Big Cartel Review (2026): All the Pros and Cons

In this Big Cartel review, I’m going to be attempting to answer the question: “Is Big Cartel the right website builder for your brand?”

Big Cartel is a relatively versatile and flexible SaaS tool, designed to help anyone develop a strong online presence with minimal coding knowledge.

The solution advertises itself as the “go-to” site builder for artists and creators, but companies can sell virtually anything they choose on Big Cartel, with minimal effort.

At Ecommerce-Platforms.com, we’ve tested ecommerce platforms hands-on since 2012. This update covers new pricing and selling tools.

Let’s find out if it’s right for you.

Key Takeaways 🔍

• Plans: Gold is free; Platinum costs $15/month; Diamond costs $30/month.
• Processing: Stripe or PayPal charges separately.
• Paid features: Native downloads and in-person selling require Platinum or Diamond.
• Free-plan limits: Five products, one image each, no custom domain.
• Best for: Artists, bands and makers with small catalogs and an existing audience.

📢 Read about the recent changes I’ve made to this page

Updated October 2026: pricing, plan limits, digital products, print-on-demand, Shopify and Etsy comparisons, and seller-specific recommendations.

Big Cartel Pros and Cons

Let’s dive into some of the pros and cons I’ve found when experimenting with the Big Cartel platform. Overall, Big Cartel does have a lot of value to offer. However, as you’ll see, the service is primarily suited to a very specific type of seller.

How We Reviewed Big Cartel?

When I first wrote this review of Big Cartel, I experimented mostly with the free version of the service to get a taste for the ecommerce features and functionality.

For this update, I rechecked every plan, price and feature against Big Cartel’s current pricing page and help center, and I separate what Gold can do from what needs a paid plan. See “How We Test Ecommerce Platforms” below.

What is Big Cartel?

Let’s start with the basics. As I mentioned above, Big Cartel is a SaaS (Software as a Service) platform, created for the development of websites and ecommerce stores.

The platform is fully hosted, unlike open-source alternatives like WordPress and WooCommerce. This means you don’t need to manage hosting, security, and other factors manually.

Big Cartel focuses primarily on members of the creator economy, like influencers selling merch, artists, and other creators.

This probably makes sense when you consider the origins of the platform. It was designed in 2005 by a musician named Matt Wigham, who wanted a simpler way to sell his band’s merchandise online.

He co-founded it with Eric Turner in Salt Lake City. Big Cartel remains privately owned.

Though it focuses mainly on creative merchants, Big Cartel is flexible enough to work for a wide range of business owners.

Big Cartel says more than 3 million shops have opened on the platform since 2005. That’s a cumulative figure, not a count of active stores.

It doesn’t offer a lot of the extensive and advanced features offered by larger ecommerce platforms, but it does offer a great way to get started online if you’re low on time and money.

What’s Changed on Big Cartel Since 2024

• August 2024: Tap to Pay, shipping labels, abandoned cart emails.
• October 2025: 135 currencies and refreshed admin.
• November 2025: Scheduled drops and native downloads.
• December 2025: Printify and AI Shield.
• 2026: Legal Notice policy, Google/Apple login, shipping improvements, inline editing and relocated Shop designer.

Current prices follow below.

How Does Big Cartel Work?

BigCartel is a hosted website building platform, which runs on its own servers, without the need for any software installation or coding.

You won’t have to experiment with code and programming to get started, which is ideal if you’re a relatively small business owner looking to keep things simple.

Hosting comes included with your monthly price for Big Cartel, alongside basic security features. Because the platform is offered on a “software as a service” basis, you don’t actually own the technology you purchase, but instead pay a monthly fee to access the functionality.

Every plan, including Gold, comes with hosting and SSL. If your shop still opens in the older admin, use the switch banner at the top: digital products, scheduled drops and AI Shield only live in the new admin.

Big Cartel Pricing

Let’s start by looking at the pricing structure.

There are three Big Cartel Pricing plans available:

For me, one of the biggest stand-out features of Big Cartel is its affordable pricing. Perhaps the main reason many creatives dive into Big Cartel, rather than spending extra on a more advanced product, is it’s extremely cost-effective.

Even if you branch out from the free plan to one of the premium options, you’ll still pay less than you would for many other platforms.

