BigCommerce vs WooCommerce
We give BigCommerce a 2.6 GPA and WooCommerce a 2.2, out of 4.0. BigCommerce grades higher on features and ease of use. WooCommerce grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money and 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
WooCommerce
Free, open-source store plugin for WordPress that you host yourself
How we grade them
| 2.6GPABigCommerceGood | 2.2GPAWooCommerceFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CThe plugin is free, but a store needs hosting, which Woo puts at $25 to $350 a month, plus paid extensions at $29 to $299 a year each. So call it $25 a month and up, the ordinary middle here. Woo takes no fee on sales, whichever payment provider you use. |
| 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. | BThe whole plugin is free and open source, with unlimited products and orders and no revenue share, so one person could run a shop on it for years. It isn't an A because a live store can't run without paid hosting. |
| 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. | CProducts, carts, checkout and orders are all in the free core, any payment provider works, and the app takes payments in person. But a lot sits in extensions, many of them paid, and shipping labels come through outside services such as ShipStation or Shippo. |
| 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. | DYou host it yourself: WordPress, a web host, and updates, backups and security on you or your host. The phone app's 4.75 from about 7,800 App Store ratings is for running orders once the store is up, not for getting it up. |
| 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, plus a free iPhone and Android app, with Stripe, ShipStation, Shippo, Easyship, Klaviyo, Google, TikTok and Pinterest, and no cap on API use. No desktop app, so B is the ceiling. |
| Best for | built-in store features without paid apps | adding a store to a WordPress site |
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 WooCommerce. How we grade
Where they differ
- WooCommerce has a free plan. BigCommerce does not, though it has a free trial.
- WooCommerce is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- BigCommerce also covers reports and inventory.
At a glance
| BigCommerce | WooCommerce | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $29 per month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly) | Not published |
| Free plan | None | The WooCommerce plugin is free and open source, with unlimited products and orders and no revenue share. Hosting, paid extensions and payment processing cost extra. |
| Free trial | 15-day free trial, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | BigCommerce Pty. Ltd. | WooCommerce, Inc. |
| Price read from | bigcommerce.com | woocommerce.com |
| 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
WooCommerce
- WordPress sites that want to add a store
- Sellers who want to own their code and data and pick their own host
- Developers and agencies building custom stores for clients
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.
WooCommerce
- You need WordPress and web hosting from a provider you choose; Woo puts hosting for most stores at $25 to $350 a month.
- Many features come as paid extensions, which Woo says cost $29 to $299 a year each.
- Card fees depend on the processor; Woo gives about 2.5% to 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction for its own WooPayments.
- Because the store runs on your own hosting, updates, backups and security fall to you or your host.
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.
WooCommerce
- Open-source WordPress plugin
- Adds a store to a WordPress site. The code is open source, so the store can be changed freely, and products, orders and API use are not capped.
- Any payment provider
- Use Woo's own WooPayments or any other gateway or buy-now-pay-later service, run several at once, and pay no extra fee to Woo for using a third-party processor.
- Extensions and themes
- Hundreds of extensions and themes in Woo's marketplace add features such as subscriptions, wholesale pricing and marketing tools, many of them paid.
- Shipping integrations
- Live carrier rates, label printing, tracking and returns come through integrations such as ShipStation, Shippo and Easyship, which are free to download.
- Mobile app and in-person sales
- The free WooCommerce app for iOS and Android manages products and orders and takes payments in person with Tap to Pay or a Woo card reader.
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.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce$0
The free, open-source WordPress plugin, which you host yourself on a provider you choose. No monthly subscription, platform fee or revenue share.
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.
WooCommerce
No public discounts listed.
