15 Best Big Cartel Alternatives (2024)

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When it comes to the matter of ecommerce platforms, Big Cartel is definitely one of the big names out there today. Still, the possibility always exists that you may be looking for alternatives to this platform for reasons of your individual needs and/or preferences.

Big Cartel is a pretty compelling choice for businesses that want to start selling online. It’s among the only tools on the web that will allow you to begin selling for free. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the right service for everyone.

Although Big Cartel does have a variety of benefits to explore, it’s also surprisingly difficult to use for some customers, and can be problematic if you’re planning on growing your business in the years to come. Big Cartel is intended more for companies that plan on staying small, so it’s limited in terms of scale and growth.

If you’re keen to see what you can accomplish with a different tool from Big Cartel, you’re in the right place. Here are some of the most impressive BigCartel Alternatives around.

To help you out with this, I have listed the best platforms with a brief review of each below.

What are the Best Big Cartel Alternatives in 2024?

  1. Shopify
  2. Wix
  3. Squarespace
  4. BigCommerce
  5. Square Online
  6. Ecwid
  7. Sellfy
  8. Weebly
  9. Shift4Shop
  10. WooCommerce
  11. PrestaShop
  12. Easy Digital Downloads
  13. CoreCommerce
  14. AmeriCommerce

1. Shopify

shopify homepage - best big cartel alternatives

Widely considered to be one of the top industry players today, Shopify is a natural and powerful Big Cartel alternative. Although more expensive ($14/mo. To $179/mo.) in comparison, the rich set of Shopify’s features coupled with ease of use will probably make it a worthwhile option for most ecommerce needs.

Shopify is one of the best-known solutions for building an online store in the world today. If you want an eCommerce solution that’s brimming with functionality from start to finish, this is the product for you. Companies can choose to sell physical products, or services, depending on their needs, and you get hosting included in the price.

Shopify is a more customizable solution for online selling than many of the competing products out there. One of the biggest reasons for this is the amazing app market offered by the store service. You can easily access a range of built-in apps and integrations and expand the potential of your store in seconds.

Pricing 💰

Shopify is one of the more affordable tools on our Big Cartel alternatives list. If you just want to add shopping functionality to your existing store, you can use the “Lite” function. Alternatively, if you’re looking for something more comprehensive, why not use the $29 Basic or $79 full Shopify package?

Try Shopify for only $1 for the first month!

Shopify has begun offering a special deal for sellers who sign up for a new Shopify plan. That deal? Start a 3-day free trial and enjoy your first month of Shopify for $1. Learn more about the free trial here.

This offer is is now available on all standard plans: Starter, Basic, Shopify, and Advanced.

Pros 👍

  • Excellent hosted ecommerce with tons of speed
  • Multi-channel ecommerce selling
  • Lots of add-ons and integrations
  • Various customization options
  • Good range of packages to choose from

Cons 👎

  • Not the most intuitive for ordering
  • Some limitations to app management

Click here to try Shopify for free or read our full Shopify review.

2. Wix Ecommerce

wix ecommerce homepage - best big cartel alternatives

Wix stands out as our top choice for building an online store, because it’s so easy to use, immersive, and packed with fantastic features. Wix is a flexible website builder that avoids any of the complex technology that might hold a standard store owner back.

With Wix, you get access to incredible tools like an AI system that can assist you in choosing the best design for your website. You’ll also be able to make various changes to your stie based on your brand, like adding different colors or logos, or experimenting with themes through the drag-and-drop interface. All that, and it’s affordable too.

Pricing 💰

Wix pricing begins with a free trial, so you can experiment with some of the functionality before you dive in. There’s a cheap beginner package starting at around $13 per month, and this will allow you to accept online payments. Packages increase in price if you want more functionality, like access to upselling and cross-selling features.

Pros 👍

  • Excellent hosting included
  • Great range of mobile friendly designs
  • AI access and immersive tools
  • Lots of extra apps to choose from
  • Very easy to use

Cons 👎

  • Some limitations to product options
  • Limited scale for some companies

Best for ✅

Wix stands out as a market-leading tool for virtually every business owner who wants to stand out online. You can use this state-of-the-art technology to launch online as quickly as possible, even if you’re just a small starting business.

Click here to try Wix or read our full Wix Ecommerce review.

3. Squarespace

squarespace homepage - best big cartel alternatives

Squarespace, over and above the standard ecommerce features, also packs some unusual extras that can come in quite handy for specialist professionals like musicians, artists, bloggers etc. You should definitely check it out as an alternative to BigCartel.

