BigCommerce vs Magento: Which Ecommerce Platform Fits Your Business Requirements?
Last updated: September 27 2024
In this article, we’ll dive deep into the world of ecommerce platforms and pit two heavyweights against each other: BigCommerce and Magento.
Key Takeaways
- BigCommerce: Best for small to medium-sized businesses seeking user-friendly ecommerce with a wide range of features.
- Magento: Best for technically proficient enterprises desiring extensive customization and unique online stores.
What’s the Difference Between BigCommerce and Magento?
The key difference between BigCommerce and Magento in terms of their core approach to ecommerce.
BigCommerce
The distinguishing characteristic that truly sets BigCommerce apart is its extensive array of essential built-in features, making it reputable as an all-in-one platform. The true essence of BigCommerce resides in its user-focused approach, which empowers even individuals with modest technical proficiency to effortlessly craft and oversee an exceptional online store.
Notable brands like Toyota, Sony, and Ben & Jerry’s proudly associate themselves with BigCommerce as part of its contented clientele. Featuring a robust suite of smoothly integrated functionalities, it has naturally evolved into a dependable solution for enterprises aiming to explore multi-platform sales, complete with streamlined connection to various social media networks.
Magento
After being acquired by eBay and subsequently transitioning to the stewardship of Adobe, Magento has established itself as an open-source ecommerce platform, offering an intriguing blend of possibilities alongside a distinctive set of challenges.
The true potential of the platform is unlocked under the adept guidance of those who possess a solid foundation in coding. This advantageous scenario paves the way for unprecedented creative liberty and adaptability.
You Should Use BigCommerce If….
- Straightforward Setup: If you’re looking for a hassle-free and quick start to your online store, BigCommerce offers a straightforward setup process with readily available tools. This is particularly beneficial if you want to launch your store without spending excessive time on technical configurations.
- Limited Technical Expertise: If you’re not well-versed in coding or website development, BigCommerce is tailored for you. Its user-friendly platform requires minimal technical expertise, allowing you to focus on your products and customers without getting bogged down by technical complexities.
- Multi-Channel Selling: If your business strategy involves reaching customers through various channels, including social media, BigCommerce offers robust integration options. You can easily expand your reach by selling on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and more, all from a single dashboard.
You Should Use Magento If…
- Coding Experience: If you have coding or website-building skills, Magento provides a platform where you can take full control of the technical aspects. Your expertise will allow you to navigate Magento’s more advanced customization options and create a highly tailored online store.
- Comprehensive Creative Control: If you’re embarking on a significant website project and want meticulous control over every design element, Magento empowers you with unlimited customization possibilities. You can design your store to match your exact vision.
- Large Inventory and Scalability: If your business involves a substantial inventory and plans to sell a high volume of products, Magento’s scalability shines. It can handle the demands of a larger catalog and provide the necessary customization to optimize your sales and customer experience.
People also read: Shopify Plus Vs BigCommerce: What’s the difference?
BigCommerce vs Magento: Pros and Cons
BigCommerce Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Multi-Channel Selling: BigCommerce excels in enabling multi-channel selling, making it particularly suitable for expanding your reach across major social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
- SEO Empowerment: With robust SEO tools, BigCommerce enhances your online visibility and search engine rankings, driving more organic traffic to your store.
- Feature-Rich Environment: BigCommerce offers a feature-rich environment, encompassing essential functionalities right from the start, allowing you to quickly set up and operate your online store.
- 24/7 Support: Enjoy the convenience of round-the-clock phone and live chat support, ensuring you receive comprehensive assistance whenever you need it.
- No Transaction Fees: BigCommerce stands out by not imposing transaction fees on payment processing across any of its plans, allowing you to retain more of your earnings.
- Advanced Ecommerce Features: BigCommerce offers advanced features such as multi-currency selling and real-time shipping quotes, catering to a diverse range of customer needs.
- Dedicated Mobile App: BigCommerce offers a dedicated mobile app, which could potentially make store management challenging when you’re on the go.
Cons:
- Intricate Editing Interface: Navigating the editing interface can be intricate at times, and certain features may not be immediately intuitive, requiring some learning.
