BigCommerce charges a subscription that grows with your revenue whether you like it or not: plans start at US$29/month billed annually and your store is automatically upgraded to the next tier when trailing sales cross set thresholds. Sendd charges 1% per sale with no subscription and no tiers. BigCommerce’s honest advantages are 0% platform transaction fees and more built-in features than most hosted rivals. For established mid-size retailers those matter. For a new or lean business, paying a scaling subscription before the revenue is certain is the wrong order of operations.

Key takeaways

• BigCommerce renamed its plans in June 2026: Core (US$29/month annual), Growth (US$79), Scale (US$299) and Performance from US$1,499/month.
• Sales thresholds trigger automatic plan upgrades: Core moves to Growth above US$30,000 trailing 12 month GMV, and Growth to Scale above US$100,000.
• BigCommerce charges 0% platform transaction fees on every plan, a genuine strength. Processing runs about 2.05% to 2.59% + 49¢ through its default providers.
• Sendd charges 1% per sale, no subscription, no sales caps and no forced upgrades, plus your own Stripe processing or 30¢ flat bank transfer in NZ.
• BigCommerce ships more built-in features than most rivals and is strong for B2B. Sendd has native email and segmentation (free tier, then half or less of Klaviyo’s price with unlimited sends), Rocky AI, and is built for lean launch.

Contents: How much BigCommerce costs in 2026 · Which costs less as you grow · Who each platform is built for · When BigCommerce is the right call · Migrating from BigCommerce to Sendd · FAQ

How much does BigCommerce cost in 2026?

BigCommerce costs US$29/month for Core, US$79 for Growth and US$299 for Scale when billed annually, with the Performance tier starting at US$1,499/month, following a June 2026 rename of its plan lineup (Elogic, 2026 ). The number that matters more than any price is the threshold system: your plan upgrades automatically as trailing 12 month sales cross set levels, so your subscription is a function of your revenue.

Figures checked 10 August 2026 against BigCommerce’s published pricing. Thresholds and provider fees changed with the June 2026 plan restructure, so verify current terms on BigCommerce’s pricing page.

Give BigCommerce its due on three counts. Zero platform transaction fees on every plan means your per-sale cost is pure processing. It ships more built-in features than most hosted platforms, so the app bill that inflates a typical Shopify stack is smaller here. And its B2B capability is genuinely strong for wholesale-oriented retailers.

The structural issue is the pricing shape. A store crossing US$30,000 in trailing annual sales, about US$2,500/month, is not a big store, yet it triggers the first forced upgrade. Success raises your rent automatically, and there is no way to decline the tier.

Which costs less as you grow?

At US$2,000/month in sales, Sendd costs $20 and BigCommerce Core costs $29. At US$10,000/month, Sendd costs $100 and BigCommerce has moved you to Growth at $79. The lines cross and re-cross with the tier jumps.

Platform costs only, processing excluded. BigCommerce plan shown is the tier its thresholds force at that trailing volume. Figures checked 10 August 2026.

The honest read: in the US$5,000 to US$8,000/month band, BigCommerce Growth beats Sendd’s 1% on pure platform cost. Below US$2,500/month Sendd is cheaper and the gap widens the smaller you are. Above each threshold, BigCommerce’s step jumps mean your effective rate spikes the day you succeed. Sendd’s 1% is the same slope forever: predictable, proportional and never renegotiated by a threshold. NZ merchants also cut processing to a flat 30¢ on bank transfer orders, which no BigCommerce plan offers.

Model your growth curve in the Sendd fee calculator .

Who is each platform actually built for?

BigCommerce is built for established small-to-mid-market retailers, especially product catalogues with B2B or wholesale ambitions. Sendd is built for lean launch and multi-format selling: physical, digital, subscriptions, event tickets, services and rentals as native types in one store.

That difference shows in what each includes. BigCommerce’s built-in feature depth targets serious retail operations: advanced catalogue, faceted search, unlimited staff accounts and B2B tooling. What it leaves out is the marketing layer: there is no native abandoned-cart-to-email engine comparable to dedicated tools, and email marketing runs through third party platforms like Klaviyo or Omnisend at their own subscription cost (Swell, 2026 ).

