SHOPIFY Zero technical overhead. Infinite scalability. Uncapped growth.
Launch faster, sell everywhere, and scale without limits. Shopify delivers enterprise-grade multi-channel selling, real-time analytics, and a vast app ecosystem at a fraction of the cost of custom-built platforms. It unifies your storefront, payments, inventory, and marketing in one place, delivering a genuinely complete commerce solution. View an in-depth comparison below
SHOPIFY is the premier e-commerce platform because it lets businesses launch, scale, and optimize online stores faster and more reliably than any other option. It’s the infrastructure that makes commerce, marketing, and operations work together.
Its all-in-one system—secure hosting, intuitive storefront tools, robust inventory management, built-in marketing, and thousands of integrations—removes the technical complexities that slow growth. With unmatched reliability and industry-leading checkout performance, businesses have everything they need to sell more, operate efficiently, and outpace the competition.
The biggest advantage is invisible but measurable: conversion efficiency. It has an optimized, battle-tested checkout used by millions of stores, native support for accelerated payments, and continuous platform-wide conversion improvements. This provides for higher conversion rates without constant reengineering. Plus, there are native integrations with major platforms for cleaner attribution analytics. It also gives you design flexibility without rebuilding the core infrastructure. Fewer downstream issues equals a better customer experience. Compared to custom builds, it gives you speed and reliability. Teams choose Shopify when they want marketing, sales, and operations working off the same commercial truth—without slowing innovation.
Shopify vs. WooCommerce, Custom Development, BigCommerce and Salesforce Commerce Cloud: Where Your E-Commerce Dollar Goes Furthest
Researched by Michael Blair, Principal of BLAIRCOMM. We evaluate software independently. If you choose to subscribe through our affiliate tracking links on NEXTE.BZ, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. For businesses seeking a hands-off approach, Shopify can be completely deployed, integrated, and fully managed by BLAIRCOMM.
The short version
Most micro, small, and mid-market businesses don’t need an enterprise commerce platform, and they shouldn’t have to run their own servers either. They need a fast storefront, a secure checkout, inventory, shipping, marketing, and reporting that work together, without a hosting bill, a stack of security plugins, or a developer on retainer. Shopify delivers that. Hosting, SSL, PCI-compliant checkout, and built-in AI tools come in one predictable monthly price, and the same platform scales from a $39 Basic plan up to Shopify Plus without a rebuild.
The four alternatives compared here each solve a different problem. WooCommerce is the open-source, self-hosted option. Custom-developed e-commerce means a fully built-to-order site. BigCommerce Performance (renamed from Enterprise in June 2026) is the closest SaaS-to-SaaS rival to Shopify Plus. Salesforce Commerce Cloud is the large-enterprise option.
What you get with Shopify
- Hosting and CDN managed by Shopify, with no servers, caching, or scaling to configure
- SSL, PCI DSS Level 1 compliance, and fraud analysis included with every plan
- Shopify Payments for checkout, with no extra platform transaction fee
- Multi-channel selling across your online store, social platforms, marketplaces, and point of sale
- Thousands of apps in the Shopify App Store for subscriptions, reviews, shipping, and more
- Sidekick and Shopify Magic for AI help with admin tasks, product descriptions, and workflows
- Agentic Storefronts to put your products in front of shoppers inside AI assistants such as ChatGPT
- Shopify Flow for no-code automation, and built-in analytics and reporting
Everything runs on one platform, so inventory, orders, customers, and marketing all work from the same data.
The pricing
Shopify’s plans start with Starter at $5 per month, then Basic at $39 ($29 on annual billing), Grow at $105 ($79 annually), and Advanced at $399 ($299 annually). Shopify Plus starts at $2,300 per month. Card processing through Shopify Payments is 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic, 2.7% + 30¢ on Grow, and 2.5% + 30¢ on Advanced, with no separate platform commission. WooCommerce has no license fee, but you pay for hosting, plugins, security, and maintenance yourself. A custom build typically runs $25,000 to $150,000+ with an ongoing 15% to 25% of that cost per year for maintenance. BigCommerce is priced at $39 (Core), $105 (Growth), and $399 (Scale) per month, with Performance starting at about $1,499 per month. Salesforce Commerce Cloud is quote-only and typically charges a percentage of your gross merchandise value (GMV) on top of a license, with six-figure implementations common.
