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E-Commerce · head to head

BigCommerce vs Spree Commerce

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
Spree Commerce logo

Spree Commerce

E-Commerce

Complete open source ecommerce solution

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Spree Commerce 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.; Spree Commerce multi-vendor marketplace, B2B commerce and multi-tenant white label modules are Enterprise Edition only and licensed separately from the open source core
  • They diverge on capability: BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, Spree Commerce covers Multi-store support.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BigCommerce and Spree Commerce actually diverge.

Attributes where BigCommerce and Spree Commerce differ
AttributeBigCommerceSpree Commerce
Starting price$29.95/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionfreemium
Free tierNoYes
Founded20092007

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

Only in Spree Commerce

  • Multi-store support
  • Multi-language
  • REST API
  • GraphQL support
  • Mobile-ready
  • SEO optimization
  • Flexible taxonomy

Both cover

  • Multi-currency

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

Spree Commerce

  • E-commerce platforms with zero platform fees and no vendor lock-innot BigCommerce
  • Self-hosted shopping experiences on AWS, GCP, Azure, or on-premise infrastructurenot BigCommerce
  • Deployments requiring predictable costs that don't scale with revenuenot 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.

Spree Commerce

  • Multi-vendor marketplace, B2B commerce and multi-tenant white label modules are Enterprise Edition only and licensed separately from the open source core
  • Enterprise Edition pricing is quoted per customer depending on modules and scale, with no published rate
  • Support with guaranteed response times and a success manager comes only with Enterprise Edition
  • The free Community Edition is self hosted, so hosting, upgrades and Ruby on Rails maintenance are the operator's responsibility

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

Spree Commerce

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Full platform access
    • Community support
    • All core features
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Premium support
    • Custom development
    • SLA guarantees

Which should you pick?

Choose BigCommerce if

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

Choose Spree Commerce if

  • You need multi-store support.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want multi-language.
Spree Commerce review

Questions people ask

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

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.

Spree Commerce: Is Spree Commerce free?

Yes, Spree Commerce is free and open source under a BSD 3-Clause license. The core platform has zero platform fees and no GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) cuts or transaction fees, and sandbox access is free without requiring a credit card.

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.

Spree Commerce: What is Spree Commerce's pricing model?

Spree Commerce operates as free open-source software. Users self-host on their choice of infrastructure (AWS, GCP, Azure, or on-premise), so costs are based on the hosting infrastructure selected rather than platform subscription fees. An Enterprise Edition is available with optional dedicated support, but specific pricing is not published.

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.

Spree Commerce: Are there transaction fees with Spree Commerce?

No, Spree Commerce charges zero transaction fees. Unlike SaaS e-commerce platforms that take a percentage of sales, Spree offers predictable costs that don't scale with revenue, giving merchants full control over their margins.

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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