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BigCommerce vs Shopify vs WooCommerce: Which Platform Fits Your Store?
Two hosted platforms and one you run yourself. Here is what each really costs at $20,000 a month in sales, where each one is stronger, and how to choose.
Key takeaways
- Shopify and BigCommerce are hosted platforms with monthly plans. WooCommerce is free software you host yourself, so its real cost depends on hosting, extensions and who maintains it.
- BigCommerce plans carry sales limits: Core to $30,000 a year and Growth to $100,000, measured on sales minus 10%. A store selling $20,000 a month needs Scale at $299 a month.
- In my worked example at $20,000 a month, Shopify Grow and a self-maintained WooCommerce store cost about the same, around $810, and BigCommerce Scale costs about $1,090.
- Pick WooCommerce for content-led WordPress sites with a developer on hand, BigCommerce if you must use a specific payment provider or run several storefronts, and Shopify for most stores where selling is the main job.
- Who it is for
- Growing stores shortlisting three platforms
- Time needed
- 10 minutes to read, an hour to run your numbers
- What you need
- Your trailing 12-month sales, order count, payment provider and upkeep costs
BigCommerce vs Shopify vs WooCommerce is the shortlist most growing stores end up with, and the three are built on very different ideas. I build on Shopify, which is worth knowing before you read my take. I have also seen WooCommerce and BigCommerce work very well for the right business, and I say below where each one wins.
Prices and fees come from each platform's official pricing and fee pages, checked on 7 November 2026. WooCommerce has no plan price, so I compare all three on what a store really pays each month, with my assumptions stated.
The short answer
| Your situation | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A content-heavy WordPress site that also sells | WooCommerce | Content and store in one place, with full code control |
| A store where selling is the main job, with a small team | Shopify | Hosted, no sales caps, the largest app store |
| You must keep Stripe, Adyen or another specific provider | BigCommerce | No platform fee on its embedded providers |
| Several brand or country storefronts from one back office | BigCommerce | Multi-storefront add-on from $30 a month |
| A physical shop plus the website | Shopify | Shopify POS on the same stock and customer list |
| You need to own the code and host the data yourself | WooCommerce | Open source, on any host you choose |
BigCommerce vs Shopify vs WooCommerce pricing
| Platform | Entry plan, billed yearly | Next plans up | Platform fee on sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify | Basic, $19 a month ($25 billed monthly) | Grow $49, Advanced $299, Plus from $2,300 | None with Shopify Payments; otherwise 2%, 1%, 0.6% or 0.2% |
| BigCommerce | Core, $29 a month ($39 billed monthly), sales to $30,000 a year | Growth $79 (to $100,000 a year), Scale $299, Performance from $1,499 | None on embedded providers; otherwise 2%, 1% or 0.6% |
| WooCommerce | Free plugin, no revenue share | Hosting $25 to $350 a month, extensions $29 to $299 a year each | None on any gateway |
BigCommerce measures its limits on trailing 12-month sales, including tax and shipping, minus 10%, and moves you up a plan automatically when you pass them. In gross terms, Core covers up to about $33,000 a year and Growth up to about $111,000. Scale covers $33,333 a month and charges 0.9% on sales above that.
WooCommerce's costs come as separate bills. Woo Subscriptions, for example, is $279 a year and Product Bundles $79 a year, and each extension renews yearly to keep updates and support.
Fees and a worked example at $20,000 a month
Card processing is the largest cost on all three. The entry rates I used:
- Shopify Payments: the US online rates Shopify has quoted are 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic, 2.7% + 30¢ on Grow and 2.5% + 30¢ on Advanced.
- BigCommerce with PayPal Braintree: from 2.89% + 29¢ for US businesses, Amex 3.50%, with negotiated rates possible on Growth and above.
- WooPayments: 2.9% + 30¢ per US card, plus 1.5% for international cards and 1% for currency conversion.
Monthly cost for a US store selling $20,000 from 400 orders
- Shopify Grow$809$49 plan, $660 card processing, $100 of apps.
- BigCommerce Scale$1,093$299 plan (past Growth's limit), $694 card processing, $100 of apps.
