Shopify vs Magento vs BigCommerce: Shopify Basic and BigCommerce Core each cost $29 a month in the US when paid yearly. BigCommerce moves a store up a plan once the sales it counts pass $30,000 a year, while Shopify Basic lists no sales limit. Magento's Open Source edition has no license fee, and Adobe prints no price for Adobe Commerce.
You are choosing a platform, and the first price tells you little about the bill a year in. On November 5 and 6, 2026, we read the pricing, fee and install pages of Shopify, BigCommerce and Adobe.
Which of the three fits your store?
Choose by who will run the store and how quickly sales will grow, since Shopify and BigCommerce start at the same price.
| If your store | Look at | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Opens soon with no one on hand to run servers | Shopify or BigCommerce | Both host the store for you, where Adobe's guide has you run the servers, patches and upgrades for Adobe Commerce software |
| Will pass $30,000 in sales within a year or two | Shopify | BigCommerce moves Core stores up a plan at $30,000 of counted sales, which is order value minus 10%, and Shopify Basic lists no sales limit |
| Already takes cards through one of BigCommerce's 21 listed payment providers | BigCommerce | 21 named providers add no BigCommerce fee, where Shopify Basic adds 2% for most providers other than its own payments |
| Wants abandoned-cart emails on its cheapest plan | Shopify | Abandoned checkout recovery comes with every Shopify plan, and BigCommerce's abandoned cart saver starts on Growth |
| Wants filters on collection pages | Shopify | Shopify's Search & Discovery app is free, and BigCommerce product filtering starts on Scale |
| Sells face to face, at a shop counter or a market | Shopify | Every Shopify plan takes in-person payments with a phone or card reader through Shopify POS, and BigCommerce connects partner systems such as Clover and Heartland Retail |
| Has developers and wants full control of its servers and setup | Magento (Adobe Commerce) | Adobe says its on-premises software gives you full control over your environment, lists company accounts, purchase approvals and quoting, and licenses Adobe Commerce by a tier of your sales or orders |
From each company's own pages, read November 5 and 6, 2026.
What do Shopify, BigCommerce and Magento cost to start?
Shopify Basic and BigCommerce Core each cost $29 a month on a yearly plan and $39 month to month, and Adobe prints no price for Adobe Commerce.
| Platform and plan | Paid yearly | Paid monthly | Before you pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify Basic | $29 a month | $39 | Free for 3 days, then $1 a month for the first 3 months |
| BigCommerce Core | $29 a month | $39 | 15-day free trial, no card needed |
| Magento Open Source | No license fee | No license fee | Free download; you set up the hosting |
| Adobe Commerce | Not published | Not published | Click Get pricing or Book a demo |
Shopify's prices are from its US pricing page as archived on November 5, 2026. BigCommerce's and Adobe's pages were read on November 6, 2026.
Magento is now two products. Magento Open Source is the free download, and Adobe Commerce is the paid edition, sold as a cloud service Adobe runs or as software you install. Adobe's pricing page gives each package a Get pricing button and no dollar figure. MGT Commerce and Scandiweb, two Magento firms, estimate about $22,000 a year for installed Adobe Commerce at the lowest sales tier, and both say Adobe publishes no price.
Shopify's other three plans, with their card rates, are in our Shopify review and on its own pricing page. BigCommerce's pricing page lists Growth, Scale and Performance above Core.
What happens to the price when sales grow?
BigCommerce moves a store up a plan when the sales it counts over 12 months pass $30,000, then $100,000, while Shopify's pricing page lists no sales limit on its plans.
| Orders over 12 months | BigCommerce counts | BigCommerce plan, paid yearly | Shopify Basic, paid yearly |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25,000 | $22,500 | Core, $29 a month | $29 a month |
| $40,000 | $36,000 | Growth, $79 a month | $29 a month |
A hypothetical store. BigCommerce counts order value, tax and shipping included, minus 10%. Prices from BigCommerce's pricing page, read November 6, 2026, and Shopify's, archived November 5, 2026.
That $50 monthly gap adds up to $600 a year on the same $40,000 of orders. BigCommerce checks sales on the first of each month, notifies you when it moves you, and charges the price difference when an annual plan moves up. Growth runs to $100,000. Scale then costs $299 a month paid yearly, plus 0.9% of counted sales above $33,333 a month. Once counted sales over 12 months reach $2 million, the store moves to Performance, from $1,499 a month. Before June 1, 2026 the plans were called Standard, Plus and Pro, with limits of $50,000, $180,000 and $400,000, and older reviews still list them.
Shopify Plus starts at $2,300 a month on a three-year term, and Shopify's help pages say a variable platform fee based on your revenue might apply. Adobe Commerce is licensed by a tier of your sales or orders too, and Adobe publishes no price for it.
What does each platform take from a sale?