Year-one platform cost for a small online store
| Shopify | WooCommerce | Custom-Built | BigCommerce | Salesforce Commerce Cloud | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform / license | $348 to $948 (Basic or Grow, annual billing) | $0 (open source) | $0 license | $348 to $948 (Core or Growth, annual billing) | Quote only; license plus ~1% to 3% of GMV (estimates) |
| Hosting | Included | $360 to $1,200 | Varies with traffic and architecture | Included | Included |
| Apps / plugins / extensions | $500 to $1,500 (typical) | $400 to $1,500 | Built into the project | $500 to $1,500 (typical) | Add-ons and integrations quoted |
| Security and backups | Included | $150 to $400 | $2,000 to $15,000+ (PCI and security tooling) | Included | Included, plus partner-built integrations |
| Maintenance | Handled by Shopify | $1,000 to $5,000 (or your own time) | 15% to 25% of build cost per year | Handled by BigCommerce | Partner or in-house team |
| Build / implementation | Days to weeks; DIY or BLAIRCOMM setup | Weeks; theme and setup | $25,000 to $150,000+ | Weeks; DIY or partner | $150,000 to $300,000+ typical quotes |
| Year-one total (small store) | ≈ $850 to $2,450 | ≈ $1,900 to $8,250 | $25,000 to $150,000+ | ≈ $850 to $2,450 plus fees | $150,000+ |
Figures exclude card processing, which is similar across platforms, and apply to a small store rather than an enterprise. Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce totals combine published plan prices with typical-range estimates for apps, hosting, and security. BigCommerce’s June 2026 changes added fees on non-embedded payment gateways and lowered the sales thresholds that trigger automatic plan upgrades, so growing stores can land above this range. Custom and Salesforce figures are third-party estimates and vary widely by scope.
The pattern is clear. On sticker price a “free” WooCommerce plugin ends up costing about the same as Shopify, or more, once hosting, security, plugins, and maintenance are added, and a custom build costs many times more before it sells a single product. View Shopify’s, WooCommerce’s, BigCommerce’s, and Salesforce’s pricing pages for the most current data.
Comparison chart
| Feature | Shopify | WooCommerce | Custom-Developed | BigCommerce Performance / tiers | Salesforce Commerce Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform model | Hosted SaaS | Open-source plugin, self-hosted | Built to order; you own and run the code | Hosted SaaS | Enterprise SaaS, GMV-based |
| Entry price | $39/mo ($29 annual); Starter $5 | $0 software, plus hosting from roughly $4 to $30+/mo | $25,000+ build | $39/mo ($29 annual) Core | Quote only |
| Top tier | Shopify Plus from $2,300/mo | Enterprise hosting can reach $25,000/yr | Custom | Performance from $1,499/mo | Custom license plus % of GMV |
| Time to launch | Days to weeks | Weeks | 3 to 8 months | Weeks | Months |
| Hosting | Included | You buy and manage it | You build and run it | Included | Included |
| SSL certificate | Included | Host-dependent; $0 to $300/yr | You purchase and manage | Included | Included |
| PCI compliance | PCI DSS Level 1, handled by Shopify | Your responsibility, shared with your host | Your responsibility; $2,000 to $15,000/yr (estimate) | Platform-managed | Platform-managed |
| Updates and patches | Automatic | Manual: WordPress, WooCommerce, theme, every plugin | Your developers | Automatic | Automatic; custom work through partners |
| Platform transaction fees | None with Shopify Payments; 0.2% to 2% on third-party gateways | None from WooCommerce | None | 0.6% to 2% on non-embedded gateways (lower tiers) | Percentage of GMV |
