How long is the BigCommerce free trial?

BigCommerce offers a fully functional 15-day free trial. That is long enough to compare its checkout with Shopify's 3-day trial and Squarespace's 14-day trial side by side, so start the trials in the same week if you are hesitating between platforms.

Which payment providers avoid the BigCommerce Open Payment Provider fee?

The providers on BigCommerce's embedded list avoid it, including BigCommerce Payments, Stripe, PayPal, Braintree, Adyen, Checkout.com, Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm and Worldpay. Any provider missing from that list, such as Square, is treated as an Open Payment Provider and its orders pay the fee on self-serve plans.

Do I get a refund if I cancel BigCommerce mid-term?

No. Under BigCommerce's terms, cancelling ends the service, any fees you still owe become due at once, no subscription or usage fee is refunded pro rata, and BigCommerce may delete your archived data within 30 days. On an annual plan, keep the store open until the paid period ends, and export products, customers and orders as CSV files before you cancel, not after.

Does BigCommerce check each store separately?

Yes. If you run several stores on one account, each store is evaluated independently against its plan's threshold, and you may receive a separate notification per store. A brand with two stores on one account can see one upgraded while the other stays on Core.

When does BigCommerce move a store to the Performance plan?

Once trailing 12-month GMV reaches $2 million, a Scale account automatically upgrades to Performance. Performance uses custom pricing starting at $1,499 a month billed annually, and its contracted terms are the only ones without the Open Payment Provider fee.

Does BigCommerce Core still include phone support?

No. Since the 2026 plan change, phone support is included on Growth, Scale and Performance, and Core customers have to add it separately; chat and email support stay on every plan. If you rely on calls, price Core with that add-on before you compare it with Shopify Basic, which lists 24/7 live chat support.

Is PrestaShop really open source?

Yes. The PrestaShop core is licensed under OSL-3.0 and its modules under AFL-3.0, both open source licenses. You can read, change and host the code yourself; only the Hosted offer, from €24 a month excluding VAT on annual payment, is a paid subscription.

Can I sell with Ecwid without a website?

Yes. The $5 Starter plan comes with a default company.site domain, so you can sell before you own a site. Venture, at $29 a month billed annually, raises the cap to 100 products and adds Instagram and Facebook selling.

BigCommerce Alternatives

Six ecommerce platforms to replace BigCommerce, hosted or open source.

Short answer: Shopify is the closest swap if you want a hosted store with the biggest app choice, at the same list prices as BigCommerce with plans that differ by features rather than by sales thresholds. WooCommerce is the pick if you want to own your store on WordPress, Wix and Squarespace suit small catalogs that need a good-looking site, Ecwid adds a shop to a site you already have from $5 a month, and PrestaShop is the open source route for developers. We compared six BigCommerce alternatives on monthly and annual price, fees on orders, sales thresholds and what each does better than BigCommerce.

Romain CochardCEO of Hack'celeration

Updated 20266alternatives compared5criteria each2026prices read on pricing pages

The ranking is editorial: a sponsored placement is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.

The honest take

Why merchants look past BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a solid hosted platform: native B2B tools, multi-storefront, headless options and over 1,200 apps. Most merchants who leave in 2026 are not unhappy with the software. They are unhappy with the bill. In 2026, BigCommerce renamed its plans (Standard became Core, Plus became Growth, Pro became Scale), set new sales thresholds and added a fee on orders paid through gateways outside its own list. Some stores saw no change. Others saw a higher plan, a new fee, or both. Here are the reasons we see most, each with the number behind it.

If you are starting from zero rather than migrating, our best ecommerce platform ranking starts one step earlier. Staying for now? You can still connect BigCommerce with Make to export orders and customers on a schedule, which makes any later move easier.

Sales thresholds force plan upgrades

Every self-serve plan is tied to your trailing 12-month sales. Core ($39 a month, or $29 billed annually) covers up to $30K, down from $50K on the old Standard plan; Growth ($105, or $79 billed annually) covers up to $100K, down from $180K on Plus. Cross the line and the plan auto-upgrades: on monthly billing, going from Core to Growth adds $66 a month, or $792 a year, whatever features you actually use.

