BigCommerce and Magento (now Adobe Commerce) are two ecommerce platforms that businesses often evaluate. Magento is an open-source platform, while BigCommerce is a fully hosted Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform. For growing businesses, choosing the right platform means balancing cost, scalability, maintenance, flexibility, and security. In this article, we compare BigCommerce and Magento on these key factors and explain why BigCommerce is the better choice for most businesses. We’ll also highlight real-world examples of companies that migrated from Magento to BigCommerce and saw significant benefits.One of the most important considerations when choosing the right platform is the total cost of ownership (TCO). At first glance, Magento Open Source is free to download, while BigCommerce requires a subscription. However, the upfront cost doesn’t tell the whole story. BigCommerce’s pricing is all-inclusive, whereas Magento’s expenses can quickly add up through various fees. If you opt for Magento’s premium Adobe Commerce edition, there’s also a steep licensing fee (often over $10,000 per year for enterprise stores). Many companies discover that Magento’s ongoing maintenance and development costs outweigh any initial savings. Curt Carpenter, Co-founder of Lekker Home, initially used Magento but found the high cost and constant need for developer intervention a major burden. Facing increasing expenses, they switched to BigCommerce B2B Edition and saw immediate benefits, including improved website performance and lower costs. Forrester analyzed the benefits customers see when moving to BigCommerce. The study revealed that enterprise brands saw improved ROI, cost savings, and more success over three years with BigCommerce. The study found that a composite of the customers surveyed saw: “We’ve been with BigCommerce for 12 months, and our total cost of ownership is significantly lower,” remarked Mark Vourlides, Marketing and Ecommerce Manager at TradeTools. Scalability As your online store grows, you need a platform that can handle increased traffic and product expansion. Magento and BigCommerce approach scalability very differently: “Our old platform was becoming more of a hindrance than a help. We had a lot of manual processes for our pricing, and it wasn’t scalable,” said Jacob Jones, Head of Ecommerce at Sellars, who migrated from Magento to BigCommerce. “The open API made it easy to integrate with our existing systems and create a seamless experience for our customers. We now have a system that’s scalable and flexible enough to adapt to our needs as we grow.” Maintenance and upgrades Keeping an ecommerce site running smoothly requires regular software updates, security patches, and performance optimizations. The difference between Magento and BigCommerce is clear: The difference in maintenance overhead has a direct impact on business agility. BB Wheels, an online automotive business, gained peace of mind with BigCommerce’s hands-off maintenance. “BigCommerce makes sure that everything is secure. We don’t have to worry about our site being hacked or maintaining it. Also, it helps to have BigCommerce on the backend, so we can focus on selling products,” explained Chelsey Eggert, Director of Operations at BB Wheels. Flexibility and customization Magento is often associated with customization due to its open-source nature, but this flexibility comes at a cost: greater development time, maintenance complexity, and potential technical debt. BigCommerce has embraced an open SaaS approach that blends flexibility with ease of use. A great illustration of BigCommerce’s flexibility is MKM Building Supplies, which chose BigCommerce for its API-driven and modular architecture, allowing the brand to innovate quickly without the maintenance burden associated with open-source platforms. Security and compliance Security is a critical consideration for online businesses. Here’s how Magento and BigCommerce compare: BB Wheels found BigCommerce’s security invaluable. “BigCommerce makes sure that everything is secure,” said Chelsey Eggert, Director of Operations at BB Wheels. “We don’t have to worry about our site being hacked or maintaining it.” This proactive security approach reduces the risks associated with unpatched Magento installations
