BigCommerce
Enterprise features without the plugin stack.
BigCommerce for Irish businesses wanting Shopify-grade hosted SaaS with far deeper native capabilities — B2B, multi-storefront, multi-currency, subscriptions, advanced promotions — without bolting on ten apps at €30/month each.
BigCommerce
One platformAll features listed below included natively
Multi-currency
€0/mo
Multi-storefront
€0/mo
B2B quotes + company accounts
€0/mo
Abandoned cart recovery
€0/mo
Product reviews
€0/mo
Wishlists
€0/mo
Instant search + filters
€0/mo
Recurring subscriptions
App needed
Customer group pricing
€0/mo
Multi-channel (Amazon/eBay/FB)
€0/mo
Advanced promotions engine
€0/mo
Bulk order + import/export
€0/mo
Monthly add-on cost
€0
Shopify + apps stack
11 appsTo match BigCommerce's native capabilities
Markets Pro
—
Shopify Plus only
—
$
B2B Ninja / Plus only
€39/mo
$
Klaviyo / Omnisend
€45/mo
$
Judge.me / Yotpo
€29/mo
$
Wishlist Plus
€15/mo
$
Searchanise / Algolia
€29/mo
$
Recharge
€39/mo
$
B2B wholesale app
€35/mo
$
Channable / Codisto
€25/mo
$
Bold Discounts
€29/mo
$
Matrixify / EZ Bulk
€20/mo
Monthly add-on cost
€305
Monthly stack delta: €305 · Annualised savings: €3660 — plus app ops overhead
Where BigCommerce excels
Best-fit profiles.
B2B-native commerce
Quote requests, company accounts, buyer roles, approval workflows, net-30 terms, bulk pricing — all built-in. B2B Edition scales this further.
Multi-storefront operations
Multi-country, multi-brand, or retail + wholesale on one backend. BigCommerce's multi-storefront is one of its strongest cards.
Headless commerce ready
BigCommerce APIs are mature. Common pattern: BigCommerce backend + Next.js/Gatsby frontend for premium brands wanting performance and design control.
Larger catalogues (5k–50k SKUs)
Handles mid-catalogue scale better than Shopify Basic. Product options, variants, bulk edits, faceted search — all comfortable at this scale.
Avoiding app bloat + ops cost
The total cost of ownership for a feature-rich Shopify store often exceeds BigCommerce's flat monthly fee. Lower app management overhead too.
Advanced promotions
Stackable discounts, buy-X-get-Y, complex conditions, automatic coupons, customer group targeting. Shopify needs Bold/Rise; BigCommerce does it natively.
Plan guide
Which BigCommerce plan earns it.
BigCommerce uses annual online sales thresholds to gate plans — exceed and you're auto-upgraded. Know where you'll land before commit.
€29/mo
Standard
Up to €50k/year
Single store, unlimited products, all apps, reviews, multi-currency. Great entry point.
€79/mo
Plus
Up to €180k/year
Abandoned cart recovery, customer segmentation, stored credit cards. Most SMBs land here.
€299/mo
Pro
Up to €400k/year
Google customer reviews, custom SSL, product filtering. The common "growing mid-market" tier.
Custom
Enterprise
Up to €400k+/year
B2B Edition, API call priority, custom catalogue, dedicated success manager. Multi-storefront from here.
API-first architecture
Headless with BigCommerce as the engine.
BigCommerce's API depth is mature — catalogue, cart, checkout, orders, customers, subscriptions all addressable programmatically. Increasingly, we ship BigCommerce headless: BigCommerce admin + custom Next.js/Nuxt frontend.
The result: BigCommerce's commerce depth with a frontend built for your brand, performance targets, and developer experience — best of both.
Typical headless stack
Commerce engine
BigCommerce (Pro or Enterprise)
Catalogue, cart, checkout, orders, customers via REST + GraphQL APIs
Frontend framework
Next.js (app router)
Server components, ISR for catalogue pages, client-side cart
API layer
BigCommerce GraphQL Storefront API
Typed catalogue queries, cart mutations, customer auth
Search + filter
Algolia or BC native
Type-ahead search, faceted filters, synonyms, merchandising
CMS for content
Sanity / Contentful (optional)
For content-heavy pages, blogs, editorial alongside commerce
Hosting
Vercel / Netlify
Global edge CDN, deploy on git push, preview branches
Where BigCommerce falls short
The honest limits.
App ecosystem smaller than Shopify
~600 apps vs Shopify's 8,000+. For unusual use cases (specific 3PL integrations, niche marketing tools), Shopify usually has a pre-built app.
Theme marketplace thinner
Premium theme selection is narrower. Fewer designer-led themes compared to Shopify's paid marketplace. More often needs custom theme work.
Brand recognition among devs
Fewer BigCommerce specialists than Shopify devs. Finding freelance help is slightly harder. Agency work is where BC really plays.
Auto-upgrade-on-revenue model
Hit a sales threshold mid-month and your plan auto-upgrades. Predictable cost planning harder than flat-price Shopify tiers.
Checkout customisation limited
Like Shopify, BigCommerce checkout is locked down on standard plans. Enterprise + headless unlocks it but raises complexity.
Not ideal for < €50k/yr revenue
The feature depth is overkill for hobby/early-stage stores. Standard plan is still good value but a small Shopify shop often fits better for starters.
Frequently asked
BigCommerce questions.
Template-based builds €8,000–€18,000. Custom theme builds €20,000–€55,000. Headless BigCommerce + Next.js projects €40,000–€110,000+ depending on frontend scope. BigCommerce plan (€29–€299+/mo) is separate from build cost.
Related
Related platforms & services
Running B2B, multi-storefront, or app-heavy on Shopify?
We'll run a platform fit + cost-of-ownership assessment. Honest answer on whether BigCommerce would actually save you money and complexity — or not.