| Multi-channel selling | Built in: web, social, marketplaces, POS | Through plugins | Custom integrations | Built in, plus Feedonomics feeds | Built in, enterprise scope |
| B2B | B2B tools, strongest on Plus | Plugins | Whatever you build | Strong native B2B | Separate B2B Commerce edition |
| AI tools | Sidekick, Magic, Flow, Agentic Storefronts included | Third-party plugins and services | Whatever you build or integrate | Companion assistant, agentic data feeds | Agentforce Commerce, consumption-priced |
| Customization | Themes, apps, APIs; deepest checkout control on Plus | Unlimited, via code and plugins | Unlimited | Open APIs, headless options | Deepest, needs specialists |
| Support | 24/7 on every plan | Extension vendors and your host | Your agency or dev team | 24/7 phone and chat | Success Plans and partners |
| Best fit | Micro, small, and mid-market businesses | WordPress sites with technical resources | Truly unique requirements, large budgets | B2B-heavy and higher-volume merchants | Large enterprises in the Salesforce ecosystem |
Pricing reflects published vendor, third-party, and reseller listings as of October 2026 and may change. Confirm on each vendor’s site. BigCommerce renamed its plans in June 2026: Standard is now Core, Plus is Growth, Pro is Scale, and Enterprise is Performance.
AI in e-commerce compared
Every platform here is adding AI, but they package and price it very differently. Shopify’s AI tools are built in and included with the plan. BigCommerce is investing heavily in agentic commerce and product data feeds. Salesforce’s Agentforce Commerce is the most expansive, and the most complex and costly to license. WooCommerce and custom builds get AI only by adding and paying for it yourself.
| Shopify | WooCommerce | Custom-Developed | BigCommerce | Salesforce Commerce Cloud | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI store assistant | Sidekick handles admin questions, workflows, and multi-step tasks | No native commerce assistant; add third-party plugins | Build or integrate your own | BigCommerce Companion supports day-to-day operations | Agentforce assistants and agents across commerce |
| Selling inside AI chat | Agentic Storefronts surface products in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, and Google AI Mode | Depends on plugins and feeds | Custom integration required | Product data pushed to ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and Perplexity; Storefront MCP | Guided shopping and conversational commerce through Agentforce |
| Content and product copy | Shopify Magic, free on every plan | Third-party AI plugins | Your own tooling and API costs | Built-in and app-based tools | Generative drafting through Agentforce |
| Automation | Shopify Flow, free on every plan | Plugins or custom code | Custom code | Workflows and integrations | Flows, Agentforce actions, and Data Cloud |
| Customer messaging | AI sales assistant and Shopify Inbox | Chat plugins, separate pricing | Custom | Third-party apps | Two-way AI email, SMS, and WhatsApp |
| What the AI costs | Included in your plan (some limits vary by plan) | Separate subscriptions per plugin | Engineering time plus API usage | Plan-based; confirm tiers | Flex Credits (about $500 per 100,000 credits), $2 per conversation, or per-user add-ons; many features also need Data Cloud |
AI features and pricing change often. Confirm what is included in each tier on each vendor’s site.
Website hosting and maintenance
With an e-commerce store, hosting and maintenance are where the hidden costs live. On Shopify, the servers, uptime, software updates, and scaling are Shopify’s job. On WooCommerce and custom builds, they become your job, or your developer’s, and that work never ends.
