Shopify and BigCommerce are both hosted platforms: each one runs the servers, the checkout and the software updates in exchange for a monthly plan. What separates them in 2026 is how that plan is priced. Shopify sells each plan at a flat price. BigCommerce ties every plan to your sales, moves you up a plan when you pass its limit, and since 1 June 2026 charges a fee on orders paid through payment providers that are not on its approved list.
We read every price, limit and fee below on 29 October 2026. The Shopify figures come from its US pricing pages and Help Center; the BigCommerce figures from its pricing page, its 2026 plan update page and its developer documentation. Amounts are US dollars.
Key takeaways
- Shopify Basic is $19 a month, Grow $49 and Advanced $299 when you pay for a year up front. Paid month to month they cost $25, $65 and $399. Shopify Plus begins at $2,300 a month. No Shopify plan price goes up with your sales.
- BigCommerce renamed and repriced its plans on 1 June 2026. On annual billing, Core is $29 a month, Growth $79 and Scale $299; month to month they are $39, $105 and $399. Performance, the former Enterprise plan, starts at $1,499 a month on an annual contract.
- Every self-serve BigCommerce plan has a sales limit. Core covers $30,000 of trailing 12-month GMV and Growth $100,000, after which the store is upgraded. Scale covers $33,333 of GMV a month and adds 0.9% on anything above it.
- BigCommerce now takes 2.0% (Core), 1.0% (Growth) or 0.6% (Scale) of the GMV paid through a provider outside its embedded list. Shopify has its own third-party fee, set by plan, on orders not paid through Shopify Payments.
- A Shopify product can have up to 2,048 variants. BigCommerce’s API documentation caps a product at 600 SKUs.
Shopify vs BigCommerce: comparison table (2026)
| Item | Shopify | BigCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Plans, annual billing | Basic $19, Grow $49, Advanced $299 a month; Plus from $2,300 | Core $29, Growth $79, Scale $299 a month; Performance from $1,499 |
| Plans, monthly billing | $25, $65 or $399 | $39, $105 or $399 |
| Sales limit per plan | None | Core $30K and Growth $100K of trailing 12-month GMV; Scale $33,333 a month plus 0.9% above it; automatic move to Performance at $2M |
| Fee for an outside payment provider | A rate set by plan; none on Shopify Payments, Shop Pay or manual payments | 2.0% Core, 1.0% Growth, 0.6% Scale; none on embedded providers such as Stripe, Adyen and PayPal Braintree |
| Card processing | Shopify Payments, at a rate that depends on plan and country | PayPal Braintree from 2.89% + $0.29 on all plans; American Express 3.50% |
| Free trial | 3 days, then $1 a month for 3 months | 15 days, no credit card needed |
| Product variants | 2,048 per product, across up to 3 options | 600 SKUs per product |
| Staff accounts | Grow 5, Advanced 15, Plus unlimited; none extra on Basic | Included on every plan |
| Inventory locations | 10 on Basic to Advanced; 200 on Plus | 4 on Core, 5 on Growth, 8 on Scale, custom on Performance |
| More than one storefront | Up to 9 expansion stores included with Plus | $30 a month each on Core (max. 3), $50 on Growth (max. 5), $100 on Scale (max. 8) |
| B2B | Up to 3 B2B catalogs on Basic, Grow and Advanced; no limit on Plus | Customer groups from Growth; price lists on Performance only; B2B Edition for quotes and buyer portals |
| In-person selling | Shopify POS, with POS Pro at $89 per location each month | POS integrations with Square, Clover, Heartland Retail and Vend |
| Support | Live chat on Basic to Advanced; priority 24/7 phone on Plus | Chat and email on Core; 24/7 phone and chat from Growth |
What BigCommerce changed on 1 June 2026
The update gave all four plans new names. Standard is now Core, Plus is Growth, Pro is Scale and Enterprise is Performance. Stores billed monthly moved at their first billing date after a 60-day notice; stores on an annual plan move when the current year ends, and keep their price until then.
Three rules changed along with the names:
- GMV now means gross order value less 10%. The deduction used to be 3%, so the same sales now count for slightly less against a plan’s limit.
- Outside payment providers carry a fee. BigCommerce bills 2.0%, 1.0% or 0.6% of the GMV that went through a provider missing from its embedded list, worked out each month on the calendar month before. Offline orders are included. Performance stores on a contract pay nothing.
- Scale has a monthly allowance instead of a hard ceiling. Rather than forcing a move to the next plan, Scale charges 0.9% on GMV above $33,333 in a month. Once trailing GMV reaches $2 million, the store is moved to Performance.
The embedded list covers BigCommerce Payments, Stripe, Adyen, PayPal Braintree, PayPal Complete Payments, Checkout.com, Worldpay, Global Payments, Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay, Sezzle, Zip and Amazon Pay, among others. A store whose orders all go through those pays no order fee to BigCommerce.