There are three pricing plans available from Big Cartel in total, starting with the free “Gold” plan. This allows you to sell up to 5 products online, and include one image per product on your site pages.

The pricing page now leads with the paid plans, so look for the “free, limited feature Gold Plan” link. Gold covers online selling with one customizable template (Cosmos), and real-time analytics are built-in to help you boost your sales.

You can also set product option groups, for customizable items like clothing. Big Cartel’s free plan even includes access to the tool’s sales tax autopilot service for shops selling in USD to the US and Puerto Rico.

Here’s a breakdown of each pricing plan:

Feature	Gold	Platinum	Diamond
Monthly price	$0	$15	$30
Billed annually	$0	$12/month, $144/year	$24/month, $288/year
Products	5	50	500
Images per product	1	5	25
Templates	Cosmos customization	All 12 + code editing	All 12 + code editing
Custom domain	No	Yes	Yes
In-person selling and mobile app	No	Yes	Yes
Digital products	No	1 file/link per product, 25 GB	5 files/links per product, 250 GB
Abandoned cart emails	No	No	Yes
Support	24/7	24/7	24/7, prioritized

Free plan (Gold)

For hobbyists and people just making the first steps into the digital sales landscape, Big Cartel is an excellent product to experiment with. The free plan is decent for dipping your toe in the water of online sales, with the option to sell up to 5 products easily. The Gold plan offers:

• Support for up to 5 products
• 1 image per product
• One customizable template (Cosmos)
• Selling online
• Real-time stats
• Product option groups
• Sales tax auto pilot
• Product import
• Card and PayPal checkout

The Platinum plan ($15 per month)

For those who need the freedom to sell more than just five products, the Platinum plan supports up to 50 products, with 5 images per product. This package, costing $15 per month, or $12 per month billed annually, is an excellent choice for beginner business owners who want a little room to scale. Features include:

• Support for 50 products
• Five images per product
• Online and in-person sales
• Real-time stats
• Custom domain support
• Theme code editing
• Google analytics
• Inventory tracking
• Promotion management
• Bulk editing
• Shipment tracking
• Product option groups
• Sales tax management
• Digital products and custom pages
• All 12 templates
• Shipping labels and Buy Now Pay Later

The Diamond plan ($30 per month)

The most expensive plan from Big Cartel is still extremely affordable for most companies, at $30 per month ($24 billed annually) for listing up to 500 products. There are no listing fees to worry about, and you get all the features of the Platinum plan, plus a few extras. Features include:

• 500 products
• 25 images per product
• Online or in-person sales
• Real-time stats
• Custom domain
• Code editing for themes
• Google analytics
• Tracking for your inventory
• Offer discounts and promo codes
• Bulk editing
• Product groups
• Shipment tracking
• Autopilot for sales tax
• Abandoned cart emails
• Scheduled drops and password-protected products
• Automatic discounts
• Prioritized support
• Advanced GA4 reporting
• Zapier connections

The last “Titanium” plan for Big Cartel is no longer an option at the time of writing.

Is Big Cartel Good Value for Money?

• Annual billing saves 20%: Refundable within 14 days; monthly subscriptions aren’t refundable.
• The trial needs a card: Seven days of Platinum, then $15/month unless you cancel or downgrade.
• Downgrading removes work: Gold disconnects your domain, deletes custom pages and resets your template to Cosmos. More than five products puts your shop in maintenance mode.
• Processing costs extra: Stripe and PayPal fees remain separate.

Author’s Testing Notes 📝

I recommend annual Platinum for most artists and makers. Use Gold for a five-product test; choose Diamond for drops, cart recovery or more than 50 products.

How Easy is Big Cartel to Use?

I had absolutely no trouble getting started with Big Cartel, even on the basic free plan. The solution has specifically been designed for beginners, with no coding or technical knowledge required.

As soon as you sign up for a plan, you can easily start searching through themes and customizing the components of your store to the needs of your specific audience. Since August 2026, use Shop designer in the main menu.

Within the all-in-one dashboard, you’ll be able to access information on the number of visitors who have come to your store within a specific time period, as well as order and conversion numbers. You’ll also be able to track the evolution of your store over time.

The onboarding process is also very straightforward for beginners, with useful prompts and a clean navigation system on the back-end.

Once you get through to the theme/template editor, you’ll find this tool is very beginner-friendly too. The primary settings for your store are located on the left hand of the screen, and you can monitor the changes you make on the right side.

Notably, there’s limited drag-and-drop functionality on the theme customizer, particularly when compared with tools like Wix and Squarespace.

Users can choose from a long list of Google fonts, and changing your site colors is as simple as clicking a button. You can also edit your HTML and CSS codes on your store if you have a premium plan.

My Experience Signing Up in 2026

My original Gold experience differs from today’s default offer: a card-required Platinum trial.

1. Register with email, shop name and password.
2. Choose Gold or the trial.
3. Connect payments under Settings > Payments.
4. Add products.
5. Set shipping.
6. Customize in Shop designer and open your shop.

Author’s Testing Notes 📝

I recommend Gold for testing without a card. Set a day-six reminder if you choose Platinum’s trial.

Adding Products and Managing your Store

When the time comes to add products to your store, you’ll have two options. Import an Etsy, Squarespace or Shopify export, or use Big Cartel’s CSV template. Imports arrive hidden.

The other option is to add each product manually through Products > Add product.

Adding products couldn’t be more straightforward. However, you may find you struggle to present your items to customers in a range of different ways. Gold displays one image, Platinum five and Diamond 25.

Additionally, you can only add video to products if you’re comfortable with embedding content from other platforms like Vimeo or YouTube. Seven templates support homepage video; Big Cartel doesn’t host it.

The iOS and Android apps require a paid plan, as does inline price, stock and status editing. Assign categories inside product forms.

However, if you’re planning on doing anything more advanced with your Big Cartel store, you may need to be prepared to dive into some coding and programming.

Design and Templates

As I mentioned above, editing the visual presence of your store is relatively straightforward with Big Cartel. Unlike other store builders, Big Cartel ensures all of the themes you might need to access are free to use. You’ll also be able to browse through different templates based on the kind of store you want to build, which can save you some time and effort.

Overall, Big Cartel’s themes are pretty modern and attractive. They’re fully responsive, so you can rest assured they’ll adapt to the needs of your customers on any device. However, you’ll have 12 templates to choose from overall, which is a lot less than you’d get from other platforms.

Since Big Cartel focuses primarily on the creative landscape, the templates are aesthetically appealing and eye-catching. However, there are some simpler “general purpose” templates too, such as the “Neat” option, or even the “Ranger” theme.

Although the templates are relatively flexible, they may not provide the traditionally “corporate” image some business leaders are looking for.

• Cosmos
• Luna
• Netizen
• Lunch Break
• Picklejuice
• Ranger
• Neat
• Roadie
• Sunscreen
• Sidecar
• Trace
• Foundry

Gold customizes only Cosmos. Paid plans unlock all templates, custom pages and code editing; restore designs through Backups in Shop designer.

Compare live gallery examples RODA and Bee Illustrates before choosing. There’s no section or block builder.

Payment Options

The good news for sellers looking to get started online as quickly as possible, is Big Cartel comes with the option to connect to a range of payment gateways.

Although there’s no built-in solution installed, you can easily manage transactions through well-known providers like PayPal and Stripe. These remain the only two processors.

No matter which gateway you choose, Big Cartel won’t charge you any extra transaction fees.

• Stripe: Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link, Amazon Pay and Cash App; fees start at 2.9% + $0.30.
• Buy Now Pay Later through Stripe: Afterpay/Clearpay, Affirm and Klarna on paid plans; installment fees start at 6% + $0.30.
• PayPal: Balance, cards, PayPal Credit and US Venmo; most transactions cost 2.99% + $0.49. A verified PayPal Business account is required.

Confirm your processor’s regional rates before launch.

Another point worth noting is Big Cartel might not be ideal if you want to offer multiple different currencies to customers at the same time.

Big Cartel supports 135 currencies, up from 20 in October 2025, but displays one at a time. Conversion happens at checkout, not through a localized storefront.

Tax Calculation and Management

One thing I really did like about Big Cartel is it comes with tools already included to help you manage your tax settings.

Sales Tax Autopilot calculates, collects and remits tax on eligible online orders to the US and Puerto Rico. Every plan qualifies if your shop prices in USD.