| Shopify | WooCommerce | Custom-Developed | BigCommerce | Salesforce Commerce Cloud | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who hosts the store | Shopify, included | You choose and pay a host | You build and run the infrastructure | BigCommerce, included | Salesforce, included |
| Hosting cost | $0 extra | About $180 to $3,600/yr for typical plans; up to $20,000+ at the high end | Cloud costs scale with traffic and architecture | $0 extra | $0 extra |
| Handling traffic spikes | Handled by the platform | Depends on your hosting plan, caching, and CDN | Your engineers design and monitor it | Handled by the platform | Handled by the platform |
| Software updates | Automatic | Manual: WordPress core, WooCommerce, theme, and every plugin | Your developers, on their schedule | Automatic | Automatic; custom code needs developers |
| Plugin and app conflicts | Apps plug into a managed platform | Stores often run dozens of plugins, each a potential conflict | No plugins, but every feature is custom code | Apps plug into a managed platform | Integrations built by partners |
| Backups | Included | Backup service, about $50 to $100/yr | You set up and test them | Included | Included |
| Who fixes it when it breaks | Shopify support | You, your host, or your developer | Your developers, billed hourly | BigCommerce support | Salesforce or your partner |
| Ongoing maintenance cost | $0 for the platform | $49 to $299/mo retainer, or 2 to 6 hours of your time monthly | 15% to 25% of build cost per year | $0 for the platform | Partner and engineering retainers |
Pricing reflects published vendor, third-party, and reseller listings as of October 2026 and may change. Confirm on each vendor’s site.
Security, compliance, and associated costs
Security is the clearest gap between hosted platforms and self-managed ones. Shopify includes SSL, PCI DSS Level 1 compliance, and fraud analysis as part of the subscription. On WooCommerce and custom builds, the security work, and the risk, belongs to you. An unpatched plugin or a missed server update is how most small stores get compromised.
| Shopify | WooCommerce | Custom-Developed | BigCommerce | Salesforce Commerce Cloud | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who is responsible | Shopify | You and your host | You | BigCommerce | Salesforce, plus partners for custom code |
| SSL certificate | Free, automatic | Often free with host; otherwise $10 to $300/yr | $50 to $200/yr and renewals to manage | Included | Included |
| PCI DSS compliance | Level 1, handled by Shopify | Your responsibility with your host | Your responsibility; scanning tools run $99 to $299/mo | Platform-managed | Platform-managed |
| Fraud tools | Built-in fraud analysis | Via your gateway or plugins | Build or buy | Depends on payment gateway | Enterprise tooling, extra scope |
| Vulnerability patching | Automatic | Manual; unmaintained plugins are the usual weak point | Your developers | Automatic | Automatic; custom code is yours |
| Security tooling cost | $0 | $99 to $300/yr plugin, plus backups | $2,000 to $15,000/yr for PCI and compliance (estimate) | $0 | Included |
| If something goes wrong | Shopify’s security team responds | Cleanup, downtime, and lost sales are on you | Incident response is on you | BigCommerce’s team responds | Salesforce and your partner respond |
Pricing reflects published vendor, third-party, and reseller listings as of October 2026 and may change. Confirm on each vendor’s site. Apps and plugins you install on any platform still deserve review.
Tiers and associated costs
| Platform | Plans and monthly price | Payment processing | What pushes you to the next tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify | Starter $5; Basic $39 ($29 annual); Grow $105 ($79); Advanced $399 ($299); Plus from $2,300 | Shopify Payments: 2.9% + 30¢ (Basic), 2.7% + 30¢ (Grow), 2.5% + 30¢ (Advanced), roughly 2.15% to 2.25% + 30¢ (Plus). Third-party gateway fee: 2%, 1%, 0.6%, 0.2% | Staff accounts (1 on Basic, 5 on Grow, 15 on Advanced, unlimited on Plus), reporting depth, and lower card rates. No sales-based forced upgrades |
| WooCommerce | Software free. Hosting from about $4/mo shared, $30 to $150/mo managed, up to $20,000+/yr high end | Gateway rates only, commonly 1.4% to 2.9% plus a fixed fee | Traffic growth, more plugins, and performance tuning; you migrate hosts yourself |
| Custom-Developed | Template-based builds from about $5,000; professional builds $25,000 to $150,000+; B2B features add $20,000 to $50,000 | Gateway rates only | Every new feature is a new development project |
| BigCommerce | Core $39 ($29 annual); Growth $105 ($79); Scale $399 ($299); Performance from about $1,499 on annual contract | 0.6% to 2% extra on non-embedded gateways on lower tiers; waived under Performance contracts | Trailing 12-month sales thresholds trigger automatic upgrades, and were lowered in June 2026 |
| Salesforce Commerce Cloud | Quote only. B2C and B2B editions; license plus percentage of GMV | Separate payment processing; GMV share estimated at 1% to 3% (B2B Growth about 1%, B2B Advanced about 2%) | GMV bands, minimum GMV commitments, extra storefronts, and add-ons such as Order Management |
Pricing reflects published vendor, third-party, and reseller listings as of October 2026 and may change. Confirm on each vendor’s site. Salesforce does not publish most Commerce Cloud rates; figures shown are third-party estimates.
