Shopify is a strong fit if you want its included marketing tools and app ecosystem; BigCommerce may fit better if your payment provider qualifies for its fee exemption and its built-in tools match your store. Payment routing matters more since June 1, 2026, when BigCommerce introduced its Open Payment Provider Fee: Core, Growth, and Scale charge a platform fee on eligible orders processed through Open Payment Providers, while orders actually processed by listed Embedded Payment Providers are exempt. Your choice hinges on the provider processing your orders, the features you need, and how your sales grow.
Both platforms host your online store and provide product, order, and sales-channel tools. The useful question is how much your particular combination of subscription, payments, and extra tools will cost—and whether it supports the work you actually do.
BigCommerce’s payment-fee change
BigCommerce’s plan and pricing update took effect on June 1, 2026, introducing the Core, Growth, and Scale self-service plan names, revised sales thresholds, and provider-dependent fees.
An Open Payment Provider is a payment provider outside BigCommerce’s listed Embedded category. BigCommerce’s Open Payment Provider Fee is 2% on Core, 1% on Growth, and 0.6% on Scale, applied to eligible order GMV. GMV means gross merchandise value—the value of orders used for the platform’s calculation.
The Embedded list includes Stripe, PayPal Wallet, PayPal Complete Payments, and BigCommerce Payments. The exemption follows the transaction: the listed provider must actually process the order. Offering one of those payment options at checkout does not exempt an order processed through an Open Payment Provider.
For existing accounts, the transition schedule also matters. BigCommerce’s update allows annual-plan migration at the end of the current annual service period; monthly-plan timing follows the applicable post-notice billing cycle.
US plan prices and billing periods
The US subscription listings as of October 9, 2026, put Shopify Basic and BigCommerce Core at the same starting price: $348 billed yearly, equivalent to $29 a month, or $39 billed monthly. The higher self-service tiers also share the same listed subscription amounts.
| Shopify plan | BigCommerce plan | Monthly equivalent with annual billing, each | Annual amount billed, each | Month-to-month price, each |
| Basic | Core | $29 | $348 | $39 |
| Grow | Growth | $79 | $948 | $105 |
| Advanced | Scale | $299 | $3,588 | $399 |
These are US-dollar prices from Shopify’s US pricing page and BigCommerce’s pricing page. BigCommerce states that its prices exclude taxes. The annual option requires a yearly payment; its monthly equivalent is a budgeting figure, not a monthly invoice.
At the entry tier, annual billing saves $120 over twelve $39 monthly payments: $468 versus $348. That saving is identical for Basic and Core. Choosing between them therefore requires looking beyond the subscription sticker price.
Keep three costs separate
Your store’s bill has three distinct layers:
- Subscription: the charge for the platform plan.
- Platform transaction fee: an additional charge the platform applies to qualifying payment routes.
- Payment processing: the payment provider’s charge for handling the transaction, often combining a percentage and a fixed amount.
Apps can add another recurring expense. A plan that includes your required functions may avoid an app subscription, while a different plan might require either an add-on or an upgrade. Price the actual setup, not just the storefront subscription.
Four payment routes, four cost pictures
Shopify Payments and BigCommerce’s Embedded Payment Providers can avoid their respective additional platform fees. Payment processing still costs money. The mechanics differ, so start with the provider that will handle each order.
Shopify Payments versus another provider
Shopify Payments is supported for US-based businesses, subject to business eligibility and verification. Using it avoids Shopify’s separate third-party transaction fee.
For standard US online card payments through Shopify Payments, Shopify lists processing rates of:
- Basic: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
- Grow: 2.7% + $0.30 per transaction.
- Advanced: 2.5% + $0.30 per transaction.
With another payment provider, Shopify instead applies a separate platform transaction fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, or 0.6% on Advanced. The selected provider’s own processing charge comes on top. The Shopify Payments card rate belongs to the Shopify Payments route; it is not a processing charge for that alternative provider.
Shopify’s mobile checkout can present express payment choices such as Shop Pay, PayPal, and Apple Pay. For your budget, the relevant detail is how each enabled payment route is processed and charged.