Set manual rates elsewhere. There’s no automatic EU VAT or IOSS handling.

The Legal Notice (Impressum) policy option, added January 2026, supports sellers in countries including Germany and the UK. It doesn’t replace tax obligations.

If you need VAT tools you might need to consider a plug-in service, external software, or something like Shopify.

Point of Sale (POS) Features and Selling

Crucially, Big Cartel does give you some options for selling both online and offline at the same time. In-person selling requires Platinum or Diamond. The app records cash sales, and card payments run through Stripe.

Use a Stripe reader from $59, or Tap to Pay on compatible Android phones and iPhones XS or later in supported countries. Tap to Pay excludes iPads.

Checkout applies discounts and a flat tax rate, emails receipts and tracks inventory. Big Cartel doesn’t remit in-person sales tax.

Big Cartel only documents phone-based checkout and Stripe readers, so don’t plan on cash drawers, receipt printers or barcode scanners. For this kind of multi-channel functionality, you need a more advanced platform.

Paid plans also include digital downloads.

Selling at a Market With the Big Cartel App

1. Install the iOS or Android app.
2. Open In-Person Checkout and tap the gear.
3. Enable payment methods and enter location and tax rate.
4. Add items, apply discounts, take payment and email the receipt.

Selling Digital Products on Big Cartel

Since November 2025, Big Cartel’s paid plans have included native downloads with no platform sales fee. Only processing fees apply; Gold cannot sell downloads.

I recommend native delivery over an extra app for a small music or pattern catalog.

• Platinum: One file or link per product; 25 GB total storage.
• Diamond: Five files or links per product; 250 GB total.
• Upload limit: 1 GB per file, or use a Google Drive or Dropbox link.
• Variants: Different variants can deliver different files.
• Repeat downloads: Buyers reuse their receipt page or email link while the product remains listed.

To publish:

1. Open the new admin on Platinum or Diamond.
2. Select Products > Add Product > Digital Product.
3. Upload a file or paste its link.
4. Set price and variants, then change the product to Active.

Pulley still exists and is run by Big Cartel, LLC, but you no longer need it for Big Cartel downloads.

Good fits include:

• Albums and digital zines
• Sewing or knitting patterns
• Presets and print-ready artwork

Managing Products

So, you can sell a range of digital and physical products through Big Cartel. The question is, how easy is it to manage everything in one place?

Well, first of all, you’ll be limited to a maximum of 500 products, even if you pay for the most expensive plan.

However, you can add some variations and options to your products if they come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

The “Options” component in the Big Cartel product page will allow you to provide your customers with a range of different versions of products to choose from, like small, large, or medium.

There’s also the option to enable “option groups”, which allow customers to mix and match the options based on their needs.

Merchants can create dropdown menus for specific product attributes, such as color and size. This means your customers are free to choose the exact product they want. You can create up to 150 product options with Big Cartel, as well as three option groups.

Assign categories inside product forms or through bulk editing, not automatic tag-based rules. Inventory tracking and bulk editing require Platinum or Diamond.

Diamond’s cart recovery is off by default. Enable Settings > Communications > Send abandoned cart emails. Shoppers who entered an email can receive reminders after roughly two and 24 hours, styled with your header and theme color.

Drops and Early Access (Diamond)

• Scheduled drops: Available since November 2025.
• Password-protected products: Offer early access.
• Automatic discounts: Apply promotions without codes.

Marketing and SEO

One thing I always like to pay close attention to when reviewing an ecommerce or website builder, is the ability to access marketing tools. After all, without a good marketing strategy, you’re going to struggle to get the customers you need to your stores.

Big Cartel, unfortunately, doesn’t provide email marketing as-standard. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t access marketing functionality at all. You’ll just need to make sure you’re using the right integration instead.

Mailchimp and Omnisend provide newsletter connections. Zapier, listed with Diamond, supports custom connections.

Paid-plan options include:

• Promo codes: Platinum and Diamond.
• Automatic discounts and audience targeting: Diamond.
• Shopping channels: Instagram, Facebook and Google Shopping.
• Tracking: Pinterest Tag, TikTok Pixel and Facebook Pixel.

SEO and Blogging

Outside of email marketing, there are a few other ways you can boost your store presence with Big Cartel.

Templates generate metadata from your shop description and product or page text. Technical features include:

• Search-friendly URLs and HTML markup
• Headers, anchors and image alt tags
• Sitemap.xml and robots.txt
• SSL and Google Search Console connection

Big Cartel doesn’t document manual meta-title or description controls.

Perhaps the most problematic thing I encountered when exploring the marketing features available for Big Cartel, was an overall lack of blogging functionality. This is actually quite a surprising omission for a brand committed to serving creative vendors. Most creative professionals will want the option to boost their thought leadership and SEO presence through blogging.

It’s not entirely impossible to create a blog, of course. You can still add third-party apps to your site which enable blogging functionality.

DropInBlog requires another subscription and editor. For content-led selling, I recommend Shopify instead.

AI Shield, available on all plans, blocks AI-training crawlers without affecting search indexing.

Security and Privacy: Is Big Cartel Safe to Use?

Like most hosted platforms, Big Cartel does come with security functionality built-in, so you don’t have to worry as much about adding third-party plugins.

• SSL encryption: Storefront, admin and checkout.
• Custom-domain certificates: Free through Let’s Encrypt.
• Login alerts: Emails for new devices.
• Device management: Active-device list and remote logout.
• Social login: Google and Apple sign-in since March 2026.

That being said, the security features aren’t quite as advanced as they could be. I personally struggled to find any options for implementing solutions like multi-factor authentication into the platform.

Big Cartel doesn’t list a two-factor setting. Use Google or Apple sign-in with that account’s two-step verification, or a strong, unique password for direct login.

Stripe and PayPal handle card data, authorization, fraud protection and payouts. Big Cartel doesn’t publish its own PCI statement; ask support before launch if your business requires one.

Additionally, Big Cartel is pretty limited when it comes to adhering to GDPR laws too. While your data is kept secure by the platform, and you can create pages showing your customers the right privacy and security documents, there are limitations on cookie banners.

There’s no built-in consent banner. Configure an appropriate consent tool for analytics or ad pixels without blocking essential cart, session and checkout cookies.

Shipping and Dropshipping With Big Cartel

If you’re selling physical products through Big Cartel, then you’re going to need to actually get them to your customers. Fortunately, there are a few options available from Big Cartel here.

You can offer your customers free shipping, in-store pickup, and flat rate shipping options. Shipping Profiles handle standard rates and exceptions for heavy or separately shipped items.

US paid-plan sellers can enable Automatic Shipping Rates for domestic and international USPS quotes based on weight and dimensions. Non-US sellers use manual profiles.

• Shipping Labels: Up to 90% off for paid-plan sellers in the US, Canada and UK.
• External fulfillment: ShipStation and Pirate Ship.
• Combined shipping: One total across profiles since April 2026.

On the other hand, Big Cartel does give you a few options for integrating with third-party logistics partners if you’re interested in exploring dropshipping or print-on-demand capabilities.

This could be ideal for a lot of content creators and “creative” website owners who want to keep costs low.

• Printful and Printify: Print-on-demand merchandise.
• Art of Where: Custom printed products.
• theprintspace/CreativeHub: Fine-art prints.
• DSers: AliExpress dropshipping.

How the Print-on-Demand Workflow Works

1. Choose Platinum or Diamond. Gold excludes app integrations.
2. Connect Printful or Printify from the apps page, free of charge.
3. Publish products through the app. Printify synchronizes variants, images, prices and orders.
4. Enter shipping rates manually for each destination; neither app synchronizes them.

Top Tip 💡

I recommend copying your provider’s rate card into Shipping Profiles before launch. You pay fulfillment costs per order, so undercharging shipping reduces your margin.

Big Cartel Customer Support

Big Cartel advertises 24/7 support with human replies, replacing its earlier office-hours service. It publishes no response-time guarantee.

• In-app messaging: Contact support from your dashboard.
• Email: Available without an account.
• Help center: Step-by-step guidance.
• Monthly live class: Seller instruction.
• Prioritized support: Diamond only.

The help center is pretty robust, and packed with useful information for beginners.

Users praise responsive support, while complaints include processor payout problems and individual shops’ orders. Those aren’t necessarily faults with Big Cartel’s store-building software.

