Magento vs Shopify vs. BigCommerce

• Overview of Magento

• Overview of Shopify

• Overview of BigCommerce

• Magento vs. Shopify vs. BigCommerce

• 1. Performance

• 2. Security

• 3. Ease of Use

• 4. Features

• 5. Scalability

• 6. Themes & Extensions

• 7. Hosting

• 8. Support

• 9. Pricing

• Comparison Table: Magento vs. Shopify vs. BigCommerce

• Which E-commerce Platform is Right For Your Business?

• Conclusion

Overview of Magento

Magento is the leader in digital commerce and a popular choice for sellers worldwide. It was founded in 2007 by Varien Inc.

Magento has a massive user base of more than a quarter of a million sellers. The portfolio includes individual stores to the biggest brands like Nike and Ford.

In 2018, Magento was acquired by Adobe Inc. The platform has since gained more traction for innovation & personalization.

Magento is an open-source solution that comes with two main editions.

Magento Open Source is free to download. The paid edition is Adobe Commerce for large-scale businesses. The platform also offers a cloud-hosted solution called Adobe Commerce Cloud.

Magento is designed to grow your store and is built for high flexibility. You have limitless ways to customize your shop.

Overview of Shopify

Shopify is a self-hosted ecommerce solution founded in 2006. It has a growing user base with more than 1,700,000 online stores.

Shopify is a subscription-based platform with easy drag & drop functions. You don't require high technical skills to build your store.

It lets you create online shops within minutes & offers pre-built themes. The platform is suitable for small businesses that do not want to scale.

It offers limited customizing functions. You can extend some of the functions with third-party plugins.

Overview of BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a SaaS-based ecommerce platform founded in 2009. Small enterprises can quickly build a professional online shop.

The platform has more than 60,000 sellers across 160+ countries. It is a self-hosted platform, so you don’t have to worry about server-related tasks.

You can create an online shop quickly as it does not involve high technical skills. However, there are limitations to customizing & scaling. We will further address these in the comparison section.

The platform is subscription-based and comes with different pricing plans.

BigCommerce is based on the open SaaS model. It allows you to have some coding flexibility so you can modify the store. The platform reduces the risk of vendor lock-ins.

Magento vs. Shopify vs. BigCommerce

1. Performance

• Magento Performance

Magento is a robust platform that offers high performance. You can have a large inventory of plugins and still get consistent site speed.

Magento allows self-hosting so that you can choose the server. We recommend opting for managed Magento hosting.

You can have a cloud hosting platform such as AWS for fast performance. As a result, you get high Magento performance & uptime.

• Shopify Performance

You don’t get to choose a hosting provider as Shopify offers hosting services. The Shopify team takes care of performance for the websites.

For a small store, the page load time is 1 to 2 seconds. However, the site speed can become slower if you add plugins.

Your store may also face slow speed as you add more products & images. To resolve any speed issues, you have to contact the Shopify team.

You have little control over the hosting server & speed optimizing.

• BigCommerce Performance

BigCommerce offers cloud hosting such as Google Cloud Platform. The overall performance of a small store is fast & responsive.

You also get Google AMP and Akamai Image Manager to boost page load speeds.

However, users get limited options to customize & grow their store. BigCommecre is suited for beginners with small stores.

You have to upgrade the plan for consistent performance. Otherwise, move to another ecommerce platform as your business grows.

2. Security

• Magento Security

Magento releases security patches to protect your store. You can use 2FA and strong passwords. It also offers user admin access protection.

Magento Commerce is PCI DSS Level 1-compliant. You can add SSL certificates & use the Magento security scan.

Magento offers session validation security features. The session variables are validated at each store visit.

The store is also protected against cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. You get file system ownership and user permissions. That way, you can manage user permissions easily.

Outsource server-side security to your Magento hosting provider.

• Shopify Security

Shopify offers regular patches & security updates. These updates are added automatically for the stores.

The platform is also PCI DSS Level 1-compliant. You also get SSL encryption to protect sensitive store information.

However, Shopify offers limited control over security. You don’t get advanced security options.

• BigCommerce Security

BigCommerce offers many security features such as firewalls & data integrity scanners. You get intrusion detection for your store.

The platform is ISO/IEC 27001 and PCI Compliant. You get SSL certificates based on your pricing plan.

You have limited control over security. The team maintains the security of the store. If there are any security issues, you have to contact the BigCommerce team.

3. Ease of Use

• Magento Ease of Use

The Magento platform comes with a user-friendly interface. Beginners may have to learn the software as it has many layers.

