Shopify vs BigCommerce Which is Better in 2024?

As an e-commerce consultant with years of experience under my belt, I've had the opportunity to work extensively with both Shopify and BigCommerce. In 2024, these two platforms continue to be leading choices for online retailers, each with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. Understanding the difference between Shopify and BigCommerce is crucial for making an informed decision for your business. 

I've set up countless stores, guided numerous businesses through the selection process, and even migrated stores between these platforms. This Shopify vs BigCommerce comparison will help you understand the key differences between these popular e-commerce platforms aimed at helping you make the best choice for your online business in 2024.

1. Ease of Use

When it comes to user-friendliness, both Shopify and BigCommerce have made significant strides over the years.

Shopify

In my experience, Shopify continues to excel in user-friendliness. The platform's intuitive interface has always been a strong point, and in 2024, it's even better. I recently helped a tech-shy client launch her artisanal soap business on Shopify, and she was amazed at how quickly we got her store up and running.

The dashboard is clean and well-organized, making it easy to find what you need. The step-by-step setup wizard is particularly helpful for newcomers. I've found that most of my clients can handle day-to-day store management with minimal assistance after the initial setup.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce has made notable improvements in its user interface over the years. While I used to find it slightly more complex than Shopify, the gap has narrowed significantly in 2024. The platform now offers a more streamlined setup process and a cleaner dashboard.

One area where BigCommerce shines is its built-in features. I've noticed that I need to install fewer apps on BigCommerce stores compared to Shopify, which can make the initial setup more straightforward for some businesses.

Winner: Shopify, but by a narrow margin. Its slightly more intuitive interface gives it an edge, especially for complete beginners.

2. Design and Customization

The ability to create a unique and branded store is crucial for many of my clients.

Shopify

Shopify's theme store offers a wide variety of professionally designed templates. In 2024, they've continued to expand their selection of mobile-responsive and customizable themes. I recently used their new AI-powered theme customizer for a client's fashion store, and it significantly sped up the design process.

For deeper customizations, Shopify uses its own templating language, Liquid. While powerful, I've found there's a learning curve involved. For one project, we needed a highly customized product page, which required hiring a Shopify expert.

For businesses requiring even more flexibility and advanced customization options, choosing headless Shopify has become an increasingly popular approach. This decoupled architecture separates the front-end presentation layer from the back-end e-commerce functionality, allowing for greater design freedom and the ability to create unique user experiences across multiple touchpoints.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce has made significant strides in its theme offerings. Their theme store now rivals Shopify's in terms of quality and variety. What I particularly appreciate about BigCommerce is its use of standard technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for theme customization. This has made it easier for me to make advanced modifications without learning a proprietary language.

BigCommerce's Page Builder has also improved dramatically. For a recent client in the home decor niche, we were able to create stunning, unique pages without touching any code.

Winner: Tie. Shopify has a slight edge in out-of-the-box designs, but BigCommerce offers more flexibility for customizations without learning a new language.

3. Features and Functionality

When you compare Shopify vs BigCommerce, you'll notice some key differences in their feature sets. 

Shopify

Shopify's core feature set covers most e-commerce needs right out of the box. Features I frequently use include:

• Unlimited products
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Multi-channel selling (social media, marketplaces)
• Shopify POS for offline selling

The Shopify App Store is a major strength. With thousands of apps available, I've always been able to find solutions for my clients' specific needs. For instance, I recently used a custom product builder app for a client selling personalized jewelry, which wasn't available as a built-in feature.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce tends to offer more built-in features compared to Shopify. Some standout features I've utilized include:

• Product filtering and search
• Customer groups and segmentation
• Built-in product ratings and reviews
• Multi-currency selling

I've found that BigCommerce's native features often eliminate the need for additional apps, which can lead to better performance and lower overall costs. For a client with a complex B2B store, BigCommerce's built-in B2B features were a game-changer.

Winner: BigCommerce, for its more comprehensive built-in feature set. However, Shopify's extensive app ecosystem means you can add almost any functionality you need.

4. SEO and Marketing

Effective SEO and marketing tools are crucial for driving traffic and sales.

Shopify

Shopify provides a solid foundation for SEO with:

• Customizable title tags, meta descriptions, and URLs
• Automatic sitemap generation
• Built-in blog functionality

I've had great success optimizing Shopify stores for search engines. However, I've sometimes found the URL structure limitations frustrating. For instance, you can't remove the '/products/' slug from product pages.

Shopify's marketing tools have improved significantly. The email marketing feature, which integrates directly with your store data, has been particularly useful for my clients running targeted campaigns.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce has always been strong in SEO, and it continues to impress me in 2024. Some features I love include:

• Full control over URLs
• Built-in microdata for rich snippets
• Advanced 301 redirects

I recently migrated a client from another platform to BigCommerce, and we saw a noticeable improvement in organic traffic within months, largely due to the improved URL structure and SEO tools.

