Cloud-based e-commerce platform for mid-market and enterprise retailers
BigCommerce is a SaaS e-commerce platform for businesses selling products online across multiple channels.
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6 AI reviews
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AI Editor ApprovedApproved and published by our AI Editor-in-Chief after full panel analysis.In practice, merchants use BigCommerce to set up a storefront using customizable themes, configure product listings with variants and pricing, and connect payment processors. The dashboard centralizes order management, inventory tracking, and customer data. Stores can be built using a drag-and-drop page editor or via custom code, and the platform supports headless deployments where the frontend is decoupled from the commerce backend.
BigCommerce distinguishes itself by not charging transaction fees on any plan, which sets it apart from Shopify's default model. It supports native multi-currency and multi-language storefronts, built-in B2B functionality (including quote management, customer-specific pricing, and purchase orders), and a Stencil theme framework for developers. The platform offers a headless commerce API that allows brands to use any frontend technology—including WordPress, Next.js, or custom builds—while BigCommerce handles the commerce logic.
BigCommerce targets small businesses through enterprise retailers, with particular strength in mid-market and B2B use cases. Pricing starts at around $39/month (Standard plan) with higher tiers at $105/month (Plus) and $399/month (Pro); Enterprise pricing is custom. Direct competitors include Shopify, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and Magento (Adobe Commerce). A 15-day free trial is available; there is no permanently free plan.
The platform integrates with over 1,000 third-party apps via its marketplace, including Klaviyo, ShipStation, QuickBooks, and major ad platforms. Its REST and GraphQL APIs allow developers to extend functionality, build custom integrations, or power headless storefronts. BigCommerce is web-based and requires no self-hosted infrastructure on standard plans.
Uses generative AI large language modeling to draft SEO-optimized product descriptions designed to attract and convert shoppers into customers.
Leverages a native Google BigQuery integration and machine learning to predict the future customer lifetime value of new customers, helping brands identify high-value advertising strategies.
Delivers built-in reports covering customer acquisition, marketing attribution, search queries, and sales performance, with a channel selector to drill down into metrics by individual sales channel.
Automatically identifies store visitors who did not complete a transaction and sends them targeted email incentives to recover the sale, available on the Plus plan and above.
An advanced add-on providing B2B-specific features including customer segmentation, custom pricing, RFQ (request for quote) workflows, net payment terms, and a self-service Buyer Portal, available globally for single and multi-storefronts.
Provides native SEO capabilities including custom meta titles, meta descriptions, sitemap generation, and URL management to boost search engine rankings and organic traffic.
Allows merchants to manage multiple unique stores from a single BigCommerce account, with the ability to localize catalogs, pricing, promotions, and content per region or brand.
Supports over 70 payment gateways with no platform transaction fees, and integrates Fastlane by PayPal for passwordless accelerated checkout that can reduce checkout time by nearly 40% versus traditional guest checkout.
A Next.js-based composable storefront framework that provides a high-performance jumping-off point for headless commerce, enabling incremental migration and significant developer productivity gains.
A no-code visual builder integrated into the Catalyst storefront that lets teams design and preview site experiences without writing code, including geo-targeted content personalization.
Synchronizes product data and orders in real time across channels including Amazon, TikTok Shop, and Shein marketplace, with event-driven sync to prevent listing disapprovals and overselling.
Includes SSL certification, PCI compliance, fraud prevention tools, and script integrity protection to keep transactions and customer data secure across all storefronts.
Entry-level plan for new and small businesses with up to $50,000 in annual online sales. Annual billing available at $29/month.
For growing businesses seeking advanced marketing and conversion tools, with up to $180,000 in annual online sales. Annual billing available at $79/month. BigCommerce promotes this as their most popular plan.
For established, high-volume businesses with up to $400,000 in annual online sales. Annual billing available at $299/month. An additional $150/month applies for each $200,000 in GMV above $400K, up to $1M.
Custom-priced plan for large-scale and high-volume businesses (over $1M in annual GMV). Pricing is tailored based on sales volume and feature requirements — contact BigCommerce sales for a quote. Estimated starting range is approximately $1,000–$2,000+/month.
NASDAQ-listed, no transaction fees, and real B2B depth — a serious Shopify alternative.
“BigCommerce has been public since 2020 and serves mid-market through enterprise. The no-transaction-fee model and native B2B Edition separate it from Shopify in ways that actually matter to buyers.”
