Quick answer: WooCommerce is a free, open source plugin that turns a WordPress site into a shop. You host it yourself, which gives you full control and flexibility, but you are responsible for hosting, updates, security and paid extensions. BigCommerce is a hosted platform you pay for monthly. Hosting, security and many shop features are included out of the box, but you work within its system and its pricing. Choose WooCommerce if content matters a lot to you, you already use WordPress or you need unusual customisation. Choose BigCommerce if you want a feature rich shop with less technical upkeep.
Both platforms can run a serious online shop, and both are used by businesses of every size. The difference is less about what each can do and more about how you want to run things: who looks after the technical side, how much you want to customise, and how you want costs to grow as you do.
The basic difference
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress. Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, bought it in 2015, which has given many shop owners extra confidence in its future. You install it on your own WordPress site, on hosting you choose, and add extensions for payment gateways, shipping, subscriptions, bookings and more.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a software as a service platform. You sign up, pick a plan and a theme, and build your shop in its control panel. BigCommerce runs the servers, handles security patches and keeps the software up to date.
Cost
WooCommerce costs
The plugin is free, but a working shop has costs:
- Hosting. Shops need better hosting than a simple brochure site. Expect to pay more for a good managed WordPress or VPS host.
- SSL certificate. Needed for checkout. Free certificates are now available through Let’s Encrypt; our Let’s Encrypt guide explains how they work.
- Theme. Free or paid, or a custom theme built for you.
- Extensions. Many useful features are paid extensions with yearly licences, such as subscriptions, advanced shipping and some payment gateways.
- Maintenance. Someone has to apply updates, check compatibility and take backups.
- Payment processing fees from your payment provider.
BigCommerce costs
- A monthly plan. Higher plans add features such as abandoned cart emails and customer groups. Check the current terms, including any limits linked to your yearly sales, before you commit.
- Theme. Free or paid themes from the BigCommerce theme store.
- Apps. Some extra features come from paid apps.
- Payment processing fees from your payment provider.
Which is cheaper?
For a small shop with simple needs, WooCommerce can cost less. As you add premium extensions, better hosting and paid maintenance, the gap narrows, and for some shops BigCommerce ends up simpler and more predictable. Compare the total cost for the features you actually need, not the headline price.
Control and flexibility
WooCommerce wins on control. You own the code and the data, you can change any part of the shop, and you can choose any host. A developer can build almost anything, from custom product configurators to unusual pricing rules.
BigCommerce offers a lot of built in features and an API for integrations, but you cannot change the core platform. Theme editing is flexible, but deep changes to how checkout works, for example, are limited. For most shops that is fine. For shops with unusual requirements, it can be a barrier.
Built in features
BigCommerce includes more out of the box. Depending on the plan, that covers things like:
- Multiple payment gateways.
- Real time shipping quotes from major carriers.
- Product reviews.
- Coupons and discount rules.
- Abandoned cart recovery.
- Built in reporting.
WooCommerce’s core is lighter. It covers products, cart, checkout, tax, basic shipping and coupons, and relies on extensions for the rest. That keeps the core lean and lets you add only what you need, but it means more pieces to choose and maintain.
Ease of use
BigCommerce is usually easier for a non technical owner to set up and run, because there is nothing to install or update and everything sits in one control panel.
WooCommerce feels natural if you already use WordPress. The admin is familiar, products are managed like posts, and there is a very large community of tutorials and developers. The learning curve is in the setup and upkeep, not the day to day running.
Content and SEO
Both can be set up well for search engines. Both let you edit titles, descriptions and URLs, and both produce crawlable product pages.
WooCommerce has an edge for content heavy shops. Because it runs on WordPress, your blog, guides and landing pages live in the same system as your products, with all of WordPress’s content tools and SEO plugins such as Yoast. That makes it easy to link guides to products and keep one consistent site.
BigCommerce includes a blog, but it is simpler than WordPress. If content is central to how you win customers, that matters. Our guide to ecommerce SEO covers the setup steps on either platform.
Security and maintenance
With BigCommerce, the platform handles server security, software updates and the PCI compliance of its hosting. You still need strong passwords and careful staff access.
With WooCommerce, you are responsible. That means keeping WordPress, WooCommerce, the theme and every plugin up to date, choosing a good host, using SSL, taking backups and monitoring for problems. Using a payment gateway that takes card details on its own servers, such as PayPal, or Stripe with its own payment form, reduces your PCI burden a great deal.
Growth and performance
BigCommerce is built to handle traffic spikes without you thinking about servers. That is valuable if you run big promotions or seasonal peaks.
WooCommerce can handle large catalogues and high traffic, but it needs good hosting, caching set up so carts and checkouts still work, and someone who understands how to tune it. As a shop grows, hosting and performance work become a bigger part of the budget.
Moving later
Moving between platforms is always work. Products and customers can usually be exported and imported, but orders, URLs, reviews and customer passwords need care, and redirects are essential to keep search rankings. Choosing well at the start saves effort later.
How to decide
Choose WooCommerce if
- You already have a WordPress site and want the shop in the same place.
- Content, blogging and SEO are central to your marketing.
- You need custom features or unusual product setups.
- You want full ownership of your code and data.
- You have, or can pay for, someone to look after updates and hosting.
Choose BigCommerce if
- You want a feature rich shop without managing servers or updates.
- Your team is not technical.
- You expect big traffic peaks and want the platform to absorb them.
- Your requirements fit what the platform offers.
If you are also considering Shopify, our WooCommerce vs Shopify comparison covers how that platform compares.
FAQ
Can I use WordPress with BigCommerce?
You can keep a WordPress blog alongside a BigCommerce shop and link between them, but they run as separate systems.
Which has better themes?
Both have good free and paid themes. WooCommerce has a far larger selection because it can use most WordPress themes, though shop specific themes work best.
Which is better for large catalogues?
Both can handle thousands of products. BigCommerce needs less tuning; WooCommerce needs better hosting and caching as the catalogue grows.
Want help choosing or building your shop?
We set up and improve shops on WooCommerce and other platforms, with a focus on checkout, speed and sales. See how we help you turn visitors into customers.
