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E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS · MIGRATION GUIDE

Switching from Shopify to BigCommerce

BigCommerce has no direct Shopify importer, but both support CSV export/import for products and customers. Themes and apps are rebuilt by hand.

Quick verdict: Move to BigCommerce if you want zero transaction fees on any payment gateway and built-in multi-channel selling, and are comfortable with plan tiers that auto-upgrade based on sales volume.

Estimate · your inputs

Switching Cost & Friction Estimator

Most buyers only budget for the new subscription. This estimates the hidden labor, data-cleanup, and retraining cost of actually making the switch.

25,000
10

Estimate assumes: 1 hour of data-mapping/cleaning labor per 2,000 records, a blended $75/hr ops rate, tiered migration & cleaning tooling fees, and 4 hours of retraining per seat at a $45/hr fully-loaded rate.

Estimated Migration Time
Data Friction Rating
Total Hidden Switching Cost $0

    Why teams move from Shopify to BigCommerce

    No transaction fees on any gateway

    Unlike Shopify’s non-Shopify-Payments fee.

    Multi-channel selling included

    Less dependence on paid apps for this.

    Predictable feature set at Core

    Fewer apps required to reach feature parity.

    How the migration actually works

    BigCommerce’s Core plan auto-upgrades once trailing 12-month sales exceed $30,000, a cost trigger Shopify’s flat pricing does not have.

    StepWhat you do
    1Export your catalog and customersDownload products, variants, customers and order history as CSV from the old platform.
    2Create your BigCommerce storeSign up for the Core plan and start its 15-day trial.
    3Import your catalogUse the new platform’s CSV import tool to bring in products, variants and customer records.
    4Rebuild your theme and storefrontRecreate your storefront design; themes are not compatible between platforms.
    5Reinstall apps or extensionsFind and configure equivalents for any apps or extensions your old store relied on.
    6Test checkout and switch your domainPlace a real test order end to end, then point your domain at the new store and take the old one offline.

    What this path doesn’t do for you:

    Shopify’s much larger app and theme ecosystem has no equivalent depth on BigCommerce.

    Pricing side by side

    PlanShopifyBigCommerce
    Pricing basisPer store, flatPer store, GMV-gated tiers
    Entry priceBasic $29/mo (annual)Core $29/mo (annual)
    HostingIncludedIncluded
    Transaction feesOn 3rd-party gateways unless Shopify PaymentsNone, any tier
    Free planNo, 3-day trialNo, 15-day trial

    Prices checked on each vendor’s pricing page on September 23, 2026.

    Feature parity check

    CapabilityShopifyBigCommerce
    Pricing basisFlatGMV-gated tiers
    Transaction feesOn 3rd-party gatewaysNone, any tier
    App ecosystemLargest in categorySmaller
    Price$29/mo$29/mo

    Going the other direction, or want the full comparison first?

    Read the BigCommerce vs Shopify comparison Switching from BigCommerce to Shopify instead?

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Does BigCommerce import Shopify data?

    Not automatically. Export products and customers as CSV and import them into BigCommerce.

    Will it cost more?

    The published entry price is identical; it can rise later on BigCommerce if your trailing sales exceed $30,000, auto-upgrading you to Growth.

    Do I lose Shopify apps?

    Yes, find BigCommerce equivalents in its own app marketplace, which is smaller than Shopify’s.

    Does my product catalog transfer automatically?

    Not fully automatically. Export products and customers as CSV from the old platform and import them into the new one; themes, custom code and installed apps/extensions are rebuilt by hand since they don’t carry over between platforms.

    Sources

    Prices on this page were recorded from each vendor’s own pricing page on the date shown at the top of the page. Vendors change pricing often — check the live source before you buy.

    Every figure is also in our open dataset (JSON and CSV, CC BY 4.0), with its source page and verification date. See how we research pricing.

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    Bill Belcamino, founder of HelpCompare
    About the author

    Bill Belcamino

    Founder and author, HelpCompare

    Engineer by training, operator by experience, marketer by choice. Bill spent nine years as an engineer at HP, was COO of Auctiva (the number one third-party selling platform on eBay, past 200,000 users) and ran Google’s $70M/year search syndication partnership at Alot.com. Then he spent 13 years building his own web properties with his own money at stake. He has bought, trialled, integrated and cancelled more SaaS tools than he can count, and started HelpCompare because the real cost of switching tools is the part nobody covers.

    “I’ve sat on both sides of the table: the agency recommending the tool and the client paying for it.”

    Researched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team. Pricing on this page was last verified on September 23, 2026. No paid sponsorships, no affiliate commissions.