Magento vs BigCommerce
Magento is now called Adobe Commerce. Adobe Commerce and BigCommerce do the same core job: both run the storefront and checkout for B2C and B2B ecommerce, with headless options and several storefronts run from one back end. The difference is what each platform connects into. Adobe Commerce is a composable platform that is part of Adobe Experience Cloud, connected to Adobe's personalization and content tools and extended by developers through its APIs. BigCommerce is an open platform, built to connect through open APIs to the systems and tools you choose. Hypotenuse AI works with either one: an AI-first PIM for large, complex catalogs, which maps any supplier file to your schema and has AI do the enrichment, copy, image and compliance work.
How do Adobe Commerce (Magento) and BigCommerce compare?
| Adobe Commerce (Magento) | BigCommerce | Hypotenuse AI (works with either) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built for | B2C and B2B commerce connected to Adobe Experience Cloud's marketing and content tools | B2C and B2B businesses that want an open platform connected to the systems they choose | Large, complex catalogs, with AI doing the enrichment and content work behind any storefront |
| Core strength | An API-first, composable platform connected natively to Adobe Experience Cloud | An open, API-first commerce platform with B2B and multiple storefronts built in | AI that keeps every product page complete and optimized for search and AI answers, whichever storefront you run |
| AI | AI search and recommendations, plus shopping through AI assistants and agents | An AI assistant built into the control panel, and open tools for connecting AI agents to the store | AI that fills missing product data and writes the copy and images your storefront shows |
| Catalog and product data | Product and category management, with catalogs and price books set per customer | Products and variants with custom fields, made available on one storefront or several | Holds the full product record and sends approved content to the storefront fields you choose |
| B2B and multi-site | Company accounts and quotes negotiated on your site; many sites and brands from one interface | Quoting and company account hierarchies built in; many storefronts run from one back end | Product content written per market and storefront, in multiple languages |
| Integrations and ecosystem | Native connections to other Adobe Experience Cloud products, plus an extension marketplace | Open REST and GraphQL APIs and an app marketplace, plus ERP and other back-office integrations | Brings in source product data from your ERP and supplier files, and sends approved content to either storefront |
| Implementation | A SaaS cloud service or a dedicated cloud, built with Adobe's partners or your own developers | A visual builder and themes, or a headless storefront framework; BigCommerce services and agency partners | A dedicated onboarding team sets up workflow automation, data sources, integrations and rules |
| Best fit | Enterprises on Adobe Experience Cloud that want commerce tied to their content and personalization | B2C and B2B teams that want an open platform tied into their own systems, with several storefronts from one back end | Enterprise teams that need every product page complete and optimized for search, whichever storefront they run |
Which is better for B2B, Adobe Commerce (Magento) or BigCommerce?
Adobe Commerce is better for B2B sellers that want a ready-made buyer portal, where buyers negotiate quotes and set purchase approvals without custom work. BigCommerce is better for B2B sellers that want to shape that portal themselves, because its buyer portal is open source and developers can change it in code.
Adobe Commerce supports company accounts with multiple buyers and purchasing permissions, and parent accounts with subsidiaries under them. Buyers and sales reps negotiate quotes on the site, standing quotes carry pre-approved terms for repeat orders, and reps can log in as a customer, with permission, to place orders or quotes for them. Each customer can have its own catalog and price book.
BigCommerce sets up buyer accounts to mirror how a buyer's business is structured, with parent and subsidiary accounts and role-based access at each level, and each account sees its own pricing and products. Sales teams build quotes for B2B and B2C buyers in the same tool and can place orders on a buyer's behalf. Both platforms run B2B and B2C from one place.
Is Adobe Commerce (Magento) or BigCommerce easier to run and customize?
BigCommerce is easier to run and customize, because BigCommerce hosts the platform and teams change the store with a visual builder and add tools through apps and APIs. Adobe Commerce suits teams with developers who want to extend the platform in depth, with Adobe's partners or an in-house team leading the build.
BigCommerce calls its model Open SaaS: the commerce engine runs as a hosted service, and teams add the third-party tools they pick through REST and GraphQL APIs or its app marketplace. For headless builds, where the storefront runs separately from the commerce back end, it offers its own storefront framework built on Next.js and connects to headless CMSs and front-end frameworks.
Adobe Commerce comes as a multi-tenant cloud service with automatic updates, or on dedicated cloud infrastructure. Developers extend it through GraphQL and REST APIs and event-driven integrations with systems such as ERPs and CRMs, and prebuilt extensions and apps come from the Adobe Commerce Marketplace. Adobe also offers a prebuilt storefront and a visual editor for marketers.
Which fits better into your marketing stack, Adobe Commerce (Magento) or BigCommerce?
Adobe Commerce is better for teams whose marketing and content already run on Adobe Experience Cloud, because it shares commerce data with Adobe's customer data and personalization tools. BigCommerce suits teams that bring their own CMS and personalization tools and connect them through its APIs.
