Being a small business on BigCommerce could be nerve-wracking. So here are some of the best BigCommerce alternatives to try.
Don’t have time to read an entire article? Take a look at our quick recommendation.
Launch, scale and manage your online business with just $14.99 on Dukaan. Annual plans start at $149.99 only.
Over the years, many eCommerce platforms are sprouting up all over the world. And users have been looking for a simpler new-age alternative to BigCommerce.
Data shows that for every store that is switching to BigCommerce from other platforms, BigCommerce is also losing one store to other platforms.
Wondering what may be the reasons to look for alternatives to BigCommerce.
Contents
Why You Should Look for Alternatives to Bigcommerce?
Here are a few reasons why you should be looking for BigCommerce alternatives. These issues are very common and faced by a lot of users on the platform.
1. Not fit for small businesses
The fact that BigCommerce is not built for small businesses is well-known by now.
From their pricing plans to their features and tools, the platform is suitable for big-scale businesses rather than small ones.
2. Very expensive as you have to pay for add-on
When you are paying a subscription cost for using the BigCommerce platform, you expect that it includes most of the necessary features. However, it is not.
All the necessary features like analytics, reporting, etc. come in the form of paid add-ons only.
3. Poor tech support and non-existent billing department
More than a few sellers on BigCommerce have complained about the incompetency of the tech support team.
Especially the stores that have been on the platform before the recent updates are facing a lot of issues. The support team makes it hard for sellers to leave the platform at their will.
There you have it, some of the issues faced by sellers on the BigCommerce platform. As you can see, one cannot overlook these problems.
10 BigCommerce Alternatives in 2022
Without further ado, here are the best BigCommerce alternatives in 2022.
1. Dukaan
Best for businesses of all sizes
Pricing starts from $11.99 per month
Dukaan is an easy-to-use eCommerce platform. You can start building your online business in a matter of minutes.
You do not need any technical expertise or coding skills to create your online store. Dukaan strives constantly to find solutions for problems faced by sellers on the platform, big and small.
How does Dukaan compare with BigCommerce?
Feature | Dukaan | BigCommerce |
---|---|---|
Best For | Startups, small to medium businesses with room to scale | Large businesses and enterprises |
Overview | eCommerce platform that helps businesses of all sizes to get started quickly and easily | eCommerce platform built for large scale businesses with multiple products and various verticals. |
Pricing | Starts from $11.99 per month | Starts from $29.99 per month |
Onboarding | You can create an online store in under a minute. Configuring and customizing can be done in a few hours! | It will take 2 to 3 days to configure all the information and settings of your online store |
Ease of Use | User-friendly interface. Can navigate easily to manage your online business easily | The interface is outdated, making it hard to navigate the platform to manage your store |
Domain | You can purchase custom domain, Hosting and SSL free | You can purchase custom domain, Hosting and SSL free |
Abandoned Cart Recovery | Available on all plans | Available on higher paid plans only |
Tax Calculator | Available on all plans | Available on higher paid plans only |
Customization | Themes are easy to edit and customize, no coding skills needed | Theme editor is not intuitive, needs technical expertise |
Themes | All themes in the library are free of cost | Free templates and themes are limited |
Investment | Low, subscriptions start less than $10 per month. Not much additional costs | High, apart from subscription, additional costs for theme, plugins, etc. |
Loading Time | Loading time is 70-80ms for even large online stores | Due to plugins and extensions, loading time increases considerably |
Features
Once you log in to the Dukaan app, you will have access to a comprehensive dashboard. It will help you handle your entire business.
To add more functionality to your online store – try the range of intuitive plugins and add-ons.
Design
Dukaan has really cool themes and templates for designing your web store as well as creating store banners. These templates are easy to edit based on color, text, and font.
There is also a range of social media templates like WhatsApp stories, special posts, etc. that you can customize and share on your social media.
Ease of Use
Creating an online business on Dukaan is as easy as starting a WhatsApp group. You can even manage multiple stores on Dukaan with ease. All you have to do is follow a few simple steps, and your store is ready.
Adding, changing, or deleting products is also a cakewalk. Social media is integrated so you can share your business and product updates to your social media easily.
If you do not believe us, just take a look at all these free tools by Dukaan to make things easier for sellers.
Pricing
One look at Dukaan’s pricing chart and you will realize how budget-friendly they are.
