Big Cartel vs Shopify: Which is best for you?

Choosing the right e-commerce platform can be a pivotal decision for businesses looking to establish or expand their online presence. Two popular options that often come up are Big Cartel vs Shopify. Every platform has its kind of audience and provides incomparable features which could be key points determining if your store would be successful or not.

Big Cartel has a great reputation amongst artists and indie sellers thanks to its easy-to-use interface and low prices. Therefore, it represents a great choice for small-sized businesses. On the contrary, Shopify gives an all-exclusive set of instruments that brings the speculation of scalability and customization and fills the right space in the startups to big enterprises’ business spectrum. This contrast will illustrate the main features of the Big Cartel and Shopify, their pros and cons, so you will be able to choose the best one for your business.

Big Cartel vs Shopify: Quick Assessment

A little more than a passing glance at the homepage of Big Cartel gives evidence that it thinks of itself as the number one online marketplace platform for artists and craftspeople. Its site consists of no charge for events and even for single shows. This is the main reason why the site claims to be artist-friendly. To be able to launch an online shop quickly and easily, an individual does not need to learn even the simplest line of code. Due to this fact, Big Cartel makes it possible to create an elegant, professional-looking one.

In the same manner, Shopify gives you a ready-made website that you can activate instantly. The platform’s selection is formulated based on the size and service capacity of your business, for instance, you will get a three-day FREE trial to start with and then another month of subscription for $1. Afterward, several alternatives are available to you. Shopify offers its users more customization options, more appealing templates, and a bigger app store – though this comes at a higher price.

You may accomplish the same fundamental objective with both platforms: selling products on your website. But because the functionality and customization choices vary, you’ll have to decide which platform best fits your long-term goals as a corporation.

	Big Cartel	Shopify
Pricing	Five items are free for eternity, after which they cost $9.99 to $19.99 a month.	A monthly payment of $29 to $299 for an online store.
Products Limit	Limits based on plan (up to 500 products)	Unlimited products on all plans.
Apps and Integrations	Over 4,000 integrations using Zapier.	Over 6,000 integrations are available via the Shopify app store.
SEO tools	Unable to change meta descriptions. It is difficult to add a blog or make redirects without the use of third-party applications or HTML knowledge.	Modify URLs, title tags, and meta descriptions. Adding a blog is simple.
Payment Methods	Lacks an integrated processor. Option to pay with credit cards using PayPal, Apple Pay, or Stripe.	Integrated payment processor. Accept PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and all major credit and debit cards.
Each of Use	Quite easy to use and provides incredibly helpful suggestions. But to alter themes, you’ll need to know HTML code.	Quite easy to use, however, it takes some time to become familiar with the many interfaces.
Sales Feature	Reasonable but fundamental features for payments, merchandise, and shipping.	Among the most feature-rich feature sets of all the builders we tested.
Design Functionality	There are eighteen simple, feature-light, mobile-friendly themes.	There is something for everyone with 88 premium themes and nine free themes.
Customer Support	It has the lowest help and support score of any builder we examined, and email assistance is provided M- F from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST.	Support by phone and live chat, email, social media, and forums available around the clock.
Dropshipping	Limited native support.	Extensive support via apps like Oberlo and Sprocket.
Marketing	Basic tools; suitable for smaller stores.	Advanced marketing tools (SEO, email marketing, discounts, analytics)

Big Cartel vs Shopify: The comprehensive comparison

Pricing

Big Cartel pricing plans

Big Cartel offers three different price tiers:

• $0 per month for Gold (Free).
• $15 per month for Platinum.
• $30 per month for Diamond.

If you pay upfront for a year, you may receive a 20% discount on the “Platinum” and “Diamond” plans, bringing their monthly costs down to $12 and $24 per month, respectively.

Free themes for shop design are included with every Big Cartel price plan, and each plan gives you the following features:

• utilize a custom name,
• sell both online and offline, 
• give specials and discounts, 
• and use “Sales Tax Autopilot” to compute sales tax.

Shopify pricing plans

Shopify has five distinct price tiers:

• Starter: $5 per month.
• Basic: $39 per month.
• Shopify: $105 per month.
• Advanced: $399 per month.
• Plus: personalized pricing, which begins at $2,300 per month.

If you buy an annual plan, you may save 25% on the cost of your Shopify plan.

The primary variations among the other schemes are:

• the number of individuals that can access an account; on the Basic, Shopify, and Advanced Shopify plans, you may have 1, 5, and 15 staff accounts, respectively. The more users you can have, the higher the plan.
• professional reporting tools are exclusive to “Shopify” and above levels.
• computations of third-party shipping rates (available on the “Advanced Shopify” plan or above)
• phone assistance is only accessible on the $39 “Basic” plan or higher. 
• E-commerce automations are only available on the “Shopify” level and higher.

Quite extensive point-of-sale features that enable you to sell products in real places are included in every Shopify subscription (retail shops, market stalls, etc.). A pricey “POS Pro” add-on can improve this much further.

Apps and Integrations

Although Big Cartel and Shopify provide a wide range of add-ons, there are significant differences in how they integrate with websites. Most of Big Cartel’s “add-ons” are connections made possible by Zapier, another platform. With the use of Zapier, an automated platform, you can send order confirmation emails, publish new listings on Facebook, and add emails to your Mailchimp database.

Through its app store, Shopify boasts hundreds of integrations. You can browse through applications and incorporate them straight into the backend of your website, just as you can with Google Play or Apple’s App Store.

SEO Tools

You’ll likely need to optimize your website for search engines to increase traffic to your online business. Themes from Big Cartel are made with appropriate headers, acceptable markup, and easy navigation. The drawback is that you are limited in your ability to modify your URLs, set up useful redirects, and post blog entries.

Shopify provides integrations that are intended to improve the SEO of your website. Additionally, you have the option to start a blog, which may be quite helpful in increasing site traffic and revenue.

Payment Methods

While there are contrasting features that characterize Big Cartel and Shopify when it comes to payment, the similarities are also not missing. Big Cartel has no built-in payment processor of its own, primarily using popular gateways such as PayPal, Stripe, and Apple Pay for credit card transactions. This setup may satisfy those who are already proficient on such platforms and those who simply do not require an integrated solution.

Shopify is the opposite, as it provides a more structured payment process by the use of its integrated processor, Shopify Payments. This in turn means that all major credit and debit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay can be directly taken, which means, and probably even simplifies the process for both merchants and customers. Shopify also enjoys the flexibility of doing away with any transaction fees incurred by users who opt for the Shopify Payments option, saving the growing businesses the added expense of coping with high volumes of sales.

However, the absence of the extra charge for external gateways on Big Cartel may be welcomed by smaller dealers where the desire for flexibility and minimum expenses is above all.

Ease of Use

Big Cartel comes with a very simple and graceful mode of setting up, which is perfect for novices or those who run smaller and more rudimentary stores. The interface is minimalistic and user-friendly, focusing on essential features that enable it to conveniently offer the main functionalities without stunning the user with overly complex features. It stands out as a perfect choice of marketplace not only for designers, artists, and small vendors but also for individuals who do not need to have big commerce functionality.

Unlike Shopify, although there is an interface that is clear and accessible, the dive will be steeper for users who are searching for a well-featured and customized store. It is developed to deal with sales from both a small to a large business dimension with careful detail control of services through enabling product management and advanced marketing tools. Yes, it might take some time to master, but, with Shopify’s wide range of tutorials and their customer support, new users can look past this initial challenge.

Sales Features

Concerning selling advantages, Shopify rises above the line with a continually upgraded platform made to be useful to any scale business, from small start-ups to large enterprises. The software gives you many features like inventory management, creating and applying discounts, setting up many types of price structures according to your needs, and handling different shipping options. 

Alongside that, Shopify facilitates multi-channel selling, helping users integrate Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon with their Shopify dashboard by enabling them to manage all their sales in one place. Furthermore, the analytics and report tools are all integrated into the capacitive platform which assists the merchants during the tracking of sales trends, customer behavior, and overall store success in real time.

On the other hand, Big Cartel is more simplistic, focusing on the needs of smaller merchants and artists. Its sales features are more basic and suitable for merchants who don’t require the breadth of tools offered by Shopify. Big Cartel allows for easy product listing, basic inventory tracking, and simple store customization, making it a good choice for those who need an uncomplicated platform that supports straightforward selling and store management. This makes Big Cartel ideal for individuals or small businesses that may be overwhelmed by too many features and prefer a more manageable approach to online selling.