BigCommerce's marketing features are robust, with built-in tools for email marketing, customer segmentation, and even Google Shopping integration.

Winner: BigCommerce, particularly for its more flexible SEO features. However, both platforms provide strong marketing tools.

5. Performance and Scalability

As stores grow, performance becomes increasingly crucial.

Shopify

Shopify's hosted solution means you don't have to worry about server management. I've worked with several high-traffic Shopify stores, and the platform has consistently delivered excellent performance. Shopify's global CDN ensures fast loading times worldwide, which has been particularly beneficial for my clients with international customers.

Scalability is where Shopify really shines. I've seen stores go from a few sales a day to thousands without any performance issues. The platform handles traffic spikes remarkably well, which was a lifesaver when one of my clients' products went viral.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce also offers robust hosting with a global CDN. In my experience, its performance is on par with Shopify for most stores. I've managed several large BigCommerce stores with tens of thousands of SKUs, and the platform handled them admirably.

One advantage I've noticed with BigCommerce is that its built-in features often lead to fewer third-party apps, which can result in better overall performance. For instance, a client's store on BigCommerce outperformed their previous Shopify store in load times, mainly because we needed fewer apps.

Winner: Tie. Both platforms offer excellent performance and scalability. The right choice often depends on your specific needs and the number of third-party apps you require.

6. Pricing

When considering BigCommerce vs Shopify, pricing is always a crucial factor. Let's break down the BigCommerce pricing structure compared to Shopify's.

Shopify

Shopify's pricing structure is straightforward:

• Basic Shopify: $29/month
• Shopify: $79/month
• Advanced Shopify: $299/month

Shopify's transaction fees (if you're not using Shopify Payments) can add up. I've had clients switch to Shopify Payments to avoid these fees. The predictability of Shopify's pricing is something many of my clients appreciate.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce's pricing is similar:

• Standard: $29/month
• Plus: $79/month
• Pro: $299/month

One key difference is that BigCommerce doesn't charge transaction fees. However, they do have sales thresholds for each plan, which can lead to forced upgrades as your business grows. I've had a few clients unexpectedly pushed to a higher tier due to their success, which was a surprise expense.

Winner: Tie. Shopify's pricing is more straightforward, but BigCommerce's lack of transaction fees can make it more cost-effective for some businesses.

7. Payment Gateways

Flexible payment options can significantly impact conversion rates.

Shopify

Shopify Payments, powered by Stripe, is a strong native solution. It's easy to set up and provides a seamless checkout experience. However, if you choose to use a third-party payment gateway, you'll incur additional transaction fees unless you're on the Shopify Plus plan.

Shopify supports a wide range of payment gateways, which has allowed me to implement region-specific payment methods for various clients.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce doesn't push any single payment solution, which I appreciate. They offer a wide range of payment gateways without additional transaction fees. This flexibility has been particularly useful for my international clients.

BigCommerce also supports multi-currency selling out of the box, which has been a significant advantage for some of my clients expanding into international markets.

Winner: BigCommerce, for its flexibility and lack of additional fees for using third-party gateways.

8. Customer Support

Reliable support is crucial, especially when issues arise.

Shopify

Shopify offers 24/7 support via phone, email, and live chat. In my experience, their support team is generally knowledgeable and helpful. The extensive knowledge base and active community forums have also been valuable resources.

One memorable instance was when a client's store went down during a major sale. Shopify's support team was quick to respond and had the issue resolved within an hour.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce also provides 24/7 support across multiple channels. What sets them apart, in my experience, is the quality of their technical support. I've found BigCommerce support staff to be particularly adept at handling complex technical issues.

BigCommerce also offers more personalized support on their higher-tier plans, which has been beneficial for some of my larger clients.

Winner: BigCommerce, by a slight margin. While both offer good support, I've found BigCommerce's technical support to be consistently excellent.

Conclusion

After years of working with both Shopify and BigCommerce, I can confidently say that both are excellent e-commerce platforms. The best choice depends on your specific needs, technical skills, and business goals.

Choose Shopify if:

• You want an extremely user-friendly platform with a gentler learning curve
• You need a wide variety of third-party apps and integrations
• You're comfortable with using Shopify Payments to avoid transaction fees

Choose BigCommerce if:

• You need more built-in features out of the box
• You want more flexibility in terms of payment gateways without additional fees
• SEO is a top priority for your business
• You anticipate needing advanced customization options in the future

In my experience, Shopify tends to be the better choice for beginners and those who want a straightforward, managed solution with lots of app options. BigCommerce, on the other hand, is ideal for those who need more built-in features and are comfortable with a slightly steeper learning curve for the sake of greater native functionality.

Remember, while the platform choice is important, it's your products, marketing strategy, and customer service that will ultimately determine your e-commerce success. Both Shopify and BigCommerce provide robust tools to help you build a successful online store.

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