BigCommerce vs Bandzoogle: guide for 2024

Final verdict

BigCommerce and Bandzoogle cater to different audiences, each excelling in their respective domains.

BigCommerce (Overall Grade: 7.9/10)

is a comprehensive ecommerce platform ideal for businesses looking to scale their online presence. It offers extensive customization options, robust ecommerce features, and a wide range of integrations. With strong support resources and advanced marketing tools, BigCommerce is well-suited for merchants aiming for growth and scalability. When comparing BigCommerce vs Bandzoogle, BigCommerce stands out for its ecommerce capabilities and flexibility.
Bandzoogle (Overall Grade: 5.9/10)

is tailored specifically for musicians and bands, providing a user-friendly interface and music-specific features. It excels in offering tools for selling music and merchandise, managing fan subscriptions, and promoting concerts. While it may not match BigCommerce in terms of ecommerce depth, Bandzoogle is the go-to platform for artists looking to build and manage their online brand with ease. In the BigCommerce vs Bandzoogle comparison, Bandzoogle is perfect for musicians seeking a specialized solution.

	Overall grade: 7.9	Overall grade: 5.9
Design functionalities & templates	7.8	7.5
Ease of use	7.3	8.1
Ecommerce	9.0	6.7
Website Editors	7.9	7.4
Product testing options	7.3	8.6
Price	7.4	8.0
Hosting quality	7.8	6.3
Website speed optimization	7.6	5.3
Plugins and integrations	7.7	0.0
Marketing features	7.9	7.1
Customer support	8.7	6.8
Security	8.9	7.7
AI capabilities	7.3	0
User Management	8.9	2.6

Best for ecommerce

9.0

6.7

Verdict

: BigCommerce is a robust choice for comprehensive ecommerce needs, while Bandzoogle caters specifically to musicians with niche ecommerce features.

BigCommerce

: BigCommerce excels with its extensive ecommerce functionalities, including unlimited products, streamlined checkout, and advanced marketing tools. It supports over 65 payment gateways and offers a variety of customizable templates. This makes it ideal for businesses looking to scale and manage a large inventory. In the BigCommerce vs Bandzoogle comparison, BigCommerce scores 9.0 for ecommerce.
Bandzoogle

: Designed for musicians, Bandzoogle offers unique features like selling subscriptions, crowdfunding, and commission-free sales. While it lacks the depth of ecommerce tools found in BigCommerce, it provides essential functionalities for artists to sell merchandise and manage fan interactions. Bandzoogle scores 6.7 for ecommerce, making it suitable for niche markets rather than broad ecommerce needs.

Best for informational & business websites

7.5

7.4

Verdict

: BigCommerce and Bandzoogle both offer unique strengths, but BigCommerce slightly edges out for informational business websites due to its extensive customization options and robust support resources.

BigCommerce

: BigCommerce is a versatile platform that, while primarily focused on ecommerce, provides a wide range of customizable templates and design options suitable for informational websites. Its robust set of built-in features, including advanced SEO tools and multi-channel selling capabilities, make it a strong contender for businesses looking to scale their online presence. With a score of 7.5, BigCommerce is well-suited for creating professional and engaging informational websites.
Bandzoogle

: Bandzoogle is tailored specifically for musicians and bands, offering a range of music-specific features that may not be as relevant for general informational business websites. However, its user-friendly interface and specialized functionalities make it an excellent choice for artists looking to promote their music and engage with fans online. With a score of 7.4, Bandzoogle is ideal for musicians but may lack some of the broader business functionalities needed for other types of informational websites.

Detailed comparison

7.8

7.5

🏆

Winner: BigCommerce.

While both platforms offer a variety of templates and design options, BigCommerce edges out Bandzoogle with its more extensive customization flexibility and creative design possibilities.

BigCommerce offers a variety of design templates for creating ecommerce websites, with a total of 240 themes available. Most of these themes come with up to four styling options, providing users with flexibility in design choices to match their brand’s aesthetic.

BigCommerce Themes

On the other hand, Bandzoogle offers a diverse range of design templates for musicians, bands, and DJs, ensuring artists can create a professional and engaging online presence without needing extensive web design knowledge. These templates are responsive, customizable, and can be switched freely without affecting the user’s content, allowing for a tailored look that matches the artist’s style.