Magento Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Knowledge Base and Self-Service: Magento offers a well-equipped knowledge base and FAQs, empowering users to find solutions for common issues through self-service support.
- Scalability and Inventory Management: Highly scalable, Magento provides comprehensive inventory management tools crucial for sustained business growth, accommodating larger catalogs.
- Free Version: Magento offers a free version, allowing users to explore the platform’s potential and capabilities before making a commitment.
Cons:
- Limited Customer Support Hours: Magento lacks 24/7 customer support, potentially leading to delays in resolving issues, especially during critical moments.
- Additional Costs: Integrating extra add-ons and functionalities can incur additional costs, which should be considered when budgeting for your ecommerce project.
- Complex Setup and Learning Curve: Known for its complex setup and usage, Magento demands a steeper learning curve compared to some other platforms, requiring a higher level of technical proficiency.
Pricing
BigCommerce Pricing
BigCommerce presents a well-rounded array of pricing options, catering to businesses of all sizes and aspirations. Let’s delve deeper into their core pricing tiers:
- Standard Plan ($39 per month): Crafted with small businesses in mind, generating up to $50,000 in annual sales. This plan offers limitless product listings, a coupon generator, round-the-clock customer support, and more.
- Plus Plan ($109 per month): An optimal choice for businesses aiming for expansion through advanced marketing tools. It includes features like rescuing abandoned shopping carts and the convenience of storing credit card information.
- Pro Plan ($399 per month): Tailored for larger enterprises with annual sales volumes reaching $400,000. This tier introduces heightened functionalities, including Google customer reviews and refined product search filtering.
Beyond these options, BigCommerce extends its offerings to a personalized Enterprise plan, finely tuned to meet the distinctive needs of substantial corporations. For precise pricing details, a direct consultation with BigCommerce becomes essential.
A striking benefit of opting for BigCommerce is its holistic approach, encompassing various essentials such as hosting, server upkeep, bug resolution, security enhancements, and supplementary server capacity.
Magento Pricing
Within Magento’s pricing landscape, two primary versions of its platform come to the forefront:
- Magento Open Source: Tailored for small businesses and developers, this free and open-source edition offers an accessible entry point. However, while the software itself is cost-free, additional expenditures emerge in the form of hosting and extensions.
- Magento Commerce (now known as Adobe Commerce): Geared towards enterprise-level businesses, this advanced iteration comes with a significant price tag, often surpassing $10,000 per year. It not only provides cloud hosting but also unlocks premium features and dedicated support.
While the open-source nature of Magento Open Source may seem economically appealing, the accumulation of hosting fees and extension investments can swiftly escalate, potentially tallying up to hundreds of dollars.
Conversely, Magento Commerce steps in as a high-end solution, boasting cloud hosting, enhanced features, and elevated support. However, this superior offering comes at a notable cost, stretching into tens of thousands of dollars annually.
The Verdict
BigCommerce is the winner as it is cheaper than Magento.
Ease of Use
BigCommerce
- Hosting Integration:
A key advantage that sets BigCommerce apart is its elimination of the intricate hosting integration requirement, in contrast to the demands of Magento. This streamlined approach removes a significant technical obstacle, enabling users to focus on their business without grappling with complex hosting setup.
- User-Friendly Interface:
The user-friendly nature of BigCommerce is highlighted by its intuitive interface, designed to cater to a diverse user base, even those without coding knowledge. Crafting and customizing an online store becomes a seamless process, with all essential tools conveniently accessible within the dashboard. This approach resonates especially well with users who value dedicating their efforts to customers, products, and brand development, rather than being entangled in intricate website intricacies.
- Positive Testing and Additional Features:
Recent testing on the “ease of use” aspect garnered positive feedback, highlighting BigCommerce’s commitment to enhancing the shopping experience. The platform’s additional features, aimed at personalization and user experience improvement, received commendation for their impact. The ease with which users could integrate and harness these features stood out as a notable advantage.
