07/19/2022

BigCommerce vs. WooCommerce: Which Platform You Should choose?

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The eCommerce revolution was created by the advent of technology and the Internet. It has changed the way people shop. Many wholesalers and retailers have set up online shops to cater to savvy online customers, even though they still maintain physical stores.

Online shopping can be difficult for retailers because they must choose the right platform to create an online shop. Bigcommerce and Woocommerce have been the dominant platforms in eCommerce. Each one has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Today’s post will cover all aspects of the BigCommerce/WooCommerce debate. This will help you to understand the differences and similarities between these two options, and then choose the best one.

What is BigCommerce?

BigCommerce is an eCommerce software that is hosted entirely. You can access many services such as hosting and payments, design, SEO, content, marketing, and more.

It is also known as software-a-solution (SaaS),, or an all-in-one platform. A subscription plan allows you to easily build a BigCommerce store.

BigCommerce has a drawback. You will only be able to use the BigCommerce platform’s tools. The main benefit of BigCommerce is the ability to run a fully functional BigCommerce store alongside your WordPress website.

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is WordPress’ most popular eCommerce plugin. It will help you convert any WordPress site or blog into an eCommerce store.

You will need to buy or set up web hosting and install WooCommerce, WordPress, as well as various marketing tools.

What Are the Critical Differences between BigCommerce and WooCommerce?

BigCommerce and WooCommerce are different in that BigCommerce is an eCommerce site builder hosted entirely on-site. It has created over 100,000 online shops for entrepreneurs around the globe.

An eCommerce website builder is a tool that allows you to create and manage an online shop. BigCommerce also offers thousands of eCommerce features. BigCommerce provides everything you need to build, launch, and grow an online business.

WooCommerce, an open-source WordPress plugin, allows members to sell on the Internet. Automatic, a web development company that created WordPress, was responsible for creating WooCommerce. WooCommerce is the best choice if you have a WordPress website and want to set up an online store.

WooCommerce is a fully customizable platform that allows you to keep your branding consistent across your website and online store.

BigCommerce vs. WooCommerce: Which one’s better?

BigCommerce vs. WooCommerce: An Easy-of-Use Comparison

BigCommerce

Register for a free trial of BigCommerce to get started. You can then create your store in just three steps

  • Enter your email address
  • Name your shop
  • Please give some details about your brand

It takes only a few minutes to create your BigCommerce store. You can then view your BigCommerce dashboard and preview your shop.

You’ll learn where special features can be found and how to personalize certain elements during the onboarding process. BigCommerce encourages you to ask any questions in the FAQ section.

BigCommerce’s themes are a great way to get started with BigCommerce’s tools. BigCommerce also offers WooCommerce users a website domain, hosting platform and security certificates.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is more confusing than BigCommerce because it appears to be a technical platform.

Bluehost will allow you to access the following features:

  • WooCommerce automatic-install
  • Free support for setting up an online store
  • No cost domain name and SSL certificate
  • WooCommerce’s Storefront theme already installed
  • Bluehost’s in-house WordPress Guru provides 24/7 customer support

Bluehost is a partner of WooCommerce so you don’t have to manually install WordPress or the WooCommerce plugin. WooCommerce will be pre-installed by your hosting provider.

No matter what you do, once you have installed the WooCommerce plugin you can start the WooCommerce setup wizard. You will have everything you need to set up your WooCommerce shop within minutes. All the basic tasks are easy to manage, including creating pages, setting up payment settings, currency, shipping, and taxes.

Comparison of BigCommerce and WooCommerce Customer Service

BigCommerce

BigCommerce offers 24/7 customer service via various communication channels such as email, phone, and live chat. You can also find thousands of self-help tips and tricks in the online help center.

BigCommerce offers the Enterprise plan, which allows you to have an account manager and an onboarding consultant available to assist you with any issues.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce can be hosted on your own server. There are many platforms that will help you find support for the business. 

You can reach the WooCommerce forum for WooCommerce core plugin issues. These support centers allow you to post questions and find solutions to problems.

The WooCommerce support page contains a lot of documentation, tutorials, as well as instructions that will help you solve your problems on your own.

Support from the WooCommerce developers is available if you have any WooCommerce themes or extension issues. Any server-related issues will be taken care of by your web hosting.

You can also access many WooCommerce tutorials on WordPress blogs like WPBeginner.

Comparison of BigCommerce and WooCommerce: Features & Tools

BigCommerce

Your online store will benefit from many important features.

  • Multi-channel integration – allows you to sell directly from your website on marketplaces like eBay or social media such as Facebook.
  • SSL security protects your online shop by protecting payments. You will see a small padlock symbol next your URL so that customers can easily find it when they check out.
  • Analytical tracking tools and reporting tools – Check your store’s performance through sessions, emails campaigns, sales, and so on.
  • You can send your customers an email reminder when their cart is abandoned.
  • Promo codes and discounts – This allows you to offer products and sales by providing shoppers with a code that they can use at checkout.

WooCommerce

  • Blogging is the ability to create, publish and share articles.
  • You can get your money back in one click.
  • You can customize everything – If you are able to code, you can modify everything from the storefront page to the checkout page.

BigCommerce vs. WooCommerce: Scalability Comparison

As your store grows, scaling features are essential.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a fully hosted platform. This means you don’t need to worry about technical issues like backups, storage, updates and downtimes. Your store will grow and you’ll need to update your plan. BigCommerce will take care of the rest.

BigCommerce makes it easy to grow your online business.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is self-hosted, which means you are responsible to maintain your site’s security, resources, backups, and updates.

Many of the top WordPress hosting companies allow you to upgrade your plan to meet the needs of your growing website. The migration process can be complicated.

