Shopify vs. BigCommerce: Which Platform Fuels Modern Commerce Growth?

When you’re scaling—from one store to many, from online to omnichannel—the differences between Shopify and BigCommerce show up in total cost of ownership (TCO), speed, and conversion.

According to the Shopify vs. BigCommerce TCO analysis, BigCommerce’s TCO is 45% higher on average, driven by +32% platform costs, +21% operating costs, and +88% implementation costs; Shopify’s checkout also converts 12% better, creating a ~1.2% TCO offset. See the infographic and breakdown on pages 1–2 of the one-pager.

1) Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

BigCommerce often requires more paid apps and custom integration to reach enterprise parity (promotions, merchandising, analytics), inflating platform and run costs (see page 1–2). Shopify’s unified stack compresses vendors and maintenance, which is why brands report lower TCO.

Public benchmarks echo this: Shopify highlights lower operating and 88% lower implementation vs. BigCommerce and summarizes the conversion delta.

2) Speed to launch (and to change)

The one-pager shows teams launch 36% faster on Shopify than on BigCommerce (see page 2). In practice, that means promos, bundles, and regional rollouts without upgrade projects or heavy DevOps.

Shopify’s platform-level performance advantages also help move the needle: Shopify stores are ~1.4× faster than BigCommerce, with 1.9× faster server speed and a higher share of “fast” sites.

3) Conversion that compounds

Checkout is where roadmaps become revenue. The study shows Shopify’s checkout converting 12% better than BigCommerce (see page 2).

Larger analyses of Shopify Checkout corroborate a persistent conversion advantage across competitors.

Want the cost checklist?

Get the Shopify vs. BigCommerce — TCO & Growth one-pager.

4) Operational simplicity (unified vs. assembled)

BigCommerce can push teams toward “assemble-your-stack” for enterprise features—more extensions to vet, integrate, and maintain (see pages 1–2). Shopify centralizes storefront, checkout, payments, performance tooling—and native POS—so you can run omnichannel with fewer moving parts.

5) Proof in migrations

4ocean switched back to Shopify from BigCommerce after costly development overheads; the team cites easier, faster execution on Shopify.

Shopify’s case-study hub includes multiple BigCommerce-to-Shopify wins (conversion up, ops faster).

Bonus inside: migration checklist (data, SEO, redirects, QA gates).

If you need specific built-in features at lower scale and your team prefers more DIY configuration, BigCommerce can work. But for most growth-minded brands, Shopify’s lower TCO + faster launch + stronger checkout is the pragmatic path.

How LATECH de-risks the decision (and the migration)

As a Shopify Plus Partner, we help you assess fit, scope data & SEO, map app parity, enable Shopify POS, train teams, and launch with confidence—so the switch is a business upgrade, not just a tech project.

Conclusion: Choose for growth

If your north star is speed to market, lower TCO, and a world-class checkout, Shopify is the growth vehicle. BigCommerce can work—but you’ll likely pay more in platform, implementation, and operations for similar outcomes.