Bandzoogle Themes

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7.3

8.1

🏆 Winner: Bandzoogle

. Scoring 8.1, Bandzoogle is specifically designed for musicians and bands, making it exceptionally easy for this user group to create and manage their websites. BigCommerce, with a score of 7.3, offers a robust platform but with a steeper learning curve, especially for those new to ecommerce. If ease of use is a priority, Bandzoogle is the clear winner in this category.

Learning Resources

🏆 Winner: BigCommerce

. While both platforms offer solid learning resources, BigCommerce goes a step further with its wide array of detailed tutorials and active community forums, making it easier for users to learn and adapt.

Learn BigCommerce

Learn Bandzoogle

9.0

6.7

BigCommerce and Bandzoogle cater to different markets in the ecommerce sector. BigCommerce is a comprehensive ecommerce platform that offers a wide array of features, including extensive POS integrations, a variety of shipping options, and a selection of over 100 mobile-responsive themes for design customization. Bandzoogle, on the other hand, is a website builder specifically designed for musicians and bands, offering a variety of ecommerce features tailored for musicians, such as the ability to sell subscriptions, support for crowdfunding, a virtual tip jar, and commission-free sales.


Ecommerce themes and templates	8.0	6.0
Product page customization	8.3	7.5
Payment processing and commissions	9.2	8.5
POS capabilities	8.5	0.0
Payment gateways	9.0	6.5
Product numbers	9.5	7.0
Additional ecommerce features	8.4	7.5

BigCommerce ecommerce features:

Unlimited Products
Streamlined Single-Page Checkout
Order Management
Abandoned Cart Recovery
Marketing and Sales Tools

BigCommerce add a product

Bandzoogle ecommerce features:

Sell Subscriptions
Crowdfunding
Product Bundling and Upselling
Payment Integrations

Bandzoogle add a product

Ecommerce themes & templates

BigCommerce provides a wide variety of eCommerce templates designed to enhance online shopping experiences and cater to different industries. These templates feature advanced functionalities like quick view, product suggestions, and complex search filters but may require performance optimization for maintaining speed. The selection ranges from free to premium options, ensuring businesses can find a suitable design that aligns with their brand and product offerings. Bandzoogle doesn’t offer specialized ecommerce templates, but all its existing templates can be enhanced to include ecommerce features. This allows users to sell subscriptions, merchandise, and more.

Product page customization

In BigCommerce, you can extensively customize product pages to enhance customer experience and improve sales. This includes the ability to create detailed product variants, customize options like custom fields, and upload multiple images or videos for each product. Bandzoogle platform enables users on Standard and Pro plans to sell a wide range of physical merchandise directly from their websites without commission fees, though it doesn’t handle distribution or fulfillment. It supports various product types, including CDs, vinyl, apparel, digital files, and more, with customizable options for product variations, shipping, and sales tax.

Payment processing

BigCommerce supports over 65 pre-integrated online payment solutions, serving customers across 230 countries with more than 140 currencies, without charging additional transaction fees for using third-party payment gateways. This approach provides merchants with the flexibility to choose the best payment solution for their business needs, including the option for custom integration to cater to specific regional payment preferences. Bandzoogle, a website builder designed specifically for musicians, supports a variety of payment methods including major credit and debit cards, but does not support PayPal, cash, or money orders for transactions. The platform emphasizes direct-to-fan sales tools, such as merchandising through Printful integration, and does not charge commissions on sales, allowing artists to retain all revenue generated through their websites.

7.9

7.4

🏆

Winner: BigCommerce

. BigCommerce, with a score of 7.9, offers an extensive set of tools designed for creating professional and engaging online stores without requiring coding knowledge. It provides a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, robust eCommerce capabilities including product management and secure payment processing, and customizable templates to match brand aesthetics. The platform also features powerful SEO and marketing tools, app integrations for extended functionality, and comprehensive analytics to track website performance.

Bandzoogle’s editor, scoring 7.4, is tailored for musicians, featuring a variety of tools for design, sales, promotion, and technical management without requiring coding knowledge. It provides responsive templates, integration with music services, and capabilities to sell music, merch, and tickets directly to fans commission-free. Additionally, it supports artist promotion through mailing lists, SEO, and social media integration.

Bandzoogle editor

Mobile editor/app

7.5

5.5

🏆

Winner: BigCommerce

. Both BigCommerce and Bandzoogle offer mobile capabilities, but they differ in their approach and functionality. BigCommerce has a mobile app, but it doesn’t allow users to edit their websites. Instead, it provides access to the dashboard, analytics, orders, and the ability to add or edit products. This approach is more suited to businesses that need to manage their online stores on the go.