BigCommerce vs. WooCommerce Integration and Addons Comparison

BigCommerce

BigCommerce provides tons of integrations and third-party apps to allow you to add amazing features to your BigCommerce store. BigCommerce offers both paid and free add-ons through its app marketplace.

There are six main app collections that it offers, including design, shipping, marketing, and shipping essentials. These apps can be quickly selected for your online store. There are many apps available, including analytics and reporting, tax, product sourcing and CRM, customer service and accounting.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is an open source plugin built on top of WordPress, the most popular content management system (CMS). This means you can access over 55,000 WordPress plugins as well as hundreds of premium plugins, without having to pay any fees.

These plugins can be found at the official WordPress.org plugin repository and plugin sites. WooCommerce’s official extension store offers more than 250 premium and free extensions that will enhance your eCommerce capabilities.

There are many plugins available that can be used for almost any feature. There are many options available for creating contact forms, lead generation, performance optimization, SEO, and other features.

Most of the popular third-party services have developed plugins that can be integrated with WooCommerce. If you are a programmer or a developer, you can create a WooCommerce extension for your store.

BigCommerce vs. WOOCommerce: Comparison of Payment Methods

BigCommerce

BigCommerce offers a variety of payment options for your online store. BigCommerce has native integrations to the most popular digital wallets, including Square, Stripe and PayPal, which are supported by Authorize.net, Braintree, Adyen and CyberSource.

Processing costs for credit and debit cards start at 2.9% +$0.30 per transaction. However, it decreases as your BigCommerce store grows.

It also integrates with popular payment platforms like Masterpass, Amazon Pay and PayPal. These payment platforms are reliable and can help your store increase mobile sales.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce supports Stripe and PayPal payments automatically. It also supports all major payment gateways via add-ons and extensions.

WooCommerce is an open source platform. Many regional and less well-known payment services have created integrations for WooCommerce. You can search for integrations for almost any payment platform that you are interested in.

BigCommerce vs. WooCommerce: Pricing Comparison

BigCommerce

BigCommerce, a subscription-based eCommerce platform, offers a variety of pricing options. There are three primary pricing plans: 3 Essential plans for small businesses, and Enterprise plans to support larger agencies.

The Standard plan costs $29.95 per month. This plan includes everything you need to start your own online business using a BigCommerce subdomain.

A domain name is required to obtain a custom domain. A domain name can be purchased from BigCommerce for $12 per annum or at any other domain registrar.

All plans include unlimited products, limitless file storage and bandwidth. BigCommerce does however have limits on your total sales. The Standard plan has a maximum sales limit of $50k per year.

BigCommerce will automatically upgrade your store to a higher plan if you are generating more sales. For every $200k more online sales, you will need to pay $150 extra per month if you purchase their largest Essential plan Pro.

You may also need to spend more money to use a premium theme or app. BigCommece paid themes start at $170

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is an open source WordPress plugin you can use on unlimited websites. However, WooCommerce requires you to purchase additional services in order to create a store.

You will need a domain, site hosting account and an SSL certificate. A domain name costs $14.49 per annum, web hosting is $7.99 per month, and SSL Certificate is $69.99 per annum.

For startups with low budgets, the total cost of all these costs can be quite expensive. However, there are a few hosting companies that offer WooCommerce hosting at a very affordable price. Bluehost WooCommerce hosting is one of these companies. WPBeginner customers get a discounted hosting package that includes a domain name and an SSL certificate. Hosting costs $6.95 per Month

Bluehost eCommerce plans are much more affordable than BigCommerce plans for starting an online store.

You will need to pay more if you want a premium WooCommerce theme and paid extensions. You can also get hundreds of free WooCommerce themes and plugins.

BigCommerce vs. WooCommerce. Their Advantages and Drawbacks

BigCommerce’s Pros

  • BigCommerce offers the best built-in features you could ever wish for.
  • Selling via certain channels like Amazon, Instagram and Facebook is easy and seamless.
  • BigCommerce shops load at incredible speeds so caching apps are unnecessary.
  • BigCommerce is responsible for a variety of compliance and security measures.
  • BigCommerce’s templates are amazing. There are many responsive themes that you can choose from. They are easy to install and modify. BigCommerce also makes it easy to get the code if you have any HTML or CSS knowledge.

BigCommerce’s Cons

  • BigCommerce does not have a mobile app, making it difficult for you to manage your store.
  • BigCommerce’s editing interface is difficult to use.
  • BigCommerce’s app marketplace is smaller than WooCommerce. BigCommerce does not offer the same variety of extensions that WooCommerce offers.

WooCommerce’s Pros

  • You can implement unlimited customization.
  • WordPress offers amazing SEO tools.
  • WooCommerce is free to download, so you can open an online store even if you have a limited budget.
  • There are many ways to include unlimited item lists in different categories. You can also sell physical, virtual, and downloadable products. You can make the decision.
  • Any payment method can be accepted by your store.

WooCommerce’s Cons

  • WooCommerce does not offer complete customer support. Sometimes you will have to solve problems by yourself or can ask questions in the WooCommerce forum.
  • To fully enjoy WooCommerce’s offerings, you will need advanced technical knowledge.
  • Your website must be updated regularly.
  • Launching a multi-currency website using WooCommerce is not easy.

To wrap up

BigCommerce is best for larger or more dynamic businesses. You can grow your online store with its excellent tools and functionality. WooCommerce, on the other hand, is a great choice for small businesses that already have a WordPress site.

We hope you will be able to make a decision between BigCommerce or WooCommerce through this article.

Please leave a comment if you have any questions or if you have an experience with either platform. We would love to hear from you.

About the author

Kobe Digital is a unified team of performance marketing, design, and video production experts. Our mastery of these disciplines is what makes us effective. Our ability to integrate them seamlessly is what makes us unique.