What each platform costs at three sales levels
The figures below are list prices on annual billing, before card processing, apps and development. For BigCommerce, the plan shown is the cheapest one the sales allow. Any Shopify plan is open to any store, so there the choice depends on features such as staff accounts.
| Gross sales a year | BigCommerce | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| $24,000 | Core: $348 a year | Basic: $228 a year |
| $100,000 | Growth: $948 a year | Basic $228, or Grow $588 for 5 staff accounts |
| $600,000 | Scale: $4,848 a year | Grow $588, or Advanced $3,588 for 15 staff accounts |
How the BigCommerce rows work out. At $24,000 of sales, GMV is $21,600, inside Core’s $30,000. At $100,000, GMV is $90,000, which is past Core’s limit and inside Growth’s. At $600,000 spread evenly, GMV is $45,000 a month, which needs Scale: $299, plus 0.9% of the $11,667 above the allowance ($105), comes to $404 a month. A store that sells more in November and December pays more overage in those months.
The payment provider matters as much as the plan. If that $600,000 store took its payments through a provider outside BigCommerce’s embedded list, the 0.6% Scale fee on $540,000 of GMV would add $3,240 a year.
How payment fees compare
On Shopify, an order paid through Shopify Payments, Shop Pay, Shop Pay Installments or a manual method such as a bank transfer carries no third-party fee. With any other card gateway, Shopify charges a fee whose rate depends on the plan, on top of what the gateway charges. PayPal orders are exempt as long as Shopify Payments is the main provider, POS orders are exempt, and the fee is not given back when an order is refunded.
On BigCommerce, card processing through PayPal Braintree starts at 2.89% + $0.29 per transaction on every plan, and American Express costs 3.50% with no fixed fee. A US business on Growth, Scale or Performance can apply to PayPal Braintree for a lower negotiated rate. The new order fee only touches providers outside the embedded list, so a store on Stripe, Adyen or PayPal pays none.
Where Shopify is the stronger choice
- The price does not track your revenue. A store that doubles its sales can stay on the same plan at the same price.
- Larger catalogs per product. 2,048 variants against 600 SKUs matters for apparel, made-to-order and configurable products.
- Shop and online store in one admin. Shopify POS is part of the platform, with POS Pro at $89 a month for each location that needs it.
- B2B from the first plan. Basic, Grow and Advanced include up to 3 B2B catalogs; Plus has no limit.
- Room to grow without leaving. Plus adds up to 9 expansion stores, 200 locations and unlimited staff. When that step pays off is the subject of our Shopify Plus vs Shopify Advanced guide.
Where BigCommerce is the stronger choice
- Staff accounts on the entry plan. Core includes them; Shopify Basic does not.
- Discounts without an app. BigCommerce lists more than 70 discount types built into the platform.
- Several storefronts below enterprise level. Extra storefronts start at $30 a month on Core.
- Your own POS. Square, Clover, Heartland Retail and Vend connect to the store.
- Phone support from the $79 plan. Growth and above include 24/7 phone and chat; on Shopify, phone support is part of Plus.
Moving from BigCommerce to Shopify
Products, customers and past orders can be carried over with a migration app. Our guide to the best Shopify migration tools sets the options side by side, including the data none of them carry.
Plan the URLs before the data. Shopify keeps products under /products/ and collections under /collections/, so most BigCommerce addresses will not survive the move, and each one needs a 301 redirect in place when the new store goes live. Our breakdown of Shopify migration cost shows what agencies charge for the job, and our platform migration team builds the redirect map, moves the data and tests the store on both sides of launch.
Our verdict
Stay on BigCommerce if your sales sit comfortably inside your plan’s limit, your payments already go through an embedded provider, and you lean on its built-in discounts or need more than one storefront without an enterprise contract.
Move to Shopify if the 2026 limits and overage mean your plan price now rises with your revenue, your products need more than 600 variants, or you want POS and B2B catalogs in the same admin as the online store.
FAQ
Is BigCommerce cheaper than Shopify?
Not at the entry level. On annual billing, BigCommerce Core is $29 a month against $19 for Shopify Basic, and BigCommerce moves a store to a dearer plan once its trailing 12-month GMV passes $30,000 on Core or $100,000 on Growth. Shopify’s plan prices stay the same however much the store sells.
Does BigCommerce charge transaction fees in 2026?
Since 1 June 2026, yes, on orders paid through a provider outside its embedded list: 2.0% of that GMV on Core, 1.0% on Growth and 0.6% on Scale. Orders through embedded providers such as Stripe, Adyen, PayPal Braintree and BigCommerce Payments carry no fee, and Performance stores on a contract pay none.
What happens when a BigCommerce store passes its sales limit?
Core and Growth stores are upgraded automatically, with notice, once trailing 12-month GMV passes $30,000 or $100,000. Scale has no forced jump; it charges 0.9% on GMV above $33,333 a month. At $2 million of trailing GMV the store moves to Performance. BigCommerce counts GMV as gross order value less 10%.
How many variants can a product have on Shopify and BigCommerce?
Shopify allows up to 2,048 variants per product, built from up to three options. BigCommerce’s developer documentation sets a limit of 600 SKUs per product.
Can I move from BigCommerce to Shopify without losing rankings?
Yes, provided each old URL points to its Shopify equivalent with a 301 redirect from the day the store launches. Shopify keeps products under /products/ and collections under /collections/, so most BigCommerce addresses change; those redirects are what carry the rankings across.
Sources: Shopify pricing and Shopify Plus pricing (US), the Shopify Help Center on third-party transaction fees and variants, BigCommerce pricing, BigCommerce’s 2026 plan and pricing updates, its B2B page and its product variant API reference, all read on 29 October 2026. Both platforms revise prices and fees, and some differ by country, so check the current figures for your market before you commit.