- WooCommerce, self-maintained$810$60 hosting, $700 WooPayments, $50 of extensions.
- WooCommerce, paid upkeep$960The same, plus $150 a month for updates, backups and fixes.
BigCommerce is the most expensive here for one reason: at $240,000 a year this store is past Growth's limit, so it has to pay for Scale. Below about $9,250 a month, BigCommerce Growth at $79 is far more competitive. Shopify and WooCommerce tie when the owner maintains WordPress, and Shopify wins once that work is paid for.
The payment provider can change the order. If this store had to use a provider other than Shopify Payments, Shopify Grow would add 1%, or $200 a month, and BigCommerce would charge nothing extra if that provider is on its embedded list. You can test your own figures in the Shopify fees calculator.
Shopify vs WooCommerce vs BigCommerce: features
| Feature | Shopify | BigCommerce | WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosting and security | Included | Included | Your responsibility |
| Sales limits | None | By plan | None |
| Abandoned cart recovery | Every plan | Growth and above | Through an extension |
| Multi-currency | Shopify Markets | Every plan | Extensions or plugins |
| Selling in person | Shopify POS; POS Pro $89 a month per location, billed yearly | Through integrations | WooPayments card readers, $5 a month per active reader in the US |
| Several storefronts | Separate stores, or Plus | Add-on from $30 a month | WordPress multisite or separate installs |
| Code control | Theme code and apps | Theme code and apps | Everything |
| App ecosystem | Largest of the three | Smaller | Huge, but quality varies |
BigCommerce also keeps product filtering and faceted search for Scale and above, and B2B price lists for Performance. On Shopify, the fullest B2B tools are on Plus, with wholesale apps on every plan. On WooCommerce, B2B comes from extensions.
Hosted or self-hosted: who does the work
This is the real dividing line. Shopify and BigCommerce run the servers, patch the platform and keep checkout secure. Your job is the store itself.
WooCommerce gives you the keys. That means freedom to change anything, and responsibility for WordPress, WooCommerce, theme and plugin updates, backups, a staging copy to test updates, and security monitoring. A good WordPress developer makes this routine. Without one, it is the most common reason I see owners move away.
Speed follows the same split. Shopify and BigCommerce scale hosting during traffic peaks for you. WooCommerce speed depends on your host, caching and plugin count. On Shopify, a slow store is usually down to apps and heavy images, which the speed checker will show you.
Selling abroad, by country
- United States. Entry card rates are almost identical: 2.9% + 30¢ on Shopify Basic and WooPayments, 2.89% + 29¢ on BigCommerce with Braintree, which requires a US-based business.
- United Kingdom. WooPayments charges 1.5% + 25p for UK cards, lower than Shopify Payments on Basic (2% + 25p) or Grow (1.7% + 25p). Shopify bills in pounds, while BigCommerce's UK site shows the same $ prices as its US site, excluding VAT. Check Royal Mail label tools on whichever you choose.
- Netherlands and the EU. WooPayments charges 1.5% + €0.25 with no international fee on European cards, plus 21% VAT on its fees unless you provide a VAT ID. Make sure iDEAL and Bancontact are available, and on BigCommerce use an embedded provider such as Adyen or Stripe to avoid the extra fee.
- Australia. WooPayments charges 1.75% + 30¢ plus GST. Afterpay and Zip are embedded on BigCommerce. Check Australia Post integrations on all three.
For selling into several countries from one store, Shopify Markets is the simplest of the three to set up and keep running. My Netherlands page covers the Dutch setup in detail.
What about Magento?
Magento often joins this shortlist, as in "Magento vs Shopify vs WooCommerce". Magento Open Source is open source like WooCommerce, but much heavier to run: Adobe's requirements for the current 2.4.8 release list PHP 8.3 or 8.4, MariaDB or MySQL, OpenSearch, Valkey, RabbitMQ and Varnish. Adobe Commerce, the paid version, has no published price. It suits large catalogs and complex B2B with a development team behind it. I cover it properly in Shopify vs Magento.
When to choose each, and signs it's time to move
- WooCommerce if content drives your sales, you have a developer you trust, and you want full control of code and hosting.