On the other hand, Bandzoogle doesn’t have a dedicated mobile app, but users can manage and edit their websites using the mobile browser version of the editor. This approach is more flexible and allows for more comprehensive website editing, but it may not be as convenient or efficient as a dedicated app.

In summary, BigCommerce wins this category due to its dedicated mobile app and the comprehensive management features it offers, despite the lack of website editing capabilities. Bandzoogle, while offering more flexibility in terms of website editing, falls short due to the lack of a dedicated mobile app.

7.3

8.6

Overall Result

:

Bandzoogle Wins

. Bandzoogle scores 8.6 in product testing options, outperforming BigCommerce which scores 7.3. Both platforms do not offer a free version, but Bandzoogle provides a longer trial period of 30 days compared to BigCommerce’s 14 days. Both platforms allow testing of premium features during the trial period. However, neither platform offers a money-back guarantee.


Free Plan	No	No
Trial Duration	14 days	30 days
Testing Premium Features	During the free trial	During the free trial
Money Back Guarantee	No	No

7.4

8.0

BigCommerce and Bandzoogle cater to different markets, with BigCommerce focusing on larger-scale ecommerce operations and Bandzoogle targeting musicians and bands.

	Offerings	Offerings
$0-$8	No offering at this amount.	EPK Beta ($6.95/month): Single-page electronic press kit with design templates, hosting, custom design tools, music players, tour calendar, contact form. Value for price: 5.0
$8-$10	No offering at this amount.	Lite Website ($9.95/month): Multi-page website (up to 10 pages, 10 tracks, 100 photos), basic music promotion and selling tools, visitor analytics, and more. Value for price: 6.5
$10-$15	No offering at this amount.	Standard Website ($14.95/month): Enhanced features for selling music and merch (20 pages, 50 tracks, 500 photos), advanced selling tools, visitor analytics, and more. Value for price: 7.5
$17-$64	Standard ($39.00/month): Unlimited products, file storage, and bandwidth, suitable for small businesses. Limited to $50k in online sales per year and up to 4 inventory locations. Value for price: 7.0	Pro Website ($19.95/month): Comprehensive tools for promoting and selling music, including unlimited pages, tracks, and photos, advanced music promotion and selling tools. Value for price: 8.5
$100-$200	Plus ($105.00/month): Includes Standard features, plus customer segmentation and abandoned cart saver. Limited to $180k in online sales per year and up to 5 inventory locations. Value for price: 7.5	No offering at this amount.
$300+	Pro ($399.00/month): All Plus features, plus Google customer reviews and advanced search filters. Limited to $400k in online sales per year, and up to 8 inventory locations. Additional $150/month for every $200k in online sales. Value for price: 8.0	No offering at this amount.

In some cases companies have different prices based on various components like a
location. As a result in rare cases the prices displayed here can differ from the ones you see on their
websites.

7.8

6.3

Winner: BigCommerce

. BigCommerce offers scalable cloud hosting with unlimited storage and bandwidth, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Bandzoogle also provides cloud hosting with unlimited resources, but does not disclose any information about its uptime statistics or guarantee. Both platforms do not disclose the locations of their data centers. Despite the lack of transparency, BigCommerce’s uptime guarantee gives it an edge in this comparison.


Do they offer hosting?	Yes, scalable cloud hosting with unlimited storage and bandwidth, but limited backup possibilities	Yes, with unlimited bandwidth and storage
Type of hosting:	Cloud Hosting	Cloud Hosting
Uptime:	99.9%	Not disclosed
Uptime Guarantee:	Yes, 99.99%	Not disclosed
Data Centers:	Not disclosed	Not disclosed

7.6

5.3

🏆 Winner: BigCommerce

Both BigCommerce and Bandzoogle prioritize website performance and page speed, but BigCommerce has a higher website speed optimization score and provides more tools for Core Web Vital improvements.


Focus	Image Optimization, Code minification, Optimized templates, Using AMP, Caching	Mobile optimized design
Performance Tools	Various tools for CVW improvements	Not specified
Key Strategies	Image Optimization, Code minification, Optimized templates, Using AMP, Caching	Mobile optimized design
Load Times	Varies depending on optimization and website complexity	Varies depending on optimization and website complexity
Page Speed Scores Range	Varies depending on optimization and website complexity	Varies depending on optimization and website complexity
Core Web Vitals Improvement	Provides users with many tools for CVW improvements	Does not provide any information on their Core Web Vitals improvements

BigCommerce, a comprehensive e-commerce platform, prioritizes website performance and page speed. It employs strategies such as image optimization, code minification, optimized templates, using AMP, and caching to enhance website speed. BigCommerce also provides users with various tools for Core Web Vital improvements. However, the load times and PageSpeed scores vary depending on the optimization and website complexity.

