You’re selling online. Or want to. The platform choice feels overwhelming.

Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Squarespace, Wix, and a dozen others. Everyone has opinions. Most are based on whatever they happened to use.

Here’s my attempt at an objective comparison.

The Big Three

For serious e-commerce (not just a few products as a side project), three platforms dominate:

Shopify: The SaaS leader. Monthly subscription. Managed hosting.

WooCommerce: WordPress plugin. Self-hosted. Open source.

BigCommerce: SaaS alternative to Shopify. Monthly subscription.

Let me compare these properly.

Shopify

What It Is

A fully hosted e-commerce platform. You pay monthly, they handle everything technical. You focus on products and sales.

What’s Good

Easy to start. You can have a store running in a day. Templates, payment processing, shipping, all set up.

Reliable. Shopify handles hosting, security, updates. It just works.

App ecosystem. Thousands of apps for everything. Email marketing, reviews, shipping, accounting integration.

Scalable. Same platform whether you’re doing $1,000/month or $1,000,000/month.

What’s Not Great

Transaction fees. Unless you use Shopify Payments, you pay additional transaction fees on top of payment processor fees.

Monthly cost adds up. Base plan plus apps plus themes. Costs escalate.

Limited customization. Compared to self-hosted options, you’re in Shopify’s box.

Theme costs. Premium themes are $150-350 one-time. Adds up if you switch.

Pricing

• Basic: $39/month (2% transaction fee if not using Shopify Payments)
• Shopify: $105/month (1% fee)
• Advanced: $399/month (0.6% fee)

Plus apps. Many essential apps cost $10-50/month each.

Best For

Most e-commerce businesses. Especially if you want to focus on selling, not technology. If you’re unsure, Shopify is the safe choice.

WooCommerce

What It Is

A free WordPress plugin that turns a WordPress site into an e-commerce store. You host it yourself or with a hosting provider.

What’s Good

Free core software. WooCommerce itself costs nothing. You pay for hosting and extensions.

Unlimited customization. It’s WordPress. If you can code it (or pay someone to), you can do it.

No transaction fees. Beyond what your payment processor charges.

Own your data. Your store, your servers, your data. No platform dependency.

What’s Not Great

You manage everything. Hosting, security, updates, backups. If you’re not technical, this is work.

Plugin conflicts. WordPress plugin ecosystem is messy. Things break. Updates cause issues.

Performance requires effort. Fast WooCommerce stores need optimization. Slow is the default.

Extension costs. Core is free but essential features often require paid plugins.

Pricing

• WooCommerce: Free
• Hosting: $20-100/month for decent e-commerce hosting
• Extensions: Varies wildly

Total cost can be lower than Shopify or higher, depending on your needs and how much you DIY.

Best For

Technically confident teams who want control. Businesses with existing WordPress sites. Custom requirements that don’t fit SaaS platforms. Budget-conscious stores willing to do technical work.

BigCommerce

What It Is

A SaaS platform like Shopify but with different trade-offs. More built-in features, different app ecosystem.

What’s Good

No transaction fees. You pay your payment processor, that’s it.

Built-in features. Things that are apps in Shopify (like ratings and reviews) are built into BigCommerce.

Multi-channel. Strong Amazon, eBay, Facebook integrations.

B2B features. Customer groups, price lists, quote systems. Better than Shopify for B2B.

What’s Not Great

Smaller ecosystem. Fewer apps and themes than Shopify.

Revenue limits. Each plan has a maximum annual revenue. Exceed it and you’re forced to upgrade.

Less market share. Fewer developers, fewer resources, fewer people who know it.

Interface feels dated. Less polished than Shopify.

Pricing

• Standard: $39/month (up to $50k/year revenue)
• Plus: $105/month (up to $180k/year revenue)
• Pro: $399/month (up to $400k/year revenue)

Best For

Businesses frustrated with Shopify’s transaction fees. B2B e-commerce. Multi-channel sellers. Those who want more built-in features without apps.

The Decision Framework

Choose Shopify If:

• You want easy and reliable
• You’re not technical and don’t want to be
• You’re OK paying for convenience
• You need extensive app integrations

Choose WooCommerce If:

• You’re technically capable (or have developers)
• You have an existing WordPress site
• You need heavy customization
• You want to own your infrastructure

Choose BigCommerce If:

• Transaction fees matter to you
• You sell B2B or wholesale
• You want more built-in features
• You’re going multi-channel (Amazon, etc.)

What About the Others?

Squarespace Commerce: Good for creatives with small catalogs. Beautiful designs. Limited for serious e-commerce.

Wix E-commerce: Similar to Squarespace. Small scale, easy setup.

Magento (Adobe Commerce): Enterprise. Expensive. Complex. Not for SMBs.

Custom build: Almost never the right answer. The time and cost to build e-commerce from scratch is enormous.

Real-World Recommendations

Just starting, under $100k/year revenue: Shopify Basic. Don’t overthink it.

Growing, $100k-500k/year: Still Shopify usually. The ecosystem and reliability matter more than saving on transaction fees.

Established, $500k+/year: Evaluate Shopify Advanced vs BigCommerce Pro vs WooCommerce. At this scale, the specifics of your business matter more than general advice.

Technical team, custom needs: WooCommerce. But be honest about whether you have ongoing dev capacity.

B2B focus: Look seriously at BigCommerce.

The Migration Question

Switching platforms is possible but painful. Product data, customer data, order history, SEO value. All require careful migration.

Choose thoughtfully upfront. But if you’re on the wrong platform, switching is better than staying stuck.

Plan 2-3 months for a proper migration. Consider professional help.

The Bottom Line

Shopify is the default for a reason. It’s the right choice for most businesses.

WooCommerce is for those who want control and have the technical ability.

BigCommerce is for specific use cases where its strengths match your needs.

Pick, commit, and focus on selling. The platform is just infrastructure. Your products, marketing, and customer experience are what matter.