Big Cartel is a popular ecommerce platform tailored to artists, makers, and small businesses. With its simple setup and affordable pricing, it‘s a beginner-friendly way to set up an online store.
However, as your business grows, you may find yourself needing more advanced features like powerful marketing tools, customization options, and room to scale. The good news is there are plenty of great Big Cartel alternatives out there.
In this detailed guide, we‘ll explore the top 8 Big Cartel competitors for 2024. We‘ll compare features, pros and cons, and pricing to help you determine if it‘s time to upgrade to a more robust platform.
Our Top 3 Picks for Big Cartel Alternatives
Before diving into the details on each platform, here‘s a quick overview of our top recommendations:
1. Shopify
With its abundant features, customization options, and scalability, Shopify is our #1 pick for growing businesses. Though it has a steeper learning curve, it’s worth mastering.
2. Wix
For small businesses wanting an easy-to-use drag and drop builder with built-in ecommerce features, Wix is a great choice.
3. Squarespace
Those needing an all-in-one website builder plus simple ecommerce functionality will appreciate Squarespace. Its beautiful templates and intuitive editor make store setup a breeze.
Now let’s explore what makes each of these platforms – plus 5 other top contenders – such excellent Big Cartel options.
1. Shopify
Shopify is arguably the most popular and powerful ecommerce solution on the market. It caters to businesses of all sizes, from fledglings to Fortune 500s.
Though it has a steeper learning curve than Big Cartel, Shopify offers abundant features, customization, and scalability that make it worth mastering.
Key Features
- Abundant themes & customization tools – Tons of free and paid theme options. Easy to customize layout, design, etc.
- Powerful features – Cart recovery, promotions, customer management and segmentation, advanced reporting, etc.
- Scalability – Ability to handle huge spikes in traffic and sales. Grow without limitations.
- App integration – Connect marketing, inventory, shipping, accounting and other business apps easily. Library of over 8000 apps.
- Top-notch security – Shopify handles security so you don‘t have to worry. Built-in SSL, fraud protection, transparent fees fund protection efforts.
Pros
- Extremely feature-rich
- Scales with your business growth
- Robust customization & design options
- Everything centralized on easy-to-use dashboard
Cons
- More expensive than Big Cartel, especially as your store grows
- Can get pricey to customize design further with paid apps and themes
- Steeper learning curve
Pricing
- Basic Shopify – $29/month
- Shopify – $79/month
- Advanced Shopify – $299/month
2. Wix
Wix is best known as a user-friendly website builder. But nested within it lies an excellent ecommerce solution perfect for small businesses.
We love Wix for solopreneurs or small teams wanting a highly customizable online store that’s easy to set up and manage.
Key Features
- Intuitive drag & drop store builder – Easy to use even for beginners. Drag and drop products, design store layout, edit pages, and more.
- 100s of templates – Professionally designed templates for a polished look right out the gate. Easily customizable.
- Robust ecommerce features – Cart recovery, promotions, coupons, memberships, bookings, dynamic pricing rules, and more.
- Built-in marketing tools – Email marketing, loyalty programs, Instagram channel, SEO wizard, blog, and more to promote your shop.
- Secure hosting & topology – Wix stores hosted on secure, managed cloud infrastructure in data centers across the globe.
Pros
- Very easy to use drag & drop interface
- Tons of customization options
- Nice balance of essential commerce features without being overwhelming
- Affordable pricing
Cons
- Some more advanced Shopify features like advanced reporting not available
- Must upgrade to most expensive “Business Unlimited” plan to remove Wix ads
- Transaction fees apply unless on most expensive plan
Pricing
- Combo – $14/month (10% Wix ad)
- Unlimited – $18/month (5% Wix ad)
- Business Unlimited – $27/month (No ads or transaction fees)
3. Squarespace
Squarespace strikes a nice balance between simplicity and features. We recommend it for anyone wanting beautiful store templates combined with smooth, enjoyable ecommerce capabilities.
It may not be as advanced as Shopify, but Squarespace makes setting up and running a store painless.
Key Features
- Award-winning templates – Elegant, modern templates that are a joy to work with. Easy to customize.
- All-in-one platform – Unified website, domain, hosting, and ecommerce solution.
