Shopify vs BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Which Should You Use?
If you're setting up an online store, the platform you choose shapes how much you'll spend, how much you'll fiddle with it, and how easily it grows with you. Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce are the three most popular options, and all three can run a great store. The catch is they suit very different businesses.
Here's an honest look at how they compare in 2025, and who each one actually fits.
At a glance
| Shopify | BigCommerce | WooCommerce | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Beginners who want it simple | Bigger catalogues, B2B | WordPress users who want full control |
| Ease of use | Easiest | Moderate | Steepest (it's a WordPress plugin) |
| Built-in features | Good, extend via apps | Most out of the box | Minimal, add plugins |
| Hosting & maintenance | Handled for you | Handled for you | Your responsibility |
| Transaction fees | Yes, unless you use Shopify Payments | None | None (beyond your payment gateway) |
| Monthly cost | Predictable tiers | Tiers tied to sales volume | Variable (hosting + plugins) |
The quick version
Shopify is the easiest way to get a store online. It hosts everything, handles the technical side, and you can be selling quickly without touching code. The trade-offs are transaction fees if you don't use its own payment system, and a reliance on paid apps to add features.
BigCommerce packs the most into the box. Things you'd add via apps elsewhere, like abandoned-cart recovery and solid SEO controls, are built in, and it charges no extra transaction fees. It's a bit more to learn, and its pricing steps up as your sales grow.
WooCommerce is the most flexible because it's open-source and runs on WordPress. You can build almost anything, and there are no platform fees. But you're responsible for hosting, security, updates, and backups, so it suits people who are comfortable with WordPress or have a developer.
Ease of use
Shopify wins for newcomers: clean interface, quick setup, not much to trip over. BigCommerce is powerful but has more to take in at the start, so beginners can feel a little overwhelmed before it clicks. WooCommerce asks the most of you, because you're managing your own hosting, WordPress, and the plugin itself. If you already run a WordPress site, though, that gap shrinks a lot.
Features and cost
This is where they really diverge. BigCommerce gives you the most built-in, which can save money and app-juggling. Shopify has a strong core plus an enormous app store, so you can add almost anything, but the monthly apps add up. WooCommerce starts bare and you bolt on plugins for what you need, so you only pay for what you use, but the total cost is less predictable once you factor in hosting, premium themes, and paid plugins.
On fees specifically: Shopify charges extra transaction fees unless you use Shopify Payments. BigCommerce and WooCommerce don't add their own transaction fees (you still pay your payment gateway's processing fees, as you would anywhere). For a high-volume store, those Shopify fees can become a real number worth doing the maths on.
Scaling and B2B
All three can grow with you, just differently. Shopify (and Shopify Plus) handles high traffic without you thinking about servers. BigCommerce is strong for big, complex catalogues and has the best built-in B2B features, like customer-specific pricing and bulk ordering. WooCommerce can scale as far as you like, but performance rides on your hosting and how well it's set up, which is freedom and responsibility in equal measure.
Customisation and SEO
WooCommerce offers the most design freedom thanks to the WordPress ecosystem and page builders like Elementor, plus excellent blogging for content marketing. Shopify's themes look sharp and it tends to load fast out of the box, which helps SEO. BigCommerce sits in between: capable and customisable, though its free theme range is narrower. All three cover the SEO basics (editable titles, meta descriptions, and URLs).
So, which one?
Choose Shopify if you want the simplest path to selling, you're mostly B2C, and you'd rather pay a predictable monthly fee than manage anything technical.
Choose BigCommerce if you have a large or complex catalogue, sell B2B or wholesale, want strong features without piling on apps, and want to avoid platform transaction fees as your sales grow.
Choose WooCommerce if you already use WordPress, you (or your developer) are comfortable with the technical side, and you want total control and no platform fees.
The honest answer is that there's no single best platform, only the best one for how you work and what you sell. If you'd like a second opinion before you commit, or help moving an existing store across, that's exactly the kind of thing we help Perth businesses sort out.