Design Functionality

Shopify offers more than 80 premium themes priced between $200 and $350, and nine free themes. Because every theme on Shopify is mobile optimized, your store will look fantastic on any device. You have complete control over how your website appears regardless of the device type it is viewed in since you can make changes to both the desktop and mobile versions of your website.

All of Shopify’s themes are very customizable and have a sleek, business-like appearance. Thus, you may truly customize your theme to represent your own business and make a statement.

Shopify has more complex designs than Big Cartel. Its themes are all neat and attractive; the limitations lie in what you can do with them. There are eighteen themes available on Big Cartel. They’re all mobile optimized, much like Shopify, but you can’t change your mobile version. Although you no longer have any influence over the mobile layout, it still reformats automatically.

Furthermore, customizing your Big Cartel theme is even more difficult. You will need to utilize code to upload and modify your photos. You may customize your selected theme to your brand mostly by editing photos, so if you’re not skilled with coding, you won’t be able to make as many changes to your storefront.

Customer Support

The worst builder in terms of customer service is Big Cartel. The only method of assistance is by email, which is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday. Don’t get too excited if you see what appears to be a live chat function; it only points you in the direction of Big Cartel’s email support.

One of the greatest e-commerce builders available for assistance is Shopify. The accessible help options are as follows: Support via phone, social media, live chat, email, forums, video tutorials, and advanced professional services available around the clock.

You have a plethora of options, so you may select the assistance that best fits your needs. You even get a personal support agent with Shopify’s Plus package to help you. Without a question, Shopify has made every effort to support and encourage you along the way.

Shopify features a help center, much like Big Cartel, and this is where it excels. Its useful search option will save you time searching the internet for answers, and it is simply thought up. Better still, a relevant help article is immediately sent to you when you seek assistance from your shop editor.

Dropshipping

Big Cartel is an artist-focused marketplace that allows you to dropship products that have your artwork printed on them using Printful and Art of Where. Its dropshipping automation and capacities are rather restricted outside of those two possibilities.

Conversely, Shopify is renowned for being incredibly drop-shipper-friendly, and its app store has hundreds of useful apps.

Marketing

Big Cartel doesn’t provide any integrated marketing resources for your company. On the other hand, Google Analytics may be connected to track site performance. You may also include applications like Mailchimp and Instagram in your online business.

With Shopify’s integrated marketing tools, you can outperform the competition. You may make Facebook advertisements, build a blog, and use SEO to improve your website! Shopify Email also facilitates email marketing to your subscribers. Segment and personalize your emails as well. Finally, use marketing reports to track your advancement!

Big Cartel vs Shopify: Which is best for you?

	Big Cartel	Shopify
Pros	Free plan available, making it cost-effective for small budgets. Simple and intuitive interface, ideal for beginners. Focused on artists and indie stores, supporting smaller-scale operations.	Comprehensive e-commerce features support a range of business sizes. Integrated payment system with broad gateway support. Extensive customization through themes and apps.
Cons	Limited features and customization options might hinder scalability. Fewer integrations and marketing tools compared to larger platforms. Lacks an integrated payment processor, relying on third-party services.	Higher cost, especially when adding apps and premium themes. Can be complex to set up and manage without some technical know-how. Transaction fees apply if not using Shopify Payments.

Consider Big Cartel if:

• You’re an artist or crafter
• You prefer simplicity
• You have a tight budget
• You need basic online store functionality

Consider Shopify if:

• You plan to scale
• You need advanced features
• You want customization
• You can handle a higher cost

Wrap up

It is up to you to decide between Shopify and Big Cartel for your budget, regardless of how well or poorly your business does. Big Cartel works well for inexperienced artists or small retailers who prioritize affordability and ease of use. For novice users, it offers essential e-commerce capabilities along with its rudimentary functionality. It has been quite popular with those who don’t have a lot of money because it provides a free plan and a cost-saving alternative for a small selection of items.

Shopify is made for all kinds of businesses to support their evolution, which is concentrated on tiny enterprises looking to implement expansion. It provides utmost flexibility and advanced tools, supported by integrated marketing features and a payment system that enables receiving money through various means. This indicates that Shopify is a comprehensive e-commerce system that works with all market segment categories and follows a scalability approach.