Is BigCommerce or FastSpring better?

Neither clearly leads. BigCommerce starts at $29.95/month and FastSpring at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, BigCommerce or FastSpring?

BigCommerce starts at $29.95/month and FastSpring at On request.

Does BigCommerce or FastSpring run on more platforms?

BigCommerce runs on Web. FastSpring runs on web, api.

What can BigCommerce do that FastSpring cannot?

BigCommerce covers Multi-channel selling, Built-in SEO, Abandoned cart recovery, Customer segmentation. FastSpring covers Global online payments, Subscription billing, Branded checkout, Tax compliance.

E-commerce & Retail · head to head

BigCommerce vs FastSpring

BigCommerce

E-commerce & Retail

Enterprise ecommerce platform for ambitious merchants

From: $29.95/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

FastSpring

E-commerce

Merchant-of-record commerce platform for global payments, subscriptions, and tax compliance

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: BigCommerce listed on G-Cloud 14 by reseller CTI Digital Limited at £14,000 per instance for a managed BigCommerce implementation; FastSpring pricing is not published and requires contacting sales for a quote, making cost comparison difficult upfront.
They diverge on capability: BigCommerce covers Multi-channel selling, FastSpring covers Global online payments.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BigCommerce and FastSpring actually diverge.

Attributes where BigCommerce and FastSpring differ
Attribute	BigCommerce	FastSpring
Starting price	$29.95/month	On request
Pricing model	subscription	transaction
Platforms	Web	web, api
Category	E-commerce & Retail	E-commerce
Founded	2009	2006

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

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

Multi-channel selling
Built-in SEO
Abandoned cart recovery
Customer segmentation
Marketing automation
B2B functionality
API access
Advanced security

Only in FastSpring

Global online payments
Subscription billing
Branded checkout
Tax compliance
Fraud prevention
Digital invoicing and quotes

What people use each for

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

BigCommerce

No use cases recorded yet. See the BigCommerce review.

FastSpring

Selling software or SaaS internationally without a local tax entitynot BigCommerce
B2B invoicing and custom quotes for enterprise SaaS dealsnot BigCommerce
Recurring subscription billing for digital productsnot BigCommerce
Reducing fraud and chargebacks on digital purchasesnot BigCommerce

Where each one falls short

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

BigCommerce

Listed on G-Cloud 14 by reseller CTI Digital Limited at £14,000 per instance for a managed BigCommerce implementation

FastSpring

Pricing is not published and requires contacting sales for a quote, making cost comparison difficult upfront.
As a merchant-of-record, FastSpring takes on more control of the checkout and payment relationship than a pure payment gateway like Stripe.
Revenue share pricing can become more expensive than flat per-transaction gateway fees at very high volumes.
Primarily targeted at software/digital goods sellers, so it is less suited to physical product e-commerce.

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

FastSpring

On request

Custom$undefined/mo
- All-in-one transaction-based pricing based on sales volume
- No subscription fees or per-feature charges
- Discounted rates for ACH and wire transfers

Which should you pick?

Choose BigCommerce if

You need multi-channel selling.
You also want built-in seo.

BigCommerce review

Choose FastSpring if

You need global online payments.
You work on web, api.
You also want subscription billing.

FastSpring review

Questions people ask

Is BigCommerce or FastSpring better?: Neither clearly leads. BigCommerce starts at $29.95/month and FastSpring at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BigCommerce or FastSpring?: BigCommerce starts at $29.95/month and FastSpring at On request.
Does BigCommerce or FastSpring run on more platforms?: BigCommerce runs on Web. FastSpring runs on web, api.
What can BigCommerce do that FastSpring cannot?: BigCommerce covers Multi-channel selling, Built-in SEO, Abandoned cart recovery, Customer segmentation. FastSpring covers Global online payments, Subscription billing, Branded checkout, Tax compliance.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

FastSpring: What does FastSpring cost?

FastSpring uses flat-rate, all-in-one pricing based on transaction volume, with fees withheld from payouts. There is no minimum volume or subscription fee, and pricing is typically quoted based on expected sales volume after contacting their sales team.

Source

FastSpring: Is there a free plan?

FastSpring does not offer a free plan; instead pricing is transaction-based with no upfront subscription cost, and merchants only pay a commission on completed sales.

Source

FastSpring: What does FastSpring integrate with or include compared to a payment gateway like Stripe?

FastSpring bundles international payments, subscription management, tax compliance, fraud prevention, reporting, and B2B invoicing into one price, whereas gateways like Stripe charge separately for many of these features.

Source

BigCommerce vs FastSpring

BigCommerce

FastSpring

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in BigCommerce

Only in FastSpring

What people use each for

BigCommerce

FastSpring

Where each one falls short

BigCommerce

FastSpring

Pricing, plan by plan

BigCommerce

FastSpring

Which should you pick?

Choose BigCommerce if

Choose FastSpring if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on BigCommerce

More on FastSpring

Keep looking

Other head to heads