BigCommerce Pricing Changes 2026: If You Chose BigCommerce to Avoid Transaction Fees, It May Be Time to Reassess

For years, one of BigCommerce’s clearest advantages in platform evaluations was simple: payment flexibility without additional platform transaction fees. But starting June 1, 2026, BigCommerce is updating its plan structure and pricing. The changes include new plan names, updated GMV thresholds and a new fee for orders processed through Open Payment Providers on self-service plans. If you chose BigCommerce primarily for its transaction fee advantage, it may be time to reassess your platform choice. For many merchants, that question puts Shopify back on the table.

What is changing with BigCommerce pricing in 2026?

BigCommerce’s update introduces several important changes.

The current Standard, Plus, Pro and Enterprise plans are being renamed Core, Growth, Scale and Performance. GMV thresholds are also being updated, introducing new caps and overage fees depending on volume.

BigCommerce is also updating GMV thresholds: Core has a $30K trailing twelve-month Inclusive GMV cap, Growth has a $100K trailing twelve-month Inclusive GMV cap, Scale has a $33,333 monthly Inclusive GMV cap with a 0.9% overage on GMV above that cap and Performance has a $250K monthly Inclusive GMV cap with a 0.6% overage above that cap.

The most strategically important change for many merchants is the new Open Payment Provider Fee that applies to orders processed through Open Payment Providers on self-service plans. The fee rates are:

This fee applies at the order level depending on which payment provider processes the transaction. Merchants using multiple providers may therefore face a mix of fee-exposed and fee-free GMV.

Orders processed outside the platform, including manual or offline payments such as purchase orders, are also subject to the fee.

For B2B merchants, wholesalers, manufacturers, distributors, and businesses with custom payment workflows, this could be especially important.

Why this matters for merchants who chose BigCommerce to avoid transaction fees

For many merchants, avoiding additional transaction fees was a key reason to choose BigCommerce.

For businesses with high transaction volume, tight margins, specialized payment providers, or complex B2B payment needs, avoiding additional platform transaction fees could be a decisive factor. In many platform evaluations, the logic was straightforward:

“Shopify has strong technology and ecosystem advantages, but BigCommerce gives us more payment flexibility without added transaction fees.” That argument is now less straightforward.

BigCommerce still offers Embedded Payment Providers that can help merchants reduce or eliminate the new fee. But the advantage is now conditional.

For merchants who chose BigCommerce because they wanted payment freedom without additional platform fees, the new model may require them to reconsider their payment setup, plan tier, GMV thresholds and overall total cost of ownership. For example, Moneris does not currently appear on BigCommerce’s Embedded Payment Provider list. Since BigCommerce states that any provider not on that list is considered an Open Payment Provider, orders processed through providers like Moneris may be subject to the new fee.

And once merchants are already reassessing the economics of their platform, they should also reassess the strategic fit of the platform itself.

Is Shopify cheaper than BigCommerce now?

Not necessarily. This is an important point. Shopify also has third-party transaction fees when merchants use a third-party payment provider. Shopify’s pricing page lists third-party transaction fees of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced when a third-party payment provider is used.

However, when Shopify Payments is used, these additional transaction fees are not applied.

For Shopify Plus, Shopify states that third-party transaction fees are waived globally when Shopify Payments is used as the primary gateway. If a third-party processor is used as the primary gateway, merchants pay their processor’s fees plus 0.20% per transaction to Shopify

So the real question is not whether Shopify is always cheaper, it is whether the original reason for choosing BigCommerce still holds.

That equation includes transaction fees, payment architecture, GMV thresholds, operational complexity, migration cost, development velocity, B2B requirements, checkout performance, integrations, and long-term growth potential.

The bigger question: what platform gives you the strongest growth foundation?

Shopify’s value proposition is not only about payment processing. It is about giving merchants a commerce operating system that can support growth across online, retail, B2B, international, marketing, checkout, and operations.

Shopify’s Winter ’26 Edition announced more than 150 product updates across AI, checkout, B2B, operations, and developer tools.

That pace of innovation matters when evaluating long-term platform fit.

Key questions include:

Can your team launch campaigns faster?
Can your developers build without fighting the platform?
Can your checkout evolve without becoming fragile?
Can your team reduce technical debt instead of adding more?

Shopify’s advantages become more relevant when the fee gap narrows

1. Shopify has a clear path to reducing third-party transaction fees

Shopify’s fee model is not fee-free in every scenario. But for merchants who can use Shopify Payments, the fee equation can become much more attractive. Shopify states that merchants using Shopify Payments are not charged third-party transaction fees on orders processed through Shopify Payments, Shop Pay, Shop Pay Installments, PayPal Express Checkout and manual payment methods such as bank transfers or cash on delivery.

For Shopify Plus merchants, Shopify states that third-party transaction fees are waived globally when Shopify Payments is the primary payment gateway.

