BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a hosted ecommerce platform for building and managing online stores. Store tools include templates, drag-and-drop editing, real-time collaboration and storefront customization. Merchants can manage multiple brands, regions or customer segments from one backend and synchronize products across channels such as Google, Meta, TikTok, Amazon and eBay. It supports digital products, abandoned-cart recovery and up to eight inventory locations. Payment support includes more than 250 local methods across over 100 countries and more than 65 payment providers. B2B capabilities include customer-specific pricing, quotes, purchase orders, invoices, net terms, buyer accounts and company hierarchies. The platform also offers AI product-content generation and shopping tools, plus Catalyst, a composable storefront framework built on Next.js and React. Its app ecosystem lists over 1,200 apps and integrations. A mobile app for iOS and Android supports monitoring metrics, updating orders and managing customer information. Pricing starts at $29 a month, billed annually, and includes a 15-day trial.

BigCommerce combines store design, channel management, payment options and B2B capabilities in a hosted platform. Plan limits, fees and trial data retention are worth reviewing before choosing a plan.

It suits businesses that need hosted storefront tools alongside multichannel selling or B2B commerce features. Merchants should check which plan fits their sales volume and support needs.

BigCommerce is a hosted platform for building and operating online stores, best suited to merchants selling across multiple channels or serving business buyers. Its breadth is a strong fit for growing commerce operations, but sales caps and payment-provider fees make plan choice central to the decision.

Overview

BigCommerce brings storefront design, inventory, payments and channel management into one system. Teams can use templates, drag-and-drop editing and real-time collaboration, or customize a storefront more deeply. For developers, Catalyst offers a composable storefront built on Next.js and React, with Makeswift visual editing and BigCommerce API integration. That flexibility is useful when a standard storefront is not enough, though it adds a more specialized path than using the hosted store tools.

Merchants can sync products from a single source to Google, Meta, TikTok, Amazon, eBay and other channels. Support for digital products, abandoned-cart recovery and up to eight inventory locations adds useful operating range. BigCommerce advertises more than 1,200 apps and integrations, alongside payment support spanning 65+ providers and 250+ local methods across 100+ countries. More than 20 embedded providers carry no added fees, but Open Payment Provider fees apply on the listed plans.

Key features

B2B and multi-storefront selling

B2B tools include customer-specific pricing, quotes, purchase orders, invoicing, net terms, buyer accounts and company hierarchies. These capabilities make BigCommerce a more natural fit for merchants managing business accounts and negotiated buying than a store focused only on consumer checkout. Multi-storefront management lets businesses handle brands, regions and customer segments from one backend, reducing the need to manage each storefront independently.

AI and mobile tools

AI features cover product-content generation, discovery across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Copilot, agentic checkout, conversational shopping and the BigCommerce Companion assistant. The free iOS and Android app lets users monitor metrics, update orders and manage customer information, which is practical for routine store oversight away from a desktop.

Security and support

BigCommerce says it maintains Level 1 PCI DSS attestations as both a merchant and service provider, and its Trust Center lists frameworks including SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, GDPR and CCPA. All plans include 24/7 technical support by chat and email; Growth, Scale and Performance also include 24/7 live phone support.

Pricing

BigCommerce is paid software with no free plan. A 15-day trial provides a short evaluation window; if the merchant does not upgrade, store data is retained for 90 days after the trial and then the store is automatically deleted.

• Core: $29 a month, billed annually. It supports up to $30K TTM GMV and auto-upgrades to Growth when that threshold is exceeded. The 2.0% Open Payment Provider fee and chat-and-email support make this the entry tier for lower-volume merchants comfortable with a sales ceiling and no included phone support.
• Growth: $79 a month, billed annually. It covers up to $100K TTM GMV and auto-upgrades to Scale, with a 1.0% Open Payment Provider fee and 24/7 live phone and chat support. It suits merchants needing more room and phone assistance, but still has a volume threshold and an automatic tier change.
• Scale: $299 a month, billed annually. The plan allows $33,333/month GMV, with a 0.9% overage on GMV above the cap and a 0.6% Open Payment Provider fee. It includes 24/7 live phone and chat support; the overage makes sales beyond the stated allowance a cost to monitor.
• Performance: Custom pricing, starting at $1,499 per month billed annually. It offers custom GMV and custom inventory locations, making it the tier for businesses that need terms beyond Scale's stated allowance rather than a published fixed cap.

Platforms

BigCommerce supports web, Android, iOS and API access. Its hosted model keeps the commerce platform managed, while Catalyst offers a composable storefront option for businesses building with Next.js and React.

Who it's for

BigCommerce is a strong choice for merchants that need channel synchronization, B2B purchasing workflows or multiple storefronts under one backend. It also suits businesses selling internationally, given its breadth of local payment methods and provider coverage. Smaller stores with modest sales may find Core sufficient, but should account for the GMV threshold, auto-upgrade and provider fee; businesses that need more predictable fixed terms should compare those limits carefully before committing.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Channel syncing, B2B workflows and multi-storefront management cover more complex selling operations within one platform.
• Pro: Broad payment coverage, including 20+ embedded providers without added fees, supports merchants serving customers across many markets.
• Pro: 24/7 chat and email support is included on every plan, with live phone support on Growth and higher tiers.
• Con: Core and Growth automatically move to higher tiers at their GMV limits, so a successful sales period can also change the subscription cost.
• Con: Open Payment Provider fees vary by plan, and Scale adds an overage charge above its monthly GMV cap.
• Con: The trial is brief, and a store is deleted after the 90-day post-trial data-retention period if it is not upgraded.

Alternatives

For a different kind of ecommerce choice, compare Ecommerce platforms and No-Code E-Commerce Platforms; merchants choosing a storefront design resource rather than a commerce platform can browse Website Template Marketplaces.

Creative Tim Marketplace is a freemium option with free templates to browse and download, making it a narrower choice for those seeking templates rather than a hosted commerce platform. Framer offers a free plan and free trial, while Webflow AI has a free Starter plan with limited CMS, two static pages and 1 GB bandwidth; consider them for site-building alternatives rather than BigCommerce's full commerce operations. BootstrapMade offers a free license for personal projects, with a footer credit required and no client work, so it fits a personal-site use case rather than a store platform.

Drupal is free open-source software that requires self-hosting and technical setup, while Joomla is a free GPL-licensed CMS. nopCommerce is a free, open-source ecommerce platform with self-hosted deployment, a route for merchants who prefer that model. Flowbase offers a free Starter plan with components and plugins, and is a more focused option for people seeking design resources.

Verdict

Choose BigCommerce if your business needs a hosted store with channel reach, B2B workflows and room to manage multiple storefronts from one backend. Its main advantage is the breadth of commerce operations in one platform; its main drawback is that GMV thresholds, payment fees and trial data retention deserve careful attention. Look elsewhere if those costs or hosted-platform terms do not suit your operation.