Nowadays, every business owner decides to take their business online with the increasing influence of internet everywhere in the world. Setting up an online store has become very easy these days thanks to ecommerce platforms like WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, Shopify etc. By using these platforms, anyone can build a decent e-store with some efforts. Two of these valuable e-commerce platforms i.e. BigCommerce vs WooCommerce are one of the best platforms to create high-end online stores for your business. All you do is look for the right e-commerce development company to develop an exclusive store for your business.
Both of these platforms offer various features and functionalities to build awesome ecommerce websites. They are designed to enable you to build online stores easily without digging deep into coding or programming. By using the tools provided by these platforms one can build any type of ecommerce websites. Moreover, which one between BigCommerce vs WooCommerce do you think is the best for building online stores? In this post, we are going to compare these platforms and would try to find out which one is the best e-commerce platform between WooCommerce vs BigCommerce.
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: An overview
WooCommerce and BigCommerce are among the top ecommerce platforms that are widely utilized for developing high-end e-stores. BigCommerce provides a whole package of services, which include design, hosting, SEO payments, content as well as marketing features. BigCommerce is known as all-in-one-service or Software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution. You can purchase BigCommerce subscription plan to start your online store easily and quickly. However, it lacks customization as you will have limited tools which are provided in the package that you subscribe for.
WooCommerce is a popular WordPress plugin and it is very easy to use. You can also easily setup WooCommerce as it offers point-and-click installation process. By using this feature-rich plugin, you can easily turn your WordPress blog into a full-fledged ecommerce website. In order to get started with WooCommerce, you have to buy and configure web hosting, then you can install WP, WooCommerce and various marketing tools by yourself. The process might seem complex at first, however, it is not difficult to set up your WooCommerce e-store.
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Usage convenience
There are several benefits of choosing an easy platform like you can easily setup, make changes, fix issues without any hassle. So, you don’t have to waste a lot of time in your site maintenance. Hence, ease of use is an important factor to consider when choosing a platform. It is easy to start and maintain an e-store with BigCommerce. Plus, you don’t need to install any software or set up host with BigCommerce, because it’s a fully hosted platform. You simply sign up to get started with your new BigCommerce store.
On the other hand, WooCommerce is not a hosted platform and you will need a hosting service to set up and start your online store with WooCommerce. You will have to buy a domain name and hosting account to start a new store. If you choose hosting provider, you may not have to install WooCommerce manually.
Winner: BigCommerce
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Comparing costs
BigCommerce comes with different pricing plans as it is available at subscription basis. Besides the standard plans, if you want a custom domain you will have to buy it from a domain registrar. The plans provide unlimited products, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited file storage, unlimited staff accounts and no transaction fees. However, BigCommerce puts a threshold on total sales of online shops, which is different for every plan. To sell more, you will have to upgrade to higher plan. Plus, you will need to pay for free and premium themes and apps.
In case of WooCommerce, it’s an open-source plugin which anyone can use free of cost. But, you will need to pay for services like hosting, domain name, SSL Certificate, etc. However, many hosting companies also provide various bundles that include hosting, domain, and SSL Certificate at an effective cost.
Winner: WooCommerce
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Scalability concerns
Being a completely hosted platform, you don’t need to bother about technical things such as backups, downtimes, storage, security or updates with BigCommerce. When your business grows, your website requirements also increase. When it comes to scaling your site up, you can easily do this by purchasing a higher plan with BigCommerce and leave the rest on them.
However, WooCommerce is self-hosted and the website maintenance responsibility comes completely to the owner. So, things like managing resources, updates, backups and website security all are to be dealt by the website owners.
Winner: BigCommerce
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Integration of add-ons
Add-ons like plugins help extend the functionalities of websites. The most sought-after add-ons that are used by ecommerce websites include Google analytics, email marketing tools, lead generation and outreach services. You can find hundreds of apps and integrations for your BigCommerce website that are available for both free and paid.
On the other hand, you can find thousands of free and paid plugins for WooCommerce that are available on WordPress marketplace. You can easily find plugins for features like SEO, analytics, performance and more. WooCommerce provides a large numbers of plugins and add-ons for the users and many of them are available for free.
Winner: WooCommerce
Final thought!
Ecommerce is an ever-evolving sector with tremendous opportunities, therefore businesses are getting online to reap the benefits of online business. When it comes to choosing between BigCommerce vs WooCommerce, there are a lot factors to be considered to pick the right platform to build an ecommerce website. Based on the points discussed above, you can choose BigCommerce if you want a quick and easy platform with minimal configuration options, and you have a good budget. If you want an affordable yet simple and highly customizable option you might prefer WooCommerce. However, the right choice depends on factors like budget, customizability, cost, simplicity, scalability etc.
Author Bio: Emily White is a talented web developer who is working with CSSChopper, an eCommerce web development which offers services around the world. Emily loves writing in her part-time and compose quality articles and blogs for her audience.