Sendd builds that layer in natively. Email marketing and segmentation run on the same live events stream Rocky reads, with free monthly credits covering your first 500 contacts; beyond that Sendd charges per contact with unlimited sends, US$50/month at 5,000 contacts against Klaviyo’s roughly US$100, widening to US$300 against roughly US$720 at 50,000, with no send caps against Klaviyo’s ~10x metering. Rocky, Sendd’s AI assistant, works over your live customer data: ask it to find everyone who viewed a product, bought in the last six months and attended your launch event, then email them an offer, and the segment is built and actioned from one sentence. Sendd MCP is also live in Claude’s connector directory, so an AI assistant can operate the store directly. The full breakdown of what each part costs is in How Sendd Pricing Works in 2026 .

Rocky building a customer segment from a natural language query.

When is BigCommerce the right call?

BigCommerce is right for retailers already doing consistent volume who want maximum built-in retail features without app assembly, and for B2B or wholesale operations that need its catalogue and pricing depth.

Choose Sendd if you are launching or lean, want costs that only exist when revenue does, sell mixed formats, sell in NZ where bank transfer cuts fees to 30¢, or want marketing and AI included rather than assembled.

Choose BigCommerce if you are an established retailer in its volume sweet spot, need deep B2B and catalogue features built in, and accept subscription tiers that scale automatically with your sales.

How do you migrate from BigCommerce to Sendd?

Export products, customers and orders from BigCommerce as CSV, rebuild the catalogue on Sendd, connect your own Stripe and move your domain with redirects.

1. Export from BigCommerce. Products, customers and orders export as CSV from the control panel. Save product images at source resolution.
2. Rebuild on Sendd. Keep names, descriptions and SKUs consistent for SEO and returning customers.
3. Connect your own Stripe. Standard Stripe rates apply, and NZ merchants can enable flat 30¢ bank transfer at checkout.
4. Move the domain. Point your custom domain at Sendd and set 301 redirects from old category and product URLs.
5. Time the exit. Annual BigCommerce billing is prepaid, so schedule the cutover to your renewal date and cancel once every export is verified.

FAQ

Does BigCommerce charge transaction fees? No. BigCommerce charges 0% platform transaction fees on every plan, one of its genuine strengths. You pay payment processing of roughly 2.05% to 2.59% + 49¢ through its default providers, plus the monthly subscription for whichever tier your sales volume requires.

Does BigCommerce have sales limits? Yes. Each plan carries a trailing 12 month sales threshold, and crossing it upgrades you to the next tier automatically. Following the June 2026 restructure, Core upgrades to Growth above roughly US$30,000 GMV and Growth to Scale above roughly US$100,000. Sendd has no sales caps and no tiers.

Is Sendd cheaper than BigCommerce? Below roughly US$2,500/month in sales, yes, often by a wide margin since Sendd has no subscription. In the mid band around US$5,000 to $8,000/month, BigCommerce Growth can be cheaper on pure platform cost. Sendd’s flat 1% never jumps at a threshold, and NZ bank transfer orders process at 30¢ flat.

Is BigCommerce good for a new small business? It can work, but its pricing shape rewards stores that already have volume: the subscription is due from day one and rises automatically with success. A new business pays Sendd nothing until it sells.

Does BigCommerce include email marketing? No native email marketing engine; merchants typically connect Klaviyo, Omnisend or similar at additional monthly cost. Sendd’s email marketing is native with free credits covering 500 contacts, then priced per contact at half or less of Klaviyo’s rate with unlimited sends, with Rocky building segments from natural language.

Can AI run a Sendd store? Yes. Rocky handles customer analysis and marketing actions conversationally, and Sendd MCP is live in Claude’s connector directory so an AI assistant can operate the store directly.

The bottom line

BigCommerce is a capable platform priced for businesses that have already made it, with a meter that runs faster the better you do. Sendd charges the same 1% on your first sale and your ten thousandth. Launch where the cost curve matches the revenue curve, and keep your data portable so a future migration in either direction stays easy.

Start selling for 1% with no subscription → Create your free Sendd store  or try the fee calculator .

By Adiraj Gupta, founder of Sendd.

Competitor pricing checked against live pricing pages, 10 August 2026. Figures are illustrative and should be re-verified before acting on them. Full NZ fee breakdown across every platform: Ecommerce Fees in New Zealand (2026) . Compare the other big hosted and self-hosted options: Sendd vs Shopify (2026)  and Sendd vs WooCommerce (2026) .