Building an online store comes with a long checklist: storefront design, payments, product setup, security, and ongoing maintenance. For that reason, choosing the right platform early can save you months later. BigCommerce vs WooCommerce is a common comparison because both can run serious ecommerce businesses, yet they work in very different ways.
We’ll look into more details now, from daily usability to long-term cost and POS readiness.
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Overall Description
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a SaaS ecommerce platform founded in Austin, Texas in 2009. Because it’s fully hosted, BigCommerce covers core infrastructure such as hosting, platform updates, security basics, and many built-in commerce tools.
The company has 600+ employees and has supported almost 100,000 merchants starting online stores.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce launched in 2011 as an open-source plugin for WordPress. It started as a way for WordPress site owners to add ecommerce, then scaled into one of the most widely used ecommerce solutions worldwide.
As of January 2020, WooCommerce was reported to be used by 3.9 million websites worldwide, and it serves around 4% of the top million HTML pages. It’s flexible, but you manage hosting, updates, and many add-ons yourself.
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: On The Front End
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Ease Of Use
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is straightforward to Start with because there’s no hosting setup or software installation. You log in, choose a theme, configure products, set up payments, then publish.
It still takes time to learn the admin structure. Yet the platform’s categorization is clean, and the drag-and-drop builder makes storefront edits simpler than before.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce feels natural if you already know WordPress. The interface is familiar, product setup is clear, and everyday tasks like editing pages and blogs fit nicely into the WordPress workflow.
The tradeoff is setup ownership. You need:
- a domain name
- a hosting plan
- WordPress installation
- WooCommerce installation
- theme selection
- security and performance plugins (in many cases)
WooCommerce gives freedom, but it asks for more decisions upfront.
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Help & Support
BigCommerce
BigCommerce comes with excellent support options:
- Phone Support
- Email Support
- Live Chat Support
- Community Support
When users run into any issue, they can simply click on any of these options and request support. All of the options are available 24/7. The BigCommerce Help Center is another useful source that merchants should utilize. It has a rich knowledge base to help you properly use BigCommerce, a question and answer community, and a blog for the latest news on BigCommerce.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce support depends on what’s causing the issue.
- For the core plugin: WordPress.org forums and WooCommerce documentation
- For extensions and themes: support usually comes from each plugin vendor or theme developer
- For hosting problems: your hosting provider
This structure works well for experienced teams, yet it can feel fragmented when multiple plugins interact.
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: On The Back End
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Product Management
BigCommerce
BigCommerce supports unlimited product uploading, product categories, and dropshipping apps. It also connects inventory with selling channels, including marketplaces like eBay and Amazon and social selling integrations.
Stock-level tools are practical for daily retail:
- out-of-stock visibility on the storefront
- track inventory by product or SKU
- low-stock notifications
WooCommerce
WooCommerce supports physical and digital products and is easy to manage inside WordPress. It covers the core catalog needs and scales through extensions.
Typical WooCommerce product tools include:
- stock control
- unlimited products and categories
- physical and digital product support (including software)
- configurable shipping rates and taxes (often extended with plugins)
WooCommerce can match advanced needs, yet it often reaches that point through add-ons.
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Security
According to CybintSolution, since Covid-19, the US FBI reported a 300% increase in reported cybercrimes, which raises an urgent alarm for cybersecurity on the eCommerce platforms as they have access to customers’ sensitive information (phone number, credit card number, home address, etc).
BigCommerce
BigCommerce includes SSL on all plans, and merchants can upgrade SSL options if needed. PCI DSS alignment is built into the platform, which reduces the workload for many merchants compared to self-hosted setups.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is not PCI compliant by default because it’s a plugin running on your own hosting. Security depends on your hosting provider, your WordPress configuration, your theme quality, and your plugin stack.
You can strengthen WooCommerce security with:
- strong hosting and server settings
- reliable security plugins
- regular updates for WordPress, WooCommerce, and extensions
- tight admin access control
WooCommerce can be secure, but you own the maintenance and patch discipline.
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Apps and Add-ons
BigCommerce
BigCommerce comes with a solid choice of integrations and apps. A lot more of its features come built-in. However, it has less need for a huge extension store.
In the BigCommerce marketplace, there are around 800 third-party apps and extensions to add to your store. Some of the best BigCommerce integrations include tax automation, shipping services, and marketing tools.
WooCommerce
In terms of the number of apps offered, WooCommerce is the winner. As part of WordPress, it gives users access to all of WordPress’s extensions and apps, which is up to 50,000. The platform doesn’t come with many built-in attributes, as the idea is for you to install as many plugins as you want when setting up the online store. WooCommerce has a huge marketplace full of extensions, ranging from marketing, shipping to payments, analytics, etc.
Both free and paid apps are available in the WooCommerce Extensions Store, with paid options costing between $30 and $250 per year.
BigCommerce apps help you grow your store, while WooCommerce doesn’t have many basic features and entirely depends on extensions to build your store. Therefore, WooCommerce offers a lot more options than BigCommerce, which makes it a more favorable option in terms of apps and add-ons.
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Payment Processors and Transaction Fee
It is great to be able to accept multiple payment options when selling to a broad range of customers. Both platforms here accept credit and debit cards, along with some of the biggest payment gateways, include:
- Stripe
- PayPal
- Apple Pay
- Square
Neither BigCommerce nor WooCommerce enforces their own transaction fees. However, users should keep in mind that each payment gateway has its own transaction fee charges. This means any extra cost incurred when processing payments will be from the gateways or card companies directly.
