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E-Commerce · head to head

BigCommerce vs Mailchimp

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
Mailchimp logo

Mailchimp

E-Commerce

Turn emails into revenue

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Mailchimp 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.; Mailchimp the free plan allows 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with a 250 daily cap
  • They diverge on capability: BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, Mailchimp covers Email campaigns.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BigCommerce and Mailchimp actually diverge.

Attributes where BigCommerce and Mailchimp differ
AttributeBigCommerceMailchimp
Starting price$29.95/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android
Founded20092001

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 Mailchimp

  • Email campaigns
  • Marketing automation
  • Landing pages
  • Forms & popups
  • Audience management
  • Content studio
  • Analytics
  • Social media

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

Mailchimp

  • Email newslettersnot BigCommerce
  • E-commerce marketingnot BigCommerce
  • Lead generationnot BigCommerce
  • Customer engagementnot BigCommerce
  • Marketing automationnot 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.

Mailchimp

  • The free plan allows 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with a 250 daily cap
  • Price is driven by contact count, so the list growing raises the bill regardless of how much you send
  • Send allowances are a multiple of contacts, 10x on Essentials and 12x on Standard, so a large list with heavy sending forces a tier change
  • Essentials allows 3 seats and Standard 5; unlimited seats need Premium at $350 a month
  • The headline $13 and $20 prices are for 500 contacts, not a flat rate

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

Mailchimp

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 250 contacts
    • 500 sends per month
    • Basic email campaigns
  • Essentials$13/month
    • 500+ contacts
    • Email campaigns
    • Basic automation
  • Standard$20/month
    • Advanced automation
    • Segmentation
    • Landing pages

Which should you pick?

Choose BigCommerce if

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

Choose Mailchimp if

  • You need email campaigns.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want marketing automation.
Mailchimp review

Questions people ask

Is BigCommerce or Mailchimp better?
Neither clearly leads. BigCommerce starts at $29.95/month and Mailchimp at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BigCommerce or Mailchimp?
Mailchimp has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29.95/month for BigCommerce and Free for Mailchimp.
Does BigCommerce or Mailchimp run on more platforms?
BigCommerce runs on Web. Mailchimp runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Mailchimp for free?
Yes. Mailchimp 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 Mailchimp is typically brought in for.
What can BigCommerce do that Mailchimp cannot?
BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, Stencil theme framework, Multi-storefront, Faceted search. Mailchimp covers Email campaigns, Marketing automation, Landing pages, Forms & popups.

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.

Mailchimp: Does Mailchimp offer a free plan?

Yes, Mailchimp's free plan supports up to 250 contacts and 500 sends per month with a 250-per-day cap.

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.

Mailchimp: What email features does Mailchimp include?

Mailchimp provides email campaign builder, automation sequences, segmentation, contact management, and A/B testing for email marketing.

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.

Mailchimp: Can Mailchimp integrate with e-commerce platforms?

Yes, Mailchimp integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, Squarespace, and other e-commerce platforms for customer sync and abandoned cart automation.

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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