Big Cartel support doesn’t troubleshoot purchases from individual shops. Contact the merchant about an order, or your payment processor about a payout or hold. I recommend identifying who controls the issue before opening a ticket, rather than expecting platform support to resolve a seller’s fulfillment dispute.

Big Cartel Apps and Integrations

As mentioned above, since Big Cartel is relatively limited in a few areas, you may find yourself needing to integrate and embed some extra apps and plugins into the mix.

A lot of ecommerce platforms come with this functionality included, so you can expand the capabilities of your store. Big Cartel is no exception.

Its apps page lists about 25 apps across seven categories. Gold excludes integrations.

• Analytics: GA4 on Platinum; advanced events on Diamond.
• Marketing: Omnisend and Instagram.
• Reviews: Fera.
• Blogging: DropInBlog.
• Shipping: ShipStation and Pirate Ship.

Shopify offers a larger ecosystem. Big Cartel lists Diamond’s Zapier connection to 7,000+ apps, but Zapier’s plans and task limits can add costs. Check your required trigger and action before committing.

You may also find you need to invest more time and effort into configuration, which can be complex for those without technical knowledge.

How Does Big Cartel Compare to Competitors?

I recommend Big Cartel for a small creative catalog, Shopify for its broader app ecosystem, and Etsy for marketplace discovery.

Feature	Big Cartel	Shopify Basic	Etsy
Starting price	Free; Platinum $15/month or $12/month billed annually	About $39/month or $29/month billed annually in the US	No required subscription; $0.20 listing fee
Free option	Gold, 5 products	Short trial, no ongoing free plan	No subscription, but selling fees
Platform transaction fee	0%	Extra fee when not using Shopify Payments	6.5% on item price plus shipping and gift wrap
Payment processing	Stripe from 2.9% + $0.30; PayPal typically 2.99% + $0.49	Confirm current US rates and payment method	US Etsy Payments: 3% + $0.25
Built-in buyer traffic	No marketplace audience	No Etsy-style marketplace audience	Marketplace discovery
Blog	No native blog	Included	No native shop blog
Expansion	About 25 listed apps; Diamond lists Zapier connections	Broader app ecosystem	Marketplace rules and limited branding
Best for	Small creative catalogs	Brands needing more integrations	Sellers seeking discovery

Big Cartel vs Shopify

Platinum costs about $24 less per month than Shopify Basic’s approximately $39 US monthly price, before processing fees.

I favor Shopify when a native blog or broader app ecosystem matters more than the lowest subscription bill. Big Cartel keeps setup simpler but leaves content marketing dependent on add-ons.

Big Cartel accepts Shopify product exports. Imported products arrive hidden, and products beyond your plan limit are skipped.

Moving out requires planning: Big Cartel documents an orders CSV download, not a built-in product-catalog export. Budget for a migration tool or manual move.

Check current Shopify US pricing before paying. If you need a native blog, start there rather than adding another subscription to Big Cartel.

Big Cartel vs Etsy

Etsy brings marketplace shoppers; Big Cartel provides your own storefront without a per-sale platform fee. I favor Big Cartel when you already attract buyers.

Etsy’s standard US fees include:

• Listings: $0.20, renewed every four months and when another unit sells.
• Transactions: 6.5% on item price plus shipping and gift wrap.
• Processing: 3% + $0.25.
• Offsite Ads: Up to 15% on attributed sales.

Big Cartel imports Etsy exports with listings initially hidden. Keep Etsy accessible until product images finish copying.

Running both preserves Etsy discovery while you build a branded shop. Lower platform fees don’t replace a customer-acquisition plan.

Platform	$500/month: 20 orders	$1,000/month: 40 orders
Big Cartel Platinum: $15 + Stripe fees	About $36	About $56
Shopify Basic: $39 + modeled processing fees	About $60	About $80
Etsy: listing renewals + transaction and processing fees	About $57	About $113

This illustration assumes $25 US card orders, monthly billing and one Etsy renewal per sale. For Shopify, it models processing at 2.9% + $0.30, not a confirmed current rate. Shipping, taxes, advertising and optional extras are excluded.

Big Cartel costs least under these assumptions. Etsy’s fees buy marketplace access, not guaranteed sales.

Other alternatives:

• Squarespace: Design-led portfolios with a blog.
• Wix: More template choice and drag-and-drop editing.

How We Test Ecommerce Platforms

At Ecommerce-Platforms.com, we’ve tested ecommerce platforms hands-on since 2012 and regularly retest them.

The review criteria are:

• Pricing
• Ease of use
• Templates and design
• Sales features

I first reviewed Big Cartel primarily on its free plan. My comments about onboarding and the editor come from that experience. My recommendations separate Gold’s capabilities from paid-plan features, so you can choose a plan for your actual catalog, selling channels and design needs.

Should You Use Big Cartel?

If you’re looking for a convenient way to sell online through your own ecommerce business, Big Cartel will set you up with everything you need.

You can create a secure checkout through Stripe or PayPal. Eligible USD shops get automatic US sales tax on every plan.

Big Cartel features range from simple hosting, to an easy-to-use environment for managing your ecommerce business and launching promos.

However, BigCartel.com does have some limitations. Cart recovery requires Diamond, catalogs stop at 500 products, and payment-processing fees remain separate.

There’s no native blog or email marketing, and inventory tracking starts on Platinum.

However, if you want a way to start selling online without having to worry about theme code and programming, this could be the solution for you.

My Verdict by Seller Type

Seller type	Best plan	Verdict
Musician or band selling merch at gigs	Platinum	Yes: combine Tap to Pay, POD merchandise and digital albums.
Illustrator or print seller	Platinum	Yes: 50 products, five images each and fine-art fulfillment integrations.
Apparel brand running drops	Diamond	Yes: scheduled drops, password-protected products, cart recovery and 25 images.
Digital creator	Platinum or Diamond	Yes: no platform sales fee; Diamond supports five files per product.
Seller leaving Etsy	Platinum	Yes for margins, provided you can bring your own traffic.
Non-US seller or catalog near 500 products	Consider alternatives	Skip if manual international operations or the catalog ceiling won’t work.

I recommend Platinum for most small creative shops with an audience. Choose Diamond when its launch tools solve a specific problem, not simply because it’s positioned for scaling.

Non-US sellers can still use Big Cartel with manual tax and shipping settings. If your catalog is approaching 500 products, choose a larger platform before migration becomes another project.

Try Big Cartel through the free Gold link, or choose the card-required seven-day Platinum trial to explore paid features.

FAQ

How much does Big Cartel cost in 2026?

Gold costs nothing, Platinum costs $15 monthly, and Diamond costs $30 monthly. Annual billing brings the paid plans to $12 and $24 per month. Catalog limits are 5, 50 and 500 products. Payment-processing charges apply separately; see “Big Cartel Pricing” for the feature breakdown.

Is there a Big Cartel free trial?

Yes. The seven-day Platinum trial requires a card and allows selling. It automatically becomes a $15 monthly subscription unless you cancel or downgrade before it ends. Gold is an ongoing free plan instead, with no card requirement and fewer features.

Is Big Cartel better than Etsy?

Big Cartel suits sellers who already attract buyers and want their own storefront with lower platform fees. Etsy suits sellers seeking marketplace discovery. The comparison above estimates about $56 versus $113 at $1,000 in monthly sales, excluding advertising and other extras.

Is Big Cartel better than Shopify?

Big Cartel wins for a small creative shop prioritizing subscription cost and straightforward setup. Shopify offers a native blog and broader app ecosystem. Choose based on the features you need now, rather than paying for expansion tools your shop won’t use.

Can I sell digital downloads and print-on-demand products on Big Cartel?

Yes, on either paid plan. Native downloads include 25 GB on Platinum or 250 GB on Diamond. Printful and Printify charge no connection fee, but you pay fulfillment costs. Their shipping charges don’t synchronize, so enter matching destination rates in Big Cartel.

Can I move my Etsy or Shopify store to Big Cartel, and can I leave later?

Yes. Import Etsy or Shopify product exports, then review the hidden listings before publishing. Keep your old store accessible while images transfer. For a later move out, plan a migration tool or manual transfer: Big Cartel documents orders CSV downloads, not a built-in catalog export.

Is Big Cartel legit and safe to use?

Big Cartel is a privately owned company founded in 2005, with SSL and payments handled through Stripe and PayPal. Account protections include login alerts and social sign-in. Before launch, address cookie consent and review account security, including the lack of a documented native two-factor setting.