About 31; min
Choosing between Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce isn’t just a features decision — it’s a financial one. Platform fees, payment processing rates, hosting costs, and app subscriptions stack up differently depending on your store’s size and structure. This breakdown shows exactly what each platform costs at $10K, $50K, $100K, and $500K in monthly revenue so you can pick the option that keeps more money in your pocket.
Platform Pricing: Base Plans Compared
Let’s start with what each platform charges before you sell a single product.
Shopify
Basic: $39/month | Shopify: $105/month | Advanced: $399/month | Plus: from $2,300/month
Transaction fee (own gateway): 0% | Transaction fee (third-party): 2% / 1% / 0.5%
WooCommerce
Core plugin: Free | Hosting: $10–$80/month (self-managed) or $25–$200/month (managed)
No transaction fees | Payment processor fees apply (Stripe: 2.9% + $0.30)
BigCommerce
Standard: $39/month | Plus: $105/month | Pro: $399/month | Enterprise: custom
No transaction fees (all plans) | Annual revenue caps per plan
On paper, Shopify and BigCommerce look identical at the entry level. The divergence shows up in fees and revenue limits — two factors that can swing your annual cost by thousands of dollars.
Transaction Fees: The Hidden Multiplier
This is where Shopify’s model gets expensive fast if you’re not using Shopify Payments.
Shopify charges an additional platform transaction fee on top of your payment processor’s fee whenever you use a third-party gateway like Stripe, PayPal, or Braintree:
- Basic plan: 2.0% extra per transaction
- Shopify plan: 1.0% extra per transaction
- Advanced plan: 0.5% extra per transaction
At $10K/month, that 2% surcharge adds $200/month ($2,400/year) to your bill if you’re on Basic and not using Shopify Payments. At $50K/month it’s $1,000/month in extra fees. That’s not a small number.
BigCommerce: Zero transaction fees on all plans, regardless of payment gateway. You pay Stripe’s 2.9% + $0.30 and nothing more.
WooCommerce: No platform transaction fees. You pay only the payment processor directly. At scale, this is a meaningful advantage.
WooCommerce: The Real Hosting Cost
WooCommerce is free to install, but calling it “free” requires context. You’re responsible for hosting, security, maintenance, and backups. Here’s what that actually costs:
Hosting Options by Store Size
| Store Size (Monthly Revenue) | Recommended Hosting | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Under $5K | Shared (SiteGround, Bluehost) | $15–$30 |
| $5K–$50K | VPS or managed WP (Kinsta, WP Engine) | $35–$150 |
| $50K–$200K | Managed WooCommerce (Nexcess, Pressable) | $100–$500 |
| $200K+ | Dedicated / cloud (Cloudways, Pressable Enterprise) | $300–$1,500+ |
Add SSL certificates (often included in managed plans), CDN costs ($10–$50/month for Cloudflare Pro or similar), and developer time for updates. A realistic WooCommerce infrastructure budget for a mid-size store runs $80–$300/month.
BigCommerce: Revenue Caps and Plan Upgrades
BigCommerce plans have annual revenue ceilings. Exceed them and you’re automatically moved to the next tier:
| Plan | Monthly Cost | Annual Revenue Cap |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | $39 | $50K/year (~$4,167/month) |
| Plus | $105 | $180K/year (~$15K/month) |
| Pro | $399 | $400K/year (~$33K/month) |
| Enterprise | Custom | Unlimited |
At $50K/month, you’d be on the Pro plan ($399/month) or higher. BigCommerce saves you on transaction fees, but the forced plan upgrades can offset that at certain revenue levels. At $500K/month you’re in Enterprise territory — budget for custom pricing negotiation.
Apps, Plugins, and Themes: The Budget Line Everyone Forgets
Shopify App Store
Shopify’s core platform is deliberately lean. Most stores need apps for email marketing, reviews, upsells, loyalty programs, and advanced reporting. Monthly app costs for a fully functional mid-size store:
- Email marketing (Klaviyo): $45–$150/month
- Reviews (Judge.me Pro or Yotpo): $15–$199/month
- Upsell / cross-sell: $30–$100/month
- Subscriptions (Recharge): $99/month + 1.25% transaction fee
- Advanced analytics: $50–$150/month
A real Shopify store stack can run $300–$700/month in apps alone, before touching themes or custom development. Premium themes range from $150 to $350 (one-time purchase). That said, Shopify’s app library is the deepest of the three — if a feature exists, there’s probably an app for it.
WooCommerce Plugins
WooCommerce has thousands of free plugins and a large premium extension library. Common costs:
- WooCommerce Subscriptions: $279/year
- WooCommerce Bookings: $249/year
- Email marketing integration: often free tier available
- Advanced shipping rules: $79–$199/year
- Premium themes: $39–$129 (one-time or annual)
Many core WooCommerce plugins are free or have generous free tiers. Annual plugin costs for a well-equipped store typically run $400–$1,200/year ($33–$100/month), which is lower than comparable Shopify apps — but you’re also doing your own maintenance.