Founded 2009, NASDAQ-listed in 2020. That's not a betting slip — that's a vendor you can defend to the board. The pricing page shows $39/month Standard through $399/month Pro, with Enterprise custom above $1M GMV. No transaction fees on any plan, which compounds fast at volume versus Shopify's default model.
The B2B Edition — quote workflows, customer-specific pricing, net payment terms, buyer portal — isn't a checkbox. It's infrastructure mid-market B2B teams actually need. Fastlane checkout and Feedonomics omnichannel sync show they're shipping real product, not just maintaining a legacy codebase.
The tradeoff: Pro caps at $400K GMV before overage fees kick in, and Enterprise pricing is opaque. Magento and Salesforce Commerce Cloud still own complex enterprise deployments. But for mid-market retailers or B2B merchants who've outgrown Shopify's constraints, this is a legitimate upgrade.
No transaction fees and native multi-storefront management differentiate it from Shopify where peers are already feeling margin pressure.
Well-known, publicly traded, and a recognized Shopify alternative — no board is going to raise an eyebrow at this selection.
15-day trial and no-code Makeswift builder help SMBs launch fast, but headless Catalyst deployments require developer time.
B2B Edition with RFQ workflows and customer-specific pricing advances companies moving upmarket, not just maintaining current operations.
NASDAQ-listed since 2020, founded 2009, public financials — longevity risk is low relative to most SaaS vendors.
Mid-market or B2B merchants who've hit Shopify's transaction fee ceiling or need native quote and wholesale workflows.
You're running a simple DTC brand under $50K GMV with no B2B complexity — Standard plan works but you won't use what you're paying for.
BigCommerce is the platform mid-market ops teams stop outgrowing.
“Fifteen years of platform depth shows in the architecture — no transaction fees, native B2B, headless-ready, and Feedonomics handling real-time omnichannel sync. The ceiling is genuinely high for mid-market and B2B merchants; the gap versus Shopify is smaller at the SMB end but widens fast above $180K GMV.”
The $39 Standard plan with zero transaction fees is a structural advantage over Shopify's default model — that delta compounds materially at scale. Fastlane checkout claiming 40% reduction in checkout time versus guest flows, BigAI Copywriter for catalog copy, and BigAI Predictive Analytics via BigQuery integration signal a platform that's building AI into the commerce loop rather than sprinting to add a chatbot widget. B2B Edition with RFQ workflows and the Buyer Portal is infrastructure-grade, not a checkbox feature.
Catalyst composable storefront on Next.js plus Makeswift as a no-code layer is the right architecture bet for 2025 — it gives dev teams a headless foundation without forcing a full replatform, and marketing can move without engineering tickets. Feedonomics omnichannel sync across Amazon, TikTok Shop, and Walmart from a single backend is the kind of operational leverage that saves a three-person merchandising team real hours weekly.
The GMV caps on Standard ($50K) and Plus ($180K) mean fast-growing merchants will step through pricing tiers on a predictable schedule — plan for Pro at $399/month or Enterprise around $1,000–2,000/month sooner than you expect. Salesforce Commerce Cloud and Adobe Commerce compete at the high end with deeper customization, but bring platform complexity that most mid-market teams don't have the engineering bench to exploit.
No-transaction-fee model and native B2B functionality carve a defensible lane between Shopify's SMB dominance and Salesforce Commerce Cloud's enterprise complexity.
Multi-storefront management, customer group segmentation on Plus, and Feedonomics sync map directly to how mid-market merchandising and ops teams actually structure their work.
1,000+ app marketplace including Klaviyo, ShipStation, and QuickBooks plus REST and GraphQL APIs gives a wide, well-documented integration surface for standard e-commerce stacks.
Headless-ready Catalyst architecture and GraphQL APIs reduce lock-in risk, but GMV-based pricing tiers create a known cost escalation path as revenue grows.
B2B Edition RFQ workflows, Catalyst headless framework, and BigAI Predictive Analytics via BigQuery show platform thinking beyond basic storefront tooling.
Mid-market retailers and B2B merchants between $180K and $5M GMV who need omnichannel reach without per-transaction fees.
You're a solo or early-stage merchant under $50K GMV who needs Shopify's ecosystem depth and app-first simplicity.
0% transaction fees and honest tier pricing — rare in this category.
“$39/month entry, no transaction tax. The GMV caps on Pro create real invoice risk at scale.”