- Challenges and Learning Curve:
However, it’s important to acknowledge that while BigCommerce’s interface is user-friendly for many, some testers encountered challenges during their store creation journey. For certain users, the platform’s interface did not prove as intuitive, leading to frustrations over specific aspects. Notably, the separation of the editing interface between the storefront and backend introduced a learning curve, particularly for those new to the platform. Technical terminology like SKU levels and CSV files may pose difficulties for individuals less familiar with such concepts. Despite these challenges, BigCommerce remains an inviting choice for beginners due to its code-free customization capabilities.
- Continual Improvements:
In a continuous effort to prioritize user-friendliness, BigCommerce consistently introduces improvements and bug fixes. Implementing keyboard shortcuts for swift access to core functionalities enhances the user experience. The “Store Design” feature empowers users to track real-time effects of their edits, enhancing the visual customization process.
- Efficient Setup and Onboarding:
When delving into setup and onboarding, BigCommerce excels by providing a straightforward procedure. Leveraging pre-existing infrastructure, customizable templates, and hosting provisions, the platform streamlines the process of store creation and launch. This efficiency makes it particularly appealing to newcomers in the ecommerce realm. Even for those transitioning from Magento, BigCommerce offers a seamless path with the Catalog Transfer app, facilitating the smooth transfer of products, categories, options, and customer data.
Magento
Comparing the user-friendliness of BigCommerce with Magento, it becomes evident that Magento comes with a steeper learning curve. Just like BigCommerce, Magento also faces the hurdle of using complex terms that might confuse users and hinder their smooth navigation.
However, Magento’s complexity goes a step further due to its demand for coding knowledge. While BigCommerce allows users to achieve their objectives with a few simple clicks, Magento requires coding skills for extensive customization. This reliance on coding can discourage users who lack technical expertise from fully embracing the platform.
In user-friendliness testing, Magento fell short in comparison to BigCommerce, highlighting its difficulties in this regard. While individuals proficient in coding may find Magento’s setup and usage manageable, it might overwhelm those who are completely new to this environment.
Moreover, Magento’s setup tends to be more intricate and time-consuming. Setting up a store and connecting it with a host can be quite challenging, especially for those who aren’t familiar with technical details.
Although using Magento-specific hosting can simplify the installation process to some extent, overall, the journey of setting up a Magento store is more complex when compared to the more user-friendly approach of BigCommerce.
The Verdict
In the BigCommerce vs Magento ease of use battle, BigCommerce emerges as the more user-friendly option.
Its streamlined setup, intuitive interface, and code-free customization make it a suitable choice for beginners and those prioritizing an uncomplicated selling experience. While Magento offers powerful capabilities, its complexity and coding requirements place it in a more advanced category, best suited for experienced users.
Design flexibility
BigCommerce
BigCommerce stands out for its user-friendly approach to design customization. With a selection of 15 built-in free themes and many paid options which you can find in BigCommerce Theme Store, you have ample choices to match your brand’s aesthetic. Besides, third-party themes are… uncountable.
Key Points about BigCommerce Themes:
- 15 free themes and 50+ paid options
- Templates are flexible and mobile-responsive
- Industry-specific features available
- Easy switching between themes
- AMP-enabled themes for faster mobile performance
- Themes categorized by industry and catalog size
These BigCommerce templates are not only flexible but also mobile-responsive, ensuring a seamless experience for visitors across devices.
Magento
Magento offers a more intricate and powerful design customization experience. With 11 themes available, including one free option, Magento’s themes can be further tailored or even created from scratch. This opens the door to unparalleled design freedom, especially for those with coding expertise.
Key Points about Magento Themes:
- 11 themes, with only one free option
- Customization can range from tailored adjustments to creating themes from scratch
- Possibility to hire a developer for a custom theme (average cost around $5,000)
- Thousands of extensions available to add specific features
- Greater flexibility in design customization for confident coders
While Magento provides a higher degree of design flexibility, it comes at the cost of complexity and potentially longer development time, especially for those without coding skills.
The Verdict
BigCommerce is the winner as it is the more user-friendly option.
