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E-Commerce · head to head

BigCommerce vs Contentful

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
Contentful logo

Contentful

E-Commerce

The content platform for the digital-first era

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Contentful has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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.; Contentful pricing model with content type limits (48) forces full tier upgrades
  • They diverge on capability: BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, Contentful covers Content modeling.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BigCommerce and Contentful actually diverge.

Attributes where BigCommerce and Contentful differ
AttributeBigCommerceContentful
Starting price$29.95/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, API
Founded20092013

Identical on both: 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 Contentful

  • Content modeling
  • RESTful APIs
  • GraphQL API
  • Webhooks
  • Rich text editor
  • Asset management
  • Multi-language support
  • Version control

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 Contentful
  • A retailer needing several branded storefronts sharing one catalogue and one back officenot Contentful
  • A B2B seller who needs company accounts and customer-specific price lists without custom developmentnot Contentful
  • A team going headless who wants a managed commerce back end rather than a self-hosted onenot Contentful

Contentful

  • Website content managementnot BigCommerce
  • Mobile app contentnot BigCommerce
  • E-commerce catalogsnot BigCommerce
  • Multi-channel publishingnot BigCommerce
  • Digital experiencesnot 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.

Contentful

  • Pricing model with content type limits (48) forces full tier upgrades
  • Limited GraphQL mutations for content management complexity
  • Requires significant technical expertise and developer dependency
  • Uncertainty following Salesforce acquisition announcement in June 2026

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

Contentful

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 10 users
    • 100K API calls per month
    • 1 Space
  • Team$489/month
    • Higher usage limits
    • Additional collaboration features
    • Professional support

Which should you pick?

Choose BigCommerce if

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

Choose Contentful if

  • You need content modeling.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want restful apis.
Contentful review

Questions people ask

Is BigCommerce or Contentful better?
Neither clearly leads. BigCommerce starts at $29.95/month and Contentful at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BigCommerce or Contentful?
Contentful has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29.95/month for BigCommerce and Free for Contentful.
Does BigCommerce or Contentful run on more platforms?
BigCommerce runs on Web. Contentful runs on Web, API.
Can I use Contentful for free?
Yes. Contentful has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. BigCommerce starts at $29.95/month.
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 Contentful is typically brought in for.
What can BigCommerce do that Contentful cannot?
BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, Stencil theme framework, Multi-storefront, Faceted search. Contentful covers Content modeling, RESTful APIs, GraphQL API, Webhooks.

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.

Contentful: Does Contentful offer a free tier?

Yes, Contentful has a Free tier with 10 users, 100K API calls per month, and support for 1 Space. This is suitable for small projects and proof-of-concept work.

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.

Contentful: What is the difference between Contentful and traditional CMS platforms?

Contentful is a headless CMS that decouples content from presentation, allowing you to deliver the same content across websites, mobile apps, IoT devices, and voice assistants without duplication.

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.

Contentful: How does Contentful handle multi-locale content?

Contentful supports multi-locale content, though multi-locale costs must be negotiated upfront depending on your pricing tier and requirements.

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.

Contentful: Does Contentful integrate with e-commerce platforms?

Yes, Contentful partners with Commerce Layer, an API-first commerce platform, to enable enterprise-grade e-commerce experiences alongside headless CMS capabilities.

Source
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