E-commerce platforms · Comparison
Big Cartel vs Shopify vs Square Online
3 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 | Square Online |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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. | Worth the priceAn online store that shares one catalog, customer list and payments account with Square POS, free to start and taking real orders. |
| Overall score | 4.3 | 7.5 | 7.7Best |
| Free option | Free plan | 3-day free trial | Free plan |
| Card to start | No card needed | No card needed | –Not measured |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $12/mo | $29/mo | $49/location/mo |
| Pricing model | Flat rate | Flat rate | Flat rate |
| Pricing page | Public prices | 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 | Monthly plan per location, 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 | Square Free with real orders (unlimited products, square.site address); 30-day trial of Plus or Premium |
| 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 | $399/mo on Square Plus ($49 + $290 + $60), computed; monthly billing only |
| Month-to-month price | $0 / $15 / $30 for Gold, Platinum and Diamond | $39 / $105 / $399 for Basic, Grow and Advanced | $0 / $49 / $149 per location for Free, Plus and Premium |
| 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) | 3.3% + 30¢ (Free), 2.9% + 30¢ (Plus and Premium) |
| Fee with another payment provider | None: 0% transaction fees; Stripe and PayPal only | 2% / 1% / 0.6% (Plus 0.2%) | Checkout lists only Square payments |
| Products and staff | 5 / 50 / 500 products; owner login only | Unlimited products; staff 0 / 5 / 15 / unlimited | Unlimited items; team members on every plan, no limit stated |
| Abandoned cart recovery | Diamond | Every plan | Square Plus and up |
| 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 | Square POS, Facebook, Instagram and Google listings on every plan |
| 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 | PCI DSS Level 1; SOC 2 not stated on a public page; ISO 27001 |
| Data export | Orders to CSV; read API; webhooks for partner apps only | CSV of products, orders and customers; Admin API on every plan | Items and customers to CSV; order export not stated; Square APIs and webhooks |
| Data after closing | Deleted permanently; kept when downgrading to Gold | Kept 2 years after deactivation | No fixed retention period stated |
| 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. | From its public pages, Square Online offers the most complete free start here: a store with unlimited items that takes real orders and shares Square’s POS and payments, with Plus at $49 for a custom domain and cart emails. Live shipping rates need Premium, and payments are in one currency. |
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; Square Online: 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 want US sales tax collected and remitted for you, and cart emails at $24 a month.
- Pick Square Online when
- You want unlimited items on a free plan, staff with two-step login and Square POS.
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.
From our Shopify review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Shopify when
- You need real-time carrier rates and local-currency prices without moving to a $149 plan.
- Pick Square Online when
- You want a permanent free plan, or a lower scenario cost: $399 a month on Square Plus (computed).
From our Square Online review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Square Online when
- You want a permanent free plan, American Express at the standard rate and $399 a month for our scenario (computed).
- Pick Shopify when
- You need real-time carrier rates, local-currency prices or marketplaces on the plan you buy.
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
- Square OnlineSquare Plus$49/location/moBilled monthly; 30-day trial; online card payments 2.9% + 30¢
- Custom domain, abandoned cart emails, product reviews
- Bundles and subscriptions, inventory tracking
- Unlimited custom permission sets, team activity reporting
- Custom code and expanded site customization
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: Big Cartel 2026-10-16, Shopify 2026-10-16, Square Online 2026-10-16.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- Square OnlineSelf-serve sign-up; the highest score of the 3 self-serve products here (7.7/10).
- 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
- Square Online7.7/10 (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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