Big Cartel

bigcartel.com
E-commerce
Weekend Project

Free, Easy Online Stores for Artists & Small Businesses

How to Replace Big Cartel

Overview

Big Cartel is an ecommerce platform designed for indie sellers, artists, and small businesses to set up and manage online stores with zero fees. It provides tools for selling physical goods, digital products, and services with customizable templates, payment processing, and shipping management. The platform celebrates 20 years of supporting independent creators across various categories.

Features

30 features across 17 categories

Commerce(3)

Digital Goods Delivery

Deliver digital products like design templates and music files in minutes

In-Person Selling

Sell online or in person with the app and take payments from your phone

Physical Goods Selling

Make anything and ship orders to sell physical products

Also in: Salesforce, Salesforce, HubSpot

Compliance(1)

Sales Tax Autopilot

Automatic sales tax calculation and management

Also in: Insider CDP, Airtable, 1Password

Data Management(2)

Bulk Product Editing

Edit multiple products in bulk

Product Import

Create new listings or import directly from Shopify, Etsy, or Squarespace

Also in: monday.com, Notion, Airtable

Design(3)

Customizable Templates

Pick from customizable design templates to make your brand shine

Mobile-Friendly Shop Template

Free mobile-friendly shop template for responsive design

Shop Customization

Customize your shop design without coding

Also in: Squarespace, InVision, WordPress.com

Domain Management(1)

Custom Domain SupportPremium

Support for custom domains

Also in: Vercel, Unbounce, WordPress.com

Fulfillment(1)

Print on Demand

Create your own designs with providers handling printing, packing, and shipping

Also in: Saleor, Medusa, Shippo

Integrations(2)

Easy-Install Apps

Easy-install apps for print-on-demand, product reviews, and more tools to extend and grow your store

Zapier IntegrationPremium

Connect to 7,000+ apps with Zapier

Also in: ReadMe, Hugging Face, Setmore

Inventory Management(1)

Inventory Tracking

Track inventory levels across products

Marketing(6)

Abandoned Cart RecoveryPremium

Recover abandoned carts to increase sales

Advanced Discount LogicPremium

Advanced discount logic and promotional tools

Discount Codes

Run discounts and offer promotional codes to customers

Google Shopping Connection

Connect to Google Shopping for greater reach

Product DropsPremium

Schedule product drops and exclusive releases

Run Ads

Manage and run advertising campaigns

Mobile(1)

Mobile App

Big Cartel mobile app for iOS and Android to manage store on the go

Payments(1)

Payment Processing

Accept cards, PayPal, Afterpay, Venmo, and wallets

Pricing(1)

No Transaction Fees

No Big Cartel transaction fees on payments

Reporting(1)

Sales Reporting

Basic sales reporting and analytics to track performance

Security(1)

Password-Protected ProductsPremium

Create exclusive access to specific products for selected customers

Shipping(2)

Discounted Shipping Labels

Unlimited label printing with up to 90% off shipping

Shipping Management

Dial in shipping details, print shipping labels, and track orders

Social Media(1)

Social Selling

Connect your shop to Instagram, Facebook, and Google Shopping

Support(2)

Priority SupportPremium

Priority support from humans

Real Human Support

Help from real people, not chatbots, every time

Pricing

Gold

$0
  • Accept payment online
  • Free mobile-friendly shop template
  • Basic sales reporting
  • No Big Cartel transaction fees
  • List up to 5 physical products
  • Big Cartel mobile app for iOS & Android
  • Sales tax autopilot
  • Import products from Etsy, Squarespace, & Shopify
  • Sell in person & take payments from your phone
  • Offer discounts & run promos
  • Unlimited label printing + up to 90% off shipping
  • Shipment tracking
  • Inventory tracking
  • Edit products in bulk
  • Easy-install apps for print-on-demand, product reviews, & more
  • Run ads

Platinum

Popular
$15/mo
  • All Gold features
  • Support for custom domains
  • List up to 50 physical products
  • Sell digital goods and services
  • Promote with discount codes
  • Print shipping labels and track orders
  • Customize your shop design

Diamond

$30/mo
  • All Platinum features
  • Recover abandoned carts
  • List up to 500 physical products
  • Schedule product drops
  • Password-protect products
  • Connect to 7,000+ apps with Zapier
  • Priority support from humans

Cost Calculator

Keep Paying Big Cartel

Monthly$15/mo
Yearly$180/yr
5-Year Total$900

Build It Yourself

Est. Build Time~2 hrs
Hosting$20/mo
DifficultyVery Easy

Total Cost Comparison

1 Year
SaaS
$180
DIY
$240
3 Years
SaaS
$540
DIY
$720
5 Years
SaaS
$900
DIY
$1.2k

DIY hosting estimate based on Vercel + Supabase free/pro tiers (~$20/mo). Build time estimated from 30 features at very easy complexity.

Build vs Buy

Should you build a Big Cartel alternative or buy the subscription? Estimate based on 30 features.

Buy Big Cartel

Better Value
Monthly cost$150/mo
3-year total$5,400
Time to deployDays

Build Your Own

Development cost$12,000
Maintenance$180/mo
3-year total$18,480
Dev time~1 months

Buying Big Cartel saves ~$13,080 over 3 years vs building.

Estimates based on 30 features and a BuildScore of 5/5. Actual costs vary.

Integrations

10 known integrations

AfterpayEtsyFacebookGoogle ShoppingInstagramPayPalShopifySquarespaceVenmoZapier