WooCommerce vs. Bigcommerce: Which one is best for your website?

Introduction 

Crafting an online store is not just a thought process. It needs to be executed well with the right tools. One of the most vital steps is to choose the right platform for web design.

So while going through all the top web design platforms, you must have gone through the two most popular ones. Those are WooCommerce and BigCommerce. You must need clarification as to whether to choose WooCommerce vs. BigCommerce.

But this blog will help you decide on the best platform for your online store. We will let you know every bit about both platforms and how they differ from each other. Stay tuned, and let’s get started.

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is one of the most popular open-source ecommerce web design platforms for online stores. It was invented in 2011 to form complex e-commerce websites. The best part of WooCommerce is that it gives you full ownership of the site and control over the content. So it sets a complete stage to turn a blank site into a fully functional online store. It gives complete customization properties to create beautiful store pages and generate revenue.

The only urge to own your online store is to get personalized hosting and domains and install WordPress for them. Then only you can have access to WooCommerce and explore its wide features. However, it might sound too complicated, but trust that the process is smoother than ever.

Key features 

• Simple and easy to use
• Fully customizable 
• Flexible and secure payments
• Boost website SEO.
• Seamless customer support
• Easy marketing and optimization
• Integration with other functional plugins

What is Bigcommerce

Bigcommerce has been a conventional and leading platform for innovative online stores since 2009. It helps your business power up with the desired growth and revenue in no time. The most attractive part is that it is an open SaaS offering the most modern commerce assets for online stores.

It is a completely hosted platform that comes with an entire package offering web design solutions. Under a single package, you get hosting, design, content, payment integration, and SEO support too. It holds a complete set of features and open APIs for professional online stores. Thus, it gives an all-in-one solution along with the Bigcommerce plugin support, resulting in a fully functional site. You simply need to purchase a subscription, and you are good to have an online account ready with no stress. The best part of Bigcommerce is that you can manage its store along with your WordPress site.

Bigcommerce, a robust e-commerce platform, complements WP Theme Bundle by offering seamless integration, empowering users to create and manage their online stores efficiently.

Key Features 

• SaaS-based web design platform
• Page Builder supports drag-and-drop facilities.
• Theme customization 
• Mobile Optimization 
• WordPress Integration 
• SEO support 

Comparing WooCommerce and Bigcommerce with the key factors

Ease of use

The most common point lies in the usability of a web design platform. Users always look for ease of use on any platform they are going to invest in. So let us watch out for the usability of WooCommerce vs. Bigcommerce.

• WooCommerce:

WooCommerce completely relies on the ease of use factor, as it offers superb flexibility to beginners as well. Although the base would be purchasing the hosting and domain for WordPress, it still counts on providing great ease of use. It even works as a WordPress plugin with pre-installed software, unlike SiteGround.

• BigCommerce:

While with Bigcommerce, the scenario is again the same as with WooCommerce. Bigcommerce also lies on top when it comes to ease of use. Like WooCommerce, Bigcommerce does not require any technical knowledge. This part is taken gratefully by the support team. 

Design Flexibility 

We are ranging the factors up, and next on the podium is the design section. Now, when it comes to appearance, you need to be a bit picky. It matters a lot whether the platform has the best designs and that too with mobile responsiveness or not.

• WooCommerce:

Talking about WooCommerce, it offers a pleasing range of 20 themes, including 14 e-commerce themes. Of those, three are free, and others cost between $39 and $129, with additional extensions to be paid. The best part is that if you have good hosting, then the theme charges are saved as it comes with a free theme. The themes are a bit cheaper but require technical expertise to customize. These are mobile-responsive to a greater extent.

• BigCommerce:

On the other hand, Bigcommerce has 50 themes in all, with 12 free themes and others costing from $150 to $300. Though the themes are a bit expensive, they are easy to customize at their best. The best part is there is no need to have technical assistance. Mobile responsiveness is also up to the mark.

Ownership 

You want your website to perform or appear just like you wish, right? For this, the platform must offer good ownership to you.

• WooCommerce:

With WooCommerce, you get complete ownership of your online store. It is a plugin, and the pillar is WordPress. You need to install WooCommerce and a good hosting service to use it. And in some situations, you can switch the hosting services without affecting the overall design.

• BigCommerce:

But with BigCommerce,  ownership is somehow a bit crucial. Being a non-self-hosted platform, it does not allow you to host it anywhere.

Scalability 

Every website needs to grow at some point in time. That only depends on when your chosen platform offers superb scalability features. Let’s find out about WooCommerce and BigCommerce.

• WooCommerce:

WooCommerce is a self-hosted platform, so the entire focus is on the users themselves to manage everything. From managing updates, resources, backups, and security, the user needs to keep an eye on it. While upgrading, some companies switch hosting plans, but still, things become confusing at times.

