BigCommerce and Magento 2 are behemoths of the ecommerce business. Each supply every part you have to begin an internet retailer, so selecting one over the opposite could be difficult.
Whenever you evaluate the recognition of BigCommerce vs. Magento 2, Magento has the higher hand. Knowledge from BuiltWith reveals that there are thrice as many Magento shops on the web as there are BigCommerce shops.
However selecting an ecommerce platform shouldn’t be based mostly on recognition. It must be based mostly on details.
That can assist you determine, we’re evaluating BigCommerce vs. Magento and highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of every platform. We’ll let you know precisely what each’s good for thus you possibly can select the one which ticks all the proper bins for you.
Right here’s what we’ll cowl:
Word: Though Magento and BigCommerce supply enterprise options with superior options, we’re solely evaluating the open supply model of Magento with BigCommerce’s non-enterprise plans.
Pricing and Subscription
Magento is an open supply platform that’s free to obtain and use. Your solely expense with Magento Open Supply is the prices of internet hosting it. Magento internet hosting can value wherever from $20/month for a DIY server to greater than $2,000/month for a managed, enterprise-grade server.
BigCommerce is a Software program-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform with three sales-based pricing plans. BigCommerce’s plan pricing begins from $29.95 and goes as much as $299.95 per 30 days.
BigCommerce helps a number of fee gateways and doesn’t cost you any transaction charges. Nonetheless, it determines plan eligibility based mostly on on-line gross sales previously 12 months which may enhance the price of possession.
If you happen to function a low-traffic ecommerce retailer however promote a high-ticket merchandise, you’ll be compelled right into a dearer plan even if you happen to don’t want the extra options it gives.
Equally, when you exceed $400k in on-line gross sales — the gross sales restrict of its Professional plan — BigCommerce will cost you an extra $150 per 30 days for each $200k in on-line gross sales. So if you happen to attain $1 million in annual gross sales, you’ll pay $750 in subscription charges every month.
BigCommerce vs. Magento Pricing Verdict: Magento wins. Though BigCommerce’s pricing is clear, Magento is free software program and doesn’t make you pay extra while you promote extra.
Internet hosting and Upkeep
The draw back of Magento’s open supply license is that you just’re chargeable for internet hosting and sustaining the software program. If you already know your means round a server, that received’t be an issue for you.
Adobe’s complete data base will simplify your job. However if you happen to don’t have any technical abilities, you’ll want to rent a Magento developer or join a managed internet hosting service.
As a SaaS ecommerce platform, BigCommerce handles internet hosting and upkeep for you. You received’t want to fret about platform upgrades or server optimization. BigCommerce’s workforce of specialists will deal with every part for you.
BigCommerce vs. Magento Internet hosting Verdict: BigCommerce wins. It eliminates the hassles of internet hosting and sustaining software program so you possibly can launch shortly with out hampering productiveness.
Ease of Use
Magento’s backend admin panel is extraordinarily intuitive. You’ll don’t have any points navigating on a regular basis duties like managing orders and stock. Nonetheless, if you have to set up a Magento theme or add Magento extensions, you’ll want to make use of the Magento command-line interface (CLI).
In distinction, BigCommerce requires no technical data. You possibly can handle your on-line retailer operations and add and take away themes and extensions utilizing an internet browser. Thus, you possibly can spend extra time operating your on-line retailer and fewer worrying about routine duties.
That stated, BigCommerce nonetheless has a studying curve. You’ll want time to determine the way it works, however you possibly can count on it to be considerably simpler than discovering your means round a CLI.
BigCommerce vs. Magento Usability Verdict: BigCommerce wins by a small margin. Magento’s admin panel is extra intuitive, however you have to know your means across the CLI to handle themes and extensions.
Ecommerce Performance
Based on a 2022 report by GRIN, 54.35% of retail shoppers within the U.S. like to purchase non-essential objects on-line as a substitute of in-store. That’s as a result of on-line buying is handy.
Magento’s ecommerce options are among the greatest available on the market. It gives a product administration system that may assist a vast variety of merchandise, a number of product varieties, a sturdy order administration system, and user-friendly buyer administration options.
BigCommerce gives all important options with one key distinction — it limits entry based mostly in your subscription plan. For instance, solely the Professional plan gives entry to product filtering and multi-storefront options.
In distinction, Magento doesn’t limit entry to options. You get entry to every part from day one.
BigCommerce vs. Magento Options Verdict: Magento wins. It gives extra ecommerce options like product filtering, multistore assist, and chronic buying carts at no additional value.
Storefront Design Capabilities
Magento gives a free, mobile-friendly theme referred to as Luma and means that you can customise your retailer content material with its free web page builder. Though the Magento Market gives a restricted number of themes, you’ll find a whole lot of third-party themes on websites like Themeforest.
Furthermore, you possibly can customise your Magento retailer look from scratch utilizing fashionable frontend applied sciences with none limits. Magento additionally gives a set of developer instruments to construct Progressive Internet Apps (PWAs) on high of your retailer.
That’s vital as a result of a 2022 report by The Software program Home discovered that 42.6% of builders imagine PWAs will develop into extra fashionable by 2024. With Magento, you could have all of the instruments you have to keep a step forward of your competitors.
BigCommerce gives a big market with each paid and free themes. That makes it extra handy for individuals who wish to use an off-the-shelf theme that may be custom-made simply.
Like Magento, BigCommerce’s web site builder software is intuitive as nicely. Nonetheless, If you happen to want a customized theme, you’ll want to rent a growth workforce with expertise utilizing BigCommerce’s customized templating framework — Stencil.
BigCommerce vs. Magento Design Verdict: Magento wins by a small margin. Though BigCommerce is simply as customizable as Magento, you possibly can solely customise it utilizing its proprietary theme engine.
Customization Choices
Magento was developed to be customizable from day one. Modularity is a basic architectural precept that’s pushed the event of Magento. Thus, all its options exist as self-contained modules.
Magento’s modular structure enables you to add and prolong its core performance by creating customized modules and including third-party extensions. You possibly can construct custom-made buying experiences with out limits.
BigCommerce means that you can customise the design and performance of your on-line retailer throughout the limits of its platform. As a SaaS software program, you don’t have entry to its codebase, however you possibly can prolong its options utilizing third-party apps from its market.
BigCommerce vs. Magento Customizability Verdict: Magento wins. Though customizable, BigCommerce limits core customization. Magento enables you to do it with none limits.
Advertising and search engine optimisation Instruments
Magento gives a number of default search engine optimisation options, resembling a product template with structured information markup and built-in options like sitemap and robots.txt. Extra importantly, what it lacks, Magento enables you to add utilizing extensions.
Magento provides you entry to cart and catalog value guidelines to create advanced promotions and reductions. You possibly can create buyer teams and supply customized pricing and reductions to enhance conversion charges.
BigCommerce gives all important advertising and marketing options like Magento. Though it helps fewer integrations with electronic mail advertising and marketing instruments than Magento, BigCommerce’s market gives apps to combine with fashionable instruments like Mailchimp, Klaviyo, and Omnisend.
And in contrast to Magento, BigCommerce limits its customized pricing function to BigCommerce Enterprise accounts solely. So if you wish to promote B2B or supply customized pricing, you’ll must improve your subscription.
BigCommerce vs. Magento Advertising Instruments Verdict: Magento wins. Though Magento and BigCommerce search engine optimisation options are related, Magento wins as a result of its versatile value guidelines.
Efficiency and Safety
As a self-hosted resolution, Magento places you accountable for your retailer efficiency and safety. So except you’re an skilled ecommerce veteran, you’ll end up struggling to get the most effective out of your Magento retailer.
As just lately as Feb 2022, Adobe recognized and stuck two zero-day vulnerabilities in Magento that affected hundreds of Magento shops operating variations 2.3.4 and above. So if you happen to aren’t on top of things along with your Magento retailer safety, you danger being hacked.
BigCommerce simplifies retailer efficiency and safety by managing it for you. Your on-line retailer is hosted on extremely safe and PCI-compliant servers, and BigCommerce robotically deploys safety patches and efficiency updates to your servers.
It’s price mentioning that BigCommerce suffers from vulnerabilities and efficiency points sometimes. Nonetheless, its proactive safety minimizes the probability of a breach in comparison with a self-hosted Magento retailer.
BigCommerce vs. Magento Efficiency Verdict: BigCommerce wins. Though each platforms are inherently safe, BigCommerce eliminates efficiency and safety administration for on-line retailer house owners.
Default Integrations
Magento 2 has API assist constructed into its core. Because of this, it may possibly assist highly effective integrations with just about any software program. BigCommerce additionally gives a collection of APIs that help you combine with completely different applied sciences to run your on-line retailer.
However when you think about the default integration capabilities supplied by each platforms, BigCommerce wins. In addition to the normal on-line storefront, BigCommerce gives integrations with Amazon, eBay, Fb, and Walmart.
Though you possibly can combine Magento with alternate gross sales channels utilizing extensions, BigCommerce does it natively.
That’s vital as a result of on-line buyer touchpoints exist past your retailer. Knowledge collected by Statista reveals that 55% of social media customers within the U.S. between 18 and 24 made a minimum of one buy by way of a social channel in 2021.
BigCommerce vs. Magento Integrations Verdict: BigCommerce wins. It helps omnichannel buying natively.
Platform Scalability
The comfort of on-line buying is pushing retail ecommerce gross sales to new highs yearly. Statista predicts that on-line retail buyers within the U.S. will spend greater than $1.3 trillion by 2025 in comparison with the $767 billion spent in 2021.
As your on-line enterprise grows, so will your ecommerce wants. In case your ecommerce platform isn’t scalable, it should affect your corporation progress. Magento’s highly effective product catalog and stock administration programs can assist thousands and thousands of product listings.
Extra importantly, with management over the internet hosting atmosphere, you possibly can leverage Content material Supply Networks (CDNs), customized caching, and enterprise-grade internet hosting to satisfy buyer calls for.
BigCommerce gives a scalable platform with a world CDN community that may deal with giant quantities of visitors. Nonetheless, BigCommerce’s standing web page reveals that it suffers from availability points infrequently.
Though attaining 100% uptime is just about inconceivable, SaaS options restrict your capacity to diagnose and repair points. With Magento, you possibly can implement fallback mechanisms to cope with sudden spikes in visitors and downtimes.
BigCommerce vs. Magento Scalability Verdict: Magento wins. Each BigCommerce and Magento are scalable, however Magento provides you extra management.
Assist and Assist
On-line companies utilizing Magento’s open supply model don’t obtain any technical assist from Adobe. Technical help is just obtainable for Magento’s premium model — Magento Commerce — also called Adobe Commerce.
Though Magento’s world neighborhood of builders and enterprise house owners and detailed documentation are nice assets for assist, it doesn’t present the identical comfort as on-demand buyer assist. Your solely possibility for real-time assist is hiring a Magento company.
BigCommerce gives complimentary 24/7 tech assist over a number of channels, together with chat, telephone, & ticket. You possibly can bounce on its tech assist chat or create a ticket for immediate entry to its in-house specialists.
BigCommerce vs. Magento Assist Verdict: BigCommerce wins. Magento’s neighborhood boards and useful documentation are not any match for BigCommerce’s devoted assist workforce.
BigCommerce vs. Magento — The Ultimate Verdict
With a ultimate tally of 5-6, Magento wins the BigCommerce vs. Magento matchup. Magento gives extra customizability, scalability, and management over the client expertise.
That isn’t to say that BigCommerce isn’t an ideal ecommerce platform. What BigCommerce lacks in management and adaptability, it makes up for with ease of use. If you happen to’re prepared to commerce the power to customise core performance for a code-free expertise, BigCommerce will likely be excellent for you.
Nonetheless, in order for you unrestricted management and unmatched scale, Magento’s excellent options and open supply codebase received’t fail you.
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