The threshold arrives sooner than you think

BigCommerce measures sales as GMV, which it defines as gross order value minus 10%. That means the $30K Core limit is reached at about $33,333 of gross orders, and the check runs on the first of each month. Paying annually does not freeze your plan either: auto-upgrades can happen during an annual service period, with the price difference applied at the time of the upgrade.

A new fee on your own gateway

Orders processed through a provider outside the Embedded Payment Provider list now pay an Open Payment Provider fee: 2.0% of that GMV on Core, 1.0% on Growth, 0.6% on Scale. On Core, $25,000 a year of such orders costs $450 after the 10% reduction. The fee is calculated on the prior calendar month and billed monthly, even if your subscription is billed annually.

Offline and purchase-order sales pay too

The fee also covers orders processed outside the platform, including manual or offline payment methods such as purchase orders. For a wholesaler who takes most B2B orders on invoice, this turns a fixed subscription into a cost that grows with every order typed in by hand, which is exactly the use case BigCommerce sells hardest.

Scale charges on every dollar above the cap

Scale costs $399 a month, or $299 billed annually, for up to $33,333 of monthly GMV, then 0.9% on everything above. A store doing $50,000 a month of GMV adds about $150 a month in overage, so $549 on monthly billing. Above $2 million of trailing sales, the account moves to Performance, custom pricing from $1,499 a month billed annually.

Merchants say support got harder to reach

Public reviews from 2026 repeat the same story: invoices that jumped after the plan change, a 1% charge on offline transactions that surprised small sellers, and emails and calls about the change left unanswered. One merchant wrote that the new structure "increased our plan fees by 169 percent". Those are individual accounts, but they explain why searches for alternatives rose.

Closest hosted swap

Shopify

4.4/5

Price from$39/mo (Basic), or $29/mo billed annually

Free planNo

Trial3-day free trial, then $1/month for 3 months on most plans

Best forDirect-to-consumer brands that want a hosted store, the largest app choice and plans sold by features.

Shopify is the alternative most merchants compare first, and the list prices make that easy: Basic costs $39 a month or $29 billed annually, Grow $105 or $79, Advanced $399 or $299. Those are the same numbers as BigCommerce Core, Growth and Scale. The difference is what moves you up. Shopify plans differ by features, staff accounts and card rates, so you choose when to upgrade.

Card rates start at 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic, 2.7% on Grow and 2.5% on Advanced with Shopify Payments. The trade-off sits in the gateway: if you keep a third-party payment provider, Shopify charges 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced, the same percentages as BigCommerce's new Open Payment Provider fee. Basic includes no additional staff accounts, Grow up to 5 and Advanced up to 15. Shopify Plus, for complex businesses, starts at $2,300 a month; for a migration that size, our Shopify Plus agency ranking lists the partners to brief. If you plan to automate orders into other tools, see how to connect Shopify with Make.

Standout features

Same list prices as BigCommerce Core, Growth and Scale
Third-party gateway fee of 2%, 1% or 0.6% by plan
Up to 15 staff accounts on Advanced
Plus from $2,300 a month for complex businesses

+Pros

✓Over 16,000 apps in the Shopify App Store
✓Card rates drop to 2.5% + 30¢ on Advanced
✓You choose when to change plan

−Cons

✗No additional staff accounts on Basic
✗Keeping your own gateway costs 2% on Basic
✗Shopify B2B is capped at 3 catalogs below Plus, which starts at $2,300 a month

Shopify vs BigCommerce

Criterion	Shopify	BigCommerce
Entry price, monthly	$39/mo	$39/mo
Entry price, annual	$29/mo	$29/mo
Sales threshold on entry plan	None, plans differ by features	$30K trailing 12 months
Fee with your own gateway	2% on Basic	2% on Core

Verdict

Pick Shopify when you sell direct to consumers and want the plan to stay put as sales grow. Stay on BigCommerce if most of your revenue is B2B on purchase orders and you need more than 3 B2B catalogs without paying $2,300 a month. Thinking of leaving later? Our Shopify switching guide shows the next step.