Plan | Monthly | Yearly |
---|---|---|
Entrepreneur | $14.99 | $149.99 |
Agency | $49.99 | $499.99 |
Enterprise | Custom | Custom |
The Dukaan enterprise plan helps you scale your business with advanced features and more controls.
2. Wix
Best for easy drag-and-drop website building
Pricing starts from $14 per month
When it comes to easy and intuitive website building, Wix is the first platform you will hear about.
Being a website builder does not limit its eCommerce features either. If you want to create an online store on Wix, you could do so easily using their drag-and-drop feature.
Features
Wix uses the ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) to help build your store based on the answers you provide to a few simple questions. It puts together an online store for you in a matter of minutes.
Wix also has some great SEO features that help your store rank higher on the search engines.
Design
Wix is well known for its well-designed sleek templates that you can choose for your online store. You can make your online storefront look as aesthetically pleasing as you want to.
The templates are pretty easy to customize. You can move around the design elements and add or remove them according to your needs.
Ease of Use
Wix is very easy to use, be it for building your online store or be it to manage your eCommerce store.
The platform also allows you to showcase your products very aesthetically to attract and retain customers. You can also add product videos to your product listing.
Pricing
You can choose from Wix’s range of cost-effective plans. They also have a free plan under its subdomain. If you want to have your own domain, you will have to subscribe to one of their plans.
Plan | Monthly | Yearly |
---|---|---|
Combo | $23/month | $16/month |
Unlimited | $29/month | $22/month |
Pro | $34/month | $27/month |
VIP | $49/month | $45/month |
Business Basic | $34/month | $27/month |
Business Unlimited | $38/month | $32/month |
Business VIP | $64/month | $59/month |
Why choose Wix over BigCommerce?
1. Very easy to use and beginner friendly.
2. AI-powered website building.
3. Affordable and value-added platform.
Further reading
- Wix isn’t right for you? Check out the other Wix alternatives available.
3. Magento
Best for businesses that grow continuously.
Pr
icing starts from $6000
Magento is an eCommerce platform that allows for scalability. It is the best alternative to BigCommerce for small businesses growing steadily.
It is also an open-source platform and hence you can create a highly customized online store on this platform.
Features
Magento has a huge range of built-in features for people to use on the platform. It also goes through constant updates and developments through its large community.
Their eCommerce features like payment gateways, reporting, and analytics, inventory management, etc. are pretty up to mark.
Design
Since Magento is an open-source platform, the customization of your online store is completely up to you.
But you need technical expertise to do that. Since Magento does not have a lot of themes or design elements, unlike WooCommerce, which is also an open-source platform.
Ease of Use
For building the most basic web store, Magento can be a great choice. However, as your store grows, if you want to manage your business on the platform, you will need to have the technical expertise or hire someone with the skills.
Pricing
Magento can be very expensive for new businesses as you need a dedicated tech person to create and maintain your store on the platform. Here’s what the pricing looks like:
Plans | Yearly |
---|---|
Open Source | $12,000 to $57,000+ |
Magento Commerce | $43,000 to $1,89,000+ |
Magento Commerce Cloud | $60,000 to $2,47,000+ |
Why choose Magento over BigCommerce?
1. Open-source and free platform.
2. Offers creative control and flexibility.
3. Seamlessly manage a large inventory.
Further reading
- Magento not fulfilling all your eCommerce needs? Here are other worthy Magento alternatives to consider.
4. Shopify
Best for building an eCommerce specific site
Pricing starts from $9 per month +Commission
If you are looking around for an eCommerce platform to host your online store, it’s pretty hard to miss Shopify. It is one of the first platforms that started out to enable sellers to take their business online.
Over the years, it has gone through multiple changes and users have started to feel some of its features are outdated. However, it is still a great competitor and alternative to BigCommerce.
Features
Shopify has amazing eCommerce features like abandoned cart recovery, multiple payment gateways, inventory management, unlimited sales, etc.
Their eCommerce features are pretty unbeatable compared to any other platforms. However, there is also a steep learning curve attached to using the platform.
Design
Though limited compared to Wix or WooCommerce, Shopify has over 100 well-designed themes. It will help you in building a professional-looking online store.
BigCommerce does have equally great themes, however, Shopify themes are still advanced in design and aesthetics.
