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E-Commerce · head to head

BigCommerce vs Braze

BigCommerce logo

BigCommerce

E-Commerce

Hosted e-commerce platform that charges no transaction fee and no surcharge for third party gateways

From
$29.95/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Braze logo

Braze

E-Commerce

Customer engagement platform built for the modern marketer

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: BigCommerce plans are gated on annual online sales, so a strong year pushes you into a higher tier and a higher subscription even though your traffic, catalogue and resource usage are unchanged.; Braze no free tier or monthly billing, requiring annual enterprise contracts with no flexibility
  • They diverge on capability: BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, Braze covers Cross-channel messaging.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BigCommerce and Braze actually diverge.

Attributes where BigCommerce and Braze differ
AttributeBigCommerceBraze
Starting price$29.95/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWebWeb, Ios, Android, Api
Founded20092011

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (E-Commerce).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in BigCommerce

  • No platform transaction fee
  • Stencil theme framework
  • Multi-storefront
  • Faceted search
  • B2B capabilities
  • Headless support
  • Built-in tax integrations
  • Multi-currency

Only in Braze

  • Cross-channel messaging
  • Customer journey orchestration
  • Real-time personalization
  • A/B testing
  • Predictive analytics
  • Audience segmentation
  • Campaign analytics
  • Content cards

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

BigCommerce

  • A merchant whose volume makes a percentage transaction fee the largest line in the platform decisionnot Braze
  • A retailer needing several branded storefronts sharing one catalogue and one back officenot Braze
  • A B2B seller who needs company accounts and customer-specific price lists without custom developmentnot Braze
  • A team going headless who wants a managed commerce back end rather than a self-hosted onenot Braze

Braze

  • Customer engagementnot BigCommerce
  • Marketing automationnot BigCommerce
  • Personalizationnot BigCommerce
  • Retention campaignsnot BigCommerce
  • Cross-channel messagingnot BigCommerce

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

BigCommerce

  • Plans are gated on annual online sales, so a strong year pushes you into a higher tier and a higher subscription even though your traffic, catalogue and resource usage are unchanged.
  • There is a documented ceiling on the number of variants a single product can have, which breaks configurable, made-to-measure and heavily optioned catalogues and forces awkward workarounds such as splitting one product into several listings.
  • The application marketplace is much smaller than the largest competitor's, so a specific integration or niche feature is more often a custom build, and custom builds are the line item that quietly exceeds the platform cost.
  • Theme customisation past the visual settings means Stencil, Handlebars templates and a local command line workflow, so changes that look small to a marketing team still require a developer and a deployment.
  • Migrating out moves products and inventory reasonably well and moves the things that matter badly, since customer passwords cannot be exported in usable form, order history rarely transfers intact, and reviews and URL structure have to be rebuilt with a redirect map you must produce yourself or lose the search traffic.

Braze

  • No free tier or monthly billing, requiring annual enterprise contracts with no flexibility
  • Implementation costs of $20k-$100k+ significantly increase total cost of ownership

Pricing, plan by plan

BigCommerce

$29.95/month
  • Standard$29.95/month
    • Unlimited products
    • 2 staff accounts
    • Basic reports
  • Plus$79.95/month
    • All Standard features
    • Up to 5 staff accounts
    • Advanced reports

Braze

On request
  • Pro$undefined/month
    • Core messaging channels
    • Basic segmentation
    • Campaign analytics
  • Plus$undefined/month
    • Advanced features
    • Predictive suite
    • Canvas Flow
  • Premier$undefined/month
    • All features
    • Dedicated CSM
    • Custom integrations

Which should you pick?

Choose BigCommerce if

  • You need no platform transaction fee.
  • You also want stencil theme framework.
BigCommerce review

Choose Braze if

  • You need cross-channel messaging.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want customer journey orchestration.
Braze review

Questions people ask

Is BigCommerce or Braze better?
Neither clearly leads. BigCommerce starts at $29.95/month and Braze at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BigCommerce or Braze?
BigCommerce starts at $29.95/month and Braze at On request.
Does BigCommerce or Braze run on more platforms?
BigCommerce runs on Web. Braze runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
What is BigCommerce best used for?
BigCommerce is most often used for a merchant whose volume makes a percentage transaction fee the largest line in the platform decision, a retailer needing several branded storefronts sharing one catalogue and one back office, a b2b seller who needs company accounts and customer-specific price lists without custom development, a team going headless who wants a managed commerce back end rather than a self-hosted one. Of those, a merchant whose volume makes a percentage transaction fee the largest line in the platform decision and a retailer needing several branded storefronts sharing one catalogue and one back office are not what Braze is typically brought in for.
What can BigCommerce do that Braze cannot?
BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, Stencil theme framework, Multi-storefront, Faceted search. Braze covers Cross-channel messaging, Customer journey orchestration, Real-time personalization, A/B testing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

BigCommerce: Does BigCommerce charge transaction fees?

No, and it does not surcharge third party payment gateways either. Revenue affects the price through plan sales thresholds instead.

Braze: What is Braze's pricing model?

Braze uses a usage-based pricing model with custom annual contracts. There is no free plan or monthly billing. Typical contracts range from $60,000 to $200,000 per year for mid-market deployments.

Source
BigCommerce: What happens when I exceed my plan's sales threshold?

You move to the next plan tier. Model this at your projected growth rate, because the increase is driven by revenue rather than by usage.

Braze: Does Braze offer implementation support?

Implementation through a Braze Solutions Partner typically costs $20,000 to $100,000 or more, as Braze is an enterprise platform requiring custom configuration.

Source
BigCommerce: Is the app ecosystem large enough?

It covers the common integrations. For anything niche, assume a development project rather than an install, and price that in before comparing subscriptions.

Braze: What messaging channels does Braze support?

Braze supports push notifications, in-app messaging, email, SMS, and web messaging across mobile apps and web platforms.

Source
BigCommerce: How hard is it to leave?

Products export cleanly. Customer passwords, order history, reviews and SEO URLs do not. Build the redirect map before you cut over, not after traffic drops.

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