BigCommerce vs Subbly
We give BigCommerce a 2.6 GPA and Subbly a 1.8, out of 4.0. BigCommerce grades higher on value for money, the free plan, features and ease of use. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
BigCommerce
Hosted ecommerce platform with plans set by yearly sales
Subbly
Store and subscription platform for subscription-box businesses
How we grade them
| 2.6GPABigCommerceGood | 1.8GPASubblyWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CCore is $29 a month on yearly billing ($39 monthly), the category's middle, and there's no extra fee when buyers pay through BigCommerce's listed partners. Use another provider and it's 2% a sale. Core only covers $30K of sales a year, mind. | DIt's a narrower thing, so we grade it against its listed alternatives: Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Squarespace and Wix. The Subbly plan is $51 a month on yearly billing ($69 monthly), the dearest start of that lot, and Subbly adds 1% + 12¢ to each Stripe sale, 1.25% on other gateways. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a 15-day trial with no card needed. That's long enough to set a store up and see if it suits you before paying anything. | DNo free plan. The 14-day trial comes with $50 of agent credits, then rolls straight onto the paid Subbly plan unless you cancel, so you have to remember to stop it if it isn't for you. |
| Features | BIt covers the whole job: one-page checkout, 70+ discount options built in, real-time carrier quotes, stock across 4 locations on Core, and marketplace, ad feed and POS links. Customer groups and abandoned-cart emails wait for Growth, but nothing core is missing. | CIt does the subscription job fully: a checkout for boxes and build-a-box, a portal where subscribers skip or pause, bulk shipping labels, churn and MRR reports, and free migration. That's a smaller job than a general store, and the entry plan stops at 500 inventory items. |
| Ease of use | B4.5 from 639 App Store ratings for its phone app, good if not top of the class. So much is built in that you won't be shopping for apps just to get the basics running. | CNo store rating on record. The AI agent builds pages from a written request and everyday edits are included, but Subbly itself puts a first full store at about $100 to $250 in credits, so the setup costs work or money. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Square, Clover, Stripe, PayPal and Klarna, plus an API. There's no desktop app, so not an A. | BWeb only, and Stripe is the one named connection. What lifts it is the developer side: APIs, an SDK and an MCP server, so other tools and AI assistants can plug in. No phone or desktop app. |
| Best for | built-in store features without paid apps | subscription boxes and meal kits |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: BigCommerce and Subbly. How we grade
Price against what you get
BigCommerce starts at $29 a month and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Subbly starts at $51 a month and scores 2.3.
BigCommerce scores higher and starts $22 a month lower. Of the other online store builders on the chart, none scores higher than BigCommerce for less, and 5 score higher than Subbly for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- BigCommerce starts at $29 per month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly). Subbly starts at $51 per month, billed yearly ($69 billed monthly).
- Only BigCommerce lists iOS and Android apps.
- BigCommerce also covers reports.
- Subbly also covers AI agents and shipping labels.
At a glance
| BigCommerce | Subbly | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $29 per month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly) | $51 per month, billed yearly ($69 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 15-day free trial, no credit card required | 14-day free trial with $50 of agent credits; it then moves to the Subbly plan unless cancelled |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | BigCommerce Pty. Ltd. | Subbly |
| Price read from | bigcommerce.com | subbly.co |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
BigCommerce
- Stores that want many built-in features without adding paid apps
- Sellers who list on Amazon, eBay and Walmart from one catalog
- Brands that run several storefronts from one account
Subbly
- Subscription-box, meal-kit and replenishment businesses
- Founders who want an AI agent to build and edit the store
- Brands moving subscribers from another platform without losing payment tokens
Worth knowing
BigCommerce
- Each plan caps sales over the past twelve months (gross order value minus 10%); passing $30K on Core or $100K on Growth moves the store up a plan.
- Orders paid through providers outside BigCommerce's embedded list carry a fee of 2% on Core, 1% on Growth and 0.6% on Scale.
- Scale covers $33,333 of sales a month and charges 0.9% on sales above that.
- Customer groups, abandoned-cart emails and stored cards need Growth or higher, and product filtering needs Scale.
Subbly
- Subbly takes 1% + 12¢ of each Stripe transaction, or 1.25% on other gateways, on top of the payment provider's own processing fees.
- Larger agent work is paid in credits beyond the included usage; Subbly estimates $10 to $50 for a new page.
- The Subbly plan allows 1 team member and 500 inventory items; Max raises this to 5 members and 750 items.
- There is no free plan; after the 14-day trial the account moves to the paid Subbly plan unless cancelled.
Key features
BigCommerce
- Checkout and payment partners
- A single-page checkout with Apple Pay, Google Pay and Amazon Pay, and more than 100 currencies through the payment provider you choose, such as Stripe, PayPal, Adyen or Klarna.
- Discounts and promotions
- More than 70 discount options, coupons and gift cards come built in on every plan, without a third-party app.
- Shipping quotes and rules
- Real-time shipping rates from carriers such as UPS, USPS and FedEx, with the ShipperHQ shipping rules engine available as well.
- Inventory across locations
- Track stock and fulfil orders from 4 locations on Core up to 8 on Scale, including in-store pickup and curbside collection.
- Marketplaces, ads and point of sale
- Connect the store to Amazon, eBay and Walmart, send product feeds to Google, Meta and TikTok through Feedonomics Surface, and link POS systems such as Square or Clover.
- Several storefronts in one account
- Run extra storefronts for other brands or regions from one dashboard, for $30 a month each on Core (up to 3) and more on higher plans.
Subbly
- AI agent that builds the store
- Describe a page, checkout or flow and the agent builds it. Everyday edits are included; Subbly puts a first full store at about $100 to $250 in credits.
- Subscription checkout and offers
- Sell subscriptions, bundles, build-a-box, gift cards and one-off products through a branded checkout with your own plans, steps, gifting and upsells.
- Self-serve customer portal
- Subscribers skip, swap, pause and upgrade on their own, in a portal laid out the way you choose.
- Orders, shipping and stock
- Filter orders, then change ship dates, mark them shipped or create shipping labels in bulk without exporting, and track inventory items.
- Subscription analytics and retention
- Reports on MRR, churn, lifetime value and predicted churn, plus funnels, cart recovery, save offers and automated messages.
- APIs and free migration
- Developers get APIs, an SDK and an MCP server, and Subbly moves stores from other platforms for free, subscribers and payment tokens included.
Plans
BigCommerce
Core$29
per month for up to $30K sales a year, billed annually ($39 monthly)
For new stores: up to 4 inventory locations and 24/7 chat and email support, with a 2% fee on orders through payment providers outside BigCommerce's list.
Growth$79
per month for up to $100K sales a year, billed annually ($105 monthly)
Adds customer groups, abandoned-cart emails, stored cards and phone support, with 5 inventory locations and a 1% fee on orders through other providers.
Scale$299
per month up to $33,333 sales a month, billed annually ($399 monthly)
Adds product filtering and 8 inventory locations, charges 0.9% on sales above the monthly cap and 0.6% on orders through other payment providers.
Performance$1,499
per month and up, billed annually
Custom pricing for high-volume stores, sold through sales, with a dedicated customer success manager and no fee on other payment providers under contract.
Subbly
Subbly$51
per month, billed yearly ($69 billed monthly)
1 team member, 500 inventory items, 100 automations and everyday agent use. Subbly takes 1% + 12¢ per transaction on Stripe, 1.25% on other gateways.
Max$111
per month, billed yearly ($149 billed monthly)
5 team members, 750 inventory items, 200 automations, 15 times the agent usage and the most capable model, with the same transaction fees.
Subbly X$499
per month and up
A dedicated account manager, a shared Slack channel, engineers who build custom features, and unlimited team and inventory; fees from 0.25% by volume.
Ways to pay less
BigCommerce
- Annual discount
Pay annually to save 25%
Core costs $29 a month billed annually against $39 billed monthly, Growth $79 against $105 and Scale $299 against $399.
Subbly
- Annual discount
Pay yearly to get 3 months free
Subbly costs $621 a year ($51 a month) against $69 billed monthly, and Max $1,341 a year ($111 a month) against $149.
- Other savings
6 months free when you switch, until 31 December
Stores that move to Subbly from another platform before 31 December get 6 months free, with migration included at no charge.
