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E-Commerce · head to head

BigCommerce vs FastSpring

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
FastSpring logo

FastSpring

E-Commerce

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

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.; FastSpring pricing is not published and requires contacting sales for a quote, making cost comparison difficult upfront.
  • They diverge on capability: BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, FastSpring covers Global online payments.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BigCommerce and FastSpring actually diverge.

Attributes where BigCommerce and FastSpring differ
AttributeBigCommerceFastSpring
Starting price$29.95/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptiontransaction
PlatformsWebweb, api
Founded20092006

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 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

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

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

  • 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.

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 no platform transaction fee.
  • You also want stencil theme framework.
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 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 FastSpring is typically brought in for.
What can BigCommerce do that FastSpring cannot?
BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, Stencil theme framework, Multi-storefront, Faceted search. FastSpring covers Global online payments, Subscription billing, Branded checkout, Tax compliance.

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.

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
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.

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
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.

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: 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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