Ease of Use
From the editing point of view, Shopify offers both visual editors as well as an HTML editor. If you are good with coding, you can edit in HTML mode. It is also friendly for non-coders.
And with eCommerce features, Shopify has most of it, and the ones that lack can be added as third-party integrations.
Pricing
Shopify is almost as expensive as BigCommerce, and here is a detailed breakup of the plans and pricing on Shopify:
Plan | Monthly | Transaction Fees |
---|---|---|
Shopify Starter | $5 | - |
Shopify Lite | $9 | 2.7% per in-person transaction |
Basic Shopify | $29 | 2.9% + 30 cents per online transaction; 2.7% per in-person transaction |
Standard Shopify | $79 | 2.6% + 30 cents per online transaction; 2.5% per in-person transaction |
Advanced Shopify | $299 | 2.4% + 30 cents per online transaction; 2.4% per in-person transaction |
Shopify Plus | Starting at $2000 | 0.15% per transaction (for third-party payment processors only) |
Why choose Shopify over BigCommerce?
1. Range of free and paid 3rd party apps.
2. Easy to get started with room to scale.
3. PCI compliant and comes with free SSL.
Further reading
- If Shopify isn’t what you are looking for, our detailed guide will help you find a suitable Shopify alternative.
- Read our BigCommerce vs Shopify comparison to find out more about which is best for you.
5. Squarespace
Best for well-designed and aesthetic stores
Pricing starts from $12 per month
Squarespace is a website builder just like Wix. It is very easy to create websites on the platform using their well-designed templates and themes.
It can also be used as an online store builder by adding the eCommerce functionality using one of their affordable subscription plans.
Features
Squarespace can be an amazing alternative to big commerce simply for its dual functionality. You get your own website as well as an eCommerce Store when you choose square space.
You can create a really aesthetic-looking website on which you can also sell online. Features such as social media integration, useful analytical tools, etc. are available too.
Design
Since Squarespace is initially a website builder, the platform comes with a load of beautifully designed templates. It is a popular choice among those who focus more on the aesthetic appeal of their website or web store.
Whether you are an eCommerce Store, a blogger, or a musician, Squarespace has templates and website designs that are a perfect fit for you.
Ease of Use
Squarespace is a very easy-to-use platform. Whether you are a freelancer or a small business owner you can find your way around the platform pretty easily.
There is also a range of plugins available on the platform which you can add to your own website to increase the functionality.
Pricing
It is safe to say that Squarespace is a budget-friendly alternative to BigCommerce. Here are the paid plans:
Plan | Monthly | Yearly |
---|---|---|
Personal Plan | $23 | $16 |
Business Plan | $33 | $23 |
Ecommerce Basic Plan | $36 | $27 |
Ecommerce Advanced Plan | $65 | $49 |
Why choose Squarespace over BigCommerce?
1. Suitable for websites as well as an online store.
2. Reasonably priced subscription plans.
3. Very modern, sleek, and well-designed templates.
Further reading
- Looking for something better than Squarespace? Our guide to the best Squarespace alternatives explores the other top options.
6. WooCommerce
Best for sellers with coding skills
Pricing depends on the domain, web hosting, etc.
Unlike all the other eCommerce platforms out there, WooCommerce is basically a plugin for WordPress. It is free to download. Install this plugin and it adds the eCommerce functionality to your WordPress website.
Ever since WooCommerce was released in 2008, it has become a very popular eCommerce solution among small businesses and large businesses alike.
Features
WooCommerce is rich with eCommerce functionalities and features. The features include multiple shipping options, various payment gateways, coupons and discounts, and order management, to name a few.
You can use your WordPress eCommerce to sell physical products, digital products, and affiliate products.
Design
WordPress is one of the leading CMS or Content Management Platforms that has over 30,000 well-designed templates.
It also has a range of free and paid extensions and design elements that can increase the professional look and aesthetics of your website. Most of these themes are compatible with WooCommerce but finding one can be a tough task.
Ease of Use
Again when we say WooCommerce is a plugin, downloading and installing it is an easy job.
However, when it comes to customizing your website theme to integrate WooCommerce it could be tough and require some technical knowledge.
Pricing
WooCommerce is a free plugin, however, there is a range of other costs involved including domain, web hosting, extensions, add-ons, etc.
Low Pricing Range: | High Pricing Range: | |
---|---|---|
Hosting | $6.95/month | $12.95/month |
Domain Name | $15/year | $25/year |
Theme | Free WooCommerce theme | $35-129 professional theme |
Plugins | Free | $100-150/year |
Security | $10/year | $150-450/year |
Dev Fees | Free | $1,000-6,000 |
Why choose WooCommerce over BigCommerce?
1. Access to a vast library of website themes.
2. Open source, complete creative control.
3. Multiple languages and currencies.
Further reading
- Searching for something better than WooCommerce? Our article enlists great WooCommerce alternatives worth trying.
7. Volusion
Best for startup and small businesses
Pricing starts from $29 per month
Volusion is an eCommerce platform that provides brands with eCommerce web design, shopping cart functionality, and processing tools to manage their business.
With a range of affordable subscription plans and a user-friendly interface, Volusion could be the best alternative to big commerce for a beginner or a small business.
Features
Volusion is mostly focused on small businesses. It is relatively small compared to big commerce or Shopify. It offers a range of eCommerce features that varies based on your subscription plan.
From basic features like phone orders, newsletters, customer reviews, etc. to third-party gateways, loyalty plans, Amazon integration, etc. you can choose a plan that is most suitable for your business.
Design
Volusion theme library consists of a handful of themes out of which a bare minimum is free. The rest of them are paid for.
Free themes are clean and modern and implementing them is very easy with the click of a button. It is best suitable for a minimal and clean storefront.
For more serious stores, medium to large businesses who have the funds can invest in one of their premium themes which are paid for.
Ease of Use
Setting up your Store on Volusion, customizing the themes to meet your expectations, etc. is a pretty easy job. Of course, you need to choose from one of their free or premium themes.
Apart from this, there are marketing tools that are also very easy to use. The platform is well integrated with Google customer reviews, Google merchant center, Social media platforms, etc.
Pricing
Volusion’s pricing plans seem reasonable, but their themes are very expensive.
Plan | Monthly | Yearly |
---|---|---|
Personal | $35.00 | $31.50 |
Professional | $79.00 | $71.10 |
Business | $299.00 | $269.10 |
Prime | Based on GMV | Based on GMV |
Why choose Volusion over BigCommerce?
1. Great marketing tools, multi-channel marketing.
2. Robust analytics tool collecting real-time data.
3. Useful eCommerce features come with built-in.
8. Square Online
Best for sellers who prefer functionality
Pricing starts from $0 +transaction fees
Square online is a product of Square inc. which is a payment processing company and Weebly which is one of the best website builders.
It is an easy-to-use eCommerce platform to sell online where setting up your own online store and managing your eCommerce business can be done efficiently.
Features
Square online is quite popular for its strong sales features. It is easy to add products, modify their details, personalize your listings, and a lot more on the platform.
You can manage stocks, process payments, and offer multiple shipping options to your customers through your store on Square online. It is the best BigCommerce alternative for small eCommerce businesses.
Design
Square online is more of an eCommerce-oriented platform with limited to no importance given to design elements.
There are only a very handful of themes and templates to choose from. This could be very frustrating for anyone who values aesthetics a lot more than eCommerce functionality.
Ease of Use
Square online is a very easy-to-use platform. You can sign up on the platform by answering a few questions about your business and the process from there just gets easier.
Since it is a part of the Weebly software which customers have reviewed to be the most easy-to-use website builder, it is not a surprise that Square online is very easy to use.
Pricing
Square online charges a transaction fee even with their paid plans, which is a huge downside.
Plans | Monthly | Yearly | Transaction fee |
---|---|---|---|
Free | $0 | $0 | 2.9% +$0.30 |
Professional | $16 | $12 | 2.9% +$0.30 |
Performance | $29 | $26 | 2.9% +$0.30 |
Premium | $79 | $72 | 2.6% +$0.30 |
Why choose Square online over BigCommerce?
1. Best features for restaurants and small businesses.
2. Intuitive website editor with real-time editing.
3. Offers multi-channel marketing.
9. Opencart
Best for people skilled in programming languages
Pricing starts from $250 on the lower end
Open cart is an open-source platform that is free to download and install. Unlike other eCommerce platforms out there, the open cart platform does not try to promote any upgrades or paid plans at any point.
When you download the Open cart software it looks like a WordPress site that needs to expand using extensions and add-ons. You can build in The eCommerce functionality using plugins and extensions.