BigCommerce Apps
BigCommerce includes more built-in features than Shopify out of the box: multi-currency, real-time shipping quotes, product ratings, and professional reporting are all included. This reduces app dependency:
- Email marketing: $45–$150/month (Klaviyo, Mailchimp)
- Reviews: often included or lower-cost options available
- Headless storefront tools: varies widely
Average app spend for BigCommerce stores is generally lower than Shopify due to the richer default feature set. Expect $100–$400/month for a fully configured store.
Total Cost of Ownership: $10K to $500K Monthly Revenue
This is what you actually need to know. The tables below use realistic assumptions: Shopify Payments used where possible (eliminating the transaction surcharge), managed hosting for WooCommerce, and standard app stacks for each platform.
Store Doing $10,000/Month Revenue
| Cost Category | Shopify (Basic) | WooCommerce | BigCommerce (Standard → Plus) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform / Hosting | $39 | $40–$80 (hosting) | $105 (revenue forces Plus) |
| Payment processing (2.9% + $0.30) | ~$295 | ~$295 | ~$295 |
| Apps / plugins | $200–$400 | $50–$100 | $100–$200 |
| Transaction fee (3rd-party gateway) | $0 (Shopify Payments) | $0 | $0 |
| Estimated Monthly Total | $534–$734 | $385–$475 | $500–$600 |
Note: At $10K/month, BigCommerce’s Standard plan revenue cap ($50K/year) means you’ll be upgraded to Plus by month 5. WooCommerce wins on raw cost here, with Shopify close behind once app costs are controlled.
Store Doing $50,000/Month Revenue
| Cost Category | Shopify (Shopify plan) | WooCommerce | BigCommerce (Pro) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform / Hosting | $105 | $150–$300 | $399 |
| Payment processing (2.9%) | ~$1,470 | ~$1,470 | ~$1,470 |
| Apps / plugins | $350–$600 | $80–$150 | $150–$300 |
| Transaction fee (3rd-party gateway) | $0 (Shopify Payments) | $0 | $0 |
| Estimated Monthly Total | $1,925–$2,175 | $1,700–$1,920 | $2,019–$2,169 |
The gap between platforms narrows at this revenue level. WooCommerce retains a slight cost edge if you have developer support. Shopify is cheaper than BigCommerce Pro at this tier — BigCommerce’s fee-free model doesn’t compensate for the plan price jump.
Store Doing $100,000/Month Revenue
| Cost Category | Shopify (Advanced) | WooCommerce | BigCommerce (Pro) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform / Hosting | $399 | $300–$500 | $399 |
| Payment processing (2.9%) | ~$2,940 | ~$2,940 | ~$2,940 |
| Apps / plugins | $400–$700 | $100–$200 | $200–$400 |
| Transaction fee (3rd-party gateway) | $0 (Shopify Payments) | $0 | $0 |
| Estimated Monthly Total | $3,739–$4,039 | $3,340–$3,640 | $3,539–$3,739 |
At $100K/month, Shopify Advanced and BigCommerce Pro are priced similarly. WooCommerce maintains a $200–$400/month advantage, but requires a developer on retainer or solid internal WP expertise. BigCommerce edges out Shopify slightly here.
Store Doing $500,000/Month Revenue
| Cost Category | Shopify Plus | WooCommerce (dedicated) | BigCommerce Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform / Hosting | $2,300–$2,500 | $800–$2,000 | Custom ($1,500–$3,000 est.) |
| Payment processing (2.9% → negotiated ~1.5–2%) | ~$9,000–$11,500 | ~$9,000–$11,500 | ~$9,000–$11,500 |
| Apps / plugins / custom dev | $1,000–$3,000 | $500–$2,000 | $500–$1,500 |
| Estimated Monthly Total | $12,300–$17,000 | $10,300–$15,500 | $11,000–$16,000 |
At $500K/month, all three platforms are in negotiation territory. Payment processing rates dominate total cost — the difference between 1.5% and 2.5% at this volume is $5,000/month regardless of platform. Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise are comparable; WooCommerce on dedicated infrastructure is marginally cheaper but demands significant engineering investment.
Platform Strengths: Where Each One Wins
Shopify: Best for Speed-to-Market and Simplicity
Shopify does one thing better than the others: it lets non-technical founders get a professional, high-converting store live in days, not months. The admin interface is clean. Checkout is hosted and handled by Shopify. Fraud analysis, abandoned cart recovery, and basic email flows are built in.
The Shopify network — developers, agencies, apps — is larger than both competitors combined. If you’re starting out, hiring a freelancer, or running a DTC brand that needs to move fast, Shopify’s operational simplicity has real dollar value that doesn’t show up in the fee comparison above.
Where it falls short: if you need to avoid Shopify Payments (international sellers in unsupported countries, high-risk merchants, marketplaces), those transaction fees are genuinely punishing. And at scale, the app dependency can make your monthly stack expensive and fragile.