BigCommerce skips its provider fee for 21 named payment providers, Stripe among them, and Shopify skips its own for Shopify Payments.
| On a $40 sale | Shopify Basic | BigCommerce Core |
|---|---|---|
| Card through Shopify Payments, or through PayPal Braintree on BigCommerce | $1.46, at 2.9% + 30¢ | From $1.45, at 2.89% + 29¢ and up |
| Card through a provider on BigCommerce's list of 21 | $0.80 added, plus the provider's rate | No BigCommerce fee, only the provider's rate |
| Card through a provider off that list | $0.80 added, plus the provider's rate | $0.80 added, plus the provider's rate |
A hypothetical $40 sale, worked out from Shopify's pricing page, archived November 5, 2026, and BigCommerce's pricing and plan-update pages, read November 6, 2026.
Both fees fall as you move up a plan. Shopify takes 2%, 1%, 0.6% and 0.2% from Basic to Plus, and BigCommerce takes 2%, 1% and 0.6% from Core to Scale. Shopify also skips its fee for PayPal when Shopify Payments is your main provider. With Shopify Payments on, Shopify skips its fee for bank transfers and other manual payments, while BigCommerce counts offline orders, such as purchase orders, in its fee. Magento Open Source carries no license fee, so the fee on a sale comes from your payment provider.
Who hosts the store and keeps it updated?
Shopify and BigCommerce host the store for you, while Adobe's guide to its on-premises software has you run the servers, patches and upgrades.
Say you inherit a Magento store built by someone who has left, and nobody on the team knows how to update it. Adobe's guide for its on-premises software says you host and manage your own servers, apply security patches and run version upgrades. It asks for intermediate technical knowledge and server access.
In return, Adobe says the on-premises route gives you full control over your environment, and its Open Source page points to thousands of third-party extensions. Adobe's pricing page says Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service, which Adobe runs, comes with automatic feature and security updates.
Which features need a higher plan?
BigCommerce holds abandoned-cart emails for Growth and product filtering for Scale, while every Shopify plan includes abandoned checkout recovery, so check the feature you need before the price.
On BigCommerce, every plan includes reviews, a blog, discount tools and real-time shipping quotes. Growth adds abandoned-cart emails and customer groups, Scale adds product filtering, and Performance adds price lists and advanced promotions. On Shopify, every plan includes abandoned checkout recovery, discount codes, gift cards and email campaigns. Rates from your own carrier accounts start on Advanced, and the Grow plan can add them. Shopify says its App Store holds over 16,000 apps, BigCommerce says over 1,200, and Adobe says thousands of extensions exist for Magento. A paid app usually adds a monthly charge, so add up the apps you would need before you compare plan prices.
Where does WooCommerce fit?
WooCommerce has no plan price, and its costs are the host you pick and the extensions you add.
WooCommerce is a free plugin that adds a store to a WordPress site. On WooCommerce's own pricing page, hosting for most stores runs $25 to $350 a month and each paid extension $29 to $299 a year, with 0% of your sales going to WooCommerce. Card sales through its WooPayments service cost 2.9% + 30¢ in the US. Our Shopify vs Wix and Shopify vs Squarespace pages set each site builder against Shopify the same way.
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Is Shopify or BigCommerce cheaper?
Paid yearly, they cost the same: Shopify Basic and BigCommerce Core are $29 a month in the US, or $39 paid monthly. BigCommerce moves you to Growth, $79 a month paid yearly, once its count of your sales over 12 months passes $30,000. Shopify Basic lists no sales limit. Each plan adds 2% on providers outside its exempt list.
Is Magento free?
The software is. Magento Open Source has no license fee, and Adobe calls it a free platform. You still pay for hosting and the work of running it, because Adobe's guide to its on-premises software has you manage your own servers, patches and upgrades. Adobe Commerce, the paid edition, has no published price, only a Get pricing button per package.
Is Magento the same as Adobe Commerce?
Partly. Adobe renamed its paid Magento edition Adobe Commerce, and Magento Open Source kept its name and stays free. Adobe sells Adobe Commerce as a cloud service it runs, as a dedicated cloud package, or as software you install. Each is licensed by a tier of your sales or orders.
Shopify vs Magento vs BigCommerce: which suits a small business?
If nobody on your team can manage servers, Shopify or BigCommerce fits, because both host the store. Adobe Commerce installed on your own servers fits a team with developers that wants full control of its environment. Magento Open Source fits a team that will host and patch it.
Does BigCommerce charge transaction fees?
Yes, but only on sales through a payment provider outside its list and on offline orders, such as purchase orders. BigCommerce charges an Open Payment Provider Fee of 2% on Core, 1% on Growth and 0.6% on Scale. Sales through the 21 providers on its list, including Stripe, PayPal and Adyen, carry no BigCommerce fee.
Can I move from Magento or BigCommerce to Shopify later?
Yes, but Shopify's migration guides and its free Store Migration app list neither platform. A move runs on exported spreadsheets, a migration app from the App Store or a Shopify Partner. Our migration guide lists the steps and how to hold on to your search traffic.
Picking Shopify? Let Sledge show what your store misses.
Sledge doesn't change what any platform charges, and it works only on Shopify. There, it adds search, filters and offers to your store. The first 14 days are free, then plans run from $29.99 a month and take no cut of what you sell. Growth Intelligence turns on when you pick a paid plan, then totals what its fixes could add as one dollar figure, "Est. potential".