Ecommerce Tools and Features
BigCommerce
BigCommerce takes the lead in the realm of sales features, boasting the highest number of built-in tools compared to any other ecommerce platform. This robust suite of features gives you unparalleled selling power, enabling you to drive growth and streamline operations. Unlike Magento, BigCommerce focuses on providing these features within its core offering rather than relying heavily on third-party extensions.
Notable BigCommerce Selling Features:
- Abandoned Cart Recovery: BigCommerce’s recovery emails effectively win back a substantial 12% to 15% of customers by gently reminding them about items lingering in their shopping carts.
- Seamless Multi-Channel Integration: Effortlessly expand your reach by selling across diverse channels, including well-known platforms like eBay, Amazon, Google Shopping, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest – all conveniently managed from a unified dashboard.
- Global Multi-Currency Selling: BigCommerce facilitates international growth by enabling you to accept payments in over 100 foreign currencies, making cross-border transactions a breeze.
- Robust Analytics and Reporting: Gain insights into your site’s performance and delve into detailed analyses of campaigns, sessions, and overall sales, empowering data-driven decision-making.
- Enhanced Security with SSL: Safeguard payment transactions and user data through encrypted channels, ensuring a secure and trustworthy shopping experience.
- Seamless Dropshipping Integration: Seamlessly integrate with popular dropshipping apps and platforms like Spocket, Doba, and Printful, streamlining the management of your product inventory and fulfillment processes.
Additionally, BigCommerce offers a vast selection of apps in more than 20 categories, each contributing to the platform’s rich feature set. While the number of apps is slightly lower compared to other platforms, BigCommerce’s strength lies in its comprehensive built-in capabilities.
Magento
Magento’s approach to ecommerce tools involves a reliance on extensions for customization. While Magento provides both physical and digital product selling options, many advanced features are accessible through over 3,000 free and paid extensions offered by third-party providers.
Some sales features include:
- Recovering Abandoned Carts: In Magento, there exists an integrated system designed to recover abandoned shopping carts. This system is capable of sending emails to customers who have left their carts without completing their purchase.
- Enabling Customer Logins: Magento empowers customers to establish accounts and log in to their personal profiles on your website. This functionality enables customers to store their shipping and billing details, track their orders, and conveniently make repeat purchases.
- Managing Staff Accounts: Within Magento, you possess the capability to generate and oversee staff accounts designated for your employees. This feature allows you to assign varying levels of access to different team members, granting them permissions to perform tasks like product editing, addition of new products, or viewing customer orders.
- Facilitating Gift Card Payments: Magento facilitates the sale of gift cards directly through your website. This feature presents a compelling approach to increasing sales and fostering repeat purchases. The gift card system provided by Magento is user-friendly and can be tailored to match your specific requirements.
Magento’s inventory system excels, offering bulk product imports, revenue reports, multiple product variants, and comprehensive stock management.
However, it’s important to note that Magento’s primary strength lies in its inventory management capabilities and customization through extensions. While some key sales features are built-in, a majority of features are either self-coded or obtained through extensions.
A comparative look:
BigCommerce’s focus on providing an extensive range of core features directly within the platform offers a streamlined experience for businesses seeking comprehensive tools without the need for third-party extensions. On the other hand, Magento’s strength lies in its extensive customization options facilitated by a vast array of extensions. If you require a highly tailored solution and have the technical know-how to implement extensions effectively, Magento’s flexibility may align with your needs.
The Verdict
BigCommerce is the winner as it boasts more built-in power features, reducing the time and effort to set up.
Performance and Security
BigCommerce
BigCommerce distinguishes itself by prioritizing the simplification of security and performance management for merchants. Notably, it excels in automatically applying essential security patches, ensuring your website remains in compliance with the latest regulations without requiring manual intervention. In addition, BigCommerce includes a complimentary SSL certificate across all its plans, guaranteeing the secure transmission of data.
Key Features Enhancing Security and Performance on BigCommerce:
- Automated Security Patch Application: BigCommerce takes the responsibility of managing security patches, assuring that your website remains updated and fortified against potential threats.
- Inclusive Free SSL Certificate: With every plan, BigCommerce provides a free SSL certificate that establishes a secure and encrypted connection for safeguarding data transfers.