BigCommerce offers around 30 payment processors designed to support over 100 countries and more than 250 local payment methods. This platform also provides a one-click setup for its payment processors, which means users can constantly accept all the major credit cards and payment choices.
WooCommerce has its own payment gateway called WooCommerce Payments, which is free to install and doesn’t include any setup fees or monthly charges. However, this is only available to US stores selling in US dollars.
On top of these listed, WooCommerce also supports up to 160 external payment processors. Users can choose to embed popular payment methods directly onto their online stores. Therefore, users can process transactions conveniently without directing shoppers to third-party checkout pages.
In essence, your capabilities are endless because users can get all the major gateways on WooCommerce. Once merchants identify a suitable gateway, all they need to do is install its extension, connect the service with your bank account and that’s it! You can handle all transactions on your online store without paying WooCommerce even a penny.
However, users should keep in mind that the transactions are not entirely free. WooCommerce won’t charge you anything. However, the payment processors will and their fees differ from one provider to another.
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Point-of-sale System (POS System)
Neither BigCommerce nor WooCommerce includes a native POS as a core product. Most merchants connect a third-party POS to run:
- in-store checkout
- real-time inventory sync
- click-and-collect / pickup workflows
- returns and exchanges across channels
Both ecosystems have POS options in their app marketplaces. The real question is how stable the sync is, and how well the POS fits multi-store retail.
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Pricing
For BigCommerce, it has four payment plans:
- BigCommerce Standard – this is the cheapest option on this platform. It has enough features for users to build an online store ($29.95 per month)
- BigCommerce Plus – this is the most popular plan in which some premium options are available, such as abandoned cart saver, customer segmentation, etc. ($79.95 per month)
- BigCommerce Pro – it provides even more scalable features ($299.95 per month)
- BigCommerce Enterprise – this is for big companies with a custom price
BigCommerce also offers a 15-day free trial, meaning users can give the platform a try without entering any card details. This is a great way to see if it’s the right fit for you before investing. All BigCommerce plans come with unlimited bandwidth and staff accounts, with no transaction fees. Hence, everything is included under one fee in BigCommerce.
Users need to pay attention to one important factor with the Standard (the cheapest plan). In this plan, the abandoned cart recovery feature is not included – something that is vital to any serious merchant. This function is offered in the Plus plan ($79.95 per month) and above. Therefore, users should look into their budget carefully before using BigCommerce.
WooCommerce is a bit more complex. The platform itself is a free WordPress plugin, so there are no costs to install. However, users will have to purchase a theme, SSL security, and hosting all separately. Hence, depending on the users’ budget, they can choose the suitable apps and extensions that they can afford.
WooCommerce gives you flexibility over your costs and offers great value for money – as long as you choose a good web hosting solution with reasonable prices.
In terms of pricing, WooCommerce is cost-effective. Users should be able to make it as cheap or expensive as their budget allows. In contrast, BigCommerce has set prices, making it easier to budget for, but a lot more rigid.
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Discussion
As you can see, BigCommerce and WooCommerce are two powerful eCommerce platforms that can help you build a strong online store. Since you have to choose one, it comes down to your technical skills, estimated budget, and personal preferences.
BigCommerce is for those who want to build an online store quickly. It is easy to use, well-designed, and has all the features you need to be successful and grow. The platform also manages everything for you, from backups, security, and scalability. BigCommerce is a great idea for beginners with little to no coding experience.
The downside of BigCommerce is that users have limited control over your store. There are fixed pricing plans, limited themes, and extensions. You cannot use any tool outside of BigCommerce.
WooCommerce is highly recommended for people who are familiar with WordPress and are slightly more technically competent. WooCommerce is perfect if you are building a large store that expects a lot of traffic as the platform is very scalable.
It is a self-hosted platform that gives you full control over your website. Users are free to compare pricing for different services and start with the best-priced plan. The disadvantage here is that WooCommerce requires some learning curves for beginners, and users will face some scalability challenges as their store grows.
ConnectPOS: One POS layer for BigCommerce and WooCommerce
If you sell online and in-store, your POS choice can shape the entire customer experience. ConnectPOS integrates with both BigCommerce POS and WooCommerce POS setups, giving retailers a consistent way to run store operations while keeping data aligned.
ConnectPOS supports:
- real-time synchronization for products, orders, and inventory (based on configuration)
- multi-location inventory visibility
- flexible payments and tax setup
- support for common retail hardware such as barcode scanners, receipt printers, and label printers
For brands planning pop-ups, showrooms, or multiple stores, CPOS can keep online and in-person selling consistent without forcing your team to reconcile spreadsheets every day.
Wrapping up
BigCommerce vs WooCommerce comes down to operational ownership. BigCommerce keeps maintenance simpler with a hosted environment and guided setup. WooCommerce gives you control and a huge extension ecosystem, but it asks you to manage hosting, updates, and plugin compatibility as you scale.
If you’re also selling in-store, POS integration should be part of the platform decision, not an afterthought. ConnectPOS (CPOS) runs on both BigCommerce and WooCommerce, and it can keep inventory, orders, and customer data aligned across channels.
Want a tailored recommendation based on your store size, number of locations, and sales channels? Contact ConnectPOS to discuss your POS and omnichannel setup, and we’ll map the smoothest path for your BigCommerce or WooCommerce build.
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