- Built-in marketing tools – Email campaigns, coupons, abandoned cart recovery, built-in SEO, integrated Google Analytics, and more.
- Simple taxation – Automatic sales tax calculations. Tax reporting integration with Avalara.
- Mobile optimization – Stores work beautifully on all device sizes automatically.
Pros
- Lovely templates & intuitive editing
- Capable commerce features
- Easy taxation management
- No transaction fees
Cons
- Design customization somewhat limited compared to Shopify and Wix
- Advanced features like advanced segmentation limited
- Can get expensive for high volume stores
Pricing
- Personal – $18/month
- Business – $26/month
4. Webflow
Webflow offers a unique spin on ecommerce platforms. It allows you to visually design storefronts directly in the browser with minimal coding.
We love it for creative entrepreneurs who want stunningly custom sites without needing to know how to code them.
Key Features
- Visual design tool – Drag and drop editor allows you to design exactly how you imagine without touching code.
- CMS functionality – Edit site content intuitively like pages on a Word document.
- Animation capabilities – Animate elements right in editor. Create subtle yet delightful interactions.
- Hosted platform – Webflow stores hosted and optimized for speed, security. Takes hosting off your plate.
- Built-in commerce – Shopping cart, tax calculations, inventory management, dynamic checkout, discounts, and more.
Pros
- Extremely customizable design
- Coding not required
- Very scalable
Cons
- Steep learning curve to master editor
- Fewer ecommerce feature than Shopify
- Must pay extra for priority support access
Pricing
- Basic – $12/month
- CMS – $16/month
- Business – $36/month
5. BigCommerce
True to its name, BigCommerce packs a mighty commerce punch. It comes loaded with features aimed at boosting sales for medium to large operations.
Though one of the pricier options, it’s money well-spent for established merchants needing an enterprise-level solution.
Key Features
- 90+ themes – Beautiful themes designed for all types of stores. Customization available.
- Order management suite – Save custom buyer info, automated order processing, custom status settings and more.
- Abandoned cart saver – Detailed analytics on abandons. Automated emails to win back customers.
- Advanced promotions – Limitless options for discounts, coupons, product bundles, free gifts and more.
- Built-in marketplace – Sell your brand alongside complementary ones in a turnkey online bazaar.
Pros
- Very scalable for enterprise brands
- Loaded with high level commerce functionality
- Helps maximize average order value
Cons
- Much more complex than Big Cartel or other small business platforms
- Expensive, especially for low volume merchants
- Themes less stylish than Shopify and Squarespace
Pricing
- Standard – $29.95/month
- Plus – $79.95/month
- Pro – $249.95/month
6. Volusion
Volusion strikes a nice balance between affordability and capability. We recommend it for growing brands that have outgrown entry-level solutions but aren’t yet enterprise level.
The affordable starter plan has all the essentials. And growth tiers unlock more advanced functionality without breaking the bank.
Key Features
- 100+ themes – Plenty of polished, mobile-ready designs to choose from. Custom branding available.
- Centralized dashboard – Manage orders, inventory, customers, analytics and more from one place.
- Built-in marketing suite – Email campaigns, loyalty programs, SEO manager, social media integrations, and more.
- PCI Compliance – Volusion handles security protocols and testing so you maintain compliance. One less worry.
- Abandoned cart saver – Detailed analytics plus automated win-back emails for abandoned checkouts.
Pros
- Very fairly priced
- Nice balance of essential and advanced commerce features
- Good middle ground solution with room to grow
Cons
- More limited design customization than Shopify & Wix
- Fewer app integrations than Shopify
- Smaller market share than Shopify and BigCommerce
Pricing
- Personal – $29/month
- Professional – $79/month
- Business – $299/month
7. 3dcart
Recently rebranded as Shift4Shop, 3dcart packs a mighty commerce punch just like BigCommerce.
The key difference: 3dcart delivers its abundance of advanced features at extremely affordable rates – with a free plan to boot!
We love it for early-stage ventures wanting enterprise-grade power on a microbusiness budget.
Key Features
- 100+ themes – No shortage of polished designs. All mobile/responsive ready.
- Powerful commerce suite – Coupons, promotions, loyalty programs, CRM, fraud protection, automation, and more.
