Choosing the best eCommerce platform is a view that’s wrong from the beginning since your goal should be to pick the most suitable eCommerce platform for your business.
Of course, this is a challenging thing to do for any store owner, especially for those who are new to the world of online selling. You have to decide which payment methods suit you better, with which eCommerce platform you can more easily implement SEO strategies, etc.
To help you decide, we will make a Magento vs BigCommerce comparison since these two platforms have been at the top of the eCommerce world for quite some time. And since eCommerce SEO is one of the crucial aspects of becoming successful in this industry, we’ll address SEO first.
Let’s begin.
Table of Contents
SEO Features
You can edit your page’s meta title and description on both platforms, customize URLs and add alt text to images.
Still, SEO is much more than this, so let’s see the essential differences between BigCommerce vs Magento regarding search engine optimization.
Magento SEO
This platform doesn’t win the Magento vs BigCommerce battle regarding SEO since Magento doesn’t offer many built-in SEO features. Therefore, you will have to integrate SEO apps into the store.
To improve Magento’s SEO, you can use some of the following extensions:
- Advanced SEO Suite, whose primary features are:
- Advances rich snippets
- Managing all redirects fast
- SEO analysis of each page
- SEO settings for pages, categories, and layer navigation
- Advanced Sitemap for Google
- Generating meta tags by templates
- Improvement of site visibility on search engines and better CTR
- SEO Toolkit, whose primary features are:
- Building of robust sitemaps
- Fast import and export of product tags
- Using relevant meta tags easily
- Showing rich snippets in search results
- Make and automate meta tags templates
- SEO-friendly product reviews
BigCommerce SEO
Unlike Magento, BigCommerce has built-in SEO features that are pretty good:
- URL rewrites & 301 redirects – If you rename a product, BigCommerce will automatically generate a new URL, so the old one will be redirected to the new one. Therefore, it tells Google when you’ve moved pages or made changes without manual effort.
- Distinctive URLs – It makes sure that each page has only one URL, so you can’t be penalized for duplicate content.
- Content Delivery Network – CDN is continuously working in the background to ensure your website loads fast for search engines and customers, increasing site ranking.
- Micro-Data – It has integrated micro-data into your product pages to improve your search result listings with information such as stock levels, ratings, pricing, etc.
Pricing
Another crucial element of the Magento website vs BigCommerce for your eCommerce comparison is pricing.
You must be careful when it comes to pricing since, without knowing your budget, you can not decide which pricing plan is better for your business. You need to calculate your budget before you make a decision, but you also have to know what both platforms offer, so let’s see.
Magento Pricing
If we are being realistic, Magento is also losing the Magento vs BigCommerce battle regarding pricing since this platform has a complex pricing structure.
For now, although this may change as you are reading, Magento has three eCommerce pricing editions:
- Magento Open Source edition, which is entirely free
- Magento Commerce, now Adobe Commerce
- Magento Commerce Cloud, whose codes are automatically optimized and has unique built-in capabilities
So, the first one is free, while the other two are paid according to your revenue – the higher revenue you receive, the more you pay.
This is how this goes per year:
Magento/Adobe Commerce with self-host:
- 0 – <1 M – $22,000
- 1 – <5 M – $32,000
- 5 – <10 M – $49,000
- 10 – <25 M – $75,000
- 25 – <50 M – $125,000
Magento Commerce Cloud
- 0 – <1 M – $40,000
- 1 – <5 M – $55,000
- 5 – <10 M – $80,000
- 10 – <25 M – $120,000
- 25 – <50 M – $190,000
Also, you don’t have to pay a license fee with Magento Open Source like in Magento/Adobe Commerce and Magento Commerce Cloud. However, both Magento Open Source and Magento/Adobe Commerce require hosting fees ranging from 4 to 1,000 dollars.
BigCommerce Pricing
BigCommerce offers four pricing options, and even though they are much simpler than Magento’s, it doesn’t mean they are necessarily better.
