Choosing the correct e-commerce platform is the foundational decision for your online business, especially considering the increase in global retail e-commerce sales in recent years.
As a creative entrepreneur, small business owner, or growing brand focused on visual products (such as photography, art, or curated goods), your platform must balance robust functionality with design flexibility and cost predictability.
While BigCommerce is a powerful, feature-rich solution, many businesses eventually find themselves needing to explore alternatives. The core dilemma often arises when high-feature platforms prioritize enterprise-level scalability over the simplicity and transparent cost management required by a growing small business.
A Deeper Look: BigCommerce Advantages and Hidden Limitations
To properly assess alternatives, you should first understand the specific strengths and weaknesses of the BigCommerce platform itself.
The Upside
BigCommerce offers a strong suite of features right out of the box. This can save you money initially by reducing the need for numerous third-party applications.
The platform is designed for scaling, featuring robust B2B operations and exceptional support for complex product variants, allowing you to create up to 600 product variants per item.
Furthermore, BigCommerce excels at international selling by providing strong built-in multi-currency functionality and multi-storefront capabilities.
For support, BigCommerce provides 24/7 live phone and chat assistance on all plans, which is a significant advantage over platforms that limit support channels. You also benefit from an unlimited number of staff accounts, even on entry-level plans.
The Downsides
When evaluating any platform, you must look beyond the monthly subscription fee and consider the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
TCO includes not just the base subscription but also transaction charges, necessary app costs, required hosting fees, and any necessary development or ongoing maintenance.
Understanding where BigCommerce’s model penalizes growth is the key to selecting a platform that truly supports your long-term success.
For many users, BigCommerce’s cost structure introduces significant financial unpredictability, forcing a difficult re-evaluation of the platform’s suitability as sales increase.
Despite its feature density, BigCommerce has notable drawbacks, particularly for the visually focused business owner. The platform is often criticized for its web design rigidity.
It offers a few free templates, and those available can be challenging to edit, especially when customizing basic visual elements like fonts. This limited customization can be restrictive if your brand depends heavily on unique aesthetics and presentation.
Furthermore, while BigCommerce includes many features, it lacks several modern e-commerce essentials, requiring you to purchase third-party apps.
For example, the platform does not provide native email marketing tools, subscription features, or full multilingual options without resorting to paid add-ons.
These required applications increase the true recurring monthly cost, effectively acting as an app integration tax that inflates the total cost of ownership.
The single greatest financial challenge faced by growing BigCommerce users is the system of mandatory, revenue-based plan upgrades.
BigCommerce mandates an upgrade when your annual online revenue crosses specific thresholds:
- Standard: $29 per month, up to $50,000 annual revenue.
- Plus: $79 per month, up to $180,000 annual revenue.
- Pro: $299 per month, up to $400,000 annual revenue.
The Top 14 BigCommerce Alternatives: Detailed Platform Reviews
1. Pixpa: Best Website Builder for Creatives and Small Businesses for Portfolios, Client Galleries, and Zero-Commission Sales
Pixpa is a no-code website builder engineered specifically for creatives and small businesses, including photographers, designers, and artists.
It seamlessly combines a website builder, integrated e-commerce capabilities, blogging, and secure client galleries.
This platform is distinguished by its stunning selection of over 200 mobile-optimized templates and its drag-and-drop simplicity, enabling professional visual presentation without needing any coding knowledge.
Crucially, Pixpa supports the sale of physical products, services, digital downloads, and images from a single platform, giving you full brand control.
The fundamental value proposition of Pixpa, particularly compared to BigCommerce, is its commission-free model.
Pixpa charges absolutely zero commissions on sales, ensuring you keep 100% of your profits, offering significant long-term financial predictability.
Pricing: You can explore Pixpa risk-free with a 15-day free trial, requiring no credit card, and paid plans are backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Paid plans (Creator, Professional, and Advanced) are affordably priced and billed annually at competitive rates.
The primary financial benefit is the zero commission policy, which provides predictable and transparent costs as your revenue grows, contrasting sharply with the BigCommerce revenue cap system.
Pros:
- Zero commissions are charged on all sales, maximizing profit retention.
- Designed for creatives with superb gallery management and aesthetic layouts.
- All-in-one platform integrating websites, stores, blogs, and secure client galleries.
- Highly affordable pricing plans offering strong value for included features.
Cons:
- No free plan available, but a 15-day free trial provides complete access to all its features before you plan on purchasing one of its affordable paid plans.
2. Shopify: Best Website Builder for Complex, Large Online Stores for Enterprises
Shopify is a hosted SaaS platform, recognized for its user-friendly interface, streamlined setup, and massive app ecosystem.
It is built for scalability, seamlessly supporting businesses from small startups to massive Shopify Plus enterprises.
Shopify provides robust omnichannel capabilities, allowing easy selling across various channels, including web, social media (Instagram, Facebook), and physical retail via its dedicated POS system.
Pricing: You can start with a free 3-day trial. Monthly plans include Basic ($39 USD/month), Shopify ($105 USD/month), and Advanced ($399 USD/month).
If you utilize Shopify Payments, the platform transaction fee is 0%; however, if you opt to use a third-party payment provider, Shopify charges an additional transaction fee that can be up to 2% on Basic plans.
Pros:
- Largest app ecosystem (over 8,000 apps) available for deep feature customization.
- Superior infrastructure and scalability, consistently praised for fast performance and growth support.
- User-friendly interface and straightforward setup process requiring little technical knowledge.
- Offers a strong integrated Point of Sale system for hybrid retail brands.
Cons:
- Incurs third-party transaction fees if you choose not to use Shopify Payments.
- Costs can rise quickly due to the necessary reliance on paid apps for advanced features.
- Limited number of free design themes (24 options) compared to competitors.
3. WooCommerce: Best Website Builder for WordPress Users Needing Total Control
WooCommerce is an open-source, free plugin that integrates with WordPress, transforming a standard website into a fully functional online store.
It is the ideal choice for businesses that prioritize 100% ownership and control over their underlying code, design, and backend data.
Leveraging the massive WordPress ecosystem, WooCommerce offers immense customization potential through a vast library of free and premium plugins, making it perfect for stores with unique or niche operational requirements.
Pricing: The core WooCommerce plugin is free to use. The operational costs are variable and non-negotiable: you must budget for domain registration ($10–$20/year), hosting (approximately $120–$150/year for reliable service), and necessary premium themes or extensions.
Payment processing fees depend on your chosen gateway; WooPayments, the official gateway, charges 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction.
Pros:
- Provides 100% ownership and control over the code, design, and site data.
- Supported by a massive community, offering unparalleled flexibility for unique business logic.
- No required monthly platform fee, allowing you to pay only for the hosting and tools you truly need.
- Generates clean, SEO-friendly URLs and integrates perfectly with powerful WordPress SEO tools.
Cons:
- Requires self-hosting and specialized maintenance overhead, increasing the overall technical complexity.
- Total cost can become unpredictable and high if niche features require numerous premium extensions.
- Lacks the dedicated, 24/7 technical support offered by fully managed SaaS providers.
4. Squarespace: Best Website Builder for Artists for Visual Aesthetics
Squarespace is known for its visually driven platform, offering a suite of professionally designed, minimalistic templates. It is good for design-conscious entrepreneurs and creatives who demand sophisticated visual presentation.
Squarespace operates as a true all-in-one hosted solution, combining website building, integrated e-commerce, blogging, and features for membership sites and subscriptions.
Pricing: Squarespace provides a 14-day free trial. E-commerce functionality begins on the Business plan (which includes a 1% transaction fee), but the dedicated Commerce Basic plan ($36/month) and Advanced Commerce plan ($65/month) feature a competitive 0% platform transaction fee.
All Squarespace plans also include unlimited storage and bandwidth.
Pros:
- Offers industry-leading, sleek, and highly aesthetic design templates.
- Includes native tools for selling subscriptions, managing memberships, and abandoned cart recovery on higher tiers.
- Highly intuitive user interface and rapid setup, making it ideal for beginners.
- Charges no platform transaction fees on its main commerce plans.
Cons:
- Limited options for payment gateways (usually only Stripe and PayPal).
- Lacks native multi-currency selling features, complicating international transactions.
- Smaller ecosystem of third-party app integrations.
5. Wix: Best Website Builder for an Extensive Library of Templates
Wix is known for its beginner-friendly, visual drag-and-drop editor and extensive library of themes. It is a good alternative for users prioritizing design control and ease of initial setup.
Wix eCommerce provides competitive tools for selling physical and digital products, including features like real-time shipping calculation and a robust app market, all managed from a simple backend.
Pricing: Wix offers a free plan (which displays Wix ads) and all premium plans include a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Dedicated e-commerce plans start with Core ($29/month), Business ($36/month), and Business Elite ($159/month, billed monthly).
Critically, Wix charges no sales fees or commissions on any of its business plans, offering excellent value and predictable costing.
Pros:
- Extremely easy-to-use, intuitive drag-and-drop editor, offering high design control.
- Offers competitive pricing and zero platform commissions on all business plans.
- The quick setup process allows you to launch your store almost immediately.
- Support for both digital and physical goods.
Cons:
- E-commerce functionality can be less advanced.
- Some users have reported issues with site loading speeds compared to competitors.
- Migrating data away from Wix to a different platform later can be challenging.
6. Ecwid (By Lightspeed): Best Website Builder for Integrating a Store Into an Existing Website
Ecwid is a unique and flexible solution that serves primarily as an embeddable shopping cart. Its key feature is the ability to instantly add e-commerce functionality to any existing website or blog without starting from scratch.
This flexibility makes it an ideal choice if you wish to maintain your current online presence while adding robust selling capabilities. It allows you to transform almost any webpage into a fully functioning, multichannel store.
Pricing: Ecwid offers a valuable Free forever plan that allows you to list and sell up to five products. Paid plans, such as Venture ($21/month billed annually) and Unlimited ($99/month billed annually), increase the product limit, unlock digital goods sales, and add features like mobile POS. Standard payment processing fees apply, typically ranging from 1.9% to 2.9%.
Pros:
- Seamlessly embeds into nearly any existing website, CMS, or social media platform.
- Offers a robust Free forever plan for testing small product catalogs.
- Excellent capabilities for multichannel selling, including integration with Facebook and Instagram.
- Includes built-in mobile Point-of-Sales functionality on mid-tier plans.
Cons:
- The platform functions best as an e-commerce add-on, not a dedicated full ecommerce website builder.
- Features are limited on the free and lower-tier plans, particularly product catalog size.
- Potential for high annual costs if you rely on optional domains, custom development, or expensive apps.
7. Square Online: Best Website Builder for Omnichannel Selling and POS Integration
Square Online is primarily designed for businesses that utilize or intend to utilize Square’s ecosystem for payment processing and POS.
It provides integrated solutions for hybrid retail, offering a seamless link between your online store, physical inventory tracking, and centralized payment management.
Square is particularly efficient for setting up an online presence rapidly and streamlining transactions for both in-person and online sales.
Pricing: Square Online offers a free plan, though it charges a transaction fee of 2.9% + 30¢. Premium plan pricing is competitive. The payment processing fee for online domestic sales is fixed at 2.9% + 30¢.
The ecosystem easily integrates with other Square business tools, such as invoicing and payroll management.
Pros:
- Exceptional, centralized integration with Square POS and physical retail tools.
- Accepts a wide array of modern payment methods, including Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Afterpay.
- Features a free plan that includes many e-commerce tools (excluding a custom domain).
- Strong capabilities for customer retention, including integrated loyalty programs and gift cards.
Cons:
- For optimal rates, you are essentially locked into using Square as your exclusive payment processor.
- Design flexibility and template selection are generally more constrained.
- The free plan displays Square branding prominently on your site.
8. Shift4Shop (Formerly 3DCART): Best Website Builder for Free U.S. Processing
Shift4Shop is a dedicated e-commerce platform recognized for its robust, comprehensive feature set, often featuring tools like advanced promotions and a 1-page checkout that rival larger platforms.
Its highly unique proposition is the End-to-End Plan, which eliminates the monthly subscription fee for U.S. merchants who commit to using Shift4Payments for payment processing. This makes it an incredibly cost-effective, enterprise-grade solution for growing U.S. businesses.
Pricing: Shift4Shop offers traditional monthly plans (Basic $29/mo, Plus $79/mo, Pro $229/mo) with annual sales limits similar to BigCommerce.
However, the key advantage is the Free End-to-End Plan for U.S. merchants using Shift4Payments, which grants access to all Pro features, unlimited users, and removes annual sales caps. Crucially, Shift4Shop charges no platform transaction fees.
Pros:
- Provides a free, enterprise-grade plan for U.S. merchants using Shift4Payments.
- Charges no platform transaction fees.
- Includes advanced native features like stackable promotions and single-page checkout.
- Comes with industry-leading, AI-driven fraud protection.
Cons:
- Presents a steep learning curve due to its extensive feature complexity.
- The most cost-effective plan requires you to utilize the proprietary Shift4 payment ecosystem.
- Users have occasionally noted inconsistencies in the quality of customer support.
9. Big Cartel: Best Website Builder for Small Inventory Counts
Big Cartel is designed specifically for individual artists, makers, and small creative teams selling a limited quantity of unique products.
It provides the tools necessary to sell online without the complexity or high costs associated with large enterprise platforms.
It focuses on easy product listing and creation of product options, making it suitable for businesses selling small collections, limited runs, or customized items.
Pricing: Big Cartel offers a "Gold" plan that is free forever, enabling you to list up to five products and access core selling features.
Paid plans, such as Platinum ($15/mo) and Diamond ($30/mo), increase the maximum product count and unlock features like the ability to connect a custom domain.
Standard payment processing fees (e.g., 2.9% + 30¢ via major gateways) apply.
Pros:
- Offers a "Gold" plan that is free forever for catalogs of up to five products.
- Extremely simple and intuitive interface specifically tailored for non-technical artists.
- Low monthly subscription costs for growing stores with small inventory needs.
- Focuses on core selling logistics such as product shipment tracking and sales tax automation.
Cons:
- Very limited product catalog size (max product count is low).
- Lacks the advanced ecommerce marketing and deep integration options required by high-volume sellers.
- Requires you to purchase a custom domain, even on the free plan.
10. Prestashop: Best Website Builder for Open-Source Flexibility and European Markets
PrestaShop is distinguished by its exceptional support for multilingual content and multi-currency transactions, making it a strong choice for international or European-focused businesses.
The platform provides a user-friendly management dashboard and strong native ecommerce SEO capabilities. Since the core software is 100% free and open-source, it offers total customization potential via its community-driven ecosystem of modules and themes.
Pricing: The basic software is free to download and use. However, the total operational cost is variable and substantial.
You must account for required hosting (around $100/year), domain registration, SSL certification, and the ongoing purchase of themes and necessary paid modules (which can range from €20 to €200 each).
This results in a high and often unpredictable TCO due to development and maintenance needs.
Pros:
- Core software is free and open-source, allowing for total customization freedom.
- Native, robust support for multiple languages and currencies, ideal for cross-border commerce.
- Backed by a large, active, multilingual community providing support and development resources.
- Excellent option for businesses focused on targeting European markets.
Cons:
- No free, dedicated technical support; official support plans can be expensive.
- High development and maintenance costs due to necessary modules and specialized hosting.
- Requires significant technical knowledge to manage security updates and server maintenance effectively.
11. Webflow: Best Website Builder for Designers Requiring Custom Code Access
Webflow is a highly advanced visual development platform that enables expert designers to create complex, fully customized, and production-ready websites without relying on traditional coding.