On the other hand, Bandzoogle, a website builder specifically designed for musicians and bands, focuses on mobile-optimized design for speed optimization. However, it does not provide any information on their Core Web Vital improvements. Similar to BigCommerce, the load times and PageSpeed scores of Bandzoogle also vary depending on the optimization and website complexity.

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7.7

0.0

🏆 Winner: BigCommerce.

BigCommerce, with a score of 7.7, offers a wide array of apps and integrations to enhance eCommerce functionalities. These integrations facilitate operations like sales analytics, inventory management, customer relationship management, and marketing automation. On the other hand, Bandzoogle, with a score of 0.0, does not support any plugins or integrations as it is an all-in-one solution. Therefore, BigCommerce is the clear winner in this category.

BigCommerce Applications

Bigcommerce apps and integratons

7.9

7.1

🏆

Overall Winner: BigCommerce

. BigCommerce offers a more comprehensive set of marketing tools, including advanced SEO tools, various email marketing integrations, and multi-channel selling capabilities across social media and marketplaces. Bandzoogle, while offering a range of music-specific features, lacks in the area of ads and promotions.


SEO Tools
Email Marketing
Blogging
Social Media Integration
Analytics and Reporting
Ads and Promotions

8.7

6.8

🏆 Winner: BigCommerce

. In the comparison of BigCommerce vs Bandzoogle, BigCommerce stands out with its 24/7 customer support available through phone, email, and live chat. This ensures that users can get help at any time, regardless of their location. BigCommerce also offers dedicated phone lines for various regions and requires a support pin for personalized assistance, which adds an extra layer of security and customization. The extensive knowledge base and active community forums further enhance the support experience, making it a robust choice for businesses of all sizes.

Bandzoogle, on the other hand, provides customer support primarily through email and live chat, with specific hours of availability. While their support team is known for delivering award-winning service, the limited hours of operation may not be as convenient for users needing immediate assistance outside of these times. Bandzoogle’s support is tailored more towards individual musicians and bands rather than enterprise-level businesses, which is reflected in their support structure and availability.

8.9

7.7

🏆

Winner: BigCommerce

. BigCommerce’s security measures are comprehensive, adhering to international regulations like GDPR and CCPA, employing data encryption, and conducting regular security audits. It also partners with Cloudflare to further bolster security. This makes it a reliable choice for businesses that prioritize data security.

Although it may not offer the same level of extensive security measures as BigCommerce, Bandzoogle offers several security measures such as automatic redirection from HTTP to HTTPS and compliance with GDPR. It is still a viable option for musicians and bands who need a secure platform to manage their online presence.

7.3


AI Builder
AI Ecommerce features	Personalized product recommendations, AI on-site search, and AI powered chatbots
AI Content Generation	AI-powered writing tools for creating product descriptions and SEO metadata
Additional AI features	AI-driven data analytics, personalized storefronts, and AI chatbot

🏆 Winner: BigCommerce

. BigCommerce, with a score of 7.3, utilizes AI to enhance the ecommerce experience. Its AI features focus on personalized product recommendations, AI on-site search, AI-powered writing tools for creating product descriptions, and AI-driven data analytics. On the other hand, Bandzoogle does not have any AI capabilities.

8.9

2.6

🏆 Winner: BigCommerce

. BigCommerce and Bandzoogle have different approaches to user management.

BigCommerce allows an unlimited number of staff accounts with various roles and permissions, providing flexibility for larger teams.
Bandzoogle, on the other hand, allows only one user to edit and manage a website, which may be limiting for larger bands or music groups.