You will decide yourself which pricing plan is the best for your eCommerce business, and here are the four BigCommerce pricing plans:
- Standard Plan – It’s $29.95 per month and has the necessary features to begin an online business. There’s a limitation on online sales per year, and the revenue per year is permitted up to $50.000.
- Plus Plan – It’s $79 per month and has all Standard Plan features, but it plus has a persistent cart, customer groups, segmentation, and abandoned cart saver. It’s the most popular plan, and the revenue per year is up to $180,000.
- Pro Plan – It’s $299 per month, and it has additional features like product filtering, Google customer reviews, and custom SSL. The disadvantage is that if your revenue surpasses more than $400,000 per year, you must pay additional fees. For instance, +$150/mo for each additional $200,000 in online sales.
- Enterprise Plan – It has custom pricing and is the most advanced option. Custom pricing depends on the customers’ online sales. It has everything from the previous plans plus priority support if you have any issues.
Payment Options
Payment options and methods are also an essential part of our Magento vs BigCommerce battle since how would you else choose an eCommerce platform if you don’t know which are your payment options?
Therefore, let’s see what Magento and BigCommerce offer in this segment.
Magento Payment
You will have to use third-party payment methods if you pick Magento, and there are over 450 apps in its Marketplace for you to pick from.
You may need some time to select and integrate, but some apps provide gateways that support other languages and countries; therefore, this is perfect if you have an international business ready to roll.
However, for adding payment gateways, Magento requires apps that may cost an extra fee.
BigCommerce Payment
Unlike Magento, you don’t have to use third-party payment methods with BigCommerce. It offers more than 65 integrated payment gateways.
Some include Apple Pay, PayPal, Square, and so on. In addition, each BigCommerce plan doesn’t require a transaction fee, but you have to pay credit card rates. Essentially, the higher your plan, the less you need to pay for these rates.
These are the credit card rates for each BigCommerce pricing plan:
- Standard Plan – 2.59% + $0.49 per transaction
- Plus Plan – 2.35% + $0.49 per transaction
- Pro Plan – 2.05% + $0.49 per transaction
- Enterprise Plan – 2.05% + $0.49¢ or lower per transaction
Templates and Themes
The BigCommerce vs Magento speed can also be measured to a certain extent according to the quality of templates and themes since they can slow down a site if not used properly. Also, merchants always pay and should pay attention to their eCommerce platform look.
Why?
Because templates and themes are the first impressions of every potential shopper, and we all know that first impressions matter since they can make a shopper stay or leave and go to a competitor’s store.
This is how the Magento vs BigCommerce battle stands regarding templates and themes.
Magento Themes
According to the latest information, there are five Adobe/Magento themes, both paid and free. Three of these themes are free, while the others cost $499.
However, you can create your own theme from scratch with Magento, you need to have coding knowledge, but it’s not necessary since you can hire developers to develop themes for you.
In addition, this eCommerce platform offers much more design flexibility and will let you customize themes any way you desire, which is a significant advantage because you can create and use a theme that’s made precisely according to what you want for your eCommerce site.
Also, it’s important to note that there are Magento themes on Theme Forest; in fact, there are more than 300 Magento templates and themes you can choose from on this site.
BigCommerce Themes
As things now stand, BigCommerce offers 12 free themes and 158 paid themes. The paid ones are between $150 to $300 each, and all of them are mobile-responsive and easy to customize.
Furthermore, you can use hundreds of other themes from websites such as Template Monster or Theme Forest that aren’t affiliated with BigCommerce directly but can be used if you find something that suits your business and brand.
This aspect is also important regarding Magento vs BigCommerce development since everything is in connection for the site to work correctly. Therefore, themes and templates are most certainly essential pieces of the puzzle.
Security
Security is of crucial importance these days. Unfortunately, it will be even more essential in the future since as the security level improves, hackers’ qualities also become more dangerous. You must take site security seriously since you must avoid a sudden shutdown or business data loss.
