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E-Commerce · head to head

BigCommerce vs Memberful

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
Memberful logo

Memberful

E-Commerce

Membership platform for creators to sell subscriptions, courses and gated content

From
$49/month
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.; Memberful charges a 4.9% transaction fee on top of the flat monthly fee on the Standard plan.
  • They diverge on capability: BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, Memberful covers Membership checkout.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BigCommerce and Memberful actually diverge.

Attributes where BigCommerce and Memberful differ
AttributeBigCommerceMemberful
Starting price$29.95/month$49/month
PlatformsWebweb, api
Founded20092013

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), 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 Memberful

  • Membership checkout
  • Flexible subscriptions
  • Member management
  • Landing page builder
  • Dynamic paywalls
  • Third-party integrations

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

Memberful

  • Selling paid membership subscriptions from an existing websitenot BigCommerce
  • Gating podcast, newsletter or course content behind a paywallnot BigCommerce
  • Running a WordPress site with paid member-only contentnot BigCommerce
  • Offering one-time purchases alongside recurring membershipsnot 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.

Memberful

  • Charges a 4.9% transaction fee on top of the flat monthly fee on the Standard plan.
  • Requires a separate Stripe account, adding setup complexity compared to all-in-one checkout platforms.
  • Lacks built-in course-hosting depth found in dedicated learning management platforms.
  • No free plan beyond the pre-launch trial period; charges begin once payments go live.

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

Memberful

$49/month
  • Standard$49/month
    • 4.9% transaction fee
    • Full platform access
    • Free until you go live
  • Enterprise$undefined/mo
    • Custom volume-based rates
    • Premium services and success management
    • Dedicated migration support

Which should you pick?

Choose BigCommerce if

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

Choose Memberful if

  • You need membership checkout.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want flexible subscriptions.
Memberful review

Questions people ask

Is BigCommerce or Memberful better?
Neither clearly leads. BigCommerce starts at $29.95/month and Memberful at $49/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BigCommerce or Memberful?
BigCommerce starts at $29.95/month and Memberful at $49/month.
Does BigCommerce or Memberful run on more platforms?
BigCommerce runs on Web. Memberful 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 Memberful is typically brought in for.
What can BigCommerce do that Memberful cannot?
BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, Stencil theme framework, Multi-storefront, Faceted search. Memberful covers Membership checkout, Flexible subscriptions, Member management, Landing page builder.

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.

Memberful: What does Memberful cost?

Memberful's Standard plan costs $49/month plus a 4.9% transaction fee, while larger organizations can get custom volume-based rates on the Enterprise plan.

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.

Memberful: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?

Memberful can be used for free while setting up a membership site, with no charges incurred until the creator goes live and starts accepting payments.

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.

Memberful: What does Memberful integrate with?

Memberful integrates with WordPress, Mailchimp, Discord and Kit, among other tools, to connect membership data with existing sites and marketing systems.

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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