It requires a steeper learning commitment than simple drag-and-drop builders. Its e-commerce functionality provides technical control over site design, making it a powerful solution. It is often the choice for modern, responsive sites that require cutting-edge visual design.
Pricing: Webflow offers a free plan for development and learning purposes. Functional sites require a paid Site Plan (starting from $14/month). E-commerce capability requires specific E-commerce plans (Standard, Plus, Advanced).
The Standard E-commerce plan charges a 2% platform transaction fee, but the higher Plus and Advanced tiers eliminate this platform fee, requiring you to only pay standard payment processor fees.
Pros:
- Unmatched design freedom and visual control for sophisticated, custom sites.
- Offers 0% platform transaction fees on Plus and Advanced e-commerce plans.
- Robust platform for creating membership sites and selling gated content.
- Provides granular control over technical SEO and site structure.
Cons:
- Features a steep learning curve; requires professional design or development expertise.
- The entry-level E-commerce plan charges a 2% platform transaction fee.
- E-commerce tools are less feature-rich for managing large-scale, complex inventory than dedicated platforms.
12. Weebly: Best Website Builder for Basic Websites for Beginners
Weebly, now part of the Square ecosystem, is primarily known for being an extremely cost-effective website builder with a minimal learning curve, making it highly accessible for absolute beginners.
It features a straightforward drag-and-drop interface and offers a respectable array of basic e-commerce functionalities even on its lower-cost plans.
Weebly focuses on affordability and simplicity, positioning it as a strong budget choice for small, entry-level stores.
Pricing: Weebly is one of the most affordable options available. Pricing includes a Free option ($0/month), Personal ($10/month), Professional ($12/month), and Performance ($26/month, billed annually).
Notably, its free plan is quite generous, including a shopping cart and essential e-commerce features, a rarity among free builders.
Pros:
- Highly cost-effective with competitive pricing tiers below many competitors.
- Generous free plan includes core e-commerce capabilities.
- Very low learning curve and simple, straightforward design abilities.
- Seamless integration with Square’s payment and POS system.
Cons:
- Offers fewer high-quality or varied template options than competitors.
- Limited advanced SEO features and less overall design freedom.
- E-commerce capabilities are relatively basic and may not support aggressive scaling needs.
13. Adobe Commerce: Best Website Builder for Headless Commerce
Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento Commerce) is the leading enterprise-grade platform, specifically engineered to manage immense product catalogs, highly complex B2B requirements, and deep integrations across the Adobe Experience Cloud.
It offers extreme flexibility, sophisticated product management, and an API-first platform suitable for headless commerce architectures.
This solution is only viable for established businesses with high sales volumes and dedicated, in-house technical or development teams.
Pricing: While Magento Open Source is technically free, running a store requires substantial, ongoing investment in hosting, security, and maintenance.
Adobe Commerce (the enterprise PaaS/SaaS version) requires custom, high-cost licensing. Costs often start around $22,000 annually for lower revenue tiers (up to $1M Gross Sales Revenue) and increase significantly with volume. Implementation costs are also exceptionally high, based on certified developer hourly rates.
Pros:
- Unmatched scalability for handling massive catalogs, high-volume sales, and complex B2B needs.
- Extreme customization capabilities and API-first structure support headless commerce.
- Offers robust features for B2B transactions, customer segmentation, and sophisticated promotions.
- Enterprise-grade security, stability, and high performance.
Cons:
- Prohibitive cost of ownership for small or mid-sized businesses (a massive hidden cost risk).
- Requires extensive development expertise and technical resources for initial setup and maintenance.
- Features notably long implementation timelines compared to SaaS alternatives.
14. OpenCart: Best Website Builder for Developers Seeking a Lightweight Core Structure
OpenCart is a free, open-source e-commerce platform recognized for its lightweight, efficient core architecture.
Its simplicity makes it attractive to developers who require a clean, non-bloated code base to build specialized stores or who have specific hosting environment needs. It provides a simple foundation for e-commerce with community support.