2. Shopify’s innovation pace is a major strategic advantage

Commerce is evolving quickly. AI-assisted workflows, better storefront experiences, B2B self-serve buying, international selling, checkout extensibility, and omnichannel operations are no longer future-state ideas, they are becoming core requirements.

For merchants who feel that their current platform is slowing down marketing, development, experimentation, or operational improvements, this pace of innovation can be a meaningful reason to reassess.

3. Shopify B2B has become more mature

B2B was historically a BigCommerce strength.But Shopify B2B has evolved significantly.

Shopify states that B2B is available on all plans and includes features that allow merchants to sell business-to-business through the Shopify admin and online store. Shopify B2B supports companies, company locations, payment terms, shipping addresses, contact permissions, catalogs, tax exemptions, and checkout settings.

Shopify also supports B2B catalogs, custom pricing, volume pricing, quantity rules, one-page B2B checkout, payment terms, manual payment methods, purchase order numbers, self-serve reordering and ERP or business-system integrations through B2B APIs.

On Shopify Plus, additional B2B capabilities include unlimited catalogs, direct catalog assignment to companies and locations, deposit requirements, partial payments, and payment requests per fulfillment.

Streamline Your Shopify B2B Migration With SPINE

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4. Shopify’s checkout is built for conversion

Checkout remains one of the highest-impact areas for conversion.Shopify’s checkout is one of the platform’s strongest advantages. It is designed to be fast, reliable, and optimized for conversion across devices, payment methods and buyer journeys. For merchants evaluating whether their current platform still supports their growth ambitions, checkout performance should be a central part of the conversation.

5. Shopify can unify B2B, DTC, retail, and operations

Many merchants are no longer running a simple online store. They are managing multiple brands, regions, buyer types, sales channels, inventory locations and operational systems.

Shopify Plus positions itself as a platform that can support B2B and DTC from one place, integrate with ERP, 3PL, OMS, PIM and IMS systems, and support headless commerce, APIs, and development environments.Shopify also describes its B2B commerce platform as a way to sell to businesses and consumers from one platform, with B2B tools, self-serve buying, automation, and integrations with ERP and other systems.

Explore how B2B leaders are approaching alignment in 2026.

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Which BigCommerce merchants should reassess Shopify?

Not every merchant needs to consider a migration. But some merchants should absolutely revisit the conversation.

A Shopify reassessment may be relevant if:

You originally chose BigCommerce primarily to avoid additional transaction fees.
You use payment providers that may fall under BigCommerce’s Open Payment Provider category.
You rely on manual, offline, or purchase order workflows.
Your GMV puts you near a new BigCommerce plan threshold.
Your current platform is limiting your marketing, UX, B2B, omnichannel, or international roadmap.
You are already considering a redesign, rebrand, ERP integration, checkout improvement, or B2B modernization.
You want to consolidate B2B and DTC operations in a more unified commerce stack.

How to launch your B2B sales portal on Shopify?

Learn more

When staying on BigCommerce may still make sense

Staying on BigCommerce may still make sense if your business is not materially affected by the new pricing structure, your orders are primarily processed through Embedded Payment Providers, your current plan remains cost-effective and your platform is not slowing down your roadmap.Merchants should review:

Current BigCommerce plan and expected new plan.
Trailing twelve-month GMV and monthly GMV.
Payment providers used at the order level.
Share of GMV processed through Embedded versus Open Payment Providers.
Manual, offline, purchase order, or B2B payment workflows.
Current platform limitations.
Cost of staying versus cost and value of moving.
Strategic roadmap for the next 12 to 36 months.

Only after that analysis can a merchant make a confident platform decision.

When a Shopify migration becomes worth evaluating

A Shopify migration becomes worth evaluating when the platform conversation is no longer only about avoiding fees.

Planning a move to Shopify?

Explore our eCommerce migration services

If your business chose BigCommerce because it appeared to offer a cleaner payment-fee model, but you now need to reconsider that assumption, Shopify may deserve a fresh look.

This is especially true if your business is also looking to:

Improve checkout and conversion.
Modernize B2B buying experiences.
Consolidate B2B and DTC operations.
Move faster on marketing and merchandising.
Reduce technical debt.
Improve integrations with ERP, PIM, OMS, 3PL, or accounting systems.
Support international growth.
Expand into retail or omnichannel commerce.
Build on a platform with a rapid product innovation roadmap.

A migration should never be treated as a quick platform swap, it’s an opportunity to improve the business architecture behind commerce.

The bottom line

BigCommerce’s 2026 pricing changes don’t mean every merchant needs to change platforms, but they do change the equation. If avoiding transaction fees was a key reason for choosing BigCommerce, that advantage is now conditional and worth reassessing.

The real question is no longer about fees, but about which platform best supports your growth.

For many merchants, this is an opportunity to re-evaluate whether their current platform still aligns with their next stage of growth.

Need help evaluating the impact?

If you chose BigCommerce to avoid transaction fees, Novatize can help you determine whether that decision still makes sense under BigCommerce’s 2026 pricing model.

Our team can help you assess: