WooCommerce vs Shopify vs BigCommerce: Which One is Best?

Choosing the perfect platform to sell your stuff online can be a real headache. There are tons of options out there, but three big players are WooCommerce, Shopify, and BigCommerce. Each one has its own strengths and is best for different types of businesses.

WooCommerce is like building your own website from scratch. It’s super flexible but takes more work. Shopify is like renting a pre-built store – easy to set up and run. BigCommerce is a mix of both, offering more features and control than Shopify, but it might cost a bit more.

Let’s break down the pros and cons of each WooCommerce vs Shopify vs BigCommerce, so you can pick the best one for your online shop.

Key Takeways

• Customization and Flexibility: WooCommerce has more customization options for developers who need control, Shopify and BigCommerce have user-friendly interfaces with limited customization.
• Ease of Use: Shopify and BigCommerce are easy to use and great for beginners, WooCommerce requires more technical knowledge.
• Scalability: BigCommerce is more scalable and good for fast-growing businesses, Shopify and WooCommerce are also scalable but may need extra tweaks.
• Cost Structure: WooCommerce can be more cost-effective but has hidden costs for plugins and hosting. Shopify and BigCommerce have simple subscription models but can be more expensive at higher tiers.

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress that turns your WordPress site into an online store and allows you to sell products or services. Automattic (the same company that created WordPress.com) built the WooCommerce plugin. It’s got all the features and flexibility to create and manage an online store.

With WooCommerce you can set up an online store, customise the design and layout of your site, add products or services, set prices and shipping options and manage stock. It’s got a user-friendly interface and loads of extensions and themes to extend the functionality and look of the store.

What is Shopify?

Shopify is another eCommerce platform that allows individuals and businesses to create and manage online stores. Shopify offers a hosted solution, meaning it takes care of the technical aspects of running an online store, including web hosting, security, and software updates. This allows users to focus on their business and selling products or services rather than managing the infrastructure.

Furthermore, Shopify provides an app store with thousands of apps and extensions to enhance the functionality of the online store. These apps allow users to add features like customer reviews, email marketing, social media integration, and more.

Read Also:- WooCommerce vs Shopify

What is BigCommerce?

BigCommerce is an eCommerce platform offering comprehensive functionalities to help business owners develop and scale their eCommerce stores.

Like other eCommerce platforms, BigCommerce is a hosted solution that handles the technical aspects of running an online store, including web hosting, security, and software updates. This allows users to focus on business operations and selling products rather than managing the underlying infrastructure.

BigCommerce suits businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises. It offers scalability, allowing companies to grow and expand their operations without worrying about infrastructure limitations. The platform also provides robust security features and reliable performance to ensure customers a smooth and secure shopping experience.

After comparing the short overview of Shopify vs BigCommerce vs WooCommerce, you can now get a better idea about these eCommerce platforms. But the question is the same: Why can you choose WooCommerce, Shopify, or BigCommerce for your eCommerce site-building? Further, we review other features of these platforms. 

WooCommerce vs Shopify vs BigCommerce: Detailed Comparison

Key Takeaways Table: WooCommerce vs Shopify vs BigCommerce

For selecting any eCommerce platform, the best way is to compare their features and facilities, so if you want to know why Shopify, Bigcommerce, or WooCommerce, you need to choose, then read the blog till the end. 

Read Also:- Magento vs Shopify vs WooCommerce

#1: Security

When it comes to security, WooCommerce vs Shopify vs BigCommerce prioritizes the protection of their users’ online stores and customer data. Here’s a detailed comparison of the security features and measures offered by each platform:

WooCommerce

Since WooCommerce is a self-hosted solution, the security of your online store largely depends on your hosting provider. Choosing a reputable and secure hosting service is crucial to ensure your website’s protection.

WooCommerce regularly releases updates and patches to address security vulnerabilities and improve overall security. It’s essential to keep your WooCommerce plugin and other associated plugins up to date. Additionally, this eCommerce platform supports SSL encryption, allowing you to secure your store’s data transmission and protect sensitive customer information during transactions.

Shopify

As a fully hosted platform, Shopify takes care of security measures, including web hosting, data backups, and server maintenance. They have a robust infrastructure designed to protect stores from common security threats. Moreover, Shopify is certified as a Level 1 PCI DSS-compliant service provider. This means they meet the highest security standards and ensure secure payment processing. With all Shopify stores, you get a free SSL certificate to encrypt data transmission and secure customer information.

Additionally, Shopify handles all updates and patches, ensuring that your store’s software is up-to-date and protected against known vulnerabilities.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce hosts your online store on their servers and operates from secure data centers. They have multiple data centers with redundant systems to ensure high availability and protection against hardware failures. Like WooCommerce and Shopify, BigCommerce also provides free SSL certificates to secure your store and encrypt customer data during transactions.

Result

All three platforms take security seriously and implement measures to protect your online store and customer data. While WooCommerce’s security depends on your hosting provider, Shopify and BigCommerce offer fully hosted solutions with robust security features, including SSL encryption, regular updates, and PCI compliance.

#2: Flexibility

Regarding the flexibility factor of WooCommerce vs Shopify vs BigCommerce, it’s essential to consider factors such as customization options, scalability, and integration capabilities. Let’s see the detailed comparison of the flexibility offered by each platform:

WooCommerce:

WooCommerce is highly flexible and customizable since it is built as a WordPress plugin. Users have complete control over their website’s design, layout, and functionality. You can leverage the vast library of WordPress themes and plugins to customize your online store to meet specific needs.

Shopify

Shopify provides a range of professionally designed themes that can be customized to match your brand. Users can modify the layout, colors, and fonts using the built-in theme editor. While the customization options are not as extensive as WooCommerce, they still allow for a fair amount of flexibility without requiring coding knowledge.

Apart from this, Shopify offers an extensive app store with a wide variety of plugins and extensions. These apps allow users to add functionality to their store, such as marketing tools, customer support features, analytics, and integrations with other business systems.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce provides a selection of pre-designed templates that can be customized to align with your brand. Users can modify the templates using the built-in design editor, which offers options to change colors, fonts, and layouts. While less flexible than WooCommerce for design customization, it still provides decent flexibility for non-technical users.

Result

In terms of flexibility, all three platforms offer decent flexible options to accommodate the growth of your online business as a non-techie business owner. However, WooCommerce allows you full customization freedom with WordPress. So, you can give a life to your imagination. 

#3: Development Cost

The cost of development is a tricky question to find. Because for the eCommerce business, the development cost may decrease or increase according to your business size and requirements. When we compare WooCommerce vs Shopify vs BigCommerce, a general price can be calculated as follows: 

WooCommerce

Firstly the cost of the platform. As a free open-source, there are no upfront costs for using WooCommerce. However, depending on your specific needs, you may incur expenses related to hosting, domain registration, and premium themes or plugins.

Apart from that, WooCommerce offers both free and premium themes and plugins. While many free options are available, premium themes and plugins can have one-time or recurring costs. The prices can vary based on the features and functionalities offered.

Shopify

Shopify operates on a subscription-based model, meaning ongoing costs are associated with using the platform. Shopify offers different pricing plans, including Basic, Shopify, and Advanced Shopify, with varying features and transaction fees. Depending on your chosen plan, the costs can range from $29 to $299 per month.

And Shopify provides a variety of free and paid themes in its theme store. Premium themes typically have one-time costs ranging from $100 to $300. Additionally, there are numerous apps available in the Shopify App Store, with both free and paid options. The costs of paid apps can vary depending on the specific functionality required.

BigCommerce

Similar to Shopify, BigCommerce operates on a subscription-based model. It offers different pricing plans, including Standard, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise, with varying features and transaction fees. The costs range from $29.95 to $299.95 per month for standard plans. Enterprise plans have custom pricing based on individual requirements.

You can get free and paid theme options in BigCommerce. Premium themes typically have one-time costs ranging from $150 to $300. BigCommerce also offers an app marketplace with a range of free and paid apps to enhance your store’s functionality. The costs of paid apps can vary based on the specific features needed.

Result

WooCommerce has no upfront costs for the platform itself, but you may incur expenses for hosting, premium themes, and plugins. On the other hand, Shopify and BigCommerce operate on a subscription model, with ongoing monthly fees based on the plan you choose. Both platforms offer paid themes and apps that can add to the development costs. 

The overall development costs can varWooCommerce has no upfront costsas hosting choices, theme selection, and the need for additional features provided by premium themes or apps. However, contact a reliable eCommerce website development company if you want a detailed cost structure for your eCommerce website development project. They can explain to you all the actual costs for your whole eCommerce project.

Furthermore, you can contact our experts if you want to discuss what is best for your business website. We help you understand the market trend and select the most suitable eCommerce platform for you. Now let’s get back to the topic and understand the features’ comparison of Shopify vs BigCommerce vs WooCommerce. 

#4: Features

When comparing the features of WooCommerce, Shopify, and BigCommerce, we consider various aspects, including store management, product management, marketing tools, and integrations. 

WooCommerce

WooCommerce provides solid features for managing your online store, including inventory management, order management, customer profiles, and sales reports. It offers robust product management capabilities, allowing you to create and manage product catalogs, set pricing, manage variations and attributes, and apply discounts or coupons.

Additionally, WooCommerce has a vast ecosystem of plugins and integrations available, enabling you to extend the platform’s functionality. It integrates well with various payment gateways, shipping providers, and third-party services.

Shopify

Shopify offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface for managing your online store. It includes inventory management, order fulfillment, customer profiles, and analytics features. Additionally, Shopify provides robust product management tools, allowing you to easily add and manage products, set pricing, create product variations, and handle inventory tracking. However, you need to purchase an upper plan to scale your business. 

BigCommerce

With BigCommerce, you get fantastic store management features, including inventory management, order processing, customer management, reporting, and analytics. It also offers you good Product management capabilities according to your subscribed plan. 

Result

As mentioned earlier, these three platforms offer robust features for managing and operating an online store. In WooCommerce, you can easily scale your business as large as you want. But with Shopify and BigCOmmerce, you have to buy their plans. That is not very easy, but you need some support for this. So, the choice of platform depends on your specific needs, preferences, and technical expertise.

#5: Scalability

Several factors play a vital role in judging the scalability of WooCommerce, Shopify, and BigCommerce. Including the platform’s ability to handle high traffic, product catalogs, and the scalability options provided. Following is a detailed comparison of the scalability features offered by each platform:

WooCommerce

WooCommerce itself is highly scalable, allowing you to handle small to large-scale eCommerce operations. Its scalability largely depends on the hosting provider you choose. By selecting a reliable and scalable hosting provider, you can ensure that your online store can handle increased traffic and transaction volumes.

WooCommerce supports various caching and optimization plugins, such as page caching and database optimization plugins. These can help improve performance and handle increased traffic.

Shopify

Shopify is designed to handle scalability effectively. As a fully hosted platform, it provides the necessary infrastructure to handle high traffic and order volumes without requiring users to manage the underlying technical aspects.

With Shopify’s own server Infrastructure, you can ensure that your online store has the necessary resources to handle increased traffic and sales.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce offers scalable solutions to accommodate the growth of your online business. It provides various pricing plans with different features and resources to match your specific scalability needs.

Most importantly, BigCommerce hosts your online store on its infrastructure, which is designed to handle high traffic and transaction volumes. It operates from secure data centers with redundant systems to ensure high availability and performance.

Result

As you see, WooCommerce’s scalability depends on the hosting provider and server resources you choose. As a fully hosted platform, Shopify manages the underlying infrastructure and provides scalability out of the box. BigCommerce also offers scalable hosting solutions and optimizes its infrastructure to handle increased traffic and sales. So, it’s your time to understand which point you are looking for in selecting your eCommerce Platform.

Final Thought 

Choosing the most scalable platform depends on your specific needs and growth projections. We hope after reading this comparison blog of WooCommerce vs Shopify vs BigCommerce, you get a better idea about the one best for your business. 

However, if you are still confused and looking for a Professional eCommerce Web Development Company to help you, Pixlogix Infotech Pvt. Ltd. is here. We are India’s leading Web development Company that works with various technologies like Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, PrestaShop, and so on. So, if you want any help, feel free to contact our expert team. 

FAQs

Q1. What are the key differences between WooCommerce, Shopify, and BigCommerce?

Answer: WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin that turns a WordPress site into an eCommerce store. Shopify and BigCommerce are dedicated eCommerce platforms. WooCommerce offers more customization flexibility as it leverages the WordPress ecosystem, while Shopify and BigCommerce are more streamlined and user-friendly with built-in features and support.

Q2. Which platform is the most cost-effective?

Answer: WooCommerce itself is free, but you’ll need to pay for hosting, themes, and plugins. Shopify and BigCommerce have tiered pricing plans with varying features included. Shopify charges transaction fees unless you use Shopify Payments, while BigCommerce includes all features in their plans without extra transaction fees.

Q3. How easy is it to set up and use each platform?

Answer: Shopify and BigCommerce are known for their ease of use, with user-friendly interfaces and straightforward setup processes. WooCommerce requires more technical knowledge for setup and management since it’s a WordPress plugin, making it less beginner-friendly but more customizable.

Q4. What customization options are available on each platform?

Answer: WooCommerce offers extensive customization options through plugins and themes available in the WordPress ecosystem. Shopify has a wide range of themes and apps but is more limited compared to WooCommerce. BigCommerce offers a good balance with various themes and apps but may require more technical skills for deeper customization.

Q5. How do the SEO capabilities of each platform compare?

Answer: WooCommerce, being a part of WordPress, excels in SEO capabilities with numerous plugins available for optimization. Shopify offers built-in SEO features and additional apps for enhancement, while BigCommerce also provides robust SEO tools but may require more manual adjustments for optimization.

Q6. What are the differences in scalability between WooCommerce, Shopify, and BigCommerce?

Answer: Shopify and BigCommerce are highly scalable with their cloud-based infrastructure, handling large traffic volumes and transactions smoothly. WooCommerce can also be scalable, but it depends on your hosting provider and how well you manage resources and optimize your site.

Q7. How does each platform handle payments and transaction fees?

Answer: Shopify supports multiple payment gateways and has its own Shopify Payments, which eliminates transaction fees. BigCommerce also supports numerous payment gateways without extra transaction fees. WooCommerce supports a wide range of payment gateways through plugins, but transaction fees depend on the chosen gateway.

Q8. What support and resources are available for users on each platform?

Answer: Shopify and BigCommerce offer 24/7 customer support via chat, email, and phone. They also provide extensive documentation and community forums. WooCommerce relies on the WordPress community, with support available through forums, documentation, and third-party developers.

Q9. How do shipping and tax features compare across platforms?

Answer: All three platforms offer robust shipping and tax features. Shopify and BigCommerce have built-in solutions for real-time shipping rates and automatic tax calculations. WooCommerce requires additional plugins for these features but offers more flexibility in configuration.

Q10. Which platform is best suited for small businesses, and which for larger enterprises?

Answer: WooCommerce is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses looking for customization and control, especially if they already use WordPress. Shopify is great for businesses of all sizes, particularly those looking for ease of use and quick setup. BigCommerce is well-suited for larger enterprises that require advanced features and scalability without additional transaction fees.

These FAQs provide a comprehensive comparison of WooCommerce, Shopify, and BigCommerce, helping potential users understand the strengths and weaknesses of each platform.