E-commerce platforms · Comparison
Big Cartel vs Shopify
2 products compared side by side: what you pay for with each one first, then the five access facts, entry prices, recorded plan limits and the bottom line of each review. The evidence note under the table says how each product was checked.
Side by side
| Metric | Big Cartel | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Worth the priceA simple store for one maker with a small catalog: no transaction fees, US sales tax remitted for you, free for 5 products and $24 a month for 500. | Built-in reachA store, its payments, in-person selling and the main sales channels in one admin, with card rates that fall as you move up a plan. |
| Overall score | 4.3 | 7.5Best |
| Free option | Free plan | 3-day free trial |
| Card to start | No card needed | No card needed |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $12/mo | $29/mo |
| Pricing model | Flat rate | Flat rate |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Flat monthly plan per shop; card processing paid to Stripe or PayPal | Flat monthly plan per store, plus card processing |
| Free option | Gold free for up to 5 products; 7-day Platinum trial, card required | No free store plan; 3-day trial, no card, then $1/mo for 3 months on most plans |
| Reference scenario ($10K/mo, 2 staff, annual) | Not met: one owner login, no staff accounts; Diamond would be $374/mo, computed | $409/mo on Grow ($79 + $270 + $60), computed |
| Month-to-month price | $0 / $15 / $30 for Gold, Platinum and Diamond | $39 / $105 / $399 for Basic, Grow and Advanced |
| US online card rate | No own payments; Stripe 2.9% + 30¢, PayPal 3.49% + 49¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ (Basic), 2.7% + 30¢ (Grow), 2.5% + 30¢ (Advanced) |
| Fee with another payment provider | None: 0% transaction fees; Stripe and PayPal only | 2% / 1% / 0.6% (Plus 0.2%) |
| Products and staff | 5 / 50 / 500 products; owner login only | Unlimited products; staff 0 / 5 / 15 / unlimited |
| Abandoned cart recovery | Diamond | Every plan |
| Selling channels | Meta and Google Shopping, in-person through the app on paid plans | POS, Google, Meta, TikTok on every plan; Amazon, eBay, Walmart via Marketplace Connect |
| PCI / SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | Not stated; card data handled by Stripe and PayPal | PCI DSS Level 1; SOC 2 Type II; ISO 27001 not stated |
| Data export | Orders to CSV; read API; webhooks for partner apps only | CSV of products, orders and customers; Admin API on every plan |
| Data after closing | Deleted permanently; kept when downgrading to Gold | Kept 2 years after deactivation |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Big Cartel is the lowest-cost store here for one person with a small catalog, with no transaction fees and US sales tax handled. It has no staff accounts, so our scenario cannot be priced, and it publishes no PCI, SOC 2 or ISO statement of its own. | From its public pages, Shopify has the broadest set of selling features here on the plan our scenario needs, with PCI Level 1, SOC 2 Type II and a 2-year data window. Staff accounts start on Grow, and a store that uses another payment provider pays Shopify a fee on top. |
Evidence: Big Cartel: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Shopify: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
When to pick each
In the words of each review, with the date its facts were checked.
From our Big Cartel review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Big Cartel when
- You sell a small catalog alone and want to pay $12 to $24 a month with no platform fee.
- Pick Shopify when
- You need staff, marketplaces, multi-currency prices or a full export.
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- Big CartelPlatinum$12/moBilled yearly ($144); $15 month to month; 7-day trial with a card
- Up to 50 products, custom domain
- Discount codes, inventory tracking, shipping labels
- Meta and Google Shopping, in-person selling
- Theme code editing, digital products (25 GB)
- ShopifyBasic$29/moBilled yearly; $39 month to month (US list price)
- Unlimited products, custom domain, abandoned checkout recovery
- Online card rate 2.9% + 30¢; 2% fee with another provider
- Gift cards, local-currency prices, casual in-person selling
- No staff accounts; custom apps with limited data access
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: Big Cartel 2026-10-16, Shopify 2026-10-16.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- ShopifySelf-serve sign-up, no card needed; the highest score of the 2 self-serve products here (7.5/10).
- If you want to try it without entering a card
- Big CartelFree plan, no card needed; scored 4.3/10.
- Lowest starter price
- Big Cartel$12/mo for the Platinum (billed yearly) plan.
- Highest overall score
- Shopify7.5/10 (Good). The review shows the score breakdown and the run behind it.
Picked by fixed rules from the table above, not by hand. How we score
Full reviews
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