If you want to go with another e-commerce platform, BigCommerce should be considered. It has excellent features like PrestaShop but there are some key differences when compared.
Here is a guide for those who want to find out if BigCommerce would be the right fit.
I will also explore the following:
- BigCommerce Is Not Open Source
- BigCommerce – You Save On Developers
- BigCommerce vs. PrestaShop Pricing
- PrestaShop vs. BigCommerce Features
- PrestaShop vs. BigCommerce SEO
- Conclusion
BigCommerce Is Not Open Source
PrestaShop is open-source, and you (your developers) can modify source code and extend it easily with plugins. However, just like Shopify, BigCommerce has the same limitations – they are proprietary software.
This means that you can only change things to the extent they provide. For example, a common complaint about solutions like Wix, Shopify, and BigCommerce is that it is impossible to do so for custom advertisement code placement.
With PrestaShop, You can customize absolutely everything, however, with BigCommerce, there are limitations.
BigCommerce – You Save On Developers
Since BigCommerce is proprietary, most likely, you do not need to hire an expert to tweak your store because all the tweaks can be done from their back office.
BigCommerce is a cloud-based e-commerce platform so you do not need to set up hosting, and install, and protect it with security settings. Instead, all is done by BigCommerce owners.
BigCommerce is easier to use than PrestaShop, so you need less technical knowledge to use it.
BigCommerce vs. PrestaShop Pricing
Both solutions are paid for but in different ways.
Recent BigCommerce prices are listed on their platform, but here are the price ranges when writing this article:
| Plan | Price |
| Standard | 29.95/mo |
| Plus | $79.95/mo |
| Pro | $299.95/mo |
PrestaShop is free, but that does not mean it will cost nothing to run the store. You will have to pay for hosting. For a bigger store, it will be easy to run out of 30 USD/mo.
Both platforms have add-ons and themes. BigCommerce add-ons are super expensive with monthly subscriptions – don’t expect BigCommerce to be cheap.
PrestaShop addons and themes can be found for free or for as low as 10 USD.
BigCommerce has a small selection of free themes. Paid themes cost from 150 USD to 250 USD.
PrestaShop vs. BigCommerce Features
Both platforms have a marketplace and provide lots of customization, thanks to the addons system. Unfortunately, this makes it hard to compare features between the two because you can find a workaround with every plugin.
Still, localization/translation is a problem. PrestaShop is translated into much more languages, and you can translate and localize (date formats, currency, numbers) according to your needs. BigCommerce has a limited set of translations.
PrestaShop vs. BigCommerce SEO
There is no significant difference here because, for years, Google has been judging SEO based on user experience. This means that if you have a short description and poor images in one store, but you have an excellent description of your product page, combined with great ideas and extra content (reviews, about section, and more) – the second page will outrank in the search results page no matter which system you choose.
The title, meta description, URLs, and everything else are almost the same on both platforms.
Conclusion
BigCommerce is a straightforward platform, and even without technical knowledge, it is easier to set up and work with. However, it will cost you more. It would be best to think about 100-200 USD monthly expenses when running BigCommerce.
I have compared PrestaShop to other platforms like Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce.