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BigCommerce

Mid-market SaaS with the most open architecture of its tier.

  • Starting priceFrom $29/mo
  • ModelSaaS subscription
  • Sold toSmall business to enterprise
  • Last checkedOctober 2026

What merchants praise and criticise about BigCommerce106 merchant opinions analysed, October 2026

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BigCommerce at a glance

Commercial model
SaaS subscription
Architecture
IntegratedBack end and storefront ship as one product. APIs may exist, but the bundled storefront is the main way to sell.
Deployment
Cloud SaaS
Headless
Headless supportedOfficial headless APIs plus an official storefront framework or documented headless programme. Yes (Catalyst Next.js storefront, GraphQL Storefront API, Checkout SDK)
Founded
2009
Headquarters
Austin, Texas, USA

Who BigCommerce suits

Mid-market B2B and B2C merchants wanting SaaS convenience with more open architecture than Shopify.

Approximate fit by business scaleGuidance from vendor positioning and documented merchants, not a guarantee. Complexity matters as much as revenue.

  • Under $50K GMVPossible fit
  • $50K to $500KStrong fit
  • $500K to $10MStrong fit
  • $10M to $100MPossible fit
  • $100M+Less typical

Strong fit at $50K to $10M GMV.

Strengths

No platform fees on Embedded Payment Providers, strong B2B Edition, open APIs, Catalyst headless storefront, unlimited staff accounts.

Limitations

Smaller app ecosystem than Shopify, tier upgrades forced by GMV caps, fees on non-embedded payment providers, theme library less refined.

BigCommerce reviews: what merchants praise and criticise

From 106 merchant opinions in reviews and discussions we analysed, October 2026. App-store reviews are weighted to match each app's published star ratings, because people who write reviews are more often unhappy than people who only rate.

58% positive·28% negative·14% mixed

Weighted balance of merchant opinion.

Admin app, Google Play
4.5 from 463 ratings
Admin app, App Store
4.5 from 638 ratings

BigCommerce pros, from merchant reviews

Share of all praise in the opinions we analysed.

  • Mobile app

    79%

    Merchants in our sample describe the admin app as simple to use for checking orders, abandoned carts and store activity away from a desktop. Some use it daily, and individual notes mention barcode scanning, quick inventory edits on site and improved speed and reliability.

BigCommerce cons, from merchant reviews

Share of all criticism in the opinions we analysed.

  • Mobile app

    62%

    Merchants in our sample report that the admin app mainly shows orders and dashboards, lacking product editing, tracking number entry and sales figures. Others describe crashes when editing variant stock or prices, failed image uploads and rejected logins with credentials that work in the browser.

  • Support

    11%

    Merchants in our sample describe support tickets and repeated contacts left unresolved for months or years, and days spent unable to reach the vendor. Other reports cover a phone cancellation that was never processed and phone support declining to help with the vendor's own app.

Problems raised on support forums

Share of support-forum posts and help requests that name each problem area. Counted separately because people post on support forums when something has gone wrong.

  • Themes and design33%
  • Developer experience33%

BigCommerce pricing

From $29/mo

Published starting price for the software or plan only. It does not include hosting, apps, implementation, development or running costs.

Plans
Core $29, Growth $79, Scale $299 (billed yearly; monthly $39, $105, $399), each capped by trailing 12-month GMV and auto-upgrading. Performance plan custom, from $1,499/mo billed yearly.
Transaction fees
None with Embedded Payment Providers (BigCommerce Payments, Stripe, Adyen, PayPal and others); Open Payment Provider fee of 2.0% (Core), 1.0% (Growth), 0.6% (Scale) on other gateways
Billing
billed yearly; $39 billed monthly; plans capped by trailing 12-month GMV
Hosting included
Yes
Quote only
Top tier only

BigCommerce costs beyond the subscription

Share of merchant, developer and agency discussions about what BigCommerce costs to run that name each cost. A share of those discussions, not of all merchants.

  • Plan subscription58%
  • Platform transaction fees42%
  • Paid apps23%
  • Developers and agencies7%
  • POS hardware and add-ons3%
  • International selling3%

BigCommerce capabilities

Recorded as built in, in a paid tier or first-party module, through third-party apps only, or not documented.

  • B2B / wholesale

    Higher tier

    Paid tier or first-party module. Documented: Company accounts, Customer-specific pricing, Quotes, Net payment terms.

    In our research, merchants report needing a higher plan, a developer or an app, most often a higher plan.

  • Multi-currency

    Built in

    Built in.

  • Multi-language

    Built in

    Built in.

  • Multi-store

    Built in

    Built in.

  • Point of sale

    Via partners

    Partner integrations.

    In our research, merchants report needing an app, most often an app.

  • Subscriptions

    Via apps

    Third-party apps only.

  • Multi-vendor marketplace

    Via apps

    Third-party apps only.

Where BigCommerce needs an app, developer or higher plan

Named in at least three separate discussions in our research.

  • In-person sellingan app

BigCommerce market position and merchants

36,542 live stores, down 11% year on year (Store Leads, Sep 2026).

Documented merchants

  • AS Colour
  • Berlin Packaging
  • Kokatat
  • TheBattery.com

From vendor case studies or platform signals on the merchant's live site. Examples, not endorsements.

Platforms to compare with BigCommerce

Sold to the same segment, ordered by how many of the same capabilities the vendor provides.