BigCommerce User Roles and Access Levels:

Role	Description	Access Highlights
Sales Staff	Enables all Sales Staff permissions	Manage, edit, and add orders. Finalize manual orders with manual payments. Manage returns, capture funds, and refund orders. Manage and edit customers. Manage and edit product reviews. Manage legacy coupons and promotions. Use Image Manager.
Sales Manager	Enables all Sales Staff and Sales Manager permissions	Includes Sales Staff permissions. Manage, create, edit, and delete products. Manage product options and categories. Export orders. Manage customer store credit and export customers. Manage blogs, brands, and various reports (Ecommerce Analytics reports, abandoned cart reports, etc.). Edit inventory and manage channels.
Store Administrator	Enables all Sales Staff, Sales Manager, and System Admin permissions	Includes Sales Staff and Sales Manager permissions. Manage users and form fields. Manage settings (product filtering, store settings, checkout, inventory, order notifications, etc.). Manage payments, shipping, and tax settings. Import catalog entities and customers. Access store design tools and Page Builder. Manage customer groups. Take store down for maintenance.
Store Owner	Includes all permissions and is the person financially responsible for the account; this role has exclusive access to various account-related features.	Full access to all permissions and features across the platform. Exclusive access to account-related features and settings not available to other roles.
Custom	Use this option to create your own combination of permissions. You can also opt to customize one of the other roles.	Customize permissions based on specific needs. Mix and match permissions from different roles to create a unique role with tailored access.

Bandzoogle does not provide information about user roles and access levels.

Additional Features


SSL Certificate
Custom Domain
Free Custom Domain Included
International Domains
Mobile Responsive
Page Speed
Website Builder Mobile App
Convert a Website To An App
Website Analytics
Multilingual Sites
Multiple Users

User Feedback

BigCommerce

499 reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars

Bandzoogle

16 reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars

User feedback on BigCommerce highlights a mix of experiences, with positive remarks on its ease of use, SEO configuration, and strong support team. However, significant criticisms include its lack of suitability for businesses with brick-and-mortar locations, due to issues with POS integration and sales tracking, as well as its inflexibility with customization and additional costs for necessary features. Additionally, concerns were raised about the platform’s steep learning curve for beginners, limitations in product variation and design options, and difficulties with order management. Despite these challenges, some users appreciate the platform’s ability to quickly launch and reliably host stores, alongside its potential for scalability and e-commerce growth.

The user feedback on Bandzoogle highlights its strengths in providing customizable and professional website layouts, ease of use, and specialized features tailored for musicians, such as pre-made themes, mobile-friendliness, and various tools for managing tours and engaging with audiences. Users appreciate the platform’s assistance in creating an online presence, saving time, and directly engaging with fans. However, critiques include a desire for more theme variety and customization options, concerns about pricing for beginners, occasional interface clumsiness or system latency, and the lack of a fully free version. Despite these drawbacks, Bandzoogle is valued for its niche focus, helping artists efficiently promote their music and interact with their fan base online.

The making of this blog

We followed a clear, step-by-step process to write and research this article.

Our Ranking Criteria

FAQ

Which platform is better for musicians, BigCommerce or Bandzoogle?

Bandzoogle is specifically designed for musicians and bands, offering music-specific features such as a built-in music player, commission-free sales of music and merchandise, and tools for fan engagement. BigCommerce, while a robust ecommerce platform, does not cater specifically to the unique needs of musicians.

Can I sell products on both BigCommerce and Bandzoogle?

Yes, both platforms allow you to sell products. BigCommerce is a comprehensive ecommerce platform with advanced features for a wide range of businesses, including extensive POS integrations and a variety of shipping options. Bandzoogle, tailored for musicians, offers features like selling subscriptions, crowdfunding, a virtual tip jar, and commission-free sales, making it suitable for artists looking to monetize their music and merchandise directly to fans.

Which platform offers better customer support, BigCommerce or Bandzoogle?

BigCommerce offers 24/7 customer support through various channels, including phone, email, and live chat, and is known for its extensive support resources and active community forums. Bandzoogle provides customer support through email and live chat during specific hours, and while it offers award-winning customer service, it does not have the same level of enterprise support as BigCommerce.

Are there any free plans available for BigCommerce or Bandzoogle?

Neither BigCommerce nor Bandzoogle offers a free plan. However, both platforms provide a trial period to test their features—BigCommerce offers a 14-day free trial, while Bandzoogle offers a longer 30-day free trial.

Which platform is more suitable for a large-scale ecommerce operation?

BigCommerce is more suitable for large-scale ecommerce operations due to its comprehensive set of ecommerce features, scalability, and support for an unlimited number of products. It offers advanced tools for SEO, various payment gateways, and multi-channel selling capabilities. Bandzoogle, while offering ecommerce features tailored for musicians, does not have the same breadth of functionalities for large-scale ecommerce.