Magento vs. BigCommerce
Brief summary
Both platforms are suitable for all types of business, from small to large ones. If you are not technical skilled enough then BigCommerce will be a better fit for you, while Magento gives you more opportunities in terms of customization.
Characteristics
Magento 2
BigCommerce
Hosting
Self-hosted solution
Hosted solution
Pricing
Free
From $29.95 + processing fee
Customization options
Open-source
+ Over 5000 free and paid extensions
Limited coding options
+ Over 700 free and paid extensions
Security
Regular issuing of security patches that guarantee
PCI Compliance
Level 1 certified PCI compliant
Scalability
Built-in functionality for international stores
Annual sales limit for each plan
Hosting
Magento 2 is a self-hosted platform. That means you’ll need to find paid hosting suitable for your website. But it gives you more freedom to choose the server and make the changes if you need to improve website performance.
BigCommerce vise versa is a hosted solution. So you don’t need to find anything additionally, but at the same time, you’ll have less control in your hands.
Price
Magento 2 is free and open-source.
BigCommerce's starting price is $29.95, and it charges a processing fee at 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
Customization options
Magento 2. As an open-source solution, Magento 2 allows you to customize every pixel of your website and make it look and work as you want. But for this, you will need to have good technical skills or hire a developer. Moreover, there are over 5000 free and paid extensions that you can implement in your store.
BigCommerce offers you a bunch of pre-made solutions starting from free design templates and ending with paid plugins with custom features. This platform has limited opportunities and customization may be expensive.
Security
Magento 2development team constantly releases new security patches and updates to keep your store safe. Also, it uses technologies and components like PHP 7, Composer, Zend Framework, Symfony, and the integration of SSL Certificate to increase customers’ trust.
BigCommerce is level 1 certified PCI compliant and supports free and paid SSL Certificates.
Scalability
Magento 2 will grow together with your business. It allows you to add new products, new stores, languages, currencies, shipping, and payment methods. Scalability is one of the strongest sides of this platform.
BigCommerce is more suitable for small businesses. Its plans have annual sales limits, and if you exceed, you will be automatically upgraded to a higher plan.
Magento 2 vs BigCommerce: final verdict
If you are not technically skilled, then BigCommerce will be the best choice because it has all the features you need to launch an online business quickly.
If you are more technically savvy, then Magento would be a better choice for you, as this platform can provide more customization and optimization options for your business.