Big Cartel

Big Cartel provides hosted online shops for independent creators, artists, and brands selling physical, digital, and membership products. Sellers can choose a template, add products, connect Stripe or PayPal, and open a store at their own web address without coding or plugins. Big Cartel states that it charges no transaction fees. Payments through Stripe and PayPal can include cards and services such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Klarna, PayPal, and Venmo. Its free mobile app supports in-person tap-to-pay or cash sales, with orders and inventory syncing to the online shop. The platform lists more than 60 apps, including services for printing, shipping, analytics, and shopping. Every listed plan supports product imports from Etsy, Squarespace, and Shopify. The API is version 1, supports OAuth 2.0, and provides APIs and webhooks for integrations. Gold is free and supports up to five products with one customizable store template. Platinum costs $15 a month for up to 50 products; Diamond costs $30 a month for up to 500 products and adds features such as scheduled product drops, password-protected products, and abandoned-cart emails.

Big Cartel offers a direct path to a hosted shop, with a free tier and paid plans that raise product limits. Its mobile app also supports in-person sales that sync with the online store.

Big Cartel suits creators, musicians, resellers, fundraisers, and makers who want to sell physical or digital goods, or memberships, through an online store.

Overview

Big Cartel is a hosted storefront platform for independent sellers who want to sell physical goods, digital products, or memberships. It is best suited to creators and small brands with a focused catalog; the free plan’s five-product ceiling makes it a poor fit for a large inventory.

Opening a shop means choosing a template, adding products, and connecting Stripe or PayPal, without coding or plugins. Big Cartel says it charges no transaction fees, and its mobile app extends the store to in-person tap-to-pay and cash sales with online order and inventory syncing.

Key features

• Multiple product types: Big Cartel supports physical, digital, and membership products, making it relevant to artists and makers selling more than shipped goods.
• Payments: Through Stripe and PayPal, checkout can include cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link, Cash App, Amazon Pay, Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm, PayPal, Venmo, and PayPal Pay Later. This range gives customers several ways to pay, though sellers need to connect one of those payment services.
• In-person sales: The free mobile app supports tap-to-pay and cash transactions, syncing orders and inventory with the online shop. That is useful for sellers working events as well as online, without maintaining separate stock records.
• Integrations and imports: Big Cartel lists more than 60 apps, including Printify, Printful, ShipStation, Zapier, Google Analytics, and shopping and marketing services. Every listed plan also supports importing products from Etsy, Squarespace, and Shopify, easing a move from those storefronts.
• Store security and support: Big Cartel says its addresses and connected custom domains are SSL encrypted, with checkout always protected by SSL. Account holders can contact support through in-app messaging around the clock; people without an account can use email.
• API: The version 1 API supports OAuth 2.0, APIs, and webhooks for integrations, a useful foundation for connecting the store to other services.

Pricing

Big Cartel uses a freemium model, with a seven-day trial and paid plans billed monthly. Its no-transaction-fee policy is a clear advantage for sellers comparing platform charges, but the free tier’s product cap is restrictive.

• Gold — free: Includes up to five products, real-time stats, sales-tax autopilot, and one customizable store template. It is a sensible starting point for a small collection or testing a shop, but sellers with more than five products must upgrade.
• Platinum — $15 a month: Raises the cap to 50 products and allows five images per product. This is the practical step up for a growing catalog, though the 50-product limit and image allowance may constrain sellers with extensive or visually varied stock.
• Diamond — $30 a month: Supports up to 500 products and 25 images per product. It adds password-protected products, scheduled drops, automatic discounts, advanced Google Analytics reporting, audience-targeted ads, abandoned-cart emails, and prioritized support. It best suits sellers who need a larger catalog and these promotional tools; smaller shops may not need the additional capacity.

Gold’s single template and five-product cap are the main trade-offs for paying nothing. The paid plans increase catalog and image limits, while Diamond adds marketing and support features; the listed plans do not state a seat allowance.

Platforms

Big Cartel is available on the web, iOS, and Android, and provides an API. The mobile apps matter most to sellers who want to take in-person payments and keep sales and inventory synced with their online shop.

Who it's for

Big Cartel is a good match for independent creators, artists, musicians, resellers, fundraisers, and makers who want a hosted shop without coding or plugins. Its support for digital goods and memberships broadens its usefulness beyond physical merchandise, while importing from Etsy, Squarespace, and Shopify helps sellers bring an existing catalog over.

Look elsewhere if the business needs more than 500 products, or if five products is too limiting for a free storefront. Big Cartel’s plan structure is centered on product and image caps, so sellers should choose by the size and presentation needs of their catalog.

Pros and cons

• Pros: No transaction fees, a free plan, and a free mobile app for in-person sales make it possible to run online and in-person selling without a platform transaction charge.
• Pros: Physical, digital, and membership products, plus imports from three named storefronts on every plan, suit independent sellers with varied catalogs or an existing shop.
• Cons: Gold is limited to five products and one customizable template, so even a modestly broad catalog requires a paid plan.
• Cons: Platinum stops at 50 products and five images per item; sellers who exceed those limits need Diamond, which costs $30 a month.

Alternatives

For broader browsing, compare No-Code E-Commerce Platforms and Ecommerce platforms.

• Instamojo is a freemium option with web and mobile apps; its free Quick plan offers unlimited payment links, making it a different choice for sellers focused on payment links.
• Tiendanube has a free Inicial plan with unlimited products, sales, and visits, so consider it if those catalog and traffic allowances matter more than Big Cartel’s stated product limits.
• BigCommerce is a paid alternative with a free trial and a Core plan at $29 a month billed annually; its stated plan includes up to $30K TTM GMV and a 2.0% Open Payment Provider fee.
• ExpandCart is another freemium option.
• Salla is a freemium alternative.
• Zid is a freemium alternative.
• Dukaan is a free alternative.
• Jumpseller is a paid alternative with a Basic plan at $10.80 a month billed monthly and unlimited products.

Verdict

Choose Big Cartel for a straightforward hosted shop if you are an independent seller with a small-to-mid-sized catalog, want to avoid platform transaction fees, or need online and in-person sales to stay in sync. Its strongest case is the combination of creator-oriented product types, a free starting tier, and mobile selling. Look elsewhere if the five-product free cap or paid catalog limits do not fit your inventory.