Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise are the plans each platform sells to larger brands. BigCommerce renamed Enterprise to Performance on 1 June 2026, and it now moves a store onto that plan automatically once trailing 12-month sales reach $2 million, so most brands comparing the two today are comparing Shopify Plus with BigCommerce Performance.
We read every price, limit and feature below on 31 October 2026. Shopify’s figures come from its pricing page for the United States, its Help Center and shopify.dev; BigCommerce’s come from its pricing pages, support articles and developer documentation. Amounts are US dollars. Both companies negotiate contracts at this level, so treat the published figures as the opening position.
Key takeaways
- Shopify lists two monthly rates for Plus: $2,300 when you commit for three years and $2,500 when you commit for one. It also says a fee tied to revenue can be added, worked out differently for B2B and direct-to-consumer brands, and prints no rate for it.
- BigCommerce Performance starts at $1,499 a month, billed annually. That price covers $250,000 of inclusive GMV a month; sales above it carry a 0.6% overage.
- Up to nine expansion stores come with Plus at no extra plan cost, as long as every store sells the same brand. BigCommerce runs several storefronts from one back end and quotes the Performance storefront count through sales.
- Business-to-business selling is built into every Shopify plan, with direct company catalogs, deposits and partial payments reserved for Plus. BigCommerce adds quotes, a buyer portal and company hierarchies through B2B Edition, whose price it does not publish.
- A Shopify product can carry 2,048 variants against 600 on BigCommerce, and Plus allows 200 inventory locations against 100 on Performance.
Shopify Plus vs BigCommerce Enterprise: comparison table (2026)
| Item | Shopify Plus | BigCommerce Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Published price | $2,300/month committing for 3 years; $2,500/month for 1 year | From $1,499 a month, billed annually; contracts available |
| Fee tied to sales | A variable platform fee may apply; no rate published | $250K of inclusive GMV a month included, then 0.6% |
| Fee for an outside payment provider | Set by plan; no Plus rate printed | None under contracted terms; listed as custom |
| Extra stores | Up to 9 expansion stores, same brand | Several storefronts; count agreed with sales |
| Headless | Up to 25 Hydrogen storefronts on Oxygen | Catalyst (Next.js), deployed to Vercel |
| Custom checkout | Checkout UI extensions and custom Functions, Plus only | Checkout SDK for a fully custom checkout |
| B2B extras | Unlimited catalogs, company catalogs, deposits, partial payments | B2B Edition: buyer portal, quotes, company hierarchy, invoices |
| Inventory locations | 200 | 100, more by arrangement |
| Variants per product | 2,048, across 3 options | 600, with up to 250 values per option |
| Admin API limit | 1,000 GraphQL points a second; REST 20 requests a second | “Unlimited” in support docs; set per client in developer docs |
| Support | Priority 24/7 phone | 24/7 priority phone, chat and ticket; customer success manager |
| Uptime | A 99.99% SLA “might” be included | 99.98% uptime claimed since 2009; no SLA stated |
What each plan costs as sales grow
The two price structures move in different directions. Shopify publishes a flat monthly fee and says a revenue-based platform fee may be added, without a rate. BigCommerce publishes its overage: the $1,499 Performance price includes $250,000 of inclusive GMV each month, and every dollar above that carries 0.6%.
The table applies BigCommerce’s published overage to a few monthly sales levels. It uses gross sales, so it shows the most the overage could be: BigCommerce calculates inclusive GMV after taking a percentage off gross order value, which brings the real figure down a little. Its 2026 update page applies a 10% reduction to self-serve plans and does not say which figure applies to Performance.
| Monthly sales | BigCommerce Performance, at most | Shopify Plus, published |
|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $1,499 | $2,300 or $2,500, plus any variable fee |
| $500,000 | $2,999 | $2,300 or $2,500, plus any variable fee |
| $1,000,000 | $5,999 | $2,300 or $2,500, plus any variable fee |
| $2,000,000 | $11,999 | $2,300 or $2,500, plus any variable fee |
So BigCommerce is cheaper on paper for a brand near the bottom of the Performance range, and the gap closes as monthly sales rise past roughly $400,000. Whether Shopify stays cheaper above that depends entirely on the variable fee in your Plus quote. Ask both vendors for a written figure at your expected sales, and ask BigCommerce which GMV reduction your contract uses.
Payment costs sit on top. BigCommerce prints card processing through PayPal Braintree from 2.89% plus $0.29 and says contracted Performance stores pay no fee for using a payment provider outside its embedded list. Shopify says its third-party transaction fee depends on the plan, and its pages read on 31 October gave no Plus rate for that fee or for Shopify Payments card processing.
Selling to other businesses
Shopify treats B2B as part of the platform rather than an add-on. Company profiles, payment terms and purchase order numbers work on every plan; Plus lifts the limit of three B2B catalogs to unlimited, adds catalogs assigned straight to a company, and lets a buyer pay a deposit or part of an order, with payment requested as each fulfillment ships.
BigCommerce lists price lists and customer groups among the Performance features and sells its wholesale toolkit as B2B Edition: a buyer portal, quoting by sales staff, company hierarchies and invoice management, with purchase orders, quote-to-cart and net terms native to it. BigCommerce says B2B Edition can be included with new Performance stores; it does not publish what it costs, so get that in the quote.
