Shopify vs BigCommerce for WooCommerce migrants (2026)
Comparing Shopify and BigCommerce as migration targets for WooCommerce stores — features, pricing, product limits, apps, and which platform is right for your store.
If you're leaving WooCommerce for a hosted platform, Shopify and BigCommerce are the two most serious options. Both are significantly more scalable than a self-hosted WooCommerce setup, both are SaaS (no server management), and both have WooCommerce migration paths. But they're built for different types of stores. Here's the honest comparison for 2026.
Shopify vs BigCommerce: key comparison
| Feature | Shopify | BigCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $29/mo (Basic) | $29/mo (Standard) |
| Transaction fees | 2% (Basic) if not using Shopify Payments; 0% with Shopify Payments | 0% on all plans |
| Products per store | No limit | No limit |
| Variants per product | 100 (3 options) | 600 (max 250 per option, 3 options) |
| Product options (SKU-creating) | 3 (hard limit) | 3 (standard), more via modifiers |
| Product modifiers (non-SKU options) | Apps required (Infinite Options) | Built-in modifiers (text, file upload, swatch) |
| Multi-currency | Shopify Markets (built-in) | Built-in multi-currency |
| Multi-language | Translate & Adapt app (free) + Weglot | Stencil themes support multi-language; Weglot integration |
| B2B/wholesale features | Shopify Plus ($2,300/mo) | Built-in B2B features on Enterprise plan ($400/mo) |
| App ecosystem | 10,000+ apps | ~1,000 apps |
| Headless commerce | Hydrogen (React) + Storefront API | Stencil + GraphQL + Channels Toolkit |
| Checkout customization | Checkout Extensions (Plus: Checkout Extensibility) | Full checkout customization included |
| SEO control | Good (meta, canonical, structured data) | Excellent (full URL control, 301s, faceted filtering SEO) |
| Built-in features | Leans on apps for many features | More built-in (gifting, coupons, loyalty basics) |
| WooCommerce migration tools | Matrixify, LitExtension, k-sync | Cart2Cart, LitExtension, manual import |
Pricing comparison in detail
Shopify
- Basic: $29/mo — 2% transaction fee if not using Shopify Payments
- Shopify: $79/mo — 1% transaction fee
- Advanced: $299/mo — 0.5% transaction fee
- Plus: $2,300+/mo — no transaction fees, advanced B2B
The transaction fee is the hidden cost of Shopify. In the US, UK, and most markets where Shopify Payments is available, you pay 0% (just credit card processing fees from Shopify Payments). But if Shopify Payments isn't available in your country or you use a third-party payment gateway, transaction fees add up significantly at volume.
BigCommerce
- Standard: $29/mo — 0% transaction fee (all plans)
- Plus: $79/mo — includes cart abandonment, segmentation
- Pro: $299/mo — Google customer reviews, Google Shopping, custom SSL
- Enterprise: custom pricing (starts ~$400/mo) — B2B, priority support
BigCommerce charges 0% transaction fees on all plans regardless of payment gateway. For high-volume stores on countries where Shopify Payments isn't available (many LatAm, Asia-Pacific countries), BigCommerce can be meaningfully cheaper.
BigCommerce does have an annual GMV cap per plan — if your annual GMV exceeds $400K you're pushed from Standard to Plus. At $1.5M GMV+ you move to Pro. Shopify has no GMV caps.
When Shopify is the better choice
- App ecosystem depth: Shopify has 10x more apps than BigCommerce. For marketing apps (Klaviyo, Loyalty, Reviews, Upsell), Shopify is the primary integration target — you get the best features and fastest updates.
- Ease of use: Shopify's admin is considered the gold standard for ecommerce UX. Easier for non-technical staff.
- POS: Shopify POS is far more mature and better-supported than BigCommerce's POS options.
- International commerce: Shopify Markets is more polished for multi-market selling than BigCommerce's approach.
- Shopify Payments availability: If you're in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, or EU and want integrated payments with 0% transaction fees — Shopify Payments is seamless.
- Store complexity: Standard DTC (direct-to-consumer) stores benefit from Shopify's simplicity and extensive app ecosystem.
When BigCommerce is the better choice
- Complex products: 600 variants per product (vs Shopify's 100), plus built-in product modifiers that don't create SKUs. For stores with configurable products (engravable items, custom text, personalization fields), BigCommerce is dramatically better natively.
- Non-Shopify Payments countries: If you're in a country without Shopify Payments and need to use a third-party gateway — BigCommerce has no transaction fees.
- B2B/wholesale (non-Plus): BigCommerce has better native B2B features at the $400/mo Enterprise tier vs Shopify requiring $2,300+/mo for Plus.
- Checkout customization: BigCommerce's checkout is fully customizable on all plans without Plus requirement.
- Open-source elements: BigCommerce's Stencil theme framework gives more customization control.
- Faceted search/filtering SEO: BigCommerce handles canonical URLs for faceted search natively — important for category pages with size/color filters.
Migration path from WooCommerce
To Shopify
- Tools: k-sync, Matrixify, LitExtension, Cart2Cart
- WooCommerce REST API → Shopify Admin REST/GraphQL API
- Well-documented migration path with many community resources
- Most migration tools were built for WooCommerce→Shopify first
To BigCommerce
- Tools: Cart2Cart, LitExtension, BigCommerce's own migration guides
- WooCommerce REST API → BigCommerce V2/V3 API
- Fewer dedicated migration tools compared to Shopify
- BigCommerce's import tool handles products and customers via CSV
Verdict for WooCommerce migrants
Choose Shopify if:
- You're in a Shopify Payments country
- Your store is DTC-focused with standard products
- Your marketing stack depends on Klaviyo, Okendo, Gorgias, or other Shopify-first apps
- You want POS for retail
- Your products have ≤3 options and ≤100 variants
- Ease of use is a priority for your team
Choose BigCommerce if:
- You have products with 4+ configurable options (engravable items, customization)
- You need to use a third-party payment gateway and transaction fees matter
- You're a B2B/wholesale store that doesn't want to pay for Shopify Plus
- Checkout customization is critical to your conversion strategy
- Your GMV is high enough that BigCommerce's plan tiers are more cost-effective
For the majority of WooCommerce stores migrating to a hosted platform in 2026, Shopify is the more practical choice — the ecosystem depth, migration tooling, and operational maturity make it the industry default. BigCommerce is the right answer for specific product complexity and pricing scenarios that Shopify doesn't handle as well.
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