- BigCommerce if you must keep a specific payment provider, run several storefronts, or Shopify Payments isn't available to you.
- Shopify if selling is the main job, you want low upkeep, you sell in person or abroad, or your sales are growing quickly.
Signs your current platform no longer fits:
- On WooCommerce: updates break things, the site slows in sales, or extension renewals cost more than a hosted plan.
- On BigCommerce: each sales threshold forces a plan change, or you need apps and developers that aren't there.
- On Shopify: you need checkout or order logic no app or Plus feature allows, or a provider Shopify won't support without its fee.
How to decide in four questions
Shopify, BigCommerce or WooCommerce?
- 1
Is your site mainly content, and do you have a WordPress developer?
Yes: WooCommerceNo: next question
- 2
Must you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments?
Yes: price up BigCommerce with that providerNo: next question
- 3
Do you need several storefronts in one back office, without Shopify Plus?
Yes: BigCommerceNo: next question
- 4
Do you want hosting, security and checkout handled, with no sales caps?
Yes: ShopifyNo: go back to question 1 with a developer quote
For a closer look at two of them, see Shopify vs WooCommerce and Shopify vs BigCommerce.
Moving to Shopify from WooCommerce or BigCommerce
- List what the current store does. Every plugin, extension, app and custom feature, mapped to a Shopify feature, app or small custom build.
- Export products. Both platforms export products by CSV. Map variants, images, weights and SEO fields to Shopify's product CSV.
- Bring customers and orders across. Customer records move by CSV or app. Passwords can't move, so plan a set-a-new-password email. Order history needs an app or a developer.
- Map every URL. WooCommerce uses
/product/and BigCommerce allows custom URLs, while Shopify uses/products/. Redirect each old URL with Shopify's URL redirects. - Set up payments, tax and shipping, including local payment methods for each country.
- Test, launch, then watch. Place real test orders, check redirects and watch Search Console for a few weeks.
If you want the move handled for you, my Shopify development work covers migrations with a fixed quote, and store builds start from $300. A free review is the easiest way to find out whether a move makes sense.
Free tools
Check your own store
Free, no sign-up. Each one runs a part of this guide for you.
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheapest: Shopify, BigCommerce or WooCommerce?
It depends on size and upkeep. In my $20,000-a-month example, Shopify Grow and a self-maintained WooCommerce store both cost about $810 a month, and BigCommerce Scale about $1,093 because its sales limits require that plan. Below about $9,250 a month, BigCommerce Growth at $79 is much closer.
Is WooCommerce better than Shopify and BigCommerce?
For content-led WordPress sites with a developer on hand, it can be. You get full code control and no platform fees. You also take on hosting, updates, backups and security, which Shopify and BigCommerce handle for you.
Which platforms charge transaction fees?
WooCommerce charges none. Shopify charges none with Shopify Payments, and 2%, 1% or 0.6% on Basic, Grow or Advanced with another provider. BigCommerce charges none on its embedded providers, and 2%, 1% or 0.6% on others.
Does BigCommerce limit sales?
Yes. Core covers up to $30,000 a year and Growth up to $100,000, based on trailing 12-month sales minus 10%. Scale covers $33,333 a month with a 0.9% charge above that. Shopify and WooCommerce have no sales limits.
Where does Magento fit in?
Magento Open Source is free and open source but needs a much heavier server setup than WooCommerce, and Adobe Commerce has no published price. It suits large, complex stores with a development team.
Can I move from WooCommerce or BigCommerce to Shopify?
Yes. Products and customers export by CSV, the design is rebuilt in a Shopify theme, and every old URL is redirected. URLs and product data carry most of the risk.
Sources
- Shopify pricing, Shopify
- BigCommerce pricing, BigCommerce
- WooCommerce pricing, WooCommerce
- WooPayments fees, WooCommerce
- System requirements, Adobe Experience League
- Shopify POS pricing, Shopify
Related services and work
I'm a Shopify developer and CRO specialist. I have built and improved Shopify stores since 2018, completed more than 1,000 projects, and hold a 4.96 average rating across 719 client reviews.
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