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Features

Features

BigCommerce and Magento are very different platforms.

At a high level, Magento — and we specifically mean Magento Open Source — is built for businesses who need to customize their graphic design, user experience, back-end integrations, and administrative functions.

BigCommerce is built for businesses who want to focus on selling and are happy leaving the detailed technical side to the BigCommerce experts.

As we dig a little deeper, we can see a few more differences worth noting.

Magento

  • Access to your own source code allows for complete control over design and functionality of your website
  • Includes multi-store functionality out of the box
  • Industry-leading SEO capabilities built in
  • Uniquely capable of supporting a complete solution for complex business needs
  • Extensive developer community has built a vast library of over 5,000 extensions that support back end integrations as well as specialized functionality

BigCommerce

  • Low up-front cost and rapid launch times get you selling faster
  • SaaS platform removes the technical heavy-lifting for site development, hosting, and maintenance.
  • A library of pre-designed templates are built to increase sales in an attractive and engaging way while also allowing for custom adjustments as desired
  • Intuitive site building and management tools do not require specialized technical knowledge
Scalability

Scalability

This is where we find the biggest difference between the two platforms. In the BigCommerce SaaS model, you will pay more as your business grows and utilizes more resources on their platform. Magento grows with you and you keep the revenue.

Out of the box, Magento and BigCommerce both deliver on the promise of scalability. BigCommerce has streamlined the process of getting it all to work as efficiently as possible for you as long as you stay within the framework they built. The Magento core is similarly streamlined and you can also take advantage of existing extensions to help improve each aspect of scalability. Beyond existing extensions, your Magento team can help you tweak and customize server settings to further optimize your particular site needs.

Scalability

Magento 2 is fully scalable, apt for medium and large stores. If it does not have the desired feature out of the box, it can be easily added, making it very versatile. It is ready to increase the number of products or categories.

BigCommerce is fine for startups or beginners, though it may grow as your business requires. However, it features an annual sales limit. Should you exceed this limit, you will be automatically promoted to the next level, which will come at an additional cost. With faster-growing businesses, this new cost may pile up sooner than you might expect.

Magento

  • Capable of handling many more orders per hour
  • Near-instant server response while browsing catalogs
  • Fast cart and checkout pages
  • Can manage multiple admin users on the back end
  • Can handle increased resource demands as your business grows… and grows!
  • Owned by Adobe, which offers various marketing components that can be integrated with the Magento platform for greater digital selling capabilities!
  • Varnish cache support for faster page load times
  • Can build your own custom extensions
  • Core architecture allows for various hosting environments and highly customizable scalability
  • Able to use three separate master databases for different functional areas
  • The drag and drop Page Builder makes it easier to create and customize responsive landing pages
  • Optimized database structure doesn’t get bogged down with high order volume, ever-increasing catalog sizes, or concurrent admin users
  • Owned by Adobe, which offers various marketing components that can be integrated with the Magento platform for greater digital selling capabilities!

BigCommerce

  • Suitable for startups and smaller businesses
  • Robust platform design supports more than 400+ API calls per second for faster database calls
  • Open API allows for custom integration development as needed
  • Adding an IT team to your infrastructure is unnecessary
  • Includes a curated selection of eCommerce tools most necessary for building sales
  • Intuitive site building and management tools do not require specialized technical knowledge
  • Suitable for small and medium businesses
  • Robust platform design supports more than 400+ API calls per second for faster database calls
  • Open API allows for custom integration development as needed
  • Adding an IT team to your infrastructure is unnecessary
  • Includes a curated selection of eCommerce tools most necessary for building sales
  • Intuitive site building and management tools do not require specialized technical knowledge
FUNCTIONALITY

Functionality

Built-in features and the possibility of enhancing the UX and functionality by means of extensions or add-ons make these two platforms equally desirable. However, Magento offers more design flexibility than BigCommerce.

If your digital business demands specialized design or functional customization, Magento will likely meet your needs better than BigCommerce. However, BigCommerce is the most powerful SaaS solution with a lower total cost of ownership and faster time to market than Magento.

Functionality

Built-in features and the possibility of enhancing the UX and functionality by means of extensions or add-ons make these two platforms equally desirable. However, when it comes to expanding its opportunities, Magento 2 has a definite edge. From design flexibility to future-proofing your store, Magento has much more to offer.

You want to be able to customize your store to meet each of your needs, so you must ensure that the platform you choose will allow you to do so, especially if you want to sell B2B. Being open-source, Magento 2 can accommodate truly complex requirements, while BigCommerce is more of a come-as-is solution which, even though powerful, may cause you delays if a needed extension does not yet exist.

Support

Support

Most Magento implementations are supported by an internal team or a partner agency. In either scenario, the site can be maintained and optimized as demanded by your unique business needs. Additionally, Magento has an active community of users and developers around the world who are available on various forums to answer questions and troubleshoot.

BigCommerce offers an extensive library of support documentation and training online called BigCommerce University. They also offer phone, email, and chat support 24/7 on all BigCommerce solutions.

Support

A robust and very active support community has developed for Magento due to the large number of users. And, since it is open-source, there are multiple forums where users and developers are willing to answer your questions and help make this a better platform. Also, customer support is available by the hour for a fee.

In the case of BigCommerce, the best source of support is BigCommerce University. There is also phone, email, and chat support 24/7 on all their packages.

Security

Security

Magento

  • Fixes and patches are continuously released, ensuring protection against vulnerabilities
  • Current technologies, updated components (PHP 7, Composer, Zend Framework, Symfony), and SSL Certificates further enhance shopping experience by reinforcing customer trust

BigCommerce

  • Centrally managed and updated security, fraud prevention, and PCI compliance
  • Free and paid SSL Certificates are available; paid ones are GeoTrust verified and feature additional security such as site seals, increased purchase protection, and extended validation – free ones only offer basic encryption
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