- ISO/IEC 27001:2013 Certification: BigCommerce adheres rigorously to the standards set by the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification, showcasing a commitment to maintaining stringent information security management.
Moreover, for those seeking to elevate their SSL protection, BigCommerce offers the option to choose from paid SSL alternatives, allowing you to customize the extent of your security measures. This comprehensive approach ensures that your online business operates within a secure and resilient environment.
Magento
Magento takes a comprehensive approach to fortifying security and optimizing performance, placing significant emphasis on providing customization and flexibility. Its security framework includes robust features such as PCI DSS compliance and two-factor authentication, designed to elevate site protection.
While Magento maintains a consistent schedule of releasing security patches to bolster site security, the responsibility for implementing these updates lies with the user.
Key Features Enhancing Security and Performance in Magento:
- PCI DSS Compliance: Magento adheres rigorously to the stringent Data Security Standards, ensuring secure and reliable payment processing across your site.
- Two-Factor Authentication: Magento provides an additional layer of security through two-factor authentication, adding an extra safeguard to your online platform.
- Security Patches: Regular updates are a part of Magento’s proactive security strategy, aimed at continuously enhancing site protection. However, it’s important to note that users are tasked with the manual installation of these patches.
Magento offers an array of features and tools that empower merchants to customize and fine-tune security and performance parameters according to their unique requirements.
By selecting a hosting provider like Siteground, you can further amplify your site’s security posture through supplementary features such as the Intrusion Prevention System, contributing to a comprehensive and resilient security environment.
A comparative look:
BigCommerce’s automatic security patch updates and included SSL certificate make it an excellent choice for merchants seeking a hands-off approach. This is especially beneficial for those with limited time for manual updates.
Meanwhile, Magento empowers merchants with customization and flexibility. While this requires more active management of security updates, it allows for tailored security and performance optimization.
The Verdict
BigCommerce is the winner as it removes the task of taking care of security.
Payment Options and Fees
BigCommerce
BigCommerce’s standout attribute is the absence of transaction fees across all tiers of its pricing plans. This notable feature provides a substantial advantage for businesses that are focused on expansion and maximizing their revenue potential.
Additionally, BigCommerce offers an impressive integration framework encompassing over 65 payment options, including widely recognized names such as Apple Pay, Stripe, Amazon Pay, Square, and PayPal.
Key Payment Features in BigCommerce:
- Zero Transaction Fees: BigCommerce takes a customer-friendly approach by refraining from imposing transaction fees on any of its pricing plans. This straightforward policy benefits businesses by allowing them to retain their earnings without deductions.
- Diverse Payment Gateways: BigCommerce’s platform facilitates connectivity with an extensive array of over 65 payment gateways. This comprehensive selection empowers merchants to provide a convenient and varied payment experience to their customers.
- Pre-Negotiated Rates: BigCommerce has established pre-negotiated rates with PayPal, offering an added advantage in terms of cost savings during payment processing.
- Simplified Integration: The process of integrating payment gateways with BigCommerce is designed to be user-friendly and efficient, enabling businesses to swiftly begin accepting payments and facilitating a smooth checkout experience for customers.
Magento
Magento distinguishes itself by offering a comprehensive range of payment alternatives, empowering merchants with the flexibility needed to accommodate diverse customer preferences. Unlike BigCommerce, Magento’s approach necessitates the integration of third-party solutions to establish connections with payment processors.
Key Payment Features in Magento:
- Diverse Payment App Selection: Magento presents an extensive array of payment apps, enabling merchants to seamlessly link with major payment gateways such as PayPal, Amazon Pay, and Stripe. This extensive selection underscores Magento’s commitment to catering to a wide spectrum of payment methods.
- Global Payment Integrations: With support for various countries, currencies, and languages, Magento’s payment integrations are tailored to meet the needs of businesses with ambitions to tap into international markets. This global focus enhances its suitability for enterprises seeking a broader reach.
Magento’s comprehensive selection of payment options offers unparalleled versatility, positioning it as an ideal choice for businesses aiming to serve diverse customer bases spanning multiple geographical regions. The notable inclusion of options tailored for international markets further accentuates Magento’s commitment to facilitating global expansion.