Shopify vs. BigCommerce: why Shopify comes out ahead for most businesses
BigCommerce is the closest hosted rival to Shopify, and it is a capable platform. It is also the one most often shortlisted against Shopify. For micro, small, and mid-market businesses, though, Shopify wins on the things that matter most day to day: a bigger app and partner ecosystem, pricing that doesn’t change as your sales grow, AI tools included in the plan, and a simpler path from launch to growth. BigCommerce renamed its plans in June 2026 (Standard is now Core, Plus is Growth, Pro is Scale, and Enterprise is Performance), so the comparison below uses the new names.
Why Shopify is the better choice
- No sales-based forced upgrades. Shopify’s plan prices are fixed. BigCommerce ties each plan to a trailing 12-month sales limit and moves you up automatically when you pass it, and those limits were lowered in June 2026. A growing store can see its bill jump without needing a single new feature.
- A larger app and partner ecosystem. Shopify has the bigger App Store, developer community, and agency network. That means more ready-made solutions, more people who can fix things, and less custom development.
- Payment fees are simpler. Shopify Payments carries no extra platform fee, and the third-party gateway surcharge shrinks as you move up (2%, 1%, 0.6%, then 0.2% on Plus). BigCommerce used to advertise zero transaction fees, but since June 2026 it adds 0.6% to 2% on non-embedded gateways on lower tiers.
- AI included in your plan. Sidekick, Shopify Magic, and Shopify Flow come with every plan, and Agentic Storefronts put your products inside ChatGPT, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, and Google AI Mode.
- Easier to run. Shopify’s admin is built so a small team can manage products, orders, shipping, and marketing without a developer or a specialist.
- One platform from first sale to enterprise. You can start on Basic and grow into Advanced or Plus without a replatform, and Shopify POS covers in-person sales in the same system.
How the costs compare
Base plan prices line up almost dollar for dollar from entry level to the top self-serve tier. The differences show up in sales thresholds, payment-gateway fees, and the enterprise tier.
| Shopify | BigCommerce | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | Basic: $39/mo ($29 annual) | Core: $39/mo ($29 annual) |
| Mid plan | Grow: $105/mo ($79 annual) | Growth: $105/mo ($79 annual) |
| Top self-serve plan | Advanced: $399/mo ($299 annual) | Scale: $399/mo ($299 annual) |
| Enterprise tier | Shopify Plus from $2,300/mo | Performance from about $1,499/mo (annual contract) |
| Sales-based upgrades | None; upgrade when you want more features or staff accounts | Trailing 12-month sales thresholds trigger automatic upgrades; Core covers roughly the first $30,000 in sales |
| Card processing | Shopify Payments: 2.9% + 30¢ (Basic), 2.7% + 30¢ (Grow), 2.5% + 30¢ (Advanced), roughly 2.15% to 2.25% + 30¢ (Plus) | Set by your payment provider; confirm rates for your gateway |
| Third-party gateway fee | 2% (Basic), 1% (Grow), 0.6% (Advanced), 0.2% (Plus) | 0.6% to 2% on non-embedded gateways on lower tiers; waived under Performance contracts |
| Staff accounts | 1 (Basic), 5 (Grow), 15 (Advanced), unlimited (Plus) | Unlimited on plans |
| AI tools | Sidekick, Magic, and Flow included in plan | Companion assistant and agentic data feeds; confirm what each tier includes |
| Apps and add-ons | Largest app ecosystem; costs vary by app | Smaller app ecosystem; more features built in, fewer apps needed |
Pricing reflects published vendor, third-party, and reseller listings as of October 2026 and may change. BigCommerce’s sales thresholds and payment fees changed in June 2026, so confirm current limits on its pricing page before you buy.