• BigCommerce:

On the other hand, Bigcommerce offers you a complete solution to manage everything with ease. To upgrade the scalability, you simply need to upgrade the plan, and everything is managed by Bigcommerce.

Pricing 

This part is the most interesting one, where the user makes a firm decision about which is to be selected. Let us compare the prices of both WooCommerce vs. BigCommerce.

• WooCommerce:

WooCommerce is a completely free open-source plugin for building an online store. You simply need to pay for the hosting and domain, and there you go. Chances arise to pay when you need integration with plugins and more features.

• BigCommerce:

On the other hand, Bigcommerce is a fully hosted platform that requires a processing fee along with subscription plans. Plus, you need to pay $29.95, including the paid and free themes. Additionally, it requires monthly charges for extensions.

Customization Options 

You want your online store to have a unique appearance according to your desires, isn’t it? Well, a website needs to be customized by the owner as the Google SEO updates drop off. This is why you must choose a platform that is easy to customize. Let’s find out which platform is more customizable.

• WooCommerce:

WooCommerce by far holds the most customizable interface so that users can create unique websites. It allows you to code, edit, or even hire a developer for customization. You get all the assets, like themes, plugins, and even features with full customization properties.

• BigCommerce:

On the contrary, BigCommerce is also easy to customize, but with some limitations. Users get limited features, themes, and plugins to add to the website. Again, you need to spend extra on purchasing premium themes and plugins. 

Payment Gateways 

Payment gateways are vital supplements for any e-commerce website to receive online payments. There are so many payment options, like credit cards, debit cards, wallets, and more. And with so many payment gateways out there, WooCommerce and Bigcommerce have their numbers. Let us find out.

• WooCommerce:

WooCommerce, with the easiest interface, holds an approximate range of 100 payment options to use. It includes PayPal, Amazon Pay, Stripe, and more. And also, these payment options are easy to access all over the world.

• BigCommerce:

Bigcommerce, on the other hand, comes with a range of 65 payment gateways. One drawback is that some payment gateways are only accessible in the USA.

SEO 

Mark it out. Without SEO, your online store is worthless, as it won’t be able to make sales. A good online store always looks after the SEO ranks and strives for a fully optimized interface. In this case, both WooCommerce vs. Bigcommerce secure top-level Let us watch out.

• WooCommerce:

WooCommerce offers a variety of SEO plugins, like Yoast SEO, MonsterInsights, Rank Math SEO, and many more.

• BigCommerce:

Bigcommerce also has strong competition with great SEO tools like ReloadSEO, SEO Rich Snippets, and more.

Security 

Getting your online stores secured is the most vital concern in terms of sales and growth. You need your customers to stick around for a longer period; this is only possible when you have a great security network. Both platforms are well-developed for security; let us watch out for them.

• WooCommerce:

WooCommerce sets an unbeatable layer of security through third-party plugins. Its top-level security also turns out to be best when you have chosen the right hosting service. These offer great PCI complaints, free SSL certificates, and also CDNs.

• BigCommerce:

Getting on Bigcommerce ensures that your sensitive data is well-secured using the PCI complaint. Plus, users can opt for SSL certificates with additional charges.

Community Support 

Community support is where the active support team is ready to assist individuals in developing skills and community.

• WooCommerce:

WooCommerce holds professional communities like Quora, Reddit, Slack, and Telegram. Even there are Facebook groups to build up online communities to solve online queries.

• BigCommerce:

On the other hand, Bigcommerce has an active community to solve online queries and issues. Also, users can contact us through chat support, 24/7 phone support, and email support.

Conclusion 

Both WooCommerce and Bigcommerce are the most-ranked platforms for e-commerce stores. However, choosing one is somehow difficult for most users. We have made a complete list of features that will help you way better. Both platforms have different connotations.

WooCommerce is one of the most used platforms because of its user-friendly interface and support. The cost and security charges are also effective. The interface seems to be the best even for beginners, and you can have great customizations too. The only drawback is that, as you move ahead with it, technical skills are required. As a self-hosted platform, you are the sole owner of your website.

Whereas WooCommerce vs. Bigcommerce gives a tough competition in terms of a fully hosted interface. Bigcommerce is a fully hosted platform that gives an all-in-one solution to e-commerce websites. It does not require you to set up anything; you just need to purchase a subscription plan. BigCommerce, a leading e-commerce platform, integrates seamlessly with WordPress through plugins, offering access to free WordPress themes that complement the robust functionality of the platform. Also, you don’t need to worry about security and scalability when integrating WordPress. The only drawback is that it comes with limited web design assets like customization, themes, and more. It even prohibits the integration of any other tool apart from the BigCommerce plugin.

So, this is how we have compared both platforms, and they are somehow the best in their regimes. The choice lies with the user’s needs. I hope this commendable comparison has given you the right knowledge.