However, it’s important to bear in mind that while Magento’s expansive payment ecosystem is impressive, the setup and management of these integrations may demand a certain level of additional effort and technical expertise.
This consideration is especially relevant for businesses embarking on the integration process, as it may involve navigating complexities associated with third-party apps and ensuring a seamless payment experience for customers.
Compared to BigCommerce, the absence of transaction fees and seamless integration with major payment gateways make it a top choice for merchants seeking a quick and efficient way to get paid. Whether you’re a small business looking to grow or an established enterprise expanding globally, BigCommerce’s payment processing capabilities are designed to support your needs.
The Verdict
When it comes to payment options and fees, BigCommerce takes the lead with its user-friendly approach.
Marketing Tools and Features
BigCommerce
BigCommerce provides merchants with a solid set of marketing tools aimed at enhancing their online visibility and promotional efforts. While its range may not match the breadth of Magento’s offerings, BigCommerce furnishes essential features for effective product promotion.
- SEO Optimization: BigCommerce earns accolades for its integrated SEO capabilities. Merchants can fine-tune page titles, craft meta descriptions, and incorporate alt text into images, optimizing their store for favorable search engine rankings. These features play a pivotal role in bolstering visibility and driving organic traffic to the platform.
- Email Marketing: Supporting 29 email marketing integrations, BigCommerce accommodates popular platforms like Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, and Recapture. Although its roster might not be as extensive as Magento’s, BigCommerce equips merchants with the requisite tools for executing targeted email campaigns and nurturing customer engagement.
- Multi-Channel Integration: BigCommerce facilitates sales across prominent platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, eBay, and Amazon. The built-in multi-channel selling capability broadens merchants’ reach and simplifies management through the inclusion of data reporting tools.
BigCommerce furnishes merchants with a comprehensive toolkit designed to address essential marketing needs. While it might not match Magento’s extensive array, it provides a robust foundation for sustainable growth.
Magento
Magento distinguishes itself through an expansive collection of marketing tools and extensions that cater to a wide spectrum of merchant needs. Leveraging its expansive marketplace, merchants gain access to a wealth of options for tailoring their marketing strategies.
- SEO Extensions: Magento boasts a rich selection of SEO extensions that amplify a store’s search engine visibility. While certain SEO functions may necessitate third-party integrations, the Magento marketplace presents an array of alternatives to choose from, ensuring that merchants have the tools they need to optimize their online presence.
- Email Marketing: With a roster of over 120 email marketing integrations, including notable providers such as Mailchimp, HubSpot, and Sendinblue, Magento empowers merchants with a comprehensive array of choices for executing finely-tuned email campaigns. This diverse array of options equips businesses to engage customers with tailored content effectively.
- Multi-Channel Integration: Magento’s marketplace showcases a diverse assortment of extensions for multi-channel selling, encompassing platforms like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Facebook. While these customized integrations may come with associated costs, they grant merchants the flexibility to align their marketing endeavors with their specific business objectives.
Magento’s marketing arsenal is well-suited for merchants seeking extensive customization and specialized strategies. The array of options available empowers businesses to tailor marketing initiatives precisely to their target audience, enhancing the potential for effective outreach and engagement.
If you focus on these marketing features, you may also want to learn about WooCommerce (WordPress) or Shopify. WordPress is widely known for its high level SEO functionalities, and Shopify has its builtin marketing tool. So take a look at a comparison of Bigcommerce vs Shopify vs Woocommerce.
The Verdict
Magento is the winner as it provides a solid foundation with essential marketing features.
Help and support
BigCommerce
BigCommerce excels in delivering around-the-clock support through both phone and live chat across all of its pricing plans, ensuring that assistance is readily available whenever the need arises. However, findings from user testing have indicated that there is room for improvement in its knowledge base, which could potentially leave users seeking more comprehensive and detailed resources.
- 24/7 Phone and Live Chat Support: BigCommerce stands out by providing swift resolutions through its continuous accessibility to phone and live chat support. This ensures that users can receive prompt assistance at any given time, contributing to a smoother problem-solving experience.