- Robust inventory – Real-time visibility into stock levels across warehouses and sales channels.
- Built-in marketing – Retarget shoppers, access SEO tools, build email lists, review sites automatically and more.
- PCI compliant – Built to abide by banking security protocols for safe transactions.
Pros
- Very affordable pricing
- Strikingly advanced features for the low cost
- Free branded plan available
Cons
- Dated admin dashboard UI
- Steeper learning curve than beginner platforms like Big Cartel
Pricing
- Free – $0/month
- Basic – $9.99/month
- Plus – $29.99/month
- Pro – $79.99/month
8. Ecwid
Ecwid is an interesting hybrid commerce solution. It provides smooth checkout capabilities you can embed onto sites built with popular website builders.
We recommend it for solopreneurs who already have a website they love but now want to tack commerce onto it.
Key Features
- Universal embed – Add Ecwid checkout seamlessly onto Squarespace, Wix, WordPress, Weebly and more.
- Mobile optimized – Checkout flows beautifully on smartphones and tablets.
- Unlimited products – No arbitrary limits on your catalog size.
- Decent ecommerce features – Inventory tracking, shipping rate calculations, discount tools and more.
- 55+ languages – Natively supports nearly every global language. No translating necessary.
Pros
- Lets you keep website you already love
- Smooth mobile checkout
- Very affordable
Cons
- Less advanced features than dedicated platforms like Shopify
- Limited design control compared to natively built stores
- Can feel disconnected from rest of site
Pricing
- Free – $0/month (5 products, 500 MB bandwidth)
- Venture – $12.50/month (25 products, 2.5 GB bandwidth)
- Business – $35/month (unlimited products & bandwidth)
Big Cartel vs Leading Alternatives Compared
| Big Cartel | Shopify | Squarespace | Wix | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Use Case | Artists, makers, very small stores | Scalable stores needing abundant features | Balanced features & beautiful templates | Smaller stores wanting ease of use |
| Key Features | Limited product options, basic ecommerce features, basic themes | Robust commerce features, large app ecosystem, wide theme selection | Lovely templates, smooth commerce experience, some marketing features | Intuitive drag & drop builder, decent ecommerce feature set |
| Ease of Use | Very easy | Steeper learning curve | Easy | Very easy |
| Design Customization | Very limited | Very customizable | Some limitations | Highly customizable |
| Cost | $9 – $29/month | $29 – $299/month | $18 – $26/month | $14 – $27/month |
FAQ
Is Big Cartel good for small businesses?
Yes, Big Cartel is an excellent platform for very small businesses like independent artists and makers. For larger businesses expecting significant growth, the limited product options and features may become constraining.
Can you transition from Big Cartel to Shopify?
Yes, it‘s straightforward to migrate from a Big Cartel to Shopify store. Simply set up your Shopify store first. Install the Front Page Migration or Cart2Cart app. Use it to move products, pages, blogs, and other content. Manually transfer remaining elements.
Is Wix cheaper than Shopify?
Wix is significantly cheaper than Shopify for starter stores. Its basic "Combo" plan runs $14/month vs $29/month for basic Shopify. However, Wix charges bandwidth usage fees that can raise costs for mid-tier stores. And its premium commerce plan cost comes closer to on-par with Shopify.
Can Squarespace compete with Shopify?
For very small stores, Squarespace commerce capabilities often suffice. But for medium to large stores, Shopify provides vastly more advanced features crucial for scaling a business. Squarespace templates tend to be more natively gorgeous than Shopify‘s generic options. But Shopify offers far more customization capability.
Does Big Cartel offer hosting?
No. Merchants must arrange their own hosting for Big Cartel sites. Alternative services like Shopify and Squarespace provide turnkey hosting and domain services.
Final Thoughts
We hope this detailed guide has helped illuminate fantastic Big Cartel alternatives to meet your business’s needs.
The right choice comes down to your budget, catalog size, desired features, and willingness to manage complexity. Small hobby stores may thrive on Big Cartel or Wix. Mid-market brands need progressive solutions like Shopify or Squarespace supporting their growth trajectory. Enterprise merchants require heavy duty tools BigCommerce and 3dcart offer.
No matter where you land, we wish tremendous success growing your online business!
