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E-Commerce · head to head

BigCommerce vs WooCommerce

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
WooCommerce logo

WooCommerce

E-Commerce

The flexible, open-source ecommerce platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only WooCommerce 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.; WooCommerce the plugin is free but you must supply and pay for WordPress hosting, which WooCommerce itself puts at $25 to $350 per month for most stores
  • They diverge on capability: BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, WooCommerce covers Product management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BigCommerce and WooCommerce actually diverge.

Attributes where BigCommerce and WooCommerce differ
AttributeBigCommerceWooCommerce
Starting price$29.95/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionfreemium
Free tierNoYes
Founded20092011

Identical on both: platforms (Web), 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 WooCommerce

  • Product management
  • Shopping cart
  • Payment integration
  • Shipping management
  • Tax calculations
  • Customer accounts
  • Order management
  • Inventory tracking

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

WooCommerce

  • Running an online store inside an existing WordPress sitenot BigCommerce
  • Selling physical, digital or subscription products with full control of the codenot BigCommerce
  • Building a customised commerce workflow through plugins and hooksnot 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.

WooCommerce

  • The plugin is free but you must supply and pay for WordPress hosting, which WooCommerce itself puts at $25 to $350 per month for most stores
  • Functionality such as subscriptions and bookings comes from paid extensions priced at $29 to $299 per year each, renewed annually
  • Card payments through WooPayments cost roughly 2.50 to 2.90 percent plus 30 cents per transaction
  • Total cost depends on how many extensions a store needs rather than a single published plan price

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

WooCommerce

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Core ecommerce features
    • Unlimited products
    • Community support
  • Premium$299/year
    • All Free features
    • Premium support
    • Performance optimization

Which should you pick?

Choose BigCommerce if

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

Choose WooCommerce if

  • You need product management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want shopping cart.
WooCommerce review

Questions people ask

Is BigCommerce or WooCommerce better?
Neither clearly leads. BigCommerce starts at $29.95/month and WooCommerce at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BigCommerce or WooCommerce?
WooCommerce has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29.95/month for BigCommerce and Free for WooCommerce.
Does BigCommerce or WooCommerce run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use WooCommerce for free?
Yes. WooCommerce 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 WooCommerce is typically brought in for.
What can BigCommerce do that WooCommerce cannot?
BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, Stencil theme framework, Multi-storefront, Faceted search. WooCommerce covers Product management, Shopping cart, Payment integration, Shipping management.

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.

WooCommerce: Does WooCommerce offer a money-back guarantee?

Yes. The platform offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.

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.

WooCommerce: Is WooCommerce secure for online payments?

The platform offers safe and secure online payments through its integrated system.

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.

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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