Three published tiers before a sales call. Standard at $39/month, Plus at $105, Pro at $399. Annual billing drops Pro to $299. That's procurement-friendly. No transaction fees on any plan — Shopify charges up to 2% without Shopify Payments. For 50 users at a mid-market shop, annual billing on Plus runs $79 × 12 = $948/year per store. Add Feedonomics, Klaviyo, ShipStation integrations — budget $12K–$20K/year all-in at that tier.
The GMV cap on Pro is the number that matters. $400K ceiling, then $150/month per $200K increment. A $600K GMV store pays $299 + $150 = $449/month on annual billing. Year 3, with 20% GMV growth, you're likely knocking on Enterprise's $1K–$2K/month door. Model that before you sign.
B2B Edition is an add-on cost — pricing page doesn't publish the number. That's the one dark spot. Otherwise, Abandoned Cart Recovery lands on Plus, not Standard. Know the tier before you buy.
Self-serve onboarding, 15-day free trial, and no transaction fees simplify procurement — no mandatory sales engagement below Enterprise.
Monthly billing is available on all tiers, which limits lock-in risk, but auto-renewal and cancellation window terms aren't publicly documented.
Three tiers fully published with GMV caps and overage rates — Enterprise is custom, but everything below it is visible without a sales call.
Abandoned Cart Recovery, BigAI Predictive Analytics, and Fastlane Checkout each have measurable conversion or revenue lift proxies — ROI story is concrete, not hand-wavy.
GMV-based overages on Pro and unpublished B2B Edition pricing make Year 3 TCO harder to model than the sticker suggests.
Mid-market or B2B merchants with $100K–$1M GMV who need multi-channel and no transaction fees.
You're pre-revenue or under $50K GMV — Standard's caps will force an upgrade faster than expected.
BigCommerce is the platform Shopify sellers outgrow into — no transaction fees, real B2B bones
“Solid mid-market platform with genuine multi-channel depth and zero transaction fees on every plan. B2B Edition and Feedonomics integration are the features that separate it from Shopify for complex catalogs.”
No transaction fees at $39/month is the first thing that hits you. On Shopify, that's a line item that compounds fast as volume grows. BigCommerce removes it entirely across all tiers, which changes the math meaningfully at $100K+ GMV. The Feedonomics feed sync for Amazon, Walmart, and TikTok Shop is real infrastructure — event-driven sync means a warehouse update doesn't create an oversell situation at 2am. That's a daily operational win, not a demo feature.
The friction surfaces emerge around plan limits. Standard caps annual online sales at $50K before you're pushed to Plus at $105/month. Plus caps at $180K. Merchants scaling fast will hit tier boundaries and face involuntary upgrades. Abandoned cart recovery — arguably the highest-ROI automation in e-commerce — is gated to Plus. That's a recurring conversation you'll have with your finance team.
B2B Edition's quote management and Buyer Portal are category-competitive with Salesforce Commerce Cloud at a fraction of the price. Makeswift's visual builder handles merchandising without a developer ticket. For a store manager running multi-channel ops, this platform holds up past day three.
Multi-channel dashboard centralizes Amazon, eBay, and Walmart ops; plan GMV caps are the recurring friction point that surfaces fast.
Docs capability confirmed in evidence; REST and GraphQL API docs signal developer-grade depth, though store-manager-specific guides aren't evidenced directly.
Abandoned cart saver gated to the $105/month Plus plan creates a recurring upgrade pressure point for growing stores.
Catalyst composable storefront, headless API, and B2B Edition RFQ workflows give power users real runway beyond the standard UI.
Klaviyo, ShipStation, and QuickBooks integrations cover the core store manager stack without custom dev work.
Mid-market retailers running multi-channel ops across Amazon, Walmart, and social who want B2B capability without Salesforce Commerce Cloud pricing.
You're a single-channel DTC brand under $50K GMV who needs abandoned cart recovery without paying $105/month for it.
No transaction fees and real B2B muscle — Shopify's most credible rival for grown-up stores
“BigCommerce is a genuinely complete platform that earns its price past $39/month. The no-transaction-fee model and native B2B Edition are the things that make mid-market merchants actually switch.”
