BigCommerce and Wix are two widely used website-building platforms with powerful eCommerce features.
BigCommerce prides itself on being the eCommerce solution for a new era. It comes with a range of storefront design and conversion features such as a visual page builder, pre-made store themes, multi-storefronts, and social commerce features.
Wix is a cost-effective, easy-to-use website builder with dozens of beautiful online store templates, versatile editors, and a range of built-in AI tools to simplify your website-building efforts.
To save you the hassle and headache of investigating these two platforms on your own, I’ve spent over 14 hours reviewing and comparing them to provide you with the insights you need to make the right choice.
By the end of this article, you’ll know which one is the right choice for you based on each platform’s features and functionality.
1. Ease of Use
Gone are the days when the only people who could have beautiful eCommerce websites were talented coders and those with the money to hire web developers. Today, anyone can build a professional website or online store with the help of a website builder like Wix or BigCommerce.
But, when it comes to ease of use, there are some differences between the two eCommerce platforms that make each ideally suited to different types of users. Here’s a closer look at what you can expect with each site builder.
BigCommerce:
BigCommerce is an eCommerce software platform with a website builder designed for users with no experience operating websites. Its main focus is to help you create a fully functional online store without any coding skills.
The platform has a user-friendly interface to simplify the creation process for untrained users. Advanced users and developers will find a range of personalized models and tools that grant access to the platform’s HTML and CSS.
The powerful website builder is ideal for all types of users, from small businesses and startups to huge brands. You can create an account and build an online store without having to purchase any web hosting or other applications.
As long as you have an internet connection, you can access your shop on the web browser to manage all your store’s operations.
Having said that, BigCommerce’s editor doesn’t feel quite as intuitive as the one on Wix. Also, some of the tools are a little hard to find on the dashboard unless you’ve been using the software for a while.
On the plus side, many of the templates come with a wide range of built-in eCommerce features so you don’t have to spend time adding these to your online store.
Summary of BigCommerce’s Ease of Use Features:
- Easy to follow Store Launch Guide
- Control Panel Tour for quick site setup
- Powerful no-code, drag-and-drop editor
- High-quality pre-made store themes to choose from
- Built-in marketing and payment processing tools
Wix:
Wix provides you with a cost-effective and painless way to create your own online store in minutes.
The platform has multiple versatile template editors that provide you with absolute creative freedom, regardless of how skilled you are in web design. You won’t need to learn code to build fully functional websites.
There is a helpful AI-powered tool, Wix ADI (artificial design intelligence) which can build your website for you based on your answers to a few quick questions. You can then customize that website as you see fit.
Wix also has a drag-and-drop page editor that lets you pick a template and change colors, images, text, and other elements to transform the template quickly and easily.
More advanced users can opt for the Wix Code editor which lets you make changes to the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code on your website.
Summary of Wix’s Ease of Use Features:
- Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) for swift site creation
- Drag and drop editor for simplicity and ease
- Unstructured editor for total design freedom
- Modern interface that’s easy to navigate
- Pre-designed templates with built-in marketing and sales features
- Easy integration of blog, store, and other features
Winner: Wix
Wix’s editors and range of stripped-back eCommerce features make it the clear winner in this category. You’ll be able to get your online store quicker and a lot easier compared to BigCommerce. For this reason, Wix is ideal for newcomers. But, thanks to its advanced features and Wix Code editor, it’s also perfect for more experienced users, as well.
2. Design and Customization
Web design has a huge impact on how people perceive your brand. Many visitors judge a website by the way it looks, and a well-designed website will help you create a good impression on your visitors, making it easier for you to turn them into customers.
You need a website builder with the right design tools and customization options to let you create a good-looking website with the functionality you need.
BigCommerce:
BigCommerce lets you create beautiful, eye-catching websites that are fully mobile-responsive. The software has a range of stunning templates to create attractive and responsive online stores quickly and easily.
You’ll be able to organize your products, payment methods, marketing campaigns, and more by choosing relevant pre-made BigCommerce themes. This way, you won’t have to spend time adding eCommerce features to your chosen template.
BigCommerce also has an in-depth drag-and-drop editor that allows you to create complex eCommerce store designs with zero technical knowledge required. There’s also a mobile app that lets you create and manage your website on the go.
A standout feature of BigCommerce is that it allows you to swap themes at any time. This is a convenient feature that lets you modify or rebrand your website whenever you please without disrupting products, images, SKUs, or category structure.