So, here’s what Magento and BigCommerce offer as security.
Magento Security
Magento’s most significant advantage regarding security is that it supports TFA, which stands for two-factor authentication, and it’s PCI compliant.
However, you need to install security patches manually, configure your website security plugins, and it doesn’t provide a free SSL certificate since you have to rely upon a hosting provider that has one; therefore, you are also responsible for your own SSL certificate.
In addition, this platform updates security often to ensure the system is under protection from malware. Still, the update process has to be made manually, so it’s also something that doesn’t happen automatically without you doing some work.
BigCommerce Security
On the other hand, security is where BigCommerce wins the most in this Magento vs BigCommerce comparison.
The reason is simple – It’s a fully hosted platform, so it takes care of security as part of your monthly subscription. And that’s not all since additional measures include 24/7 human monitoring, fraudulent transaction protection, intrusion detection, server-specific and perimeter firewalls, and file integrity scanners.
Sounds pretty serious and professional, doesn’t it?
Support
Support is always necessary since we all find ourselves in situations where we don’t know what to do, even when we have experience.
Therefore, let’s see the support service that Magento and BigCommerce offer,
Magento Support
Magento doesn’t provide many support options but does provide email and live chat support if you choose the Magento Commerce Cloud or Magento/Adobe Commerce.
If you pick Magento Open Source, you can find practical support and answers from experienced developers and users on Magento Forums.
BigCommerce Support
On the other hand, this platform offers 24/7 support via email, live chat, phone, and a help center for any plan you choose.
In addition, if you use a free trial, you will get an email offering a ten-minute call to discuss how BigCommerce can help you. BigCommerce goes a step further if you pick the Enterprise Plan; since then, you will get priority support, which includes connecting to trained support staff, prioritized phone calls, and an onboarding consultant.
Key Pros and Cons on Magento vs BigCommerce
Before we wrap up, let’s sum it all up and see the key pros and cons of Magento vs BigCommerce to make your choice much easier.
Magento’s pros include the following:
- Multi-store management
- There’s a one-time payment option
- Great for large businesses with large budgets and experience
- Impressive scalability
- You can choose a free version
- Highly customizable
- Incredible inventory management features to add products to your catalog
Magento’s cons are:
- It’s pretty complex to set up
- Magento requires a third-party hosting
- The learning curve can be too much for newbies
- Requires coding knowledge for customization beyond the template
- Additional costs are needed for rich features like hosting, security, SEO apps, etc.
BigCommerce pros are:
- 24/7 live chat, phone, email, and help center support
- Robust SEO tools
- Excellent for selling across various channels
- Easy to use for beginners
- You can launch it in a couple of days
- Has incredible features such as multi-currency selling and shipping quotes
- Rich set of built-in features
- Scalable pricing plans
- Does not impose transaction fees for accepting payments
BigCommerce cons include:
- BigCommerce’s interface isn’t user-friendly and intuitive
- Occurring costs
- It can be problematic to understand complex terminologies if you aren’t a technology expert
- If sales reach a particular level, sale thresholds with the need to upgrade
BigCommerce vs Magento: Final Words
We can debate for hours and hours which platform is the best or which should be your perfect solution for your eCommerce business. However, the conclusion will always be the same – it’s not about which eCommerce platform is the best on the global market; it’s about which platform is most suitable for your business.
Did you make up your mind?
FAQs
Which is cheaper, Magento or BigCommerce?
On a basic level, Magento is cheaper since it has a free option, but you’ll have to buy third-party apps and hosting, which isn’t cheap at all. On the other hand, BigCommerce has 4 pricing plans from $29.95 to $299 and more.
Should I use Magento or BigCommerce?
Magento is better regarding customizability and marketing while BigCommerce has better features, security, and support. Therefore, it’s not about who is the best but which platform is more suitable for your eCommerce business.