See Shopify plans →

Best if you want to own your store

WooCommerce

4.0/5

Price fromFree plugin; hosting $25 to $350/mo for most stores

Free planYes

TrialFree core plugin, no time limit

Best forMerchants with a WordPress site, or a developer on hand, who want no platform fee and full control over their code and data.

WooCommerce is the open source answer to BigCommerce: a free plugin that turns a WordPress site into a store. There is no monthly platform subscription and no revenue share, so the sales thresholds that push BigCommerce merchants from Core to Growth simply do not exist here. You pay for what you choose around it. WooCommerce puts hosting at $25 to $350 a month for most stores, and paid extensions at $29 to $299 a year each. Card payments through WooPayments run at roughly 2.50% to 2.90% + 30¢ per transaction.

On $25 hosting, a year of WooCommerce costs $300 against $468 for BigCommerce Core on monthly billing; managed hosting, five or six paid extensions and someone to keep it updated can reverse that. The real cost is time: updates, plugin conflicts, backups and security are yours to handle. If WordPress is already your home, the move is natural, and our WooCommerce training covers the setup. If not, compare it with the hosted options above. To sync orders with a CRM or a sheet, see how to connect WooCommerce with Make.

Standout features

Free core plugin, released under the GPL
No platform fee or revenue share
Hosting $25 to $350 a month for most stores
Extensions $29 to $299 a year each

+Pros

✓No sales threshold and no fee on your own gateway
✓Full ownership of code, data and hosting
✓Thousands of WordPress themes and plugins

−Cons

✗Updates, security and backups are your job
✗Paid extensions add up quickly
✗No single support desk for the whole stack

WooCommerce vs BigCommerce

Criterion	WooCommerce	BigCommerce
Platform price	Free plugin	$39/mo (Core)
Hosting	$25 to $350/mo, your choice	Included
Sales threshold	None	$30K on Core
Fee with your own gateway	None	2% on Core

Verdict

Pick WooCommerce when you already run WordPress or have a developer, and want a store no plan change can touch. Choose another option if nobody on your team wants to handle updates and hosting: Shopify or Wix will cost less in hours. Already on WooCommerce and tired of it? See our WooCommerce switching guide.

See WooCommerce costs →

Best for a small catalog with a strong website

Wix

4.0/5

Price from$29/mo (Core) or $39/mo (Business), billed yearly

Free planNo

TrialFree website builder; payments need a paid plan

Best forSmall businesses whose website matters as much as the shop, with a catalog of a few dozen products.

Wix is a website builder first, with ecommerce added on its paid plans, and that is the reason to pick it over BigCommerce. You can build a site for free, but selling starts on Core, at $29 a month billed yearly, with "Accept payments" and basic eCommerce, 50 GB of storage and 5 site collaborators. Business, at $39 a month billed yearly, moves to standard eCommerce, 100 GB and 10 collaborators. Business Elite, at $159 a month, brings advanced eCommerce, unlimited storage and 100 collaborators. Prices displayed are for yearly subscriptions paid in full at purchase.

Against BigCommerce, Wix is about the same price as Core on annual billing and much easier to design with: a drag and drop editor, templates for every trade and booking tools for service businesses. What you give up is depth. Product options, B2B price lists and multi-storefront are thinner, and a large catalog gets harder to manage. To push orders into other tools, see how to connect Wix with Make.

Standout features

Selling starts on Core, $29 a month billed yearly
50 GB storage and 5 collaborators on Core
Business Elite with advanced eCommerce at $159 a month billed yearly
Bookings and services built in

+Pros

✓Easiest editor of the six for a non-designer
✓Website, blog and shop in one tool
✓Free domain for one year on paid plans

−Cons

✗Shown prices are yearly, paid upfront
✗Thinner catalog and B2B tools than BigCommerce
✗Moving a Wix site elsewhere later means rebuilding the design

Wix vs BigCommerce

Criterion	Wix	BigCommerce
Entry selling plan, annual	$29/mo (Core)	$29/mo (Core)
Next plan, annual	$39/mo (Business)	$79/mo (Growth)
Sales threshold	None, plans differ by features	$30K on Core
Collaborators on entry plan	5	Staff accounts included

Verdict

Pick Wix when your site sells the brand and the shop is a part of it, with a catalog you can count. Choose Shopify or stay on BigCommerce if you run thousands of SKUs or sell to companies on price lists. Already outgrowing Wix? Our Wix switching guide covers the move.

See Wix plans →

Best design for a small store with 0% platform fee

Squarespace

3.9/5

Price from$39/mo (Core), or $29/mo billed annually

Free planNo

Trial14-day free trial

Best forCreators and boutique brands who sell a small catalog and care most about how the store looks.

Squarespace is the design-led alternative. Its templates are the most polished of the six, and from Core upward it takes no fees on online store transactions: you pay card rates only, from 2.9% + $0.30 on Core down to 2.5% + $0.30 on Advanced. Core costs $39 a month or $29 billed annually, Plus $65 or $49, Advanced $139 or $99. Paying annually saves up to 36%, and the 14-day trial is enough to rebuild a few product pages before you pay.

Compared with BigCommerce, Squarespace Core has the same $39 monthly and $29 annual price, and its four plans differ by features and card rates. It is lighter on catalog tools: fewer product options, no native B2B, a smaller app store. Choose it for a store of a few dozen products where the brand does the selling. To connect orders to email or accounting, see how to connect Squarespace with Make.

Standout features

No fees on online store transactions from Core
Card rates from 2.5% + $0.30 on Advanced
Save up to 36% on annual billing
14-day free trial

+Pros

✓The best-looking templates of the six
✓Core includes a free year of Google Workspace email
✓Four plans sold by features and card rates

−Cons

✗Catalog and inventory tools stay basic
✗No native B2B pricing or purchase orders
✗Smaller extension store than Shopify or BigCommerce

Squarespace vs BigCommerce

Criterion	Squarespace	BigCommerce
Entry selling plan, monthly	$39/mo (Core)	$39/mo (Core)
Entry selling plan, annual	$29/mo	$29/mo
Platform fee on store orders	None from Core	2% on Core with an Open Payment Provider
Free trial	14 days	15 days

Verdict

Pick Squarespace when the look of the store matters more than the depth of the catalog, and you sell a few dozen products. Choose Shopify instead if you need many apps or a big inventory. Leaving Squarespace later? See our Squarespace switching guide.

See Squarespace plans →

Cheapest way to add a shop to an existing site

Ecwid

3.8/5

Price from$5/mo (Starter); Venture $35/mo, or $29/mo billed annually

Free planNo

TrialStarter from $5 a month

Best forSmall sellers who already have a website, a social page or a blog and want a store widget, not a new platform.

Ecwid, owned by Lightspeed, is a store you embed: you add it to a site you already have (WordPress, Wix, Squarespace or plain HTML), or use its default company.site address. That makes it the lightest BigCommerce alternative here. Starter costs $5 a month for up to 10 products, email support and no staff accounts. Venture, at $35 a month or $29 billed annually, allows 100 products plus e-goods and adds Instagram and Facebook selling. Business ($65, or $49 billed annually) goes to 2,500 products with 2 staff accounts, and Unlimited ($149, or $119 billed annually) removes the product cap.

Ecwid charges no setup or transaction fees on any plan; card processing and some marketplace apps cost extra. Against BigCommerce, the logic is reversed: Ecwid plans count products, BigCommerce plans count sales. The flip side: a product cap of 100 on Venture is reached quickly, and design depends on the site you embed it in.

Standout features

Starter at $5 a month for 10 products
No setup or transaction fees on any plan
Embeds in a site you already own
Product caps: 10, 100, 2,500, then unlimited

+Pros

✓Cheapest paid entry point of the six
✓Caps on products, not on sales
✓Sells on Instagram and Facebook from Venture

−Cons

✗Starter is capped at 10 products
✗100-product cap on Venture
✗Store design depends on the host site

Ecwid vs BigCommerce

Criterion	Ecwid	BigCommerce
Entry price, monthly	$5/mo (Starter)	$39/mo (Core)
What the plan caps	Products (10 on Starter)	Sales ($30K on Core)
Platform transaction fee	None	2% on Core with an Open Payment Provider
Staff accounts	From Business (2)	Included

Verdict

Pick Ecwid when you sell fewer than 100 products and already have a site you like. Choose Shopify or WooCommerce instead once the catalog passes 2,500 products, or when you need a full storefront with its own apps and themes rather than a widget.

See Ecwid plans →

Best open source option for developers

PrestaShop

3.7/5

Price fromFree download; Hosted from €24/mo excl. VAT billed annually

Free planYes

TrialHosted: 14-day free trial

Best forMerchants with a developer or an agency who want an open source store they host and change at will.

PrestaShop is an open source ecommerce platform from France, used by around 250,000 merchants. Classic is a free download: you install it on your own hosting, and hosting and domain costs are not included. Hosted is the managed version, from €24 a month excluding VAT on annual payment, or €29 with no commitment, with 50 GB of hosting at Gandi, store installation, automatic VAT calculation by customer country and 6-day support by email or phone. Prices are shown in euros, so a US merchant pays in euros plus any card conversion fee.

Against BigCommerce, PrestaShop removes the sales thresholds and the Open Payment Provider fee and gives you the source code. You add unlimited products and pick modules from its marketplace. The trade is the same as WooCommerce, with a smaller US community: modules are paid one by one, updates need care, and you will want one of the 250-plus certified agencies for anything custom. To link orders with your other tools, see how to connect PrestaShop with Make.

Standout features

Free download, open source core
Hosted from €24 a month excl. VAT, billed annually
Unlimited products
Automatic VAT by customer country on Hosted

+Pros

✓No platform fee on any gateway
✓Full access to the source code
✓Strong fit for stores selling into Europe

−Cons

✗Prices shown in euros, not dollars
✗Paid modules add up for each feature
✗Smaller US agency and support network than WooCommerce

PrestaShop vs BigCommerce

Criterion	PrestaShop	BigCommerce
Self-hosted price	Free download	Not available
Managed price, annual	€24/mo excl. VAT	$29/mo (Core)
Sales threshold	None	$30K on Core
Products	Unlimited	Plan features vary

Verdict

Pick PrestaShop when you have a developer and sell into Europe, where VAT handling and euro pricing help. Choose WooCommerce instead if your team already knows WordPress, or Shopify if nobody wants to touch code. Already on PrestaShop? Our PrestaShop switching guide lists where people go next.

See PrestaShop offers →

At a glance

6 BigCommerce alternatives compared

The six platforms side by side, with what each charges or caps instead of BigCommerce's sales thresholds and Open Payment Provider fee, which is where most BigCommerce bills grew in 2026. Scores come from our comparison of ease of use, value, features, support and integrations. Prices are those each pricing page shows in 2026; most of these pages open on annual billing, so each price below says which billing it uses. Compare the BigCommerce side with Core at $39 a month or $29 billed annually.

		Best for	Instead of BigCommerce's sales cap and gateway fee			Free plan	Team size	Visit
1	Shopify	Closest hosted swap	2% / 1% / 0.6% with a third-party gateway; no sales cap	4.4/5	$39/mo (Basic), or $29/mo billed annually	—	DTC brands	Visit →
2	WooCommerce	Best if you want to own your store	None: free plugin, you pay hosting	4.0/5	Free plugin; hosting $25 to $350/mo for most stores	✓	WordPress stores	Visit →
3	Wix	Best for a small catalog with a strong website	Plans differ by features, not sales	4.0/5	$29/mo (Core) or $39/mo (Business), billed yearly	—	Small catalogs	Visit →
4	Squarespace	Best design for a small store with 0% platform fee	No fees on store orders from Core	3.9/5	$39/mo (Core), or $29/mo billed annually	—	Design-led shops	Visit →
5	Ecwid	Cheapest way to add a shop to an existing site	No transaction fees; caps on products	3.8/5	$5/mo (Starter); Venture $35/mo, or $29/mo billed annually	—	Existing websites	Visit →
6	PrestaShop	Best open source option for developers	None: open source, self-hosted or Hosted	3.7/5	Free download; Hosted from €24/mo excl. VAT billed annually	✓	Developers and EU sellers	Visit →

Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com

Pick by your reason

You're leaving BigCommerce because... take this

You were auto-upgraded after crossing $30KShopify

Same list prices, plans change by features, not by sales.