Adobe Commerce shares commerce data with Adobe Real-Time CDP and Adobe Journey Optimizer, and audiences built in Real-Time CDP can personalize the storefront. Adobe Experience Manager can work directly from the commerce catalog, and Adobe Commerce includes AI search and product recommendations.
BigCommerce leaves those choices to you: it handles the commerce layer and connects to the CMS or digital experience platform your team prefers. Its multi-storefront setup lets one product or price change go to every storefront that needs it, with each storefront keeping its own domain and currency.
How does Hypotenuse AI fit with Adobe Commerce (Magento) and BigCommerce?
Adobe Commerce and BigCommerce are storefronts: they run the shopping experience and checkout. Hypotenuse AI is the AI-first PIM behind them. It holds the product data and content, and a bespoke AI model does the enrichment, copy, image and compliance work across the catalog and optimizes it for SEO and GEO before it reaches either storefront.
The bespoke AI model is trained on your best-performing product pages and strict brand voice and guidelines, and it learns from your team's edits and feedback. It enriches missing product data, maps any supplier file to your schema, writes copy with keywords chosen from search data, and checks claims and images against your standards before anything publishes.
Which should you choose, Adobe Commerce (Magento) or BigCommerce, and where does Hypotenuse AI fit?
Choose Adobe Commerce if your marketing and content teams run on Adobe Experience Cloud and you want developers to extend the platform in depth, and BigCommerce if you want an open platform that connects to the systems you choose, then add Hypotenuse AI behind either one for the product data and content.
Choose Adobe Commerce (Magento) if:
- Your marketing and content teams already work in Adobe Experience Cloud, and you want commerce sharing data with Adobe's personalization and content tools.
- You sell B2B through a self-service portal, with company account hierarchies and quotes negotiated on your site.
- You run several brands or regional sites and want them all managed from one interface.
- You want developers to extend the platform through its APIs and an extension marketplace, on a cloud service or dedicated cloud infrastructure.
Choose BigCommerce if:
- You want an open platform that connects to your ERP and the other systems you already run, through open APIs and integrations.
- You sell B2B and want quoting and company account hierarchies built in, with a buyer portal you can customize in code.
- You run several brands or regions and want each storefront managed from one back end.
- You want to go headless with BigCommerce's own storefront framework, or connect the CMS your team already uses.
Add Hypotenuse AI if:
- You manage thousands to millions of SKUs and want AI to do the enrichment and content work on every product before it reaches your storefront.
- You want copy from a bespoke AI model trained on your best-performing product pages and brand guidelines, optimized for SEO and GEO, with keywords chosen per product from search data.
- You're concerned about the accuracy and compliance of your product data, and want every claim in the copy checked against the product record before it publishes.
- You want product images handled in the same platform: lifestyle and on-model generation, editing and cropping, a DAM that ties every image to its product, and checks against each retailer's image requirements.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Adobe Commerce (Magento) and BigCommerce?
Both run the storefront and checkout for B2C and B2B ecommerce. The difference is what each platform connects into. Adobe Commerce is a composable platform that is part of Adobe Experience Cloud, connected to Adobe's personalization and content tools and extended by developers through its APIs. BigCommerce is an open platform, built to connect through open APIs to the systems and tools you choose.
Is Magento still available?
Yes. Magento's commercial edition is now sold as Adobe Commerce, either as a cloud service or on dedicated cloud infrastructure. Adobe also offers Magento Open Source, a free version of the platform that teams download and develop themselves, which Adobe aims at small businesses and developers.
Adobe Commerce vs BigCommerce Enterprise: which is better for enterprise?
Adobe Commerce is better for enterprises that want a composable platform tied into Adobe Experience Cloud and extended by their developers, and BigCommerce Enterprise (the Performance plan) suits enterprises that want an open platform with B2B and multiple storefronts built in. Adobe Commerce runs as a multi-tenant cloud service or on dedicated cloud infrastructure, with B2C and B2B selling on one platform. BigCommerce Enterprise adds price lists for customer groups, multiple storefronts from one control panel, 24/7 support and dedicated customer success.
How are Adobe Commerce (Magento) and BigCommerce priced?
Adobe Commerce is sold as packages, either a cloud service or a dedicated cloud deployment with add-ons for some features, and Adobe quotes pricing for each. Magento Open Source is free. BigCommerce publishes monthly plans tiered by annual online sales, and its Performance plan for high-volume businesses has a published starting price, with custom pricing based on projected sales volume.
Does Hypotenuse AI work with Adobe Commerce (Magento)?
Yes, through a custom integration. Our onboarding team builds the connection to Adobe Commerce during setup, bringing product data in and writing approved content back to the Adobe Commerce fields you choose.
Does Hypotenuse AI work with BigCommerce?
Yes, through a custom integration. Our onboarding team builds the connection to BigCommerce during setup, bringing product data in and writing approved content back to the BigCommerce fields you choose.
