BigCommerce vs Magento
BigCommerce is an Open SaaS platform that provides flexibility with the cost savings, low maintenance and security of SaaS.
BigCommerce vs Magento: Why businesses are making the switch
Craft endless commerce possibilities with our flexible solution designed to help you build, innovate and grow your business.
Flexibility to future-proof your business
New technology, higher customer expectations and increased competition are expanding the boundaries of what’s possible in ecommerce. Brands need flexible tech that allows them to adapt quickly. BigCommerce has platform-wide APIs that enable businesses to customize their sites and integrate with external applications and services — all without changing the source code.
Security you can count on
Security in ecommerce must always be top of mind. However, with BigCommerce, you can let it be at the top of someone else’s mind. Unlike Magento, BigCommerce automatically applies all security patches for you. And BigCommerce is ISO/IEC 27001:2013 & PCI DSS 3.2, Level 1 certified. Spend your time building your business, not worrying about security.
Low maintenance frees you up
No ecommerce business owner — or their developers for that matter — delights in spending their time applying routine updates to keep their site in working order. BigCommerce has no-hassle, automatic updates and upgrades, so you always have access to the latest features and can focus on revenue-generating innovations instead.
Scalable to grow with you
BigCommerce supports businesses of all sizes and at every stage of their growth. With the speed, ease-of-use, high performance and low cost of multi-tenant SaaS, BigCommerce has the out-of-the-box features you need now and the ability to easily integrate with a huge ecosystem of best-in-breed solutions to adapt as you grow.
Migration success stories
“Magento was one huge headache after another — from security updates to parts of our site not functioning. With BigCommerce, none of that is a concern now, which is great. We don’t have to spend time worrying about that, and we can spend time on running our business.”
Common BigCommerce vs Magento questions
What are the different versions of Magento and how do they compare to BigCommerce?
Magento Open Source (formerly Community Edition) is a free-to-download version that can be hosted on-premise or by a third-party. Magento Commerce (formerly Enterprise Edition) is a managed version that requires license fees and includes support. Magento Commerce can be self-hosted or include cloud hosting (Magento Commerce Cloud). It’s important to note that the cloud-hosted version is PaaS, not SaaS, which means the user will still be responsible for version updates and security patches.
By contrast, BigCommerce is a SaaS platform and always includes ecommerce hosting, maintenance and automatic security patching as part of the subscription fee. For more information about the different versions of Magento and how they compare to BigCommerce, see this resource.
Do I need an agency to implement a BigCommerce or Magento store?
For any version of Magento, to set up your store, you will need either in-house developer resources or an outside agency.
BigCommerce offers out-of-the-box themes and a user-friendly Page Builder that make it possible — for simpler builds — to set it up yourself. For more complex builds, many BigCommerce merchants choose to work with an outside agency or internal development teams to unlock the full power and possibilities of our Open SaaS platform.
How does the cost of ownership of a BigCommerce store compare to Magento?
Both Magento and BigCommerce will require some costs at the outset to build and design your store — which will vary depending on your internal resources and if you use an agency or not (see question above). Beyond the initial set up, to understand your total cost of ownership, you need to first understand what is and is not included in your ongoing costs.
BigCommerce is a SaaS platform, meaning your subscription fee includes hosting, security patching, maintenance, updates and support. With Magento, you will be paying for licensing fees (depending on the version you use; see question above), hosting (again, depending on the version you use), maintenance and keeping the platform secure. It will depend on your specific business needs, but generally BigCommerce stores have a lower total cost of ownership than Magento Commerce stores. If you’re interested in specific pricing for your business, talk to a BigCommerce expert.
How does hosting and bandwidth impact my pricing on Magento and BigCommerce?
Whether you’re going with Magento Commerce or Magento Open Source, a number of factors will likely impact pricing. If you are looking at Magento Commerce with hosting through Magento, you may be asked to do a cloud sizing exercise as part of receiving a quote. You will need to carefully calculate your hosting and bandwidth needs and ask Magento what effects traffic spikes may have on your site. These will still be factors for on-premise versions of Magento (both Commerce and Open Source), but this is generally done with a third-party hosting company. If you are managing your own hosting, you will need to consider the costs of building and maintaining that infrastructure.
BigCommerce is a SaaS platform and includes hosting that scales with you, so you don’t have to worry about bandwidth.
Can I edit the source code of Magento or BigCommerce?
You can edit the source code of Magento, however this can introduce additional complexity when managing future updates and patches. On BigCommerce, you can’t edit the source code; however, the platform-wide APIs enable businesses to customize their sites and integrate with best-in-breed external applications and services. In fact, over 90% of the BigCommerce platform is exposed via APIs. This can provide you the flexibility to customize without introducing unnecessary intricacies.
Can BigCommerce and Magento connect to my ERP, PIM, CRM or other external systems?
Both Magento and BigCommerce can connect to external systems using either pre-built connections from their app marketplace or custom integrations. Setting up these connections can be managed by your development team or an outside agency. Depending on the integration, BigCommerce does include a wide range of single-click apps that can be installed without development resources. Additionally, BigCommerce has in-house Solutions Architects who can help you build completely custom integrations as needed.
Can the frontend and backend of my store scale independently?
With Magento, like many other factors, this will vary depending on how your Magento store is configured and hosted (or for on-premise, just in how you set it up).
With BigCommerce, having your ecommerce team working on the backend doesn’t degrade the performance of your live store as BigCommerce’s frontend and backend scale independently.
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