- Enterprise Priority Support: By selecting the Enterprise plan, merchants gain access to priority support. This premium level of assistance includes the advantage of dedicated help consultants who are committed to addressing queries and concerns efficiently, resulting in expedited and tailored support.
While BigCommerce’s support framework guarantees immediate responsiveness and aid, it’s worth noting that the comprehensiveness of its knowledge base has been identified as an area for potential enhancement. Users seeking more comprehensive and detailed resources might find room for improvement in this aspect of the support offering.
Magento
Magento stands out for its robust array of help and support options, with a notable emphasis on its active user forum. This forum serves as a valuable hub for users to engage with one another, obtain answers to their inquiries from fellow users, and access informative tutorials.
However, it’s important to recognize that while Magento’s support structure offers several strengths, certain limitations are also present within the system.
- User Forum: The cornerstone of Magento’s support ecosystem is its user forum, which proves to be an invaluable resource for users seeking assistance. Within this forum, the Magento community collaborates by sharing insights, solutions, and best practices. Users can tap into the collective knowledge of the community to find solutions to a wide range of issues and challenges they may encounter.
- Sales Team and Tech Support Ticket: Magento extends the ability to connect with its sales team via telephone or submit a tech support ticket for dedicated assistance. This provides users with alternative avenues to seek guidance and resolve their queries, ensuring that there are multiple touchpoints for obtaining help.
While Magento’s user forum fosters a knowledgeable and collaborative community environment, it’s important to be aware that the support structure does have its limitations.
Unlike some platforms that offer round-the-clock assistance, Magento does not provide 24/7 support availability. As a result, users may need to rely on its FAQs and self-service resources for certain inquiries and concerns. This aspect underscores the need for users to navigate the available resources effectively, especially during non-peak support hours.
The Verdict
When it comes to help and support, BigCommerce is the winner as it offers 24/7 availability through phone and live chat, ensuring prompt assistance for urgent matters.
BigCommerce vs Magento: Table Comparison
Feature | BigCommerce | Magento | Winner |
Ease of Use | Simple, but can be quite confusing with its terminology at first! | Super difficult without coding knowledge, and requires host integration. | BigCommerce |
Pricing | Three main pricing plans, costing from $29.95 to 299.95 per month. | Free to get started, but costs for hosting and third-party apps quickly add up. | BigCommerce |
Design Flexibility | Offers 12 free templates – and many more paid ones – which look great, and are easy to customize. | Unlimited customization gives you complete creative freedom – but you’ll need to know how to code, or at least have the budget to hire someone to help. | BigCommerce |
Ecommerce Tools and Features | Offers the most built-in features of any ecommerce platform around. | Its built-in features are restrictive, but it does allow access to over 3,000 apps. | BigCommerce |
Performance and Security | Automatically applies security patches for you, and offers a free SSL certificate – plus a range of paid options – across all its plans. | You’ll have to install security updates yourself, and an SSL certificate isn’t included as standard. | BigCommerce |
Payment Options and Fees | Supports a range of payment processors, at no charge to you. | Hundreds of payment integrations to choose from, most of which will cost you time and money. | BigCommerce |
Marketing Tools and Features | Allows you to customize meta descriptions, URLs, and more, as well as sell across multiple channels. | Comes with some good SEO functions as standard, with app integrations available for multi-channel selling. | Magento |
Help and Support | 24/7 phone and live chat support is available, though its knowledge base could be improved. | Boasts a vast help center, along with a user-generated forum. However, there’s no 24/7 support. | BigCommerce |
After looking at all the key areas for selling online, it’s clear that BigCommerce is the better all-around choice for most businesses. It’s easier to use, more affordable, and comes with more built-in features than Magento. BigCommerce is also more secure and reliable, and offers better customer support.
However, Magento is a better choice for businesses that need a highly customized ecommerce platform. It offers unlimited customization options, and it can be integrated with a wider range of third-party applications. Magento is also a good choice for businesses that need to handle a large volume of traffic.
