BigCommerce vs Swell (2026): which should you pick?

Pick BigCommerce if

• Fits if you want discount types and shipping rules built in rather than added as apps
• Works for selling on Amazon, eBay and Walmart from one catalog

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if your sales are growing, as passing $30K a year moves you up to Growth at $79 a month
• Pricey if you want abandoned-cart emails, customer groups or stored cards, which start on Growth at $79 a month
• Watch out: paying through a provider outside BigCommerce's list adds 2% a sale on Core and 1% on Growth
• Watch out: Scale covers $33,333 of sales a month and charges 0.9% on anything above it
• Skip it if you want a free plan, as there's only a 15-day trial

Pick Swell if

• Fits if you sell subscriptions or wholesale and have a developer
• Works for brands that want a headless store on a flat monthly plan

Look elsewhere if

• Watch out: each plan has a trailing 12-month sales ceiling, then 2% on Starter, 1.5% Basic, 1% Standard and 0.4% Unlimited
• Pricey if you grow, as Unlimited is $2,250 a month
• Watch out: API requests, function calls and storage are capped, and extras cost $5 per 100K requests or per extra GB
• Watch out: roles and permissions and developer support are on the Unlimited plan only
• Skip it if you need to know the trial length first, as it is not stated

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.

Swell

• Each plan has a trailing 12-month sales ceiling; above it a percentage fee applies: 2% on Starter, 1.5% Basic, 1% Standard, 0.4% Unlimited.
• API requests, function calls and storage are capped per plan; extra usage is billed at $5 per 100K requests or calls and $5 per extra GB.
• Role-based permissions and developer support appear only on the Unlimited plan, and the trial length is not stated.

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.

Swell

Built-in subscriptions

Sell physical or virtual products as subscriptions with flexible order schedules and separate invoicing from fulfillment, on every plan.

Wholesale and B2B pricing

Serve retail and wholesale buyers from one store, with customer groups, bulk price rules and account management.

Themes or headless

Use a visual store builder and themes, upload Shopify themes, or run a headless storefront on the frontend and backend APIs.

Multi-gateway payments

Connect several gateways at once, including Stripe, Authorize.Net and PayPal, with split payments, saved cards and BNPL options.

Localization

Set prices in explicit currencies, add locales for multiple languages, and apply region-specific payment methods.

Swell Apps and functions

Extend the store with custom full-stack apps, app functions and a developer console for API calls and logs.

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.

Swell

• Starter$29

  per month, billed yearly

  Up to 2 admin users, $50K annual sales ceiling, basic reports, 100K API requests a month and 1GB of storage.

• Basic$79

  per month, billed yearly

  Up to 5 admin users, $250K annual sales ceiling, basic reports, 500K API requests a month and 3GB of storage.

• Standard$299

  per month, billed yearly

  Up to 15 admin users, $1M sales ceiling, advanced reports, priority support, international price lists and 2M API requests.

• Unlimited$2250

  per month, billed yearly

  Unlimited admin users, $5M sales ceiling, role-based permissions, developer support and 5M monthly function calls.

• CustomCustom

  For merchants above $10M in annual sales: negotiated pricing and priority technical support. Sold through sales.

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.

Swell

• Annual discount

  Save 25% by paying yearly

  The pricing page toggles between monthly and yearly billing and labels yearly billing as a 25% saving.