What this looks like in dollars
Consider a small store that has grown past about $30,000 in trailing 12-month sales. On BigCommerce it is moved from Core to Growth, which is $79 per month on annual billing ($105 monthly), compared with $29 ($39 monthly) for Shopify Basic. That is roughly $600 to $790 more per year for the same stage of business. If that store also uses a third-party payment gateway on BigCommerce’s lower tiers, the 0.6% to 2% surcharge applies as well: at $500,000 in annual sales, a 2% fee alone is $10,000 per year. Shopify’s third-party gateway surcharge is the same 2% on Basic, but it drops to 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced, and running Shopify Payments avoids it entirely.
Where BigCommerce still has an edge
BigCommerce has native B2B features, open APIs and headless options, unlimited staff accounts on its plans, and a Performance tier that lists below Shopify Plus with payment-provider fees waived under contract. If your business is B2B-heavy or you have a development team building a custom front end, it deserves a serious look. For most small and mid-market businesses selling to consumers, those advantages matter less than lower cost, a larger ecosystem, and a platform that is easy to run.
The takeaway: plan prices match, but Shopify’s pricing stays flat as you grow, its payment fees step down as you scale, and its AI and app ecosystem come at no extra platform cost. BLAIRCOMM can set up, migrate, and manage your Shopify store, including moving you off BigCommerce. Get a free consultation from BLAIRCOMM
Where Shopify wins
- Lower total cost of ownership. Hosting, SSL, backups, security, and platform updates are all in the monthly price, so there is no separate bill for each.
- The lowest maintenance burden. No servers to tune and no plugin-update loop. Agencies that maintain WooCommerce stores budget hours every month just to test updates and fix conflicts.
- Security and compliance handled for you. PCI DSS Level 1, SSL, and fraud analysis come standard instead of being something you assemble and monitor.
- The smallest upfront development cost. Launch in days or weeks for a few hundred dollars, instead of 3 to 8 months and $25,000 to $150,000+ for a custom build.
- Predictable pricing. A flat monthly plan, with no revenue share on your sales and no surprise plan jumps when you cross a sales threshold.
- AI included. Sidekick, Shopify Magic, Flow, and Agentic Storefronts ship with the platform instead of arriving as separate subscriptions or usage meters.
Where the alternatives still have an edge
WooCommerce has no platform fee, full ownership of your code and data, and the best fit if your business already runs on WordPress and you have the technical resources to manage it. Custom development is the right call when your requirements truly cannot be met by a platform, and you have the budget and team to maintain the result. BigCommerce has strong native B2B features, open APIs, and a Performance tier that lists below Shopify Plus on price with payment-provider fees waived under contract. Salesforce Commerce Cloud is the deepest platform available for large, complex organizations already built around Salesforce. On the Shopify side, the deepest checkout customization is reserved for Plus, and app subscriptions can add up if you stack many of them.
Which platform is best for which business?
- Micro businesses and solo sellers who want to launch fast on a tiny budget: Shopify Starter or Basic.
- Small and mid-market businesses that want a complete, secure, low-maintenance store that grows with them: Shopify Grow or Advanced.
- Content-driven businesses already on WordPress with technical resources: WooCommerce.
- Companies with genuinely unique requirements and the budget to build and maintain them: custom-developed e-commerce.
- B2B-heavy, higher-volume merchants that want open APIs and a lower enterprise entry price: BigCommerce Performance or Shopify Plus.
