Comparison Between BigCommerce vs WooCommerce

The two most popular eCommerce platforms in the market are WooCommerce and BigCommerce. They have their pros and cons but both are used a lot in the market. Let’s Compare BigCommerce vs WooCommerce in Detail. In terms of search trends, WooCommerce has seen rapid growth, but BigCommerce is also catching up and has grown in popularity.

What is BigCommerce?

BigCommerce is a hosted eCommerce website builder. It gives you an entire service package including design, hosting, content, SEO, marketing features, and payments. Thus, it is enough to create an entire eCommerce store.

It is a software as a solution (SaaS) or an all-in-one platform. BigCommerce stores can be created easily and in no time. It also has a downside as there is no customization and there are limited tools that are available in BigCommerce. The major advantage is with the BigCommerce WordPress plugin.

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is a popular eCommerce plugin that is used for WordPress. It helps to transform a WordPress blog or a website into eCommerce stores. All you need to do is buy and set up web hosting, and install WooCommerce, WordPress, and other marketing tools.

Differences Between BigCommerce Vs WooCommerce 2024

Below we evaluate the two platforms on all the listed parameters:

1. Ease of Use

In terms of ease of use, BigCommerce is easy in terms of starting and maintaining eCommerce. The platform is fully hosted and there is no need to set up the hosting or to install the software. There is no need to think about backups, security, and performance issues.

The BigCommerce Dashboard is also easy to use and it can be previewed to see how it looks on the front end. Its design can also be changed by changing the theme or you can customize the existing theme with available options in terms of design.

All the other settings and options can be found in the admin panel for BigCommerce. It also includes the option to manage products, orders, customers, marketing, apps, etc. For everyone who is starting a new business, BigCommerce provides a free subdomain. In case of the need for a custom domain name, it can be bought directly from BigCommerce.

Unlike BigCommerce, WooCommerce isn’t a hosted platform. It is an eCommerce plugin for WordPress. It should be installed on the WordPress website. In case you start a new store, you will need to buy a hosting account and domain name for WooCommerce. Next, you should install WordPress and the WooCommerce plugin.

2. Time of Development

The time taken in development is less for BigCommerce. This is because it has built-in functionalities and it has most things available on the spot. To get an online store running with BigCommerce, you would mostly require a day.

With WooCommerce this process takes longer as you should have WordPress in place before you start with the plugin. Apart from that, you would also need options for multiple editing. The editing and customization phase also takes a lot of time with WooCommerce.

3. Scalability

It is essential to have good scalability features in an eCommerce platform as they need more resources. When the website grows more tools and features are needed in the platform.

Scalability is easy on BigCommerce as it is a fully hosted solution. There is no need to worry about technical things like backup, storage, downtimes, security, and updates. As the business grows, the plan needs to be upgraded. BigCommerce handles everything very well.

WooCommerce is a self-hosted platform and scalability on this platform makes the user entirely responsible for managing backups, resources, updates, and the security of your website.

4. Payment Options

Different payment provider companies provide services in the market. The payment gateway might not be available in the customers’ regions. It makes it crucial to choose the platform that offers payment gateways as per your need. When it comes to payment integrations, many factors need to be considered.

BigCommerce Apps has many featured app collections that are categorized as shipping essentials, must-haves, design, payments, and marketing. The apps can be chosen quickly from the collections for the store. There are many apps in these categories like analytics and reporting, accounting and tax, product sourcing, CRM, and customer service.

WooCommerce is an open-source plugin that is built on top of the popular content management system software. There are many free WordPress plugins and many premium plugins available on WordPress.

5. Cost Comparison

The next critical factor that should be considered while choosing an eCommerce platform is the cost of starting or maintaining a store. The best eCommerce store is the one that is cost-effective and easy on the pocket.

WooCommerce is an open-source WordPress plugin that can be downloaded and it can be used on sites without any cost. However other paid services are also needed to set up a WooCommerce store. The total amount and costs after summing up are very expensive for a small-budget start-up.

An eCommerce plan reduces the cost of starting an online store. This is much lower as compared to the BigCommerce plans. In the case of premium WooCommerce paid extensions or themes, the expenses will increase. Some free WooCommerce plugins and themes can be used in such a scenario.

6. Business Set up Compatibility

When it comes to adopting as per different businesses, BigCommerce struggles a bit; as it has many typeface and thematic limitations.

WooCommerce is customizable, and thus it is easier for it to adapt to any business. It provides multiple product-appropriate options to the users as per their business needs.

7. SEO Marketing

With BigCommerce you can edit Descriptions, Meta Titles, Images, URLs, and Keyboard support. It also has an SSL built-in certificate, which increases its security.

WooCommerce can’t optimize the SEO marketing with Shopify SEO features and it does get an SSL certificate.

A must-read: Magento Vs WooCommerce – What to Choose When Creating Online Store?

Advantages and Disadvantages

BigCommerce has the following advantages:

• Ease of Usage – BigCommerce creates an eCommerce platform that is beginner-friendly and easy to use. It can be handled quickly in case of any issues.
• Less time of Development – The time taken in development is less for BigCommerce. This is because it has built-in functionalities and it has most things available on the spot.
• Better Scalability – The scalability is easy on BigCommerce as it is a fully hosted solution. You don’t need to worry about technical things like backup, storage, downtimes, security, and updates.
• Easy SEO Marketing – With BigCommerce you can edit Descriptions, Meta Titles, Images, URLs, and Keyboard support. It has an SSL built-in certificate to increase security.

The disadvantages of BigCommerce are its higher costs and less compatibility with business setups.

WooCommerce has the following advantages:

• Lesser Costs – WooCommerce is an open-source WordPress plugin that can be downloaded and it can be used on sites without any cost.
• Business Set up Compatibility – When it comes to adopting as per different businesses, WooCommerce has fewer limitations.
• Better Payment integrations – WooCommerce is an open-source plugin that is built on top of the popular CMS software. There are many free WordPress plugins and premium plugins available on WordPress with more payment integration options.

The disadvantages of WooCommerce are its lesser ease of usage, higher time of development, and lesser scalability.

BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Which will you opt for?

After comparing both platforms on all the above-mentioned features, we must declare a winner. If we compare these platforms as per the important features like customizability and cost-effectiveness, WooCommerce is the clear winner.

Synopsis

Both BigCommerce and WooCommerce have many options when it comes to the major features of an eCommerce platform. BigCommerce vs WooCommerce fares well in different departments and provides a hassle-free solution thus you might need one or another as per different requirements. But it is better to hire an eCommerce development company in India to get the best WooCommerce development services.