The reason I like this feature so much is that when you’re starting out, it’s highly unlikely that you will be able to choose the correct theme that works for your business straight away. You may have to test out a few different ones before you find the right one for you.
This isn’t something you’re able to do on a lot of site builders. Wix is among the many site builders that don’t allow you to change a theme once you’ve chosen it, which can be frustrating for beginners.
Summary of BigCommerce’s Design and Customization Features:
- 100+ customized store templates designed to sell
- Built-in eCommerce and marketing features
- HTML for themes
- WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor for simplicity
- Swap themes at any time
- BigCommerce App Marketplace for additional design tools
Wix:
Wix has a range of templates to support any type of business, industry, and niche. From small businesses to large corporations, hobbyists to entrepreneurs, Wix has a template to suit every need.
All the templates are fully customizable. Simply click on any element you want to change, and use the intuitive editor to make alterations quickly and easily.
As previously noted, there are three Wix editors to choose from. This makes it possible for users of all skill levels to make the required edits and customizations to their websites.
The first editor is the Classic Wix Editor which is intuitive, easy to use, and gives you a lot of design flexibility. There’s also Wix’s Editor X which is the new standard in website design. This comes with a smooth drag-and-drop editor with flexible grid layouts.
It has advanced design features that allow you to define the exact position and behavior of the elements you use on your pages.
Finally, there’s the Wix Code Editor which lets you make changes to your website’s HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
In addition to having full customization options, you also get access to Wix’s massive library of free images, icons, vector art, and more. You can use these to enhance your website designs to make them more visually appealing.
Many of the templates come with built-in and reusable design assets such as photo and video backgrounds to simplify the website creation process even further.
Note that you’ll have to subscribe to the Business and eCommerce plans to get the advanced selling features.
Summary of Wix’s Design and Customization Features:
- Over 900+ industry-specific Wix templates to choose from
- Built-in marketing and sales tools
- Wix ADI for easy website creation
- Fully customizable, mobile-friendly templates
- Free tools to create your own logo
- Massive library of free images, icons, and vector art
- High-quality photo and video backgrounds
Winner: BigCommerce
Although Wix has an impressive number of templates to choose from, it does have one major drawback. Once you’ve chosen a template, you can’t alter it. If you do so, you risk losing all your content. This means if you want to change your design, you must start from scratch.
BigCommerce, on the other hand, allows you to swap out your theme for another one whenever you want. This is a convenient feature that gives BigCommerce a distinct edge over Wix in terms of design and customization.
3. eCommerce Capabilities
If you’re looking to build an online store, you need a website builder with the right built-in tools to make it easy for you to sell your products or services, collect payments, and communicate with customers without having to piece together a range of different tools.
The good news is, both Wix and BigCommerce have built-in eCommerce functionality to handle all your business operations from one place.
BigCommerce:
BigCommerce has many superb eCommerce features, but one of its biggest selling points is the multi-storefront feature. In addition to a traditional online storefront, you can also create and manage up to 8 unique storefronts inside your BigCommerce dashboard.
This allows you to manage multiple brands or sell across different customer segments without having to manage multiple accounts. This feature lets you streamline all your operations and BigCommerce doesn’t charge any additional transaction fees or penalties.
You can choose from over 55 payment providers to find a solution that works best for your particular business. You get unlimited products, file storage, bandwidth, and staff accounts on all the plans.
The platform also has a robust point-of-sale (POS) system that connects your online and offline business operations via seamless integrations with platforms like Square, Vend, and Heartland Retail.
The social selling features on the eCommerce platform allow you to reach more customers and drive conversions with Instagram Checkout and Facebook Shop. You can also connect your online store to some of the world’s largest marketplaces, including Amazon, eBay, and Walmart.
Even with such powerful integrations and tools, you can still manage all your orders easily from your BigCommerce dashboard.
And that’s not all. BigCommmerce also has a range of advanced yet user-friendly promotional tools, including coupons, discounts, and gift cards. There are over 70 discount options to choose from. You can do all this without having to use a third-party platform.
This barely scratches the surface of the eCommerce tools on offer. You also get professional reporting tools, product ratings and reviews, a shipping rules engine, a persistent cart, store credit cards, and custom product filtering.