BigCommerce Embedded versus Open Payment Providers
BigCommerce’s provider rules make the processor handling the order decisive. An order processed by a listed Embedded Payment Provider carries no Open Payment Provider Fee. An eligible order processed through an Open Payment Provider carries the fee associated with your plan.
BigCommerce calculates Inclusive GMV by reducing gross order value by 10%. In the worked example, $10,000 of gross orders becomes $9,000 of Inclusive GMV. Applying Core’s 2% rate produces a $180 platform fee.
If your checkout uses several providers, separate the orders by processing route. An Embedded provider’s exemption applies to its orders; it does not spread to transactions handled elsewhere.
Worked example: 100 US orders at $100 each
Consider one hypothetical month with 100 online orders worth $100 each, for $10,000 in total order value. The store uses Shopify Basic or BigCommerce Core with annual billing, allocating $29 of the annual subscription to that month. The calculation excludes refunds, taxes, apps, chargebacks, and foreign-card surcharges.
This table compares the same components for every route: the subscription allocation and the additional platform fee. Payment processing is separate.
| Plan and payment route | Monthly subscription allocation | Platform fee calculation | Platform fee | Subscription + platform fee |
| Shopify Basic with Shopify Payments | $29 | No third-party platform fee | $0 | $29 |
| Shopify Basic with another provider | $29 | $10,000 × 2% | $200 | $229 |
| BigCommerce Core with a listed Embedded Payment Provider processing every order | $29 | No Open Payment Provider Fee | $0 | $29 |
| BigCommerce Core with an Open Payment Provider processing every order | $29 | $10,000 × 90% × 2% | $180 | $209 |
For the Shopify Payments route, standard US online card processing adds:
100 × (($100 × 2.9%) + $0.30) = $320.
Adding the $29 subscription allocation gives $349 in subscription and processing costs for that month. A single $100 order produces a $3.20 processing charge under those conditions.
For the other routes, add the chosen provider’s processing charge to the table’s subtotal. The $20 difference between the two outside-provider platform-fee calculations—$200 for Shopify Basic versus $180 for BigCommerce Core—comes from their fee calculations. A difference in processor pricing could outweigh it.
These are alternative setups, not charges to stack together. They also describe one month on the stated plans; BigCommerce’s sales thresholds affect which plan a growing store needs over time.
What the plans include
Shopify includes abandoned-checkout recovery, marketing automations, customer segments, and discounts across its plans. BigCommerce Core includes product ratings and reviews, multi-currency support, real-time shipping quotes, a blog, staff accounts, and single-page checkout.
Those bundles serve different priorities. If recovery emails and marketing segmentation are immediate requirements, Shopify’s included tools deserve attention. If product reviews, shipping quotes, and multi-currency selling are central to your launch, examine BigCommerce Core’s included functions before budgeting for add-ons.
Marketing and checkout recovery
Shopify’s abandoned-checkout recovery is available across its plans. On BigCommerce, abandoned-cart recovery and customer groups start on Growth. That plan boundary has a direct subscription consequence: under US annual billing, Growth’s $79 monthly equivalent is $50 above Core’s $29.
Recovery functionality alone does not determine your plan. Growth may also supply customer-group tools you need, and its lower Open Payment Provider Fee can affect the calculation. List the functions you will actually use together rather than upgrading for a single attractive feature.
International selling and shipping
Shopify lists localized selling tools; BigCommerce includes multi-currency support and real-time shipping quotes on Core. These are useful starting points for a store serving buyers across markets.
Work through your intended customer journey during setup: product presentation, currency selection, shipping quotes, and payment. A US merchant’s eligibility for Shopify Payments concerns that merchant’s business; it does not set a universal processing rate for every card or transaction type.
Product discovery and catalog needs
BigCommerce product filtering starts on Scale. For a store whose customers need filters to navigate its products, that requirement can move the subscription decision beyond Core or Growth before sales volume does.
Shopify lists unlimited products on its plans and integrations with thousands of apps. The more useful selection exercise is to configure your actual products, options, and navigation, then identify the tools required to make them work as intended. A long feature list is a starting point. Your catalog is the practical test case.