You also have to meet Magento installation requirements. Without technical skills, Magento software may be a bit complex at first. However, once you get a grasp of it, the platform is easy to use.

The Magento dashboard is clean and intuitive. You get a detailed navigation menu on the left. It offers tools to manage products, sales reports, and so on.

Admins have the ecommerce related information on a single dashboard.

• Shopify Ease of Use

Shopify interface offers drag & drop functions. That way, you can move elements around to create your products page.

You don’t require programming skills to use the platform. Shopify allows you to manage your store on an easy to use interface.

The dashboard offers key store metrics with brief explanations. You get analytics & reports on the dashboard.

However, the page builder offers a finite set of functions. Its source code is not accessible to users. As a result, you cannot make code changes.

The ease of use lacks deeper functionality. You may only be able to build a basic customized website.

• BigCommerce Ease of Use

BigCommerce offers a beginner friendly interface to launch your store. It is straightforward & simple to use with a clean UI.

You get the ecommerce metrics on the dashboard. It has a flyout menu on the left with all the tools to manage your store.

You can see the store statistics & performance on the dashboard.

However, the platform limits customizing options. You get limited functions to build a store. You cannot add any custom features or services to the site.

4. Features

• Magento Features

Magento has an extensive list of features.

Some of the primary Magento features include:

• Catalog Management
• Marketing & Promotions
• Inventory & Order Management
• B2B Functions
• Progressive Web Applications
• Payments & Financing
• Headless Commerce
• Reporting & Business Intelligence

The features allow more customization options for your store.

• Shopify Features

The primary Shopify features include:

• Shipping & delivery
• Store design
• Marketing & conversions
• Dropshipping
• Store management
• Merchandising

The features vary with the Shopify plan to fit your business needs. You get unlimited products, bandwidth and storage on the plans.

• BigCommerce Features

BigCommerce has built-in features to run your store effectively. Some of the BigCommerce features include:

• Page Builder
• Managing Inventory
• Many payment gateways
• Marketing
• SEO to rank higher on search engines
• Coupons & Discounts
• Headless Commerce
• B2B Commerce
• Global Support

5. Scalability

• Magento Scaling

With Magento, you can scale your business with large inventory sizes. It does not have limits to adding products. You can add hundreds of thousands of products.

The robust platform can handle large catalogs. You can process large order volumes quickly.

Along with scaling, you also get tools to reach potential customers globally. Use the built-in Magento features to localize your store.

Magento is an excellent option if you plan on growing your business. The platform is highly flexible and can handle traffic spikes effectively.

• Shopify Scaling

Scaling is limited with the Shopify platform. You have to upgrade to an expensive plan to scale to new regions.

You cannot create multiple stores from a single account. The maximum number is 8+ storefronts for one account.

To have multiple stores from one account, you can go for Shopify Plus. However, the scaling price starts at $2000 per month.

Shopify is not the best option for global scaling and if you have a large store. You also don’t get advanced features for different regions. There are limits to flexibility & customization.

• BigCommerce Scaling

BigCommerce scaling is limited to your subscription plan. If you want to scale your store, you may have to upgrade the plan.

There are product and SKU limits for the store. It allows a maximum of 600 SKUs per product.

BigCommerce is suited for small businesses. You get API tools to sync catalogs and scale your business. It also offers features to localize your stores for target countries. You get unlimited storage and bandwidth for your store.

6. Themes & Extensions

• Magento Themes & Extensions

Magento offers thousands of custom themes. It is built by a global community of developers.

You get free & paid themes that can cost between $30 - $ 400. Sites like Theme Foster and Template Monster offer Magento templates.

Magento offers more than 5000+ extensions. You can find them on the Magento Marketplace or providers such as Amasty.

• Shopify Themes & Extensions

Shopify offers 70+ themes to build your site. Around ten themes are free to use. The paid themes cost $ 150 - $240. You can opt for the one that matches your brand.

Shopify App Store offers around 4000 free & premium extensions. You use them to enhance store functions.

It helps to extend functions in-store design and marketing. You can optimize shipping and delivery.

• BigCommerce Themes & Extensions

BigCommerce offers 12+ free themes. There are hundreds of paid themes.

You can modify the themes using HTML, CSS, and Javascript. The BigCommerce Stencil theme framework. You can use it to customize the themes.

BigCommerce App Marketplace has over 1000+ plugins. You can go for BigCommerce certified plugins. Install the plugins with a single click for easy integration.

7. Hosting

• Magento Hosting

Magento allows you to choose a preferred Magento hosting provider.

To delegate hosting tasks, choose Managed Magento hosting. That way, you don’t have to take care of the server-side workloads.

With suitable hosting, you get high Magento site speed & server security. Fully managed Magento hosting comes with migration & backup support.

You get 24/7 technical support from Magento experts. The hosting server is optimized for high performance

• Shopify Hosting

Shopify hosts your site based on your monthly hosting plan. It is an entire hosted platform, so you don’t have to worry about technical aspects.

You get uncapped bandwidth and are not charged for traffic spikes. The team also provides Fastly’s content delivery network.

The primary data centers for Shopify are located in North America. Shopify claims to manage 4000 checkouts per minute.

You can use an existing domain name or purchase a custom domain. As it is not self-hosted, you don’t get access to the source code.

• BigCommerce Hosting

BigCommerce is a fully hosted ecommerce platform. It uses the Google Cloud Platform to host the store.

The team guarantees continuous uptime & high speed for stores.

However, you cannot surpass the store limits without affecting site speed. To scale globally, you have to upgrade the plans.

8. Support

• Magento Support

Magento support is available via forums and official docs. It has a global community of merchants & developers.

You can resolve issues on the Magento community page. Magento offers dedicated 24/7 technical support for the Adobe Commerce edition.

• Shopify Support

Shopify offers a 24/7 dedicated support team for users. You can contact them via chat, email, or phone to resolve any issues.

You have to rely on the Shopify team for technical support. You cannot make drastic changes to the store without technical support.

• BigCommerce Support

BigCommerce provides 24/7 technical support. Support is available via emails, chats, and calls.

The team also offers ways to improve marketing & conversions. Community support is available from 20,000 BigCommerce sellers.

9. Pricing

• Magento Pricing

Magento offers free and paid editions to build your store.

Magento Open Source is free to download. It is suitable for all businesses & used by most business owners. You have to pay for hosting & site maintenance.

The Magento paid plans to include:

• Adobe Commerce starts at $22,000+/year. Suitable for large-scale businesses.

• Adobe Commerce Cloud starts at $40,000+/year. Suitable for large-scale businesses that want built-in cloud hosting.

• Shopify Pricing

Shopify offers three pricing plans which are billed monthly. The plans offer different transaction fees.

The Basic Shopify plan starts at $29/month. It is suited for beginners & small businesses.

The Shopify plan start at $79/month for small growing businesses.

Advanced Shopify starts at $299/month. Suitable if you want advanced reporting features. It supports eight inventory locations.

• BigCommerce Pricing

BigCommerce has four pricing plans. It is billed monthly or annually.

• Standard: $29.95/mo to start with the online store.
• Plus: $79.95/mo and get extra marketing tools.
• Pro: $299.95/mo to scale your business & get additional features.
• The Enterprise plan is quote-based. It gives you a full-service open platform.

Comparison Table: Magento vs. Shopify vs. BigCommerce

Which E-commerce Platform is Right For Your Business?

Magento

Magento is an excellent ecommerce platform for all business sizes. You get all the features required to build a successful ecommerce store.

If you want to grow your business, Magento scaling is an essential element.
You can add an extensive product catalog & get responsive websites.

The open-source platform offers a lot of customization. You can create personalized stores based on consumer demand.

You have to invest in hosting and development. Overall the platform is robust and offers flexibility for an ecommerce store.

Magento provides international support. You get omnichannel selling for multiple touchpoints.

Shopify

Shopify is a beginner friendly platform that lets you create a store quickly. You won’t require extensive technical skills for this platform.

However, Shopify allows limited products & storefronts. It may not be a good option if you plan on scaling your business.

It has limited features for scaling and customizing. You cannot create unique storefronts for target countries.

Shopify is a suitable platform for small to medium-sized inventory. You may have to move to a different platform if you want to grow your shop.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is recommended for small businesses and beginners. You may want to launch a store quickly and want pre-built themes.

BigCommerce stores require less technical skills. But you cannot create complex stores for customers.

You are limited in terms of scaling your store. However, BigCommerce does offer some customizing capabilities.

You also get international support to make localized stores. It provides an easy setup so you can go live quickly.

Conclusion

Magento, Shopify & BigCommerce are big names in the ecommerce market. The three platforms offer extensive features to run your business.

Analyze your business requirements before choosing the platform.

Shopify & BigCommerce are more suited for SMBs. The platforms require less technical expertise. You can launch your store quickly.

It limits scaling & flexibility for your business. So you can choose these platforms if your store does not have overly complex processes.

Magento is a suitable option for all businesses. It handles extensive inventories & complex processes effectively. You can customize your store & scale it globally.

To learn more about Magento, check out the MGT-Commerce blog.