BigCommerce alternatives
BigCommerce alternatives: no plan to outgrow, payments and tax built in.
Since June 1, 2026, BigCommerce’s Core plan ($39 a month) covers $30,000 of trailing 12-month sales and Growth ($105) covers $100,000; pass the cap and the store is automatically upgraded to the next plan. Orders taken by a payment provider outside its embedded list add a fee of 2%, 1%, or 0.6%. Flint Pay has no plan to outgrow: no monthly fee, Stripe processing included at 3.79% + 35¢ per card payment, and automatic US sales tax built in at 0.50% of payments that carry tax. Against BigCommerce with Stripe at $50 orders, before sales tax on either side, Flint costs less up to about $55,000 a month in sales on monthly billing; BigCommerce’s automatic tax runs through a tax provider account you connect and pay for separately.
3.79% + 35¢ on cards · no monthly fee · free sandbox · no credit card
last reviewed 2026-10-15 · sources
01The alternatives
The best BigCommerce alternatives in 2026.
Ranked for US businesses selling on their own site, including headless stores. Every price is from the vendor's own page, checked on the date under Sources.
- 01
Flint Pay
US businesses that want the store backend, payments, and automatic US sales tax behind one API, with no plan or sales cap.
- Monthly
- No monthly fee
- Cards
- 3.79% + 35¢, Stripe's fees included
- Sales cap
- None
- 02
Shopify
A hosted store platform with monthly plans and its own checkout.
- Basic
- $39 a month, billed monthly
- Other processors
- 2% on Basic, on top of their fees
- 03
Swell
A headless commerce platform priced by plan, with a revenue ceiling on each.
- Starter
- $29 a month, billed yearly
- Ceiling
- $50,000 trailing 12 months, then 2%
- Payments
- Your own gateway
- 04
Medusa
A TypeScript commerce framework you host yourself or on Medusa Cloud.
- Medusa Cloud
- From $29, $99, or $299 a month
- Payments
- Your own Stripe account
- 05
Saleor
A GraphQL commerce API with a cloud plan priced by GMV band.
- Select
- $1,599 a month
- Payments
- Stripe app, your own account
02Side by side
BigCommerce vs Flint, need by need.
The BigCommerce column is what BigCommerce's own pricing page, CEO post, help center, and developer docs say today, each linked under Sources. The Flint column is what a Flint account does, with the API name behind it.
| What you need | BigCommerce self-serve plans, from June 2026 | Flint |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly plan | BigCommerce self-serve plans, from June 2026: Core $39, Growth $105, Scale $399 billed monthly, or $29, $79, $299 billed annually. Performance starts at $1,499 a month, billed annually. | Flint: No monthly fee. Unlimited seats and sandboxes.GET /v1/balance-transactions |
| When sales grow | BigCommerce self-serve plans, from June 2026: Core caps at $30,000 and Growth at $100,000 of trailing 12-month GMV; past the cap you're notified and automatically upgraded. Scale adds 0.9% on monthly GMV above $33,333 and moves to Performance at $2 million. | Flint: No caps and no upgrades: the same published rate at every volume. Above $50,000 a month you can ask for negotiated terms. |
| How sales are counted | BigCommerce self-serve plans, from June 2026: GMV is gross order value minus 10%, including taxes and shipping, and can differ from your own records. | Flint: Fees are per payment, itemized on each balance transaction. Nothing is computed from a sales band.GET /v1/balance-transactions |
| Choice of payment provider | BigCommerce self-serve plans, from June 2026: Orders through a provider outside BigCommerce's embedded list carry an Open Payment Provider Fee of 2% on Core, 1% on Growth, and 0.6% on Scale, billed by BigCommerce on top of the provider's own fees. | Flint: Stripe processes every card inside Flint's 3.79% + 35¢. There is no provider fee and no list to check.POST /v1/orders/{order_id}/pay |
| Automatic sales tax | BigCommerce self-serve plans, from June 2026: Runs through a tax provider you connect, Avalara, Vertex, TaxJar, or TaxCloud, with an account at that provider. TaxJar needs its Professional plan or higher. | Flint: Automatic US sales tax, calculated after discounts and connected once in the Dashboard. 0.50% on payments that carry tax.tax_money |
| Headless storefront | BigCommerce self-serve plans, from June 2026: Catalyst, BigCommerce's Next.js storefront framework, reads the store through BigCommerce's GraphQL Storefront API, so the store's plan applies. | Flint: Any storefront calls the API through your backend. Checkout is Flint's hosted page or your own pages with Stripe Elements.POST /v1/checkout-sessions |
03June 2026
What changed in BigCommerce's pricing in 2026?
From June 1, 2026, BigCommerce's self-serve plans are Core, Growth, and Scale, each with a sales cap, and a fee applies to orders taken by payment providers outside its embedded list.
Core is $39 a month and covers up to $30,000 of GMV over the trailing 12 months. Growth is $105 and covers up to $100,000. When a store passes its cap, BigCommerce says you’re “notified and automatically upgraded to the next plan.” Scale is $399 a month for up to $33,333 of monthly GMV, with 0.9% on GMV above that, and moves to Performance once trailing 12-month GMV reaches $2 million. GMV is gross order value minus 10%, and taxes and shipping count toward it.
The Open Payment Provider Fee is billed by BigCommerce on orders processed through a provider that isn’t on its embedded list: 2% on Core, 1% on Growth, and 0.6% on Scale. In his May 11, 2026 post, BigCommerce’s CEO wrote that “any payment provider not on this list is considered an Open Payment Provider and is subject to the fee.”
Flint has no plan, so there is nothing to be upgraded to. Card processing is inside one published rate, and automatic US sales tax is part of the account.
BigCommerce pricing →The CEO's post on the change →Flint pricing →
04Included
What runs the store when you move from BigCommerce to Flint?
One API and one dashboard behind your storefront. Each job below is a field or an endpoint, in the core card rate except automatic tax and subscriptions.
Products carry options and variants, plus categories, modifier sets, and bundles.
POST /v1/productsStock is held per location when payment starts, committed on success, and released on failure.
held_quantityCodes and automatic promotions stack by rules you set, with a preview call that shows the result first.
combines_withAutomatic US sales tax is calculated after discounts and recorded on every line item and charge.
tax_moneyShipping prices by region, goes free over a threshold, or switches to in-store pickup or scheduled local delivery.
POST /v1/delivery-methodsReturns run from a policy, with inspections, restocking fees, exchanges, and buyer self-serve.
POST /v1/return-policiesSubscriptions renew as orders that ship, with trials, setup fees, dunning, and buyer pause and skip.
POST /v1/subscription-plansBuyers get a hosted account with their orders, tracking, returns, subscriptions, and saved cards.
GET /v1/me/ordersSelling physical goods on Flint →Next.js commerce on Flint →Build a headless storefront →
05Worked example
Is Flint cheaper than BigCommerce?
On monthly billing with Stripe at $50 orders, before sales tax on either side, yes, at every volume through Scale's cap (about $37,000 a month in sales), and up to about $55,000 a month once Scale's 0.9% overage applies. Above that, Scale with Stripe costs less in these fees.
| Monthly fees at $50 per order, billed monthly | Core, 50 orders | Growth, 160 orders | Scale, 600 orders | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly sales | $2,500 | $8,000 | $30,000 | |
| BigCommerce plan, billed monthly | $39.00 | $105.00 | $399.00 | |
| Stripe processing, 2.9% + 30¢ | $87.50 | $280.00 | $1,050.00 | |
| BigCommerce and Stripe | $126.50 | $385.00 | $1,449.00 | |
| Flint, 3.79% + 35¢, Stripe's fees included | $112.25 | $359.20 | $1,347.00 | |
Assumptions
- Every order is $50, paid with a US card, and sales are steady month to month.
- BigCommerce billed monthly: Core $39, Growth $105, Scale $399. Each example sits inside its plan's cap, with GMV counted as order value minus 10%.
- Stripe at its published 2.9% + 30¢ for US domestic cards. Stripe is on BigCommerce's embedded list, so no Open Payment Provider Fee applies; with a provider outside the list, add 2%, 1%, or 0.6% of those orders.
- Sales tax is left out on both sides. BigCommerce's automatic tax runs through a provider account priced by that provider; Flint's automatic tax adds 0.50% on payments that carry tax, and passing your own rates adds nothing.
- Billed annually (Core $29, Growth $79, Scale $299), Flint costs less through all of Core, up to about $7,900 a month on Growth, and up to about $30,200 a month on Scale.
06Who Flint is for
Flint is built for US stores that sell on their own site.
If that describes you, the catalog, checkout, tax, and shipping above are running the day you create your account.
US businesses
Flint onboards businesses in the US, sells in USD, and pays out to your own bank account. Buyers can pay from anywhere with a card.
Your own storefront
A Next.js or any other front end reads the catalog and creates orders through your backend. Hosted checkout, payment links, and a buyer account are included.
Goods and services
Orders that ship, get picked up, deliver locally, or fulfill as a download or a service, with stock held at payment.
Developers and agents
A public OpenAPI spec, Node and PHP SDKs, a CLI, llms.txt, and MCP servers a coding agent can read.
07Switching
How do you move a store from BigCommerce to Flint?
Your storefront keeps its design. The catalog, stock, and checkout it calls move to Flint.
Recreate the catalog
POST /v1/productsCreate each BigCommerce product on Flint with its options and variants, SKUs, and prices.
Load stock by location
POST /v1/inventory-itemsCreate an inventory item for each tracked variant and set its stock at each location you ship or pick up from.
Set up shipping and pickup
POST /v1/delivery-methodsCreate the delivery methods you offer: shipping priced by region, free over a threshold, in-store pickup, or scheduled local delivery.
Point checkout at Flint
POST /v1/checkout-sessionsHave your backend create an order from the cart, then send the buyer to a hosted checkout or confirm the payment from your own page with Stripe Elements. Connect automatic tax in the Dashboard.
Fulfill from order.paid
order.paidRun fulfillment from the order.paid webhook, test every flow in a sandbox with Stripe's test cards, then switch to live keys.
08Start
From a sandbox key to a paid test order in ten minutes.
Node
CLI
Test keys are prefixed flint_test_ and bound to a sandbox with its own data, so nothing you try there touches live money. Pay with 4242 4242 4242 4242, any future expiry, any CVC.
Then read these
- 01Flint vs ShopifyThe other hosted platform, with its breakeven
- 02
- 03
- 04
- 05
Sources
Where each claim comes from.