WooCommerce: Best for Control and Long-Term Cost
WooCommerce is the right choice when you want to own your infrastructure, run complex product types (rentals, bookings, B2B with custom pricing), or integrate deeply with existing WordPress sites. Content-heavy stores — where the blog and store are inseparable — get a major advantage here. WordPress’s SEO foundation is simply stronger than Shopify’s or BigCommerce’s.
The cost advantage at scale is real but comes with a trade-off: you’re a software operator now, not just a retailer. Hosting management, plugin conflicts, security patches, performance tuning — these are your problems. Budget for a developer or managed WooCommerce hosting to make this viable.
WooCommerce is not a good fit for teams without technical resources. A poorly maintained WooCommerce store costs more in downtime and developer firefighting than the savings justify.
BigCommerce: Best for Growing Mid-Market Stores
BigCommerce sits in an interesting middle ground: hosted like Shopify, but with no transaction fees, more built-in features, and stronger native B2B and multi-channel tools. The multi-storefront capability (available on Plus and above) lets brands manage multiple storefronts from one backend — something Shopify charges Plus pricing for.
The headless commerce support is genuinely first-class. If you’re building a custom frontend with Next.js or a similar framework, BigCommerce’s API structure makes that practical without a dedicated platform engineering team.
The revenue caps are the real friction point. Growing past a plan ceiling is an automatic upgrade, not a conversation. For stores in the $15K–$33K/month range, you could find yourself paying Pro prices ($399/month) well before the feature set justifies it.
Transaction Fee Scenarios: Shopify Payments vs. Third-Party Gateways
If you’re outside the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and a handful of other markets, Shopify Payments may not be available to you. In that case, the transaction fee math changes dramatically:
| Monthly Revenue | Shopify Basic (2% extra) | Shopify Plan (1% extra) | Shopify Advanced (0.5% extra) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | $200/month extra | $100/month extra | $50/month extra |
| $50,000 | $1,000/month extra | $500/month extra | $250/month extra |
| $100,000 | $2,000/month extra | $1,000/month extra | $500/month extra |
| $500,000 | $10,000/month extra | $5,000/month extra | $2,500/month extra |
At $100K/month using Stripe on Shopify Basic, you’re paying $2,000/month just in Shopify’s platform fee on top of Stripe’s standard rate. Upgrading to Shopify Advanced ($399/month) to cut that to $500/month is a net saving of $1,101/month. The math clearly favors plan upgrades at higher revenue when you can’t use Shopify Payments.
WooCommerce and BigCommerce never charge this fee. For high-volume sellers using non-Shopify gateways, this alone is often the deciding factor.
Which Platform Is Right for Your Store?
Choose Shopify if: You want the fastest path to launch, you’re comfortable with the app store, and you can use Shopify Payments in your country. The platform’s developer availability and admin experience are unmatched for early-stage stores.
Choose WooCommerce if: You’re building a content-driven store, you already run on WordPress, you need deep customization, or you’re cost-sensitive at mid-to-large scale and have developer resources available.
Choose BigCommerce if: You want a hosted platform with zero transaction fees, you sell B2B alongside DTC, you need multi-storefront management, or you’re planning a headless build. Strong choice for $20K–$200K/month stores that want to avoid Shopify’s app dependency.
Quick Reference: Feature and Cost Summary
| Factor | Shopify | WooCommerce | BigCommerce |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $39/month | ~$15–$30/month (hosting) | $39/month |
| Transaction fees | 0–2% (platform fee) | None | None |
| Hosting included | Yes | No (self-managed) | Yes |
| Setup complexity | Low | Medium–High | Low–Medium |
| App/plugin library | Largest | Very large (free-heavy) | Smaller, more built-in |
| SEO flexibility | Good | Best (WordPress) | Good |
| Best for beginners | Yes | No | Moderate |
| Best for enterprise | Shopify Plus | Yes (with dev resources) | BigCommerce Enterprise |
| Revenue caps | None | None | Yes (per plan) |
| Headless support | Good | Moderate | Excellent |
Bottom Line
There’s no universally cheapest option — it depends heavily on your revenue, country, technical setup, and gateway. Here’s the short version:
- Under $10K/month: WooCommerce is cheapest if you’re on WordPress. Shopify is easiest if you’re starting fresh.
- $10K–$50K/month: Shopify and BigCommerce are close; WooCommerce wins on cost if managed well. BigCommerce’s revenue caps can bite here.
- $50K–$200K/month: WooCommerce has a meaningful cost edge. Shopify Advanced or BigCommerce Pro are strong hosted alternatives.
- $200K+/month: All three require custom agreements. Payment processing rate negotiation matters more than platform fees at this level.
The biggest mistake merchants make is choosing a platform at launch without modeling costs at 3x or 5x their current revenue. A platform that’s $200/month cheaper today can cost $2,000/month more two years from now. Run the numbers for where you’re going, not just where you are.