Features
Since Open cart is an open-source platform, adding any or all features can be done as an extension only. But they do have a collection of add-ons, plugins, and extensions that you can integrate with your eCommerce Store.
There is a range of extensions that are specifically designed for eCommerce and helps in managing your business more effectively and efficiently.
Design
The open cart marketplace is filled with a range of customizable themes and designs. You can choose the one that suits your business and customize it to your heart’s content.
If you are skilled in programming languages, then this platform is the best for you. If not, you can always hire someone with the technical knowledge.
Ease of Use
When it comes to ease of use, Open cart is not necessarily the best option. Since BigCommerce offers a self-hosted platform, creating your online stores is much easier.
Yet on Open cart, you can build a highly specific online store with the eCommerce functionalities required.
Pricing
On the lowest end, Open cart may cost up to $250 to get your store set up and start the business. Here is how the breakdown looks:
Features | Pricing Starts at |
---|---|
Domain | $10 per year |
Hosting | $10 per month |
SSL Certificate | $100 per year |
Themes and Modules | $100 |
Why choose Opencart over BigCommerce?
1. Handle business across multiple locations.
2. Better Email marketing tool with templates.
3. Seamless social media integration.
10. Salesforce
Best for business that is scaling up constantly
Pricing starts from $25 per month
Salesforce is more of a CRM or a Customer Relationship Management platform. You can use it for eCommerce, marketing, lead generation, customer service, and much more.
eCommerce functionality can be added to the Salesforce platform using their Commerce cloud 360 extension.
Features
On Salesforce, you can add all the eCommerce features that your business needs by integrating apps and plugins.
Sales and marketing features, order fulfillment, customer service, social media integrations, inventory management, and much more can be added on.
Design
Salesforce is a very powerful platform that goes beyond a simple eCommerce platform. It offers a lot more functionality compared to any other eCommerce platform, all at an added cost of course.
It is best suited for medium-scale businesses that are growing quickly and constantly or large-scale established businesses.
Ease of Use
From an eCommerce perspective, Salesforce makes it very easy to run your business successfully.
You can grow your business effectively and adapt to the needs of your customers quickly. You can also scale your business across the globe with a click.
Pricing
Salesforce is quite an expensive platform and every added functionality comes with an added expense. The basic pricing plan are as follows:
Plan | Monthly |
---|---|
Essential | $25 |
Professional | $75 |
Enterprise | $150 |
Unlimited | $300 |
Why choose Salesforce over BigCommerce?
1. Very strong CRM platform for B2C business.
2. Easy drag-and-drop online store builder.
3. Advance sales tools and features.
Who are the top BigCommerce competitors?
2. Wix: Best for easy drag-and-drop website building
3. Magento: Best for businesses that grow continuously
4. Shopify: Best for building an eCommerce specific site
5. Squarespace: Best for well-designed and aesthetic stores
6. WooCommerce: Best for sellers with coding skills
7. Volusion: Best for startup and small businesses
8. Square Online: Best for sellers who prefer functionality
9. Opencart: Best for people skilled in programming languages
10. Salesforce: Best for business that is scaling up constantly
Conclusion
So, now that you have looked through some of the best alternatives to BigCommerce, we hope you are seriously considering one of these to set up your own online store.
New age platforms are a lot more promising these days compared to legacy platforms. an eCommerce platform like Dukaan has made it so easy for even the smallest business to online within a matter of minutes.
Watch this video to learn more:
FAQ’s
1. What are the disadvantages of BigCommerce?BigCommerce is suitable for only large businesses with the scale and money to use the platform. It is not suitable for beginners and small businesses. It is very expensive and comes with a steep learning curve.
2. Which is the best eCommerce platform?
There is a range of eCommerce platforms that you can choose from depending on your business needs. Dukaan is a very easy-to-use platform that does not require any coding skills to set up a store.
3. Is BigCommerce good for eCommerce?
Yes, but only large-scale eCommerce. If you are a startup or a small business, there are a lot of amazing alternatives to BigCommerce.
4. Is BigCommerce a CMS?
No, that is one of the biggest disadvantages of BigCommerce.
5. Who is BigCommerce’s biggest competitor?
Dukaan, Shopify, and Wix and some of the biggest competitors of BigCommerce.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.