Are you thinking of starting an online store but confused about choosing the right eCommerce platform between WooCommerce vs BigCommerce?
Both these platforms are well-known and have pros and cons, which you need to know before choosing one.
So In today’s guide, I’ll compare WooCommerce vs BigCommerce and highlight their differences. In the end, you’ll be able to find the best one that suits your business.
So without further ado, let’s jump into the comparison.
On This Page
Overview
First, I’ll explain both platforms, then compare some of the highlighted features to help you decide which is best for your business goals.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is the most popular WordPress eCommerce plugin. It allows you to easily convert any WordPress blog or website into an eCommerce store.
WooCommerce powers around 28.19% of all online stores worldwide, and according to Statista, WooCommerce is the most used eCommerce platform in the world. It has more than 5 million active installations.
You can launch a WooCommerce store in a few simple steps, you just need a domain and web hosting
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a fully hosted eCommerce platform meaning you get a complete set of services to launch your store from hosting, design, payments, and marketing tools.
As a result, it is known as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) or all-in-one platform. You can easily and quickly create a BigCommerce store by purchasing a subscription plan.
Eddie Machaalani and Mitchell Harper founded it in 2009 as a hosted solution and a completely bootstrapped eCommerce platform.
The disadvantage of using BigCommerce is that you will be limited to the tools available on the BigCommerce platform.
The biggest advantage is the BigCommerce WordPress plugin, which enables you to run a fully functional BigCommerce store alongside your existing WordPress site.
WooCommerce vs BigCommerce What’s the Difference?
Now that we know a bit about these popular eCommerce platforms, let’s dive into the comparison.
Easy of Use
WooCommerce is a self-hosted platform, while BigCommerce is a fully-hosted eCommerce platform. You must install WooCommerce on your WordPress website before using it. Its dashboard is simple to use and easy to navigate.
Once you install it, you will be prompted a wizard that will guide you through setting up WooCommerce properly.
To use it, you will need a domain name, hosting, and installed WordPress, and then you can install and set it up. There are many steps, so it may be difficult for a non-techy person to tackle.
On the other hand, BigCommerce is very straightforward to set up. You just need to sign up with your email address and essential information and enter your store name, and you are good to go with your online store.
Both platforms allow you to manage and create products, orders, and customers.
| WooCommerce | BigCommerce | |
| Hosting | ❌ | ✅ |
| Easy to Setup | ❌ | ✅ |
| Automatic Backups | ❌ | ✅ |
| Dashboard | ✅ | ✅ |
| More Customization Options | ✅ | ❌ |
| Create & Manage Products and Orders | ✅ | ✅ |
Ecommerce Tools & Features
BigCommerce provides you with an SSL certificate with all of its plans, which is important to help install trust with your customers. This also saves you the hassle of installing and setting up the SSL certificate.
On the other hand, with WooCommerce, you will need to install and activate the SSL certificate with your hosting provider. Some providers give you a free SSL certificate, but some provide it at a premium.
In terms of SEO, BigCommerce allows you to edit meta descriptions, URLs, titles, and image alt attributes.
But with WooCommerce, you will need to install a third-party plugin to edit the meta descriptions and measure keyword density.
Bonus: You can follow the Essential Checklist to Start an Online Store article to start a successful eCommerce store.
| WooCommerce | BigCommerce | |
| SSL Certificate | ❌ | ✅ |
| Multi-Channel Integration | ✅ | ✅ |
| Limitless Design Options | ✅ | ❌ |
| Blogging | ✅ | ✅ |
| Optimized Checkout | ✅ | ✅ |
| Abandoned Cart Recovery | ✅ | ✅ |
| SEO | ✅ | ✅ |
Payment Options & Fees
With both platforms, you can accept payments from popular payment methods like PayPal, Apple Pay, Stripe, etc.
Both platforms have built-in payment options, but you can configure more methods by using third-party apps.
If you use WooCommerce Payments they will charge additional transaction fees, the same goes for BigCommerce payments.
| WooCommerce | BigCommerce | |
| Paypal | ✅ | ✅ |
| Credit & Debit Card | ✅ | ✅ |
| Stripe | ✅ | ✅ |
| Apple Pay | ✅ | ✅ |
| Google Pay | ✅ | ✅ |
| Square | ✅ | ✅ |
| Transaction Fees | ✅ | ✅ |
Scalability
WooCommerce is a highly scalable open sourced e-commerce platform. Being a self-hosted platform, scaling it requires nothing more than more space on your hosting provider’s servers. Because of its scalability and security, cloud hosting is the best option here.
BigCommerce is also easy to scale but you need to have a budget for it because there each plan has limited sales per year and if you exceed your annual sales threshold, BigCommerce will automatically upgrade you to a higher pricing plan.
| WooCommerce | BigCommerce | |
| Easy to Scale | ✅ | ✅ |
| Themes and Plugins | ✅ | ✅ |
Pricing
WooCommerce is an open-source and free-to-use plugin. But you need to purchase a domain and hosting to start working with it.
While on the other side, BigCommerce gives you multiple plans, but you can also request custom pricing if your business size is large.
Its popular package will cost you $79.95 per month.
| WooCommerce | BigCommerce |
| $0 | $79.95 per month |
Help & Customer Support
BigCommerce offers excellent 24/7 support. phone, email, live chat, and community support are available from your BigCommerce dashboard.
While WooCommerce, is an open-source platform, it has a big ecosystem of developers and online learning platforms. For core plugin issues, you can visit the WordPress.org WooCommerce support forum or the WooCommerce website. These support forums allow you to post and view solved issues.
The WooCommerce support page has extensive documentation, tutorials, and guides to help you solve problems.
| WooCommerce | BigCommerce | |
| Phone Support | ❌ | ✅ |
| Email Support | ❌ | ✅ |
| Live Chat | ❌ | ✅ |
| Community | ✅ | ✅ |
WooCommerce vs BigCommerce: The Conclusion
BigCommerce and WooCommerce are robust eCommerce platforms. Your technical skills, budget, and personal preferences determine your choice.
BigCommerce’s all-in-one solution simplifies things to help you get started immediately with little setup required. This hassle-free solution handles backups, security, and scalability.
Whereas self-hosted WooCommerce gives you complete website control. It is also free, but you can use some premium plugins to add more features. But the overall cost would be less than the BigCommerce cost.
WooCommerce’s drawback is its learning curve issues as you grow.
That’s it for today’s article. I hope this article helped you learn the difference between WooCommerce and BigCommerce and that you can choose the best platform for your business.