Apps, built-in tools, and B2B
Shopify’s app ecosystem offers ways to extend the store, while BigCommerce bundles a range of store functions into its plans. Neither approach makes the extra-cost question disappear: an app has a price, and moving to a higher plan has a price too.
Budget for the functions you will use
Build a short requirements list around your daily work: reviews, checkout recovery, shipping quotes, customer groups, product filtering, and marketing automation. For each function, identify the plan that includes it or the app needed to supply it. Then add the subscription costs together.
This prevents a familiar budgeting trap: comparing one platform’s base subscription with another platform’s fully equipped setup. It also turns concerns about app expenses into something concrete—a list of required tools with recurring costs attached.
Support and usability belong in your evaluation as well. Try creating a product, finding an order, and configuring the payment route you intend to use. The useful result is whether those tasks fit your workflow, not a generic claim that one platform is easier for everyone.
B2B catalogs, customer groups, and order management
B2B means selling to other businesses. Shopify’s plan listings include up to three B2B catalogs on Basic, Grow, and Advanced, with unlimited catalogs on Plus.
BigCommerce customer groups start on Growth. Its pricing page lists Price Lists and advanced promotions on Performance, its custom-priced tier. Catalog count, customer grouping, and pricing tools answer different needs: a business buyer’s catalog is one part of the workflow, alongside how prices and orders are managed.
BigCommerce’s B2B Edition order dashboard displays shipment and payment statuses, including Shipped and Awaiting Payment. Those are concrete order-management states to consider when mapping the work your staff will perform.
Choose for your actual payment setup
The strongest choice comes from matching your provider, sales expectations, and required functions to a plan. This decision table connects the listed differences to specific store priorities.
| Store priority | Shopify | BigCommerce |
| Avoid an additional platform payment fee | Shopify Payments avoids the third-party transaction fee | Listed Embedded Payment Providers avoid the Open Payment Provider Fee on orders they process |
| Include checkout recovery at the entry tier | Abandoned-checkout recovery is included on Basic | Abandoned-cart recovery starts on Growth |
| Organize business customers | Customer segments are listed across plans; up to three B2B catalogs on Basic, Grow, and Advanced | Customer groups start on Growth; Price Lists are listed on Performance |
Growth changes BigCommerce’s plan calculation
BigCommerce’s sales thresholds use Inclusive GMV, after the 10% reduction from gross order value. Core has a $30,000 threshold over the trailing twelve months; Growth has a $100,000 threshold over the same period. Crossing the applicable threshold triggers a plan upgrade.
Scale uses a monthly cap of $33,333 and charges a 0.9% overage on Inclusive GMV above that cap. That overage is another cost to model alongside the subscription and the payment-route fee.
The worked example makes the growth effect tangible. Sustaining $10,000 in gross orders every month produces $120,000 over twelve months, or $108,000 in Inclusive GMV after the 10% reduction. That exceeds both Core’s and Growth’s trailing-twelve-month thresholds. The Core example is therefore a snapshot of one month, not a subscription forecast for a store sustaining that volume.
Choose Shopify if…
- You can use Shopify Payments and want to avoid Shopify’s separate third-party platform fee.
- Your launch needs include abandoned-checkout recovery, customer segments, and marketing automations.
- You want access to its app ecosystem and have budgeted for the particular add-ons your store requires.
- Up to three B2B catalogs meet your needs on Basic, Grow, or Advanced.
Choose BigCommerce if…
- Your intended provider is on the Embedded list and will actually process the relevant orders.
- Core’s product reviews, multi-currency support, shipping quotes, and other included tools match your requirements.
- Growth’s customer groups or Scale’s product filtering justify the associated subscription.
- You have modeled the plan thresholds and, where relevant, Scale’s overage against your sales forecast.
Bottom line for an existing store
A migration has to earn its cost. Compare your current processor routes and recurring app expenses with the proposed setup, then include the work of moving the store. A lower platform-fee subtotal is one saving; rebuilding functionality can consume it.
You can explore BigCommerce’s setup through its fully functional 15-day trial, which requires no credit card.