Pricing: The core software is free. However, running an OpenCart store involves costs for hosting, moderate development work, and purchasing necessary extensions or modules.
The total initial investment is typically lower, positioning it as an ultra-budget option for technically proficient users.
Pros:
- Free core platform that minimizes up-front investment costs.
- Lightweight architecture that aids performance and page load times.
- Lower overall development cost required for basic implementation compared to enterprise open-source options.
- Strong community resources are available for troubleshooting and development.
Cons:
- Requires constant self-maintenance, including security patching and hosting management.
- The built-in feature set is basic compared to SaaS platforms.
- Scalability for high-volume, complex sales is limited compared to other open-source enterprise solutions.
How We Assessed BigCommerce Alternatives
When evaluating alternatives, you must prioritize the unique needs of a visually-focused small business, which seeks transparency in pricing, design quality, and ease of use. Our assessment framework focuses on the following pillars:
1. TCO and Transparency: This assesses all-in costs, including subscription fees, payment processing fees, and crucially, any hidden development costs or mandatory app fees. A platform with transparent, fixed pricing is preferred over one with variable upgrade structures.
Is the platform cost fixed (a transparent monthly subscription) or variable (linked to transaction fees, revenue caps, or unpredictable development costs)?
2. Design & Presentation: The platform must excel at showcasing high-resolution images, offering flexible layouts, and maintaining seamless mobile optimization. The availability of professional, aesthetic website templates is essential.
3. Ease of Use & Maintenance: Platforms must feature intuitive, drag-and-drop interfaces that allow you to easily manage your store and make updates without technical expertise or extensive coding knowledge.
We prioritize hosted (SaaS) solutions for entrepreneurs who want to minimize technical debt and maximize time spent on business operations.
We assess both technical performance (handling high traffic to the online store) and financial scalability (ensuring that business success does not lead to disproportionately high fixed-cost increases).
4. Native Feature Suite: Solutions that provide essential tools integrated natively - such as client galleries, comprehensive blogging, and the ability to sell various product types (physical, digital, services) - are rated highly because they reduce dependency on external, costly apps.
Does the platform include built-in features necessary for creatives, such as visual portfolio layouts, secure client proofing galleries, and native support for selling digital downloads and services?
Conclusion
When transitioning away from BigCommerce, your primary goal should be selecting a platform that maximizes predictability, minimizes unnecessary costs, and aligns with your technical capabilities.
The right choice depends on whether you prioritize aesthetic control, rapid growth, or total technical ownership.
Create a free ecommerce website with Pixpa and try out all its built-in online store features before committing to one of the affordable paid plans.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the biggest hidden cost when switching from BigCommerce?
The largest hidden cost often stems from app dependency. While BigCommerce may have many native features, it often requires you to use paid third-party apps for crucial functions like email marketing, subscriptions, and multilingual support.
When you switch, you may need to purchase new, essential applications on the new platform to replace these functionalities. Furthermore, if you migrate to an open-source platform like WooCommerce, the unpredictable costs of hosting, maintenance, and development fees can drastically increase your TCO.
Will moving platforms hurt my SEO?
Moving platforms introduces risk, but you can prevent SEO damage. The key challenge lies in ensuring that all critical SEO metadata (page titles, product descriptions, image alt text) is exported and imported correctly.
The single most crucial step is setting up precise 301 redirects, which permanently guide both visitors and search engines from your old BigCommerce URLs to the corresponding new pages on your new platform. Failure to implement redirects results in lost traffic and search ranking drops.
How does the revenue cap on BigCommerce plans work?
BigCommerce operates on an automatic upgrade system tied to your sales volume. Once your trailing 12 months of sales exceed a predetermined revenue cap (e.g., $50,000 for the Standard plan or $180,000 for the Plus plan), the platform automatically forces you to upgrade to the next, significantly more expensive plan.
This means that a small increase in revenue can trigger a massive increase in your fixed monthly software subscription cost, stripping away cost predictability.
