance-only. Multi-storefront is an add-on at $30/mo per extra storefront on Core, $50 on Growth and $100 on Scale.

Shopify Basic has no staff accounts, 10 inventory locations and 24/7 chat support, and the store's localized selling runs through Shopify Markets. Grow adds 5 staff accounts, Advanced 15 staff accounts, enhanced chat and live third-party shipping rates, and Plus brings unlimited staff, 200 inventory locations and unlimited B2B catalogs. Much of what BigCommerce builds in, Shopify stores buy from the App Store, and our best Shopify apps and free Shopify apps guides show what that stack costs.

BigCommerce wins the round for a store with a large catalog, several brands or wholesale customers. Shopify's counter is the larger app and theme ecosystem, which means a feature BigCommerce lacks is one install away, and the AI apps for Shopify roundup shows how far that reaches.

Round 4: inventory and locations. Depends on size

Shopify Basic allows 10 inventory locations and Plus 200. BigCommerce allows 4 on Core, 5 on Growth and 8 on Scale, with a custom number on Performance. A retailer with three shops and a warehouse fits either, but a chain with twelve locations needs BigCommerce Performance or any Shopify plan. Shopify wins for multi-location retail, and our best POS systems ranking covers the counter side, including Square POS as the alternative to either vendor's own POS.

For a single warehouse with a deep catalog, the round flips. BigCommerce's product filtering, customer groups and price lists are built for catalogs where shoppers search by attribute and buyers get negotiated prices. Shopify's B2B catalogs sit on Plus.

Round 5: support. BigCommerce wins

BigCommerce includes 24/7 phone support from Growth up and 24/7 chat and email on Core, with a paid phone add-on for Core announced on its pricing page. Shopify offers 24/7 chat on Basic and Grow, enhanced chat on Advanced and priority phone on Plus. For a store that wants a phone number without an enterprise contract, BigCommerce Growth at $79 is the cheaper route.

Who should pick Shopify

• Solo sellers and small DTC brands. Basic at any volume is the lowest fixed bill in this comparison, and the plan upgrade is yours to time.
• Stores that lean on apps. The App Store and theme market are the deepest in ecommerce, and the best email marketing for Shopify and dropshipping apps guides show the depth.
• Multi-location retailers under Plus. 10 inventory locations on Basic against 4 on BigCommerce Core.

The product verdict is in our Shopify review, and the cheaper Shopify alternatives page prices the rivals if neither fits.

Who should pick BigCommerce

• B2B and wholesale sellers. Customer groups from Growth, price lists on Performance, and multi-currency on every plan without an app.
• Multi-brand operators. Extra storefronts for $30 to $100 a month each, managed from one account.
• Stores on Stripe or another embedded provider. No gateway fee, where Shopify charges up to 2%.
• Teams of any size on a small budget. Unlimited staff accounts on the $29 plan, against none on Shopify Basic.

Our BigCommerce review covers the product in depth. If WooCommerce is the third option on your list, Shopify vs WooCommerce prices the self-hosted route, and Toolradar's Shopify vs BigCommerce page holds the data view.

How we compared

We read Shopify's US pricing page, its Plus pricing page and BigCommerce's US pricing page with its feature and payment tables on 17 October 2026. The scenario totals are our arithmetic on the published rates, with GMV at 90% of gross orders as BigCommerce defines it, and are not vendor quotes. We did not run a store on either platform for this page. Toolradar's catalog count comes from its October 2026 ecommerce platforms ranking. We re-check when either vendor changes a plan, cap or fee. Louis Corneloup, who founded Toolradar and Dupple, edited it.

FAQ

Is BigCommerce cheaper than Shopify?

Not for most stores. The list prices match at $29, $79 and $299 a month billed yearly, but BigCommerce assigns the plan by trailing sales, so a store doing $10,000 a month pays about $636 all-in on BigCommerce Scale against $369 on Shopify Basic in our scenario. Below $3,000 a month the bills are within a dollar.

What is the difference between Shopify and BigCommerce fees?

Card rates are nearly identical: 2.9% + 30¢ on Shopify Basic against 2.89% + 29¢ through Braintree on BigCommerce. Both add 2%, 1% or 0.6% by plan when you use an outside gateway, but BigCommerce waives it for 20 embedded providers including Stripe, PayPal and Adyen. BigCommerce Scale also charges 0.9% on monthly GMV above $33,333.

Does BigCommerce have transaction fees?

Not on orders through its embedded payment providers. Orders through any other processor carry an open payment provider fee of 2% on Core, 1% on Growth and 0.6% on Scale, billed by BigCommerce on top of the processor's own charge.

Which is better for B2B, Shopify or BigCommerce?

BigCommerce, unless you are on Shopify Plus. BigCommerce includes customer groups from Growth and price lists on Performance, with multi-currency on every plan. Shopify's unlimited B2B catalogs arrive on Plus, which starts at $2,300 a month on a 3-year term.

Is it easy to migrate from Shopify to BigCommerce?

BigCommerce advertises migration from Shopify, WooCommerce, Salesforce and Magento, and its 15-day trial can take live orders once a payment provider is connected. Themes and apps do not carry across on either platform, so budget for a rebuild of the storefront and the app stack whichever way you move.

Which has the better free trial?

BigCommerce: 15 days, fully functional, no credit card. Shopify's trial is 3 days, followed by an introductory price for the first 3 months before the regular plan rate applies.

Cite this: Retailpresso, "Shopify vs BigCommerce 2026: Fees, Plans and Which to Pick", October 2026.

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