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BigCommerce is only one of the many ecommerce platforms that you can use to build an online store or ecommerce store. There are a wide range of similar platforms out there, each with their own set of pros and cons.
Whether you prefer working with an online store builder that is easier to use (e.g. Shopify) or no longer are a fan of BigCommerce, the following is a list of the best BigCommerce alternatives that you can switch to.
The pricing options for BigCommerce range from $29.95 a month to $249.95 a month. Moreover, there is a restriction on the amount of sales that you can make. The restriction varies by plan.
Drawbacks of Using BigCommerce
While BigCommerce has a fair share of advantages and excellent reviews, it also has some potential problems that you may run into. The following are the most common drawbacks of using BigCommerce for ecommerce:
- Each plan has a restriction on the number of sales (calculated on a trailing 12-month basis) that you can have per year (e.g. $50,000 for the Standard plan, $150,000 for the Plus plan, and $400,000 for the Pro plan).
- Recurring billing, which you can use to sell subscription products, is not integrated into the platform. You need to install a third party app to use it.
- BigCommerce has too much functionality. The functionality may be too complicated for users, especially those using an online store builder for the first time.
- The platform has a poor selection of modern themes.
BigCommerce Alternatives and Competitors
The following is a list of the three best alternatives to BigCommerce for your consideration.
1. Shopify
Shopify is an elite online store builder that needs no introduction. The platform hosts well over 500,000 online stores, and has helped store owners process over $40 billion in sales (that is an average of $80,000 in sales per store).
Below are the potential benefits of using Shopify as alternative to BigCommerce:
- There is a large app store for adding more functionality to your online store (nearly double the size of the BigCommerce app store).
- There are independent professional theme designers that create some of the best Shopify themes. Therefore, there is a larger selection of modern themes.
- Shopify does not impose a limitation on the amount of sales that you can have.
- A clean and user-friendly process of completing the entire store setup, from start to finish.
- You can sign up for the Facebook only store and sell on Facebook for just $9 a month.
Drawbacks of Using Shopify
The biggest drawback of switching from BigCommerce to Shopify is transaction fees, which can be as high as 2% and varies by plan. These transaction fees can be waived by using their in-house credit card processing service (Stripe).
Next, Shopify uses Liquid as their template markup language. On the other hand, customization on BigCommerce are done using traditional HTML and CSS, which are more common and easier to work with.
With Shopify, you will also find yourself visiting the app store on a regular basis if you need advanced ecommerce features (e.g. product reviews, customer wish lists, and product recommendations). To add such features, you have to pay extra to enable them. On BigCommerce, most of these features are enabled natively
Lastly, Shopify has only a handful of payment gateways that you can use. You will have to visit the app store to add more payment options to the store. On the other hand, BigCommerce supports multiple payment gateways, including those serving international customers.
Who Uses Shopify?
Well over 500,000 businesses, including Tattly, BIKO Jewerly, and Mindzai Toys, use Shopify to carry out their ecommerce needs.
Cost: $29 a month (or $9 a month for a Facebook store only)
2. Shift4Shop (3dcart)
Much like BigCommerce, Shift4Shop (formerly known as 3dcart) is a feature packed online store builder that offers unlimited products and bandwidth with every plan. The platform, which hosts only 15,000 online stores, is not as popular as some of the leading online store builders.
Here are the benefits of using this BigCommerce alternative:
- No cap on the amount of sales that you can process on your online store.
- Shift4Shop has over 20 years of ecommerce experience.
- A strong point of sale system that you can use to combine your online store and your physical store into a single business, and manage both from one centralized location.
- The platform has built-in recurring billing and auto-responders.
- Shift4Shop can transfer your existing online store to their platform for free.
Drawbacks of Using Shift4Shop
However, not everything about Shift4Shop is appealing. Therefore, consider the drawbacks of switching from BigCommerce to Shift4Shop before you make the big move.
To begin, Shift4Shop is not as popular as BigCommerce or any of the other leading online store builders. This may be a red flag to some users.
Next, compared to BigCommerce, Shift4Shop interface is less appealing and clunky at times.
Also, Shift4Shop has a small selection of apps that you can install onto your store. However, this is s partly due to their extensive feature lineup.
Finally, you will have a set number of staff accounts that you can create with each plan. On the other hand, BigCommerce offers unlimited staff accounts.
Who Uses Shift4Shop
More than 17,000 businesses, including Morgan Sports, Lukie Games, and Stockade, use Shift4Shop for their ecommerce needs.
Cost: $29 a month
3. Ecwid
Ecwid is a versatile online store builder which gives you the tools to add ecommerce functions to just about any platform. The platform hosts over one million stores in 175 countries.
Here are the benefits of using our final alternative to BigCommerce:
- You can add ecommerce functionality to WordPress, Facebook, Weebly, and an existing website for free.
- The platform supports 50 languages that are automatically detected and adjusted for your customers.
- You can mirror/copy an existing Ecwid store and add it to a different website.
- Ecwid can integrate well with most Point of Sale (POS) systems.
- Due to the large number of sellers that use Ecwid, you will easily find support on the forums and from other users on the internet.
Drawbacks of Using Ecwid
Because Ecwid offers a free plan, there are not many drawbacks that you are going to care about. For starters, the free plan does not offer any internal/in-house technical support. However, you have access to the internet and forums.
Next, even with its popularity, Ecwid lacks a large app selection. This may be a problem when you find yourself needing additional functionality later on.
Lastly, there is no option of editing/changing default product URL’s. This is a problem from an SEO perspective as you will not be able to control your product URL’s.
Who Uses Ecwid?
According to Ecwid, over one million sellers such as 28 Black, Valkee, and and Bikini Love use their platform to sell products online.
Cost: Free (premium plans also available)
Final Thoughts
If you no longer find BigCommerce appealing, then alternatives such as Shopify, Shift4Shop, and Ecwid are well-known names that are worth looking into, and possibly switching over to.
You can try all of the online store builders for free, which will give you the opportunity to compare them on your own.
If you want to read about even more ecommerce options, check out our list of the best ecommerce platforms for dropshipping.
