Big Cartel

Big Cartel is a hosted storefront for independent sellers offering physical goods, digital products, or memberships. It suits creators who want a compact shop that can also handle in-person sales. Its appeal is the no-transaction-fee policy and straightforward selling setup; the central tradeoff is a strict product ceiling on every plan.

Overview

Sellers can choose a template, add products, connect Stripe or PayPal, and publish at their own web address without coding or plugins. Big Cartel supports online and in-person sales, with a free mobile app for tap-to-pay or cash transactions; orders and inventory sync with the online shop. That combination is useful for makers who sell at events as well as online, though the plan caps make it a less natural fit for a large catalog.

All plans support product imports from Etsy, Squarespace, and Shopify, which can make a move from those storefronts less disruptive. Big Cartel states that it charges no transaction fees. For broader category browsing, see Ecommerce platforms and No-Code E-Commerce Platforms.

Key features

Product types: Physical goods, digital products, and memberships let creators sell more than inventory alone.

Checkout: Payments through Stripe and PayPal can include cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link, Cash App, Amazon Pay, Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm, PayPal, Venmo, and PayPal Pay Later. The range gives buyers multiple ways to pay, while payment processing runs through those connected services.

Integrations and API: Big Cartel lists more than 60 apps, including Printify, Printful, ShipStation, Zapier, Google Analytics, shopping channels, Omnisend, and Fera. Its version 1 API supports OAuth 2.0, APIs, and webhooks for integrations.

Store security: Big Cartel says store addresses and connected custom domains are SSL encrypted, and checkout is always covered by SSL.

Support: Account holders can contact support 24/7 through in-app messaging; people without accounts can use email.

Pricing

Big Cartel uses a freemium model, with a free plan, a 7-day trial, and paid plans billed monthly. Its 0% transaction-fee policy is a clear cost advantage, but sellers need to match their catalog size to the plan ceiling.

Gold — free: Up to five products, one customizable store template, real-time stats, and sales-tax autopilot. It is a practical starting point for a very small catalog, but five products can become restrictive quickly.

Platinum — $15 a month: Up to 50 products and five images per product. This is the lower-cost paid option for a growing but still compact catalog; its product and image limits leave less room to expand than Diamond.

Diamond — $30 a month: Up to 500 products and 25 images per product, plus password-protected products, scheduled drops, automatic discounts, advanced Google Analytics reporting, audience-targeted ads, abandoned-cart emails, and prioritized support. It suits sellers who need more catalog capacity and these promotional tools, though the 500-product ceiling remains a firm boundary.

All three plans support product imports. The free plan's five-product cap is the main constraint for testing a real catalog, while paid plans raise capacity rather than removing it.

Platforms

Big Cartel supports web, iOS, Android, and API access. Its hosted model means sellers use the platform rather than hosting the storefront themselves.

Who it's for

Big Cartel is best suited to independent creators, musicians, resellers, fundraisers, and makers with a focused catalog and a reason to sell both online and in person. Sellers who need imports from Etsy, Squarespace, or Shopify can use them on any plan. A business expecting a broad or rapidly expanding catalog should weigh the caps before committing.

Pros and cons

Pro: No transaction fees keeps Big Cartel's platform charge separate from other payment costs.

Pro: The free app supports tap-to-pay and cash sales with online inventory and order syncing, joining event selling to the storefront.

Pro: Imports from Etsy, Squarespace, and Shopify work on every plan, including Gold.

Con: Gold stops at five products, so even a modest range may require a paid plan.

Con: Platinum and Diamond also impose product and image limits, making the service a poor match for sellers who need room beyond 500 products.

Alternatives

Consider BigCommerce if you want a paid storefront with a Core plan that includes up to $30K TTM GMV and auto-upgrades to Growth, while accounting for its 2.0% Open Payment Provider fee. Wix eCommerce is another freemium option; its free plan includes hosting, a drag-and-drop editor, no-code design features, and thousands of templates.

Shoptet has a free plan with 10 products and paid tiers for 100 or 1,000 products with custom pricing. Bagisto is a free, open-source option for sellers prepared to self-host and meet its stated server requirements. Tiendanube offers a free Inicial plan with unlimited products, sales, and visits, plus one distribution center.

Shopify may suit small teams: its Grow plan supports up to five staff accounts, while its Basic plan includes 10 inventory locations. Shopware pairs a free open-source Community Edition with a paid Rise tier. Squarespace Commerce is a paid alternative whose Basic plan includes two contributors and 30 minutes of video hosting and storage.

Verdict

Choose Big Cartel for a small creator-led shop that benefits from in-person selling, supported imports, and no platform transaction fees. Its product caps are the reason to look elsewhere: sellers planning a larger catalog should choose a platform with capacity better matched to that growth.