Summary of BigCommerce’s eCommerce Capabilities:
- Up to 8 multi-storefront sales channels (with additional storefronts available)
- Powerful point-of-sale system to connect your online and off-line business
- Single-page checkout for a smooth buying experience
- Multicurrency options to accept payments and over 100+ currencies
- Coupons discounts and gift cards available out of the box
- Mobile responsive online stores
- Point-of-sale integrations to multiple platforms
- Connect to multiple online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay
- Social selling features for Facebook and Instagram
- BigCommerce mobile app
- Product ratings and reviews
- Advanced tools for accessing online store HTML and CSS
Wix:
Wix is an all-in-one website-building platform with built-in eCommerce functionality. It’s perfect for beginners and advanced users alike and comes with a range of eCommerce-focused templates that you can use to get your store up and running in just minutes.
You can sell both physical and digital products in your store, and you have access to the platform’s powerful point-of-sale system.
With this, you can sell online and in person. Depending on which plan you’re on, you’ll get access to advanced eCommerce features, such as a cart abandonment tool that lets you recover more sales from visitors who leave your website without completing their purchase.
Wix also has inventory and catalog management tools, as well as tools for orders, payments, marketing, and more so you can handle all your eCommerce business operations from one place.
Summary of Wix’s eCommerce Capabilities:
- All-in-one platform with built-in eCommerce functionality
- Store templates pre-designed and optimized
- Wix eCommerce lets you list unlimited products or services
- Stunning galleries to highlight your products
- Sell on mobile, web, and social media storefronts
- Discount codes to incentivize more sales
- Powerful POS system for selling online and offline
- Customizable shipping and tax options
- Easy payment integrations with Stripe, PayPal, and other gateways
Winner: BigCommerce
BigCommerce has a much stronger focus on eCommerce compared to Wix. There are no payment processing fees to use leading payment gateways and the platform comes with an impressive array of built-in marketing and social selling tools, as well as third-party integrations.
Advanced users can get access to their online store’s code to make changes at the most basic level. All traffic to your eCommerce website is over HTTPS and comes with a free SSL to improve customer confidence.
BigCommerce also has advanced eCommerce tools, including a ShipperHQ engine that provides shipping rules to boost checkouts and prevent overpayment for misquotes.
4. Blogging Tools
There are many benefits to having a blog on your website. It allows you to regularly publish fresh content so you can attract more visitors to your website through search.
Most website builders come with built-in blogging features, but some are more basic than others. Let’s see how these two website builders compare with regard to blogging functionality.
BigCommerce:
BigCommerce has a built-in blog to help improve your online search rankings. Every new eCommerce store built on the platform comes with a blog that’s visible by default. If you want to remove the blog from your website, simply toggle the blog visibility tab and the blog links will be removed from your website’s header and footer.
You can access the blog via the storefront tab and your theme controls the look and feel of your blog. To create a blog post, simply click the “+” button, add a title to your post, and then add your content to the body. It’s as simple as that. Click publish when you’re ready for your post to be seen online.
You won’t be able to deliver a content-rich experience with such a basic blogging tool, but you will be able to provide your shoppers with valuable information about your business, products, or services.
Although BigCommerce is a feature-rich platform with some of the most powerful eCommerce functionality available, its focus is clearly not on blogging. However, it does integrate seamlessly with WordPress, giving you more design options, features, and plugins to expand your blog’s functionality.
This means you can create your blog using the world’s most powerful content management system while you run your online store on the world’s most powerful eCommerce engine. You get the best of both worlds with the BigCommerce WordPress integration.
Summary of BigCommerce’s Blogging Tools:
- Simple built-in blogging feature
- Social sharing feature for major networks
- WordPress blog integration
- Wide range of personal and business blog templates
- In-depth guides on how to create great blog posts
Wix:
Wix’s blogging feature gives you an excellent opportunity to promote your products and give your website a personal touch. You’ll find a range of pre-made blog templates, all of which are fully customizable to match your brand. Whether you want to create a food blog or fashion blog, news blog, or sports blog, you’ll find the right template from the dozens of options available.
To start blogging, simply hit the “start blogging” tab located in your toolbar and you can add content to your blog. From text and images to videos and other elements, create any type of blog page you want and once you’re done, you can either publish the post right away or schedule it to publish later.
You’ll be able to boost your website’s SEO ranking with built-in SEO features (more on that below).
Wix also comes with a free blog name generator. This is an AI-powered tool that provides you with a list of blog name ideas when you input a word or phrase associated with your new blog.
You’ll find a range of tools to complement your blog and set you up for success, including email marketing tools, social media marketing tools, and Wix App Marketplace.