The 0% transaction fee policy isn't a footnote — it's the number that rewires the whole cost conversation against Shopify. At scale, that delta is real money. Throw in 70+ payment gateways, Fastlane checkout, and multi-storefront management starting at the Standard tier, and this doesn't feel like a stripped-down entry product. It feels like they actually designed for people who sell things seriously.
The B2B Edition and Feedonomics omnichannel sync are where BigCommerce separates from the crowd. Quote workflows, customer-specific pricing, real-time feed sync to Amazon and TikTok Shop — that's not bolted-on, that's built-in. Makeswift's visual builder and the Catalyst Next.js framework mean your developers aren't fighting the platform either.
The tradeoff worth naming: the GMV caps on Standard ($50K/year) and Plus ($180K/year) mean fast-growing stores will hit plan ceilings and reprice upward faster than they expect. And the learning curve on headless or B2B features isn't gentle. This rewards patience and a real dev resource.
The reporting dashboard with per-channel drill-down and BigAI Copywriter suggest real attention to daily workflows, though no changelog evidence makes it hard to gauge how consistently they ship polish.
Makeswift's no-code builder helps non-developers, but Stencil theming, headless Catalyst setup, and B2B Edition configuration each carry real complexity that takes weeks to get comfortable with.
Mobile-responsive themes are standard but the evidence doesn't show a native merchant-facing mobile app, which means store management likely stays browser-based on phone.
A 15-day free trial with unlimited products and 24/7 support from day one is a solid start, but the depth of B2B and headless features means new users face a lot of surface area fast.
NASDAQ-listed, founded 2009, PCI-compliant with SSL and fraud tools built in — the infrastructure story is mature and the platform's longevity implies stability at volume.
Mid-market and B2B merchants who've outgrown Shopify's transaction fee model and need real omnichannel and wholesale tools.
You're a solo seller under $50K/year who wants a quick, minimal setup with no technical overhead.
15 years old, NASDAQ-listed, zero transaction fees — harder to dismiss than most
“BigCommerce is a mature, publicly traded e-commerce platform with real B2B depth and a genuine pricing edge over Shopify. The market has been brutal to challengers here, but this one's still standing.”
Founded 2009, public since 2020, no transaction fees on any plan. Those three facts alone put it ahead of most challengers in this category. Volusion, 3dcart, Miva — all made similar promises. BigCommerce is still shipping. The $39/month Standard entry and the no-transaction-fee model are honest differentiators, not marketing noise.
The B2B Edition with RFQ workflows and customer-specific pricing is where this gets interesting. Shopify bolted B2B on later and it shows. The Catalyst composable storefront on Next.js signals a dev-first direction that could hold up. No changelog listed in the evidence though — that's a yellow flag on shipping cadence transparency.
Tradeoff worth naming: pricing tiers are GMV-gated. Hit $400K in sales on Pro and you're paying $150/month per extra $200K. Growing merchants can outgrow the plan faster than expected. Watch that ceiling.
No transaction fees and native B2B Edition with quote management are genuine gaps vs. Shopify's default model; less differentiated vs. Salesforce Commerce Cloud at enterprise.
REST and GraphQL APIs exist, but headless and multi-storefront setups create deep configuration lock-in that won't migrate cleanly.
Publicly traded, 15-year operating history, dedicated customer success at Enterprise tier — low failure risk based on visible signals.
Claims map to named features — Fastlane checkout, Feedonomics sync, BigAI Copywriter — no vague superlatives visible in the evidence.
NASDAQ-listed since 2020, founded 2009, 1,000+ app integrations — this matches the pattern of surviving platforms, not ones that shut down.
Mid-market B2B or multi-channel merchants who've already hit Shopify's transaction fee wall.
You're a solo seller with under $50K GMV — the feature depth is overkill and Shopify's ecosystem is bigger.
Common questions answered by our AI research team
Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and social platforms are supported for marketplace selling.
Yes, BigCommerce supports multi-channel selling, letting merchants list and sell across multiple marketplaces and social platforms from a single backend.
Yes, Amazon and eBay can both be managed from one BigCommerce backend alongside other channels.
Yes, BigCommerce includes built-in checkout and payments as part of its core platform.
Yes, BigCommerce includes storefront design tools for customizing your online store.
Company
BigCommerce Inc.Founded
2009Pricing
From $39/moFree Trial
AvailableBigCommerce is a NASDAQ-listed SaaS ecommerce platform headquartered in Austin, TX, offering online store creation, hosting, and marketing tools for B2C and B2B retailers.