Core $39, Growth $105, Scale $399 billed monthly ($29, $79, $299 annually); Performance from $1,499 billed annually. Caps of $30K and $100K TTM GMV with automatic upgrades; Scale $33,333 monthly GMV, 0.9% above, Performance at $2M TTM. GMV is gross order value minus 10%. Open Payment Provider Fee 2.0%, 1.0%, 0.6%; Stripe is an embedded provider. BigCommerce pricing
www.bigcommerce.com · checked 2026-10-15May 11, 2026, by CEO Travis Hess: changes on June 1; any payment provider not on the embedded list is an Open Payment Provider subject to the fee. BigCommerce blog: self-serve pricing changes
www.bigcommerce.com · checked 2026-10-15Automatic tax through Avalara, Vertex, TaxJar, or TaxCloud, with an account at that provider; TaxJar needs its Professional plan or higher. BigCommerce Help Center: Automatic Tax Setup
support.bigcommerce.com · checked 2026-10-15Catalyst is the headless storefront framework for BigCommerce, built on the GraphQL Storefront API, with a one-page redirected checkout on BigCommerce's hosted environment. BigCommerce docs: Catalyst overview
docs.bigcommerce.com · checked 2026-10-15Basic $39 a month billed monthly; third-party transaction fee 2% on Basic. Shopify pricing (US)
www.shopify.com · checked 2026-10-15Starter $29 a month billed yearly, $50K revenue ceiling on a trailing 12 months, 2% above; you integrate your own gateways. Swell pricing
www.swell.is · checked 2026-10-15Medusa Cloud Develop from $29 a month, Launch from $99, Scale from $299. Medusa pricing
medusajs.com · checked 2026-10-15Select $1,599 a month up to $200,000 of monthly GMV. Saleor pricing
saleor.io · checked 2026-10-152.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction for US domestic cards. Stripe pricing
stripe.com · checked 2026-10-15
last reviewed 2026-10-15 · corrections: Flint Help
FAQ
Questions people ask.
What changed in BigCommerce's pricing in 2026?
From June 1, 2026, BigCommerce’s self-serve plans each carry a sales cap: Core ($39 a month billed monthly) up to $30,000 and Growth ($105) up to $100,000 of trailing 12-month GMV, with an automatic upgrade past the cap, and Scale ($399) with 0.9% on monthly GMV above $33,333. Orders through a payment provider outside BigCommerce’s embedded list carry a fee of 2%, 1%, or 0.6%. BigCommerce pricing
Does BigCommerce automatically upgrade your plan?
Yes. BigCommerce's pricing page says a store that passes its plan's cap is notified and automatically upgraded to the next plan: Core past $30,000 and Growth past $100,000 of trailing 12-month GMV. Scale charges 0.9% on monthly GMV above $33,333 and upgrades to Performance at $2 million. Flint has no plans or caps.
What is BigCommerce's Open Payment Provider Fee?
A fee BigCommerce bills on orders processed through a payment provider that isn't on its embedded list: 2% on Core, 1% on Growth, and 0.6% on Scale, on top of the provider's own fees. Orders through embedded providers, which include Stripe, PayPal Braintree, and BigCommerce Payments, carry no fee. On Flint, Stripe's processing is inside the card rate and there is no provider fee.
Is Flint a good alternative to BigCommerce?
For a US business that sells on its own site, including a headless storefront, yes. Flint has no monthly fee and no sales caps, cards at 3.79% + 35¢ with Stripe processing included, and the catalog with variants, inventory held at payment, promotions, automatic US sales tax, shipping and pickup, returns, subscriptions, and a hosted checkout, with automatic tax and subscriptions as priced add-ons. Create an account from the website, or from the terminal with flint signup.
Is Flint cheaper than BigCommerce?
With Stripe on BigCommerce, $50 orders, monthly billing, and sales tax left out on both sides, Flint costs less at every volume up to about $55,000 a month in sales. At $8,000 a month, Growth plus Stripe is $385.00 and Flint is $359.20. On annual billing, Flint costs less through all of Core, up to about $7,900 a month on Growth, and up to about $30,200 on Scale.
What is BigCommerce headless with Catalyst?
Catalyst is BigCommerce’s Next.js storefront framework. It reads products and carts through BigCommerce’s GraphQL Storefront API and checks out on BigCommerce’s hosted one-page checkout, so the store’s BigCommerce plan applies. With Flint, a Next.js storefront calls Flint’s API through your backend, and checkout is Flint’s hosted page or your own pages with Stripe Elements, with no plan. Next.js commerce on Flint
No plan to outgrow. No list of approved processors.
Free sandbox, no credit card, no sales call. Create a product with variants, take a test payment with tax on your own page, and refund one line.
Or run npm install -g @flintpay/cli && flint signup to create your account and a sandbox key from the terminal. CLI guide
More comparisons · last reviewed 2026-10-15