Summary of Wix’s Blogging Tools:
- Fully customizable blog that fits your need
- Free logo design and blog name generator
- Fast-loading blog for optimal user experience
- Rich text editor with video and audio add-ons
- Third-party integrations to expand your blog’s functionality
- Free domain name and reliable web hosting on cloud servers
Winner: Wix
BigCommerce doesn’t provide nearly as many blogging tools as you get on Wix (although you can integrate WordPress to build your blog). Wix offers an overall better blogging experience with built-in blogging tools. There’s also the Wix App Marketplace where you can get additional third-party apps to further expand the functionality of your blog.
5. Search Engine Optimization Tools
Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for the online success of any website. Having the right SEO tools will allow you to improve your website’s visibility, making it easier for your target audience to find your content.
This is why it’s important to choose a website builder with robust SEO tools to optimize your new website right away.
BigCommerce:
BigCommerce understands how crucial SEO is with regard to running an online business. The platform offers a superb SEO option that includes tools to make your website and blog pages more SEO-friendly.
You can customize each page using the admin panel’s access to header tags, customized metadata, titles, URLs, and more. BigCommerce also comes with out-of-the-box robot.txt editing.
Another great SEO feature of the platform is that it maintains your website with a 99.99% uptime which gives you a competitive edge among other commerce engines. Also, you get a range of built-in marketing tools like banners, coupon codes, discounts, email marketing, social media marketing, and abandoned cart recovery.
You can use these to advertise your eCommerce store to improve user experience on your site (which Google loves).
Summary of BigCommerce’s Search Engine Optimization Tools:
- In-depth SEO customization options for website pages
- 99.99% uptime for optimal performance
- Built-in marketing tools to boost user experience
- No additional transaction fees on all plans
- BigCommerce app marketplace for additional SEO tools
Wix:
Wix has a fantastic SEO setup wizard, Wix SEO Wiz, which creates a unique SEO plan for your new website and provides you with recommendations for how you can rank higher in search engines.
You have full control and flexibility for customizing your website SEO. You can alter settings for meta-tags, canonical tags, URL slugs, structured data, and various other elements.
Like BigCommerce, Wix also has built-in marketing tools to help you promote your business online. You can also connect with social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to further expand your reach and boost your SEO.
If you’re not sure how to go about any of this, you can let Wix AI take care of everything for you. Between the AI and the SEO Wizard, there’s no way you’ll fail to optimize your new website for search.
Additionally, Wix provides you with A/B testing tools and customer targeting features to further enhance your SEO efforts.
Summary of Wix’s Search Engine Optimization Tools:
- SEO Wizard for easy search engine optimization
- Canonical URL to solve identical page issues
- Structured data to help Google contextualize your content
- Auto-create and submit a site map
- Image optimization for improved website performance
Winner: Tie
Both platforms have a lot to offer in terms of SEO for your online store or website, so we’ll call this one a tie.
6. Community and Support
Customer support is an important consideration when choosing the best website builder. The last thing you want is for all your efforts to come to a grinding halt simply because you can’t get the assistance you need to move forward.
Here’s a quick look at how these two platforms compare with regard to community and customer support.
BigCommerce:
BigCommerce offers excellent customer support in a variety of ways. Once you sign-up, you get an email offering a 10-minute call appointment. This is offered for both premium customers and those on the free trial.
During the call, the support rep will discuss your business and its objectives, as well as how they can support you on your journey to success.
Additionally, you can get assistance whenever you require it by contacting the support team via email, live chat, or phone. Support is available around-the-clock.
For those who prefer the self-help route, BigCommerce also has a well-curated help center filled with video tutorials, how-to guides, and other documents with tips and tricks to help you get the most from the platform.
Wix:
As expected from a website builder of its caliber, Wix also offers robust support to its users. This includes phone support, email support, and social media support. There’s also a community forum where you can connect with like-minded users.
Like its competitor, Wix has an extensive knowledge base filled with video tutorials and guides ranging from the simplest topics, such as “How to get started using Wix“, to the most advanced topics, such as “How to use the Wix Code Editor“.
Users on the VIP plan get access to 24/7 priority support via phone. Keep this in mind and consider signing up for the VIP plan if you anticipate requiring a lot of assistance from the Wix experts.
Winner: BigCommerce
While Wix does offer robust support to all its users (premium and free alike), its level of support is surpassed by BigCommerce whose support staff goes above and beyond to assist users and help them succeed in their eCommerce venture.
7. Pricing
Pricing should never be your only consideration when choosing a website builder, but it’s still worth comparing the pricing structure of different platforms to ensure that you get the most value for your money.
BigCommerce:
BigCommerce has a range of pricing plans to suit all budgets. You can sign up for a 15-day free trial on any of the premium plans to test out the platform to see if it’s the right fit for you.
Here’s what you get on each plan:
- Standard Plan: $29/Month: This plan has all the tools to create an online store and start selling your products or services right away. It comes with various sales channels, including an online store, up to 3 multi-storefronts, point-of-sale tools, and social selling features. There are no transaction or payment processing fees, and you can have up to 4 inventory locations, including store pickup and curbside.
- Plus Plan: $79/Month: This plan allows you to grow your online business with built-in marketing tools designed to increase conversions. It has everything in the Standard plan, as well as up to 5 multiple, unique storefronts, customer segmentation features, an abandoned cart saver, and up to 5 inventory locations where you can sell and fulfill your orders.
- Pro Plan: $299/Month: This plan is perfect if you are ready to scale and grow your business. In addition to the Plus features, it also comes with a comprehensive set of commerce tools, including up to 8 storefronts, Google Customer Reviews, and dynamic product filtering features to help improve your shoppers’ experience. You can set up 8 inventory locations.
Wix:
Wix offers a range of plans to suit different needs. Here’s what each premium plan entails:
- Wix Free Plan: Wix has a free forever plan that lets you build a simple website. The plan includes free web hosting and a sub-domain (e.g. YourSite.wixsite.com). This is an ad-supported plan, which means Wix ads will be shown on every page and favicon in the URL. You get up to 500 MB of storage and bend with. Unfortunately, this plan doesn’t include customer support, Google Analytics, or online payments. You’ll have to upgrade to one of the premium plans to unlock these and other features.
- Combo Plan: $15/Month: This plan is ideal for personal use. It comes with a custom domain, a free SSL certificate, and 2GB of storage space and you can host up to 30 minutes of video. You can sign up for a free trial on any of the premium plans to get access to the core features before deciding whether or not this SiteBuilder is right for you.
- Unlimited Plan: $22/Month: The Unlimited plan comes with everything in the Combo plan + 5GB of storage space, one hour of video, and a visitor analytics app. This plan is ideal for entrepreneurs and freelancers and comes with a Google Ads budget to help promote your business.
- Pro Plan: $27/Month: The Pro plan is ideal for complete online branding. It comes with all the features in the Unlimited plan, as well as 50GB of storage space, two hours of video, an events calendar app, and over 40 different sizes of your logo ready to use on various social media channels.
- VIP Plan: $45/Month: This plan has everything in the Pro plan, as well as 100GB storage space, 5 video hours, and priority customer care. If you value first-priority support, then this plan is ideal for you.
Winner: Wix
Since Wix offers a free service, I rate it as one of the best free website builders out there. Additionally, there’s a 2-week money-back guarantee for all premium plans. Like BigCommerce, Wix also has a high-end market solution, Wix Enterprise, which is a personalized pricing package designed for large companies. If you pay annually, you get hugely discounted rates on all the paid subscriptions.
Final Thoughts
Wix vs BigCommerce – which is better? Well, each software has its own features and benefits that appeal to different types of users. The platform you choose will depend on what your needs are.
Overall, BigCommerce is the more powerful eCommerce builder with a much more comprehensive range of built-in features to sell your physical or digital products online.
Wix, on the other hand, is built for simplicity and affordability. You will be able to build a beautiful eCommerce store with all the functionality you need supported by the Wix App Marketplace.
Choose BigCommerce if: You want a serious eCommerce website builder to create a scalable store with strong eCommerce features such as multi-storefronts, built-in social commerce tools, and excellent support. BigCommerce will provide you with all the tools you need to grow your business and earn more revenue.
Choose Wix if: You want a simple and intuitive website builder with beautiful pre-made themes, a user-friendly interface, and simple integrations. Wix is more affordable than BigCommerce for beginners, and you’ll get more customization options to create your website or online store exactly the way you want.
If you still can’t make up your mind between the two, why not take advantage of the Wix BigCommerce integration to easily control and organize your entire sales process? You’ll be able to sync products, inventory, and orders between both platforms with ease.
If you still aren’t sure which platform is right for you, you may want to consider reading about other Wix Alternatives.