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E-Commerce · head to head

BigCommerce vs OpenCart

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
OpenCart logo

OpenCart

E-Commerce

Self-hosted open source shopping cart written in PHP, released under the MIT licence

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only OpenCart 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.; OpenCart extensions modify core behaviour through an XML patching system, so two modules that patch the same file conflict in ways that surface as broken checkout rather than as an installation error, and resolving that requires a developer reading both patches.
  • They diverge on capability: BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, OpenCart covers MIT licensed source.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BigCommerce and OpenCart actually diverge.

Attributes where BigCommerce and OpenCart differ
AttributeBigCommerceOpenCart
Starting price$29.95/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionopen-source
Free tierNoYes

Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (E-Commerce), founded (2009).

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 OpenCart

  • MIT licensed source
  • Self-hosted PHP and MySQL
  • No transaction fees
  • Multi-store
  • Extension marketplace
  • Multi-currency and multi-language
  • OCMod modification system
  • Full data access

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

OpenCart

  • A merchant with volume high enough that a percentage transaction fee costs more than a developernot BigCommerce
  • An agency building client stores where the client must own the code and the data outrightnot BigCommerce
  • A store with unusual catalogue or pricing logic that a hosted platform will not permitnot BigCommerce
  • Selling in a market where the local payment gateway is not supported by the mainstream SaaS platformsnot 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.

OpenCart

  • Extensions modify core behaviour through an XML patching system, so two modules that patch the same file conflict in ways that surface as broken checkout rather than as an installation error, and resolving that requires a developer reading both patches.
  • Major version upgrades have broken third party extension compatibility, so moving between them means re-purchasing or re-commissioning modules and effectively rebuilding parts of the store rather than clicking update.
  • Hosting, patching, backups and PCI scope are all your responsibility, so a security update you postpone is a breach you own, and there is no vendor obligation to notify or protect you.
  • Extension quality on the marketplace is uneven and modules are sold as one-off purchases with no guaranteed maintenance, so a module central to your store can simply stop being updated and leave you holding the code.
  • The core project is maintained by a very small team relative to the platforms it competes with, so security fixes, compatibility with new PHP versions and feature work all arrive at a pace you cannot influence or pay to accelerate.

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

OpenCart

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Core ecommerce features
    • Free support
    • Extensions available

Which should you pick?

Choose BigCommerce if

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

Choose OpenCart if

  • You need mit licensed source.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want self-hosted php and mysql.
OpenCart review

Questions people ask

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

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.

OpenCart: Is OpenCart really free?

The software is MIT licensed with no paid edition. The costs are hosting, extensions, and a developer, and for a low volume store those can exceed a SaaS subscription.

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.

OpenCart: Does it charge transaction fees?

No. There is no platform cut and no surcharge for using your own payment gateway, which is the main financial argument for self-hosting at volume.

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.

OpenCart: How hard is customisation?

Theme changes are ordinary PHP templates and are approachable. Changing behaviour means the OCMod patching system, which conflicts between extensions and needs a developer.

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.

OpenCart: What is the biggest hidden cost?

Upgrades. Version transitions have broken extension compatibility before, so budget for a partial rebuild rather than assuming updates are routine maintenance.

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