BigCommerce vs Magento: Overall Winner
After comparing BigCommerce and Magento, it’s evident that BigCommerce takes the lead. Its user-friendly features, versatile tools, and dependable support make it a great fit for most online businesses. On the other hand, Magento offers powerful customization options, but its complexity might not suit those looking for an easier ecommerce journey.
If you’re ready to start your online store adventure and want it to have a real impact, BigCommerce is your perfect companion. Its simple design, advanced features, and continuous help ensure you can turn your ecommerce dreams into reality with confidence. Don’t hesitate – pick BigCommerce as your ecommerce partner and unleash your potential to dream big and achieve even bigger online success.
But for your business to make the most informed decision, you might want to take a look at other BigCommerce alternatives before making a purchase decision.
BigCommerce vs Magento: FAQs
Magento offers unparalleled customization capabilities and a wide range of extensions, making it an ideal choice for businesses that require intricate and unique online stores. If you have the technical expertise and resources to invest in coding and development, Magento can deliver a tailor-made ecommerce solution that perfectly aligns with your vision. However, keep in mind that Magento’s complexity and learning curve may not be suitable for everyone, particularly beginners or those looking for a more straightforward approach.
The answer to this question largely depends on your specific needs and preferences. While Magento is a powerful platform, other alternatives may be better suited to different scenarios. For instance, if you’re seeking simplicity and ease of use, platforms like BigCommerce or Shopify could be more appealing. If you prioritize a seamless integration with WordPress, WooCommerce might be a better fit. Ultimately, the “better than Magento” option varies based on factors such as your technical skills, business requirements, and desired features.
Absolutely, yes! BigCommerce is a robust and user-friendly ecommerce platform that caters to a wide range of businesses. It offers a plethora of built-in features, design flexibility, and various pricing plans to accommodate different budgets and needs. BigCommerce’s ease of use, combined with its powerful tools, makes it an excellent choice for entrepreneurs looking to establish a successful online store without getting bogged down by technical complexities.
BigCommerce and Shopify are two of the most popular ecommerce platforms on the market. Both platforms offer a wide range of features and integrations, but there are some key differences between the two platforms.
- BigCommerce is a hosted platform, which means that BigCommerce takes care of all of the technical aspects of running your store, such as hosting, security, and maintenance. This makes BigCommerce a good choice for businesses that don’t have the time or expertise to manage their own servers.
- Shopify is a self-hosted platform, which means that you are responsible for all of the technical aspects of running your store. This gives you more control over your store, but it also requires more technical expertise.
In terms of features, BigCommerce offers a wider range of features than Shopify. BigCommerce also offers more integrations with third-party applications.
In terms of pricing, BigCommerce is more expensive than Shopify. However, BigCommerce offers a free trial, so you can try it out before you buy it.
Overall, BigCommerce is a better choice for businesses that are looking for an easy-to-use, feature-rich, and reliable ecommerce platform. Shopify is a better choice for businesses that are looking for a more affordable and customizable platform.
BigCommerce vs Magento: Summary
In the battle, BigCommerce’s overall performance is better than Magento’s, however, the victor ultimately depends on your specific needs and priorities.
BigCommerce shines as an excellent choice for small to medium-sized businesses seeking a hassle-free and user-friendly ecommerce platform. With its intuitive interface, code-free customization, and a rich array of built-in features, BigCommerce offers a quick and efficient way to establish and grow your online store. The platform’s seamless payment options, marketing tools, and security features make it a solid contender for entrepreneurs looking for a comprehensive solution.
On the other hand, Magento stands out as the ultimate playground for technically savvy enterprises with a thirst for unlimited design flexibility and customization. While Magento demands coding skills and a more intricate setup process, its vast array of extensions and integrations allow you to create a truly unique and powerful online presence. If you’re willing to invest the time and resources into crafting a one-of-a-kind ecommerce experience and have the technical expertise to navigate its complexities, Magento offers unparalleled potential.
In the end, your decision should be guided by your business’s size, goals, technical proficiency, and willingness to invest time and resources. Whether you opt for BigCommerce’s streamlined simplicity or Magento’s boundless customization, both platforms offer the tools and features to help your ecommerce venture thrive in the digital landscape.