- Large enterprises standardized on Salesforce with a dedicated implementation team: Salesforce Commerce Cloud.
Bottom line
For micro, small, and mid-market businesses, Shopify offers the best balance of cost, speed, security, and capability of the platforms compared here. WooCommerce looks free until you add hosting, security, plugins, and maintenance. A custom build puts a large bill up front and a developer on your payroll for good. BigCommerce is a strong SaaS rival but adds sales-based upgrades and new payment-gateway fees on lower tiers, and Salesforce Commerce Cloud is built and priced for enterprises. Shopify removes the hosting, security, and maintenance work so you can spend your time and money on selling. The right choice still depends on your team, your technical resources, and your growth plans, and BLAIRCOMM can help you pick the platform that makes you more profitable.
This is where BLAIRCOMM comes in. We can fully set up your Shopify store, design the theme, branding, and checkout experience, configure payments, shipping, and automations, migrate your existing products and customers from WooCommerce or another platform, then either hand it over so you can manage it, or provide a fully managed solution where all you and your team have to do is sell. Want help choosing and setting up the right platform? Get a free consultation from BLAIRCOMM
Support options compared
Shopify includes 24/7 support with every plan. WooCommerce has no single support desk for your whole store, so help comes from extension vendors, your host, and your developer. A custom build is supported by whoever built it, at hourly rates. BigCommerce includes 24/7 live phone and chat, and Salesforce sells direct support as a paid add-on.
| Support feature | Shopify | WooCommerce | Custom-Developed | BigCommerce | Salesforce Commerce Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Included with every paid plan | 24/7 support, Help Center, community, and Shopify Experts directory | Support for official extensions through WooCommerce.com; otherwise forums and your host | None; whoever built it | 24/7 live phone and chat | Documentation, community, and standard support |
| Phone support | Available through Shopify support | Only through your host or a vendor | Your agency or developer | Included on plans | Paid Success Plans (confirm with sales) |
| Priority or paid upgrade | Priority support at Plus | Managed host or agency retainer, about $49 to $299/mo | Retainer or hourly, typically $100 to $200/hr | Priority technical support at Performance | Premium Success Plans, priced as a percentage of license (confirm with sales) |
| Dedicated account manager | Merchant Success Manager at Plus | Your agency, if you hire one | Your agency, if retained | Higher tiers | Higher Success Plans and partners |
| Onboarding | Self-serve; fully managed through BLAIRCOMM | DIY or developer-led | Months-long project | Self-serve; partner-led for Performance | Partner-led, often $150,000+ implementations |
Support terms reflect published vendor, third-party, and reseller listings as of October 2026 and may change. Confirm on each vendor’s site.
Shopify
Support is included on every plan, around the clock, so a Basic merchant gets the same access to help as a larger store. Plus adds priority support and a dedicated success manager. The platform handles the infrastructure side, so the issues you will actually need support for are usually about your products, apps, and marketing, not servers or security patches.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is software, not a service. Official extensions come with vendor support, but when something breaks across WordPress, your theme, your host, and a few plugins, nobody owns the problem but you. Most serious stores end up paying a hosting provider or agency retainer for reliable help.
Custom-Developed
Support is whatever you arrange. That usually means an agency retainer or in-house developers, and it creates a long-term dependency on the people who know the codebase.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce lists 24/7 live phone and chat support, with priority technical support at the Performance level. Large implementations are typically partner-led.
Salesforce Commerce Cloud
Standard support is limited, and direct, expedited help is usually bought as a paid Success Plan. Implementations and ongoing changes typically run through certified partners, which adds to the cost of ownership.
The takeaway: a small business on Shopify gets 24/7 support from day one, with no hosting provider to call, no security plugin vendor to chase, and no developer retainer to keep the lights on. WooCommerce and custom builds put support on you, and Salesforce sells it as an upgrade. In BLAIRCOMM’s fully managed option, you also receive dedicated support, development services, and onboarding as part of the plan. Get a free consultation from BLAIRCOMM