Running more than one store
Shopify’s answer is expansion stores. Plus comes with as many as nine besides the main store, ten in all, with no extra plan fee. Each must carry the same brand, apps are billed separately for every store, and each needs its own theme licence, so a brand running regional or wholesale stores gains the most and a group of unrelated brands gains least.
BigCommerce runs several storefronts from a single back end, sharing one catalog and order list. On its pricing page the lower plans buy them one at a time, up to eight on Scale at $100 a month each, while Performance says to contact sales. Its platform limits put Catalyst storefronts at up to 15.
Checkout, custom logic and APIs
Custom checkout logic is one of the clearest reasons brands choose Plus. Checkout UI extensions for the information, shipping and payment steps are available only on Plus, and only Plus stores can run custom apps built on Shopify Functions, the way to write your own discount, delivery and payment rules. BigCommerce offers its Checkout SDK, a JavaScript library for building a checkout of your own, and lists a fully customizable checkout on Performance.
For integrations, shopify.dev sets the GraphQL Admin API at 1,000 points a second on Plus, five times the 200 on Advanced, and the REST Admin API at 20 requests a second against 4. BigCommerce’s support article calls the Performance API limit unlimited, subject to its API terms, while its developer documentation says limits are set by plan and resource, with an unlimited allowance for some Performance clients. If your ERP or warehouse system makes heavy API calls, ask for the limit in writing.
Both platforms support headless builds. Plus includes up to 25 Hydrogen storefronts hosted on Shopify’s Oxygen network. BigCommerce’s Catalyst is built on Next.js and deploys to Vercel; its own storefront hosting was in closed beta when we checked.
Where Shopify Plus is the stronger choice
- You want custom discount, delivery or payment rules running inside checkout through Functions and checkout extensions.
- You plan regional or wholesale stores under one brand and want them without a per-store plan fee.
- A product of yours needs over 600 variants, or your stock sits in more than 100 locations.
- You want B2B in the same admin as your direct-to-consumer store rather than as a separate edition.
- You also sell in shops; Shopify POS runs from the admin you already use online.
Where BigCommerce Performance is the stronger choice
- Your monthly sales sit near $250,000, where the published Performance price is the lower of the two.
- You want every fee printed before you negotiate, including the overage on sales.
- You run several distinct storefronts from one catalog and would rather not manage separate stores.
- Your payments already go through one of BigCommerce’s embedded providers, or you can sign a contract that removes the outside-provider fee.
A note on vendor comparisons
Both companies publish comparison pages, and both lean on studies they commissioned. We left those figures out. One claim is simply out of date: BigCommerce’s comparison page still says Shopify supports up to 100 variants per product, while Shopify’s own Help Center has set the limit at 2,048.
If you decide to move
For the full picture below the enterprise tier, see our Shopify vs BigCommerce comparison of every plan, and if you are weighing Plus against Shopify’s own top self-serve plan, start with our Shopify Plus vs Shopify Advanced breakdown. Moving across is mostly a data and redirect job, set out step by step in our BigCommerce to Shopify migration guide. Our Shopify Plus development team builds and launches Plus stores, including the checkout extensions, Functions and B2B setup above.
FAQ
How much does Shopify Plus cost compared with BigCommerce Enterprise?
On 31 October 2026, Shopify listed Plus at $2,300 a month for a three-year commitment and $2,500 for a one-year commitment, plus a possible revenue-based fee with no published rate. BigCommerce Performance, the former Enterprise plan, started at $1,499 a month billed annually, covering $250,000 of inclusive GMV a month, with 0.6% charged above that.
What happened to BigCommerce Enterprise?
BigCommerce renamed it Performance on 1 June 2026, when it renamed all four plans. A store on a self-serve plan is moved up to Performance automatically once its trailing 12-month GMV reaches $2 million.
Does BigCommerce Performance charge a fee on sales?
Yes, above its monthly allowance. The plan includes $250,000 of inclusive GMV a month and charges 0.6% on GMV above it. The separate fee for payments through providers outside BigCommerce’s embedded list does not apply to Performance stores on contracted terms.
Which is better for B2B, Shopify Plus or BigCommerce?
It depends on the buying process. Shopify builds B2B into the same admin on every plan and adds unlimited catalogs, company catalogs, deposits and partial payments on Plus. BigCommerce’s B2B Edition adds a buyer portal, sales-staff quotes and company hierarchies, which suits quote-led selling, but its price is not published.
How many stores can I run on Shopify Plus or BigCommerce Performance?
Shopify Plus allows up to nine expansion stores beside the main one, ten in all, without an extra plan fee, provided each sells the same brand. BigCommerce runs several storefronts from one back end and sets the Performance storefront count with each client; its platform limits allow up to 15 Catalyst storefronts.
Sources: Shopify’s pricing page (US), the Shopify Help Center on the Shopify Plus plan, expansion stores, B2B features by plan, third-party transaction fees and variants, shopify.dev on GraphQL and REST rate limits, checkout UI extensions and Functions; BigCommerce’s pricing, 2026 plan updates and enterprise pricing pages, its support articles on pricing, platform limits and B2B Edition, and its developer documentation on rate limits, the Checkout SDK and Catalyst, all read on 31 October 2026. Enterprise pricing is negotiated, so get each figure in writing before you sign.
