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E-Commerce · head to head

BigCommerce vs Vendure

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
Vendure logo

Vendure

E-Commerce

Modern headless GraphQL commerce framework

From
On request
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.; Vendure pricing is custom-quoted per project with no published tiers or starting price
  • They diverge on capability: BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, Vendure covers GraphQL API.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BigCommerce and Vendure actually diverge.

Attributes where BigCommerce and Vendure differ
AttributeBigCommerceVendure
Starting price$29.95/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWebSelf-hosted, Vendure Cloud
Founded20092019

Identical on both: 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
  • B2B capabilities
  • Headless support
  • Built-in tax integrations
  • Multi-currency

Only in Vendure

  • GraphQL API
  • TypeScript native
  • Plugin architecture
  • Admin UI
  • Multi-channel
  • Asset management
  • Order workflow

Both cover

  • Faceted search

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

Vendure

  • B2B complex commerce workflowsnot BigCommerce
  • Multi-brand and multi-currency operationsnot BigCommerce
  • Custom pricing and contract managementnot 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.

Vendure

  • Pricing is custom-quoted per project with no published tiers or starting price
  • Requires implementation partner or in-house development; no low-code or no-code option
  • GPLv3 free tier (Vendure Core) has different licensing than commercial product

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

Vendure

On request
  • Platform (Self-hosted)$null/annual
    • Flat annual subscription
    • No GMV, order, user, or capability-based charges
    • Complete Platform feature set
  • Vendure Cloud$null/annual
    • Managed platform option
    • Same Platform feature set as self-hosted
    • Pricing not specified on website

Which should you pick?

Choose BigCommerce if

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

Choose Vendure if

  • You need graphql api.
  • You work on Self-hosted, Vendure Cloud.
  • You also want typescript native.
Vendure review

Questions people ask

Is BigCommerce or Vendure better?
Neither clearly leads. BigCommerce starts at $29.95/month and Vendure at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BigCommerce or Vendure?
BigCommerce starts at $29.95/month and Vendure at On request.
Does BigCommerce or Vendure run on more platforms?
BigCommerce runs on Web. Vendure runs on Self-hosted, Vendure Cloud.
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 Vendure is typically brought in for.
What can BigCommerce do that Vendure cannot?
BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, Stencil theme framework, Multi-storefront, B2B capabilities. Vendure covers GraphQL API, TypeScript native, Plugin architecture, Admin UI. Both handle Faceted search.

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.

Vendure: How is Vendure priced?

Vendure uses flat annual pricing with no charges based on GMV, order volume, user count, or specific capabilities. Pricing is quoted individually per project based on business requirements.

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.

Vendure: Does Vendure charge for the runtime?

No additional fee is required for the Vendure runtime. Organizations can deploy it on their own infrastructure at no extra cost beyond the platform subscription.

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.

Vendure: What is included in Vendure's subscription?

The annual platform subscription includes B2B storefront capabilities, pricing engines, catalogs, search, integrations, operations, brands/markets management, platform support, security updates, quarterly roadmap calls, and commercial licensing with IP indemnification.

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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