E-commerce Platforms · Tool Face-Off

Shopify vs BigCartel

Quick answer

Shopify is the powerhouse for serious sellers; BigCartel is the chill, low-cost pick for indie artists selling a handful of items.

Our pick

Shopify

Serious e-commerce for serious sellers

4.6★

BigCartel

Simple storefronts for artists and makers

3.2★

Starting Price

$29/month (Basic)

Free (up to 5 products)

Transaction Fees

0.5–2% (waived with Shopify Payments)

0% on all plans

Product Limit

Unlimited

Up to 500 (Gold plan)

Free Plan

No (3-day trial only)

Yes — permanently free for 5 products

App Marketplace

8,000+ apps

~10 integrations

Built-in Analytics

Comprehensive dashboards

Basic stats only

POS (In-Person Selling)

Yes, full POS hardware ecosystem

No native POS

Abandoned Cart Recovery

Yes (all paid plans)

Themes / Templates

100+ (free & paid)

~20 free themes

Multi-Currency Support

Yes

Limited

Inventory Management

Advanced (variants, bulk edit, etc.)

Basic

Max Monthly Cost (small store)

$79/month (Shopify plan)

$9.99/month (Gold plan)

Shopify

Pricing★★★½☆

Support★★★★½

Features★★★★★

Ease of Use★★★★½

Scalability★★★★★

Integrations★★★★★

Design Flexibility★★★★½

BigCartel

Pricing★★★★★

Support★★★☆☆

Features★★½☆☆

Ease of Use★★★★½

Scalability★★☆☆☆

Integrations★★½☆☆

Design Flexibility★★★☆☆

Worth knowing

Shopify powers over 1.7 million businesses across 175 countries.
BigCartel has helped artists sell over $2.5 billion worth of goods since 2005.
Shopify's app store alone has generated billions in revenue for third-party developers.
BigCartel's Gold plan caps at 500 products — Shopify has no ceiling.
Shopify offers a full POS system; BigCartel is online-only.

BigCartel was literally built so a band could sell T-shirts online. Shopify was built so a snowboard shop could exist. Both founders got what they wanted — and then some.

If you want

You want to scale a real business with full features

Shopify's ecosystem, analytics, and unlimited products make growth frictionless.

→ Pick Shopify

If you want

You're an artist selling under 500 items on a shoestring budget

BigCartel's free plan and zero transaction fees keep more money in your pocket.

→ Pick BigCartel

If you want

You need in-person and online selling in one place

Shopify POS integrates seamlessly with your online store — BigCartel can't match that.

→ Pick Shopify