The 2% fee on your own gateway hurtsWooCommerce

No platform fee; you pay hosting from $25 a month.

You mostly need a beautiful siteSquarespace

No fees on store orders from Core, $29 a month billed annually.

You sell under 100 productsEcwid

Venture at $29 a month billed annually, no transaction fees.

You want a site, bookings and a shop in oneWix

Core at $29 a month billed yearly includes payments.

You want the source code and sell in EuropePrestaShop

Free download, or Hosted from €24 a month excl. VAT.

Buyer's guide

How to choose a BigCommerce alternative

An ecommerce platform is the software that runs your online store: the catalog, the cart and checkout, payments, orders, taxes, shipping rules and the storefront your customers see. There are two families. Hosted (SaaS) platforms such as Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Ecwid and BigCommerce rent you all of it for a monthly fee, including hosting, security and updates. Open source platforms such as WooCommerce and PrestaShop give you the code for free, and you pay for hosting, extensions and the time to run them. In both cases, you also pay card processing on every order. Before comparing names, write down which unit your business will grow in next year: sales, orders, products or staff. Each platform bills on a different one. For more options in one place, see our ecommerce platforms for small business, the B2B ecommerce platform ranking and our website builders for ecommerce.

Know the unit you are billed on

BigCommerce bills on GMV, Ecwid on products (10, 100, 2,500 or unlimited), Wix and Squarespace on features, Shopify on features, staff accounts and card rates. WooCommerce and PrestaShop bill on nothing at all, but your host bills on traffic and storage. A store with a small catalog and big sales is cheap on Ecwid and expensive on BigCommerce; a store with 5,000 products and modest sales is the reverse.

Separate three kinds of fees

A card processing rate is paid on every order: 2.89% + $0.29 on BigCommerce, 2.9% + 30¢ on Shopify Basic, 2.9% + $0.30 on Squarespace Core. A platform fee is what the software takes on top: BigCommerce now takes 2% on Core for orders outside its embedded providers, Shopify 2% on Basic with a third-party gateway, Squarespace none from Core, Ecwid none. An overage is a charge above a cap, like Scale's 0.9% above $33,333 a month. Ask for all three in writing before you move.

Compare on twelve months, same billing

BigCommerce Core costs $468 a year on monthly billing and $348 billed annually; Growth costs $1,260 or $948. Shopify Basic and Squarespace Core show the same $468 and $348. Ecwid Venture is $420 on monthly billing or $348 billed annually. WooCommerce has no platform bill, but hosting at $25 to $350 a month is $300 to $4,200 a year. Never compare an annual price with a monthly one.

Demand a clean exit before you commit

Ask how you get products, customers and orders out as CSV files, how URL redirects work, and what happens to your plan mid-term. Plan for 301 redirects from every old product URL, or you lose search traffic built over years. Keep product images and descriptions in a copy you control, whatever platform you choose.

Other names you will see

Several guides also list Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source (enterprise depth, quote-based pricing for the commercial edition, a developer team required), Shift4Shop (no price grid on its pricing page), Volusion and Weebly (smaller, older builders), Square Online (best if you already use Square in store), Big Cartel (artists: a free, limited Gold plan, then $15 a month or $12 billed annually), Webflow Ecommerce (design-led, from $29 a month billed yearly for 500 items, with a 2% transaction fee on that Standard plan) and Shopware (from €600 a month on Rise), plus enterprise suites such as Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Elastic Path and Sana Commerce, sold on quotes to large B2B and B2C teams. They fit narrower needs, so we kept them out of the ranking.

FAQ · 8 questions