Shopify or BigCommerce: Best Platform for 2025

Choosing the right ecommerce platform can greatly affect growth and efficiency. BigCommerce and Shopify are top options for SMBs and enterprises. This guide compares their features, pricing, flexibility, and performance to help you decide which platform best fits your business model and goals, ensuring a smarter decision for your online store.

Platform Overview

What Is Shopify?

Shopify is an all-in-one, cloud-based ecommerce solution designed for ease of use and scalability. It allows users to build, customize, and manage online stores without needing coding skills.

• Over 4.5 million websites use Shopify.
• Offers intuitive UI, customizable templates, and a powerful app ecosystem.
• Suitable for startups, DTC brands, and enterprise businesses with Shopify Plus.

What Is BigCommerce?

BigCommerce is a fully hosted ecommerce platform known for its out-of-the-box features and built-in scalability. It’s often favored by businesses with complex product catalogs or B2B needs.

• Powers over 60,000 stores globally.
• Offers robust native features without relying on third-party apps.
• Appeals to growing brands that want flexibility and advanced customization.

BigCommerce vs Shopify: Feature-by-Feature Comparison

1. Ease of Use

Shopify earns high marks for its beginner-friendly dashboard and theme-based design system. Anyone can launch a store within hours using drag-and-drop editing and ready-made templates.

BigCommerce, while powerful, has a steeper learning curve. Its dashboard includes more technical settings, which may overwhelm non-technical users. However, experienced developers and teams often appreciate this control.

Verdict: Shopify for Simplicity

Shopify wins for ease of use, especially for solo founders or small teams.

2. Customization and Themes

Shopify offers over 100 professional themes (free and paid), all mobile-optimized. However, deep customization requires knowledge of Liquid, Shopify’s proprietary templating language.

BigCommerce provides fewer theme options but supports editing with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It also allows developers to use Stencil CLI, giving them more flexibility during theme development.

Verdict: BigCommerce for Developers

If your team includes front-end developers, BigCommerce offers better design control.

3. Built-in Features vs App Reliance

Shopify relies heavily on its app marketplace for advanced functionality. While this keeps the core platform clean and fast, it can lead to higher costs and fragmented workflows.

BigCommerce includes many advanced features natively, such as:

• Real-time shipping quotes
• Faceted search (product filtering)
• B2B wholesale pricing
• Multi-storefront management

Verdict: BigCommerce for Features

BigCommerce reduces the need for third-party apps, which may lower long-term costs.

4. SEO Capabilities

Both platforms offer SEO basics, including customizable URLs, meta tags, and 301 redirects. However, BigCommerce provides more granular control over technical SEO aspects such as:

• Page-level URL structures
• CDN and image compression options
• Advanced schema markup

Shopify’s SEO features are solid but limited in some areas (e.g., URL path nesting is fixed, and advanced schema requires custom code or plugins).

Verdict: BigCommerce for SEO

Technical users will find BigCommerce more accommodating for SEO optimizations.

5. Payment Options and Fees

Shopify Payments is easy to set up and offers competitive processing rates. However, using third-party gateways (like PayPal or Authorize.net) incurs additional fees of up to 2%.

BigCommerce integrates with 65+ payment gateways without charging extra transaction fees, regardless of the provider. This can lead to cost savings for high-volume merchants.

Verdict: BigCommerce for Payment Flexibility

If you want to avoid extra gateway fees, BigCommerce provides more freedom.

6. Scalability and API Flexibility

Both platforms support growth, but BigCommerce targets scalability with:

• Open APIs
• Headless commerce options
• Multi-channel integrations (eBay, Amazon, Google Shopping)
• B2B and multi-storefront features baked in

Shopify Plus, the enterprise version, offers robust APIs and automation tools—but at a higher price point.

Verdict: BigCommerce for Enterprise Scalability

Mid-size to large businesses will benefit from BigCommerce’s native flexibility.

Pricing Comparison

Let’s look at how BigCommerce and Shopify stack up on cost:

What Affects Total Cost?

• Shopify: App fees, transaction fees (unless using Shopify Payments), and add-ons like email marketing can add up.
• BigCommerce: Fewer paid apps needed, but plans are usage-based—higher annual revenue could trigger plan upgrades.

Verdict: Tie

Both platforms cost similarly at face value. BigCommerce may be more affordable long-term due to fewer add-ons.

Security, Support, and Uptime

1. Security

Both platforms offer SSL certificates, PCI DSS compliance, and auto-updates. Shopify manages everything in-house, while BigCommerce’s infrastructure runs on Google Cloud.

2. Customer Support

• Shopify: 24/7 live chat, phone, and email support with strong community forums.
• BigCommerce: 24/7 phone and live chat support, plus account management for higher-tier users.

3. Uptime and Reliability

Shopify maintains >99.99% uptime with global CDN support. BigCommerce also reports high reliability but may depend more on third-party hosting integrations for custom builds.

Verdict: Shopify Slightly Ahead

Shopify’s polished infrastructure and fast support give it a slight edge for customer service.

When to Choose Shopify or BigCommerce?

Choose Shopify If You…

• Want to launch quickly with minimal setup
• Rely heavily on visuals and design aesthetics
• Prefer a large app ecosystem
• Sell directly to consumers (DTC)

Choose BigCommerce If You…

• Run a B2B or hybrid store
• Need advanced product filtering or pricing rules
• Prefer built-in features over third-party apps
• Plan to scale rapidly with multi-channel sales

conclusion

Both BigCommerce and Shopify are powerful platforms, but they cater to different business needs. Shopify excels in ease of use, visual appeal, and third-party app integration, while BigCommerce shines in feature depth, scalability, and technical flexibility.

At AIRSANG DESIGN, we help brands choose the right ecommerce solution based on long-term goals—not hype. Whether you’re launching your first store or migrating from another platform, our team can build a custom experience that drives results.