Squarespace can give you a fantastic entry point into the world of online selling, although it does have some limitations as a full service for online sales.

Pricing 💰

Pricing for Squarespace start at around $12 for a personal site, but this won’t give you access to any store functionality. You’ll need an eCommerce package, which starts at around $26 per month if you want to access transactions online.

Pros 👍

  • Excellent range of templates
  • Fantastic SEO functionality
  • Decent range of pricing options
  • Lots of customizations to choose from
  • Various extra features

Cons 👎

  • Better suited to blogging than sales
  • Limited for scalability

Best for ✅

Squarespace is a great alternative to Volusion if you’re looking for a simple way to sell a few products from your website or blog. This probably isn’t the tool for you if you’re looking into building a large, scalable enterprise platform.

Click here to try SquareSpace or read our full platform review here.

4. BigCommerce

bigcommerce homepage - best big cartel alternatives

With more than 100 in-built features aided by an even larger number of apps/add-ons, BigCommerce can certainly hold its own in terms of ecommerce platform features and popularity today. Despite the above-industry-average pricing ($29.95/mo. to $199.95/mo.), you should check it out as an alternative to BigCartel.

Among the most popular tools for online selling available today, BigCommerce is packed full of amazing features to fall in love with. This immersive solution for online sales allows merchants to scale their companies at speed. BigCommerce is brimming with technology like SSL encryption and PCI compliance to make selling safer too.

Through BigCommerce, you can unlock everything from professional looking templates to powerful analytics and insights that help you strengthen your position on the web. There’s even API access available for integration with the services you use most.

Pricing 💰

Like many alternatives to Big Cartel, the pricing for BigCommerce starts with a free 15-day trial, so you can get to know the functionality a little better. The standard pricing starts at $29.95 per month, with bigger packages available at $79.95 and $299.95.

Pros 👍

  • Transparent monthly pricing
  • SSL and PCI compliance
  • Excellent range of segmentation options
  • Lots of developer and integration access
  • Apps and payment gateway options

Cons 👎

  • Can be expensive to access all features
  • Significant learning curve

Best for ✅

BigCommerce is a good choice if you’re looking for a highly scalable solution for online sales that can grow at the same speed as your business. There are tons of great high-level features to explore, particularly on more expensive plans.

Click here to try BigCommerce or read our full BigCommerce Review.

5. Square Online

square online - big cartel alternatives

Not as well-known as some of the other Big Cartel alternatives on the market, Square Online is more common among people with offline businesses. The Square POS system is one of the best in the world, and the brand has plenty of customers using its card readers and payment options at all times. However, what you may not know is that you can also create a free store with Square Online.

If you’ve ever used the Square environment for inventory management, bookings, and payment processing, then you’ll feel right at home with Square Online. This website builder essentially allows you to take your offline business into the online world with excellent syncing for your inventory and customer information.

Square Online also allows users to increase functionality based on the industry they’re in or kind of store they’re trying to run. You can add things like Bookings for restaurants, for instance. Square also includes plenty of tools for things like watching your inventory, managing supply chains, and collaborating with team members.

Pricing 💰

Square Online is a popular choice among offline companies migrating into the online world, largely because it’s free to use. You can design your website without paying anything, but you will need to abide by the Square Online transaction fees. The fee is around 2.5% for every transaction, which might not seem like a lot of first, but can be annoying alongside other fees like payment processing costs.

Pros 👍

  • Excellent for combining online and offline selling
  • Free for beginners
  • Easy environment for inventory management
  • Lots of tools to explore
  • Great AI functionality
  • Small learning curve

Cons 👎

  • Must use Square for payment processing
  • Not the most advanced builder in terms of customization

Best for ✅

Square Online is definitely a great Big Cartel alternative if you’re looking for a way to transition your store into the online world. You can easily upgrade the functionality of your store when you need to and add extra elements depending on the kind of products and services you offer. Inventory syncing tools are a huge bonus too.

Click here to try Square Online for free or read our full Square Online review.

6. Ecwid

ecwid homepage - best big cartel alternatives

A popular choice for those in search of a convenient sales solution, Ecwid might not have the most customer support, but it’s great for getting online and selling in a range of environments. The Ecwid solution is an open-source plugin for small business sites. You can use it with tools like Drupal and WordPress. If you already have a site, Ecwid will give you the tools you need to start selling digitally.

Ecwid offers a flexible solution for online selling that ensures you can access all of the features of WordPress and other popular content management solutions with a highly customizable design, and a range of plugins. You won’t get as many built-in features like advanced inventory management like you might get with some of the other best big cartel alternatives, but you do get a simple and effective ecommerce site.

Pricing 💰

Pricing for Ecwid starts with a free package, where you can start selling through a range of different CMS solutions like WordPress in no time. The price you pay will go up depending on extra ecommerce software features, optimization elements, and tools.

Pros 👍

  • Ideal if you already have a website
  • User-friendly environment for web design
  • Range of ways for retailers to sell products
  • Accepts various credit card transactions
  • No limit on product options
  • Mobile app support

Cons 👎

  • Not as much built-in functionality as other solutions
  • Best-suited to smaller companies

Best for ✅

Ecwid is a great solution if you want to take payments and sell products online through a simple backend and interface. The offering will help you to stay ahead of the curve with a series of affordable and reliable features.

7. Sellfy

sellfy homepage - best big cartel alternatives

Sellfy aims itself at different types of creators who want to sell print-on-demand, digital, and/or subscription products. More than 60,000 creators use the platform, earning a combined total of $100,000,000. 

Sellfy works in two ways:

  1. As a standalone online storefront 

OR

  1. You can add a ‘Buy Now’ button to any website you already have. 

Like many platforms on this list, Sellfy is fully customizable and can enable you to get your online store up and running in as little as five minutes. You can add and change logos, fonts, and colors and create layouts to match your brand. In addition, you can optimize your store to make it mobile-friendly and connect your own domain name. 

Sellfy comes with built-in marketing features, including email marketing and discount codes. However, these features aren’t available on lower-priced plans. 

Unlike other eCommerce platforms such as Shopify, Sellfy’s primarily a solution for creatives, musicians, artists, and online course creators. However, you’ll also find online store owners selling physical products on the platform. 

The platform works with Zapier, so you can integrate with lots of other tools. 

Pricing 💰

You can check out Sellfy with its 14-day free trial. After that, there are three plans, starting at $22 a month, with the Business plan costing $59 a month and the most expensive, the Premium plan, at $119 a month.  

Pros 👍

  • There’s a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
  • You can sell print on demand, digital, or subscription products.
  • Your customers benefit from SSL secure payments.
  • The paid plans include a generous amount of email credits – i.e., the number of emails you can send per month using Sellfy’s built-in email marketing feature.

Cons 👎

  • Their website is a tad light on information
  • You can’t remove Sellfy’s branding unless you upgrade to the Business plan

Best for ✅

Creators that want a platform they can use to get up and running in a short time. It’s also ideal for anyone wishing to sell digital products online (providing they have the budget for a paid plan). 

8. Weebly

weebly homepage - best big cartel alternatives

If you are looking for another easy to use platform then Weebly is a great alternative to the other platforms. You don’t get close to the amount of features as Shopify, but their highest plan is a bit cheaper than the Big Cartel Titanium Plan, so if you’re short on money, Weebly is a solid choice.

Weebly is one of the better-known Big Cartel alternatives on the market today. Designed to help you get your entire business online fast, Weebly has everything from shopping cart functionality to blogging and professional themes. The drag and drop builder makes customization easy, and there are tons of extra components you can add to your store too.

Weebly offers a host of great features to explore, including custom fonts, video and audio hosting, site search, video backgrounds, and image editing. Weebly even just allows you to use the basic features of the site builder for free.

Pricing 💰

Although there is a free version of Weebly available, you’ll need at least the Pro business package at £9 per month if you want to run an online store. This comes with free SSL certificate, a free domain, Google ads, and the option to remove Weebly branding. Pricing packages go up to £28 per month.

Pros 👍

  • Free domain and SSL certificate
  • Insights and site stats
  • Lots of support and guidance
  • Easy to use back-end environment
  • SEO and lead capture forms

Cons 👎

  • Some limitations for larger businesses

Best for ✅

Weebly is ideal for smaller companies or sellers looking to make their start online. Weebly is easy to use and packed full of advanced features that will help you to stand out on the web. You may find that you need more functionality if you’re running a larger company, however.

Click here to try Weebly or read our full Weebly review.

9. Shift4Shop

shift4shop homepage - best big cartel alternatives

Previously known as 3dcart, Shift4Shop is one of the more compelling eCommerce platforms on the market, offering excellent low prices, and absolutely no transaction fees. The Shift4Shop list of features span all the way from things like comprehensive admin control, to complete store customization. You also get excellent security built in.

Shift4Shop allows business leaders to accept more than 300 different payment providers, and access features like real-time shipping with leading partners. You get SEO-optimized pages, and plenty of options for cross-channel selling on social media.

Pricing 💰

For the first month, you won’t pay anything to build your store with Shift4Shop. After that, the basic package starts at around $29 per month, or you can downgrade to the cheapest product at only $19 per month. The more you need, the more you’ll pay. You also get a discount if you choose to pay annually.

Pros 👍

  • Great for SEO and content marketing
  • Lots of selling options and cross-channel selling
  • Great for payment provider options
  • Tons of customizations available
  • Affordable pricing with no transaction fees

Cons 👎

  • Some limitations for scalability

Best for ✅

If you’re looking for a highly flexible online selling solution that makes building your site easy, Shift4Shop is the perfect choice for you. This platform will give you everything from SEO functionality to state-of-the-art cross-channel selling

Click here to try 3dCart or read our full platform review here.

10. WooCommerce

woocommerce homepage - best big cartel alternatives

WooCommerce is a well-known alternative to Big Cartel, perfectly suited to companies that like the idea of open source technology, like Magento. WooCommerce is a plugin and checkout solution designed for use with WordPress. There’s no need for a free plan or demo, because the open-source solution is totally free to use.

WooCommerce transforms your WordPress site into one of the best ecommerce platforms, with various features for online selling. You can access the attractive and intuitive CMS of WordPress, with a modular store builder that adapts to suit you. WooCommerce also works with the other integrations and add-ons you can find on WordPress.

Pricing 💰

As mentioned above, WooCommerce is totally free to use as an open-source platform. You will need to pay any POS costs and PayPal transaction fees however. You’ll also need to invest in things like security for your store builder.

Pros 👍

  • Works seamlessly with WordPress
  • Excellent range of plugins and add-ons
  • No fees to download and integrate
  • Excellent for beginners
  • Lots of customization and themes
  • Extensive range of payment options

Cons 👎

  • May require some developer knowledge
  • Extra fees can add up

Best for ✅

WooCommerce is the obvious choice for a company that already has a WordPress site and wants to start selling online without relying entirely on eBay or Amazon. WooCommerce is easy to use, and it’s suitable for a range of sales strategies.

Click here to try WooCommerce or read our full Woocommerce review here.

11. PrestaShop

prestashop homepage - best big cartel alternatives

Can an ecommerce platform with industry standard features get any better than free? Well, PrestaShop does, as you can deploy it not only as a self-hosted platform but also avail of their hosted service for free. You can – and should – check it out as an alternative to BigCartel.

PrestaShop is an online store creation tool intended to help you develop your business presence online. Like most Big Cartel alternatives, this store creator will give you the tools to customize your store with a range of professional themes and adjustments. There’s a backend environment where you can manage orders, products, and customer relationships too.

Finding and attractive customers with PrestaShop is easy, with a range of social networks to sell through, as well as your store. You can present your products in different languages and currencies, as well as accessing various modules to make your store more compelling.

Pricing 💰

PrestaShop is a free online shopping platform, with no commissions or transaction fees to pay on top of the standard fees for payment processing. You can easily implement a free shopping cart into your site in no time.

Pros 👍

  • Completely free to use
  • Easy backend environment
  • Lots of customization and branding options
  • Multi-channel selling available
  • Multilingual and multicurrency

Cons 👎

  • Need to manage security and site hosting on your own

Best for ✅

If you already have a website and you want to add shopping functionality, PrestaShop is a great choice. You can sell all over the world, choosing different currencies and languages to showcase your content along the way.

Click here to try PrestaShop or read our full PrestaShop Review.

12. Easy Digital Downloads

easy digital downloads homepage - best big cartel alternatives

This free WordPress plug-in has the potential to be a BigCartel alternative if what you sell via your ecommerce storefront is digital goods like apps, games, license keys etc. Do check this out if you sell digital goods and downloads.

Easy Digital Downloads is a fantastic sales solution, specifically designed for distributing digital products. If you’re selling software, eBooks, and other online content, rather than physical items, then you’re going to love this solution. With Easy Digital Downloads, your customers can purchase multiple downloads at once, using an immersive shopping cart system.

You’ll have access to various discount codes that encourage customers to purchase more, and there’s unlimited support for all the file downloads your customers might need. Easy Digital Downloads even makes it easy to create custom account pages for your members.

Pricing 💰

Easy Digital Downloads has a range of payment options to offer to help you build the perfect store. There’s a “personal pass” package, starting at $99 per month, which gives you access to email marketing tools, updates, and a single site license. You can also get extended passes, professional passes, or all access passes for agencies.

Pros 👍

  • Perfect for digital downloads
  • Lots of marketplace access for integrations
  • Full shopping cart functionality
  • Unlimited file downloads
  • Rest API access
  • Full data reporting

Cons 👎

  • Can be expensive
  • Not for physical products

Best for ✅

Easy Digital Downloads is a product specifically designed for selling digital products online. If you’re looking for a powerful way to sell online products like eBooks, then this is the solution for you. You can even use Easy Digital Downloads as an agency that creates websites for other companies.

Click here to try Easy Digital Downloads for free or read our full Easy Digital Downloads review.

13. CoreCommerce

corecommerce homepage - best big cartel alternatives

Although priced higher than the industry average (at $39.99/mo. to $199.99/mo.), CoreCommerce offers some extra in-built features such as store-wide multi-lingual capability and a large number of third-party integrations over and above the standard set of ecommerce platform features, thus positioning itself to be a good BigCartel alternative.

CoreCommerce might not be as well-known as some of the alternative solutions on this list, but it still has a lot to offer. Created to support merchants, agents, ISV partners, and more, CoreCommerce is the tool you’ll use if you’re looking for something a little different to the standard eCommerce website.

With CoreCommerce, you can add payments to your software with ease, and access integrations that take your business to the next level. There are private label solutions specifically for agencies, and a comprehensive set of knowledgebase resource articles to guide you.

Pricing 💰

One thing that may make CoreCommerce less approachable for some people is the lack of transparency regarding pricing. CoreCommerce doesn’t have a pricing page, but instead you need to contact the company to get a dedicated quote.

Pros 👍

  • Ideal for a range of business types
  • Lots of ways to sell online
  • Great for resources and knowledgebase articles
  • Developer guide available
  • Plenty of customization options

Cons 👎

  • Complex pricing
  • Something of a learning curve

Best for ✅

CoreCommerce is better suited to companies who aren’t running your standard eCommerce store. You might choose this product if you’re looking for a solution as a merchant or an agent, rather than a basic business owner.

Click here to try CoreCommerce or read our full CoreCommerce review.

14. AmeriCommerce

americommerce homepage - best big cartel alternatives

While priced higher ($24/mo., rising to $299/mo.) than the industry average, this platform brings all the standard ecommerce features to you and also an uncommon one – a feature that allows you to admin multiple stores from a single login. Even if you don’t need this sort of capability, AmeriCommerce can still be a viable alternative to BigCartel.

AmeriCommerce isn’t as well-known as some of the other Big Cartel alternatives on this list, but it does make it easier to handle a range of stores if you’re a growing company. You can easily track things like orders, catalog updates and reports in the same place.

AmeriCommerce has a fantastic back-end interface that’s easy to use, no matter what kind of company you want to build. The dashboard is super intuitive, and everything is customizable, so you can really make your website stand out.

Pricing 💰

AmeriCommerce is designed for bigger companies in the midst of growth, so it is a little more expensive than its competitors. The lowest end of the pricing packages will set you back at least $24.95 per month, and costs can range up to $299 per month.

Pros 👍

  • Great for managing multiple stores
  • Lots of advanced features
  • Intuitive interface is easy to use
  • Makes it easy to track store information
  • Convenient selection of features

Cons 👎

  • Quite expensive
  • A small learning curve for beginners

Best for ✅

AmeriCommerce is likely to be the choice for you if you’re looking for a way to manage multiple stores at the same time. If you’re a growing company, or an agency that manages stores for clients, this is the Big Cartel alternative you need.

Click here to try AmeriCommerce or read our full AmeriCommerce review.

Conclusion

As you would have noticed above, there are plenty of Big Cartel alternatives for you to pick and choose from. I hope you will find a match for your requirements from the list above and wish you all the best.

Do you have anything to add here? Ideas? Suggestions? Questions? Please share via the comment form below.

Rebekah Carter

Rebekah Carter is an experienced content creator, news reporter, and blogger specializing in marketing, business development, and technology. Her expertise covers everything from artificial intelligence to email marketing software and extended reality devices. When she’s not writing, Rebekah spends most of her time reading, exploring the great outdoors, and gaming.

Comments 2 Responses

  1. Rebecca says:

    what kind of product can i sell on that websites? i need to sell some dog crates, does they allow me to sell it..
    thanks..

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hi Rebecca,

      All the platforms listed in this post except Easy Digital Downloads will allow to sell physical products.

      Bogdan – Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

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