Big Cartel is a popular platform for small ecommerce sites, beloved for its simplicity and affordability. However, many merchants find themselves needing to graduate to a more powerful solution as their business grows.
In this comprehensive guide, we compare the top 8 Big Cartel alternative platforms to help you find the best fit for taking your online store to the next level.
How We Chose the Best Alternatives
We selected platforms based on:
- Features: A full suite of ecommerce capabilities from secure hosting to shipping logistics.
- Simplicity: An intuitive interface without overly complex options.
- Scalability: Flexible plans to support unlimited products and sales volume.
- Affordability: Reasonable pricing models including free tiers.
- Support: Responsive customer support via phone, email, chat.
Let‘s dive in and compare the options across these criteria!
1. Shopify
With over 1 million merchants powered globally, Shopify is the world‘s most popular hosted ecommerce solution. Their mantra is to make selling easy for small businesses.
Features
Shopify comes packed with everything you need to run an online store:
- Beautiful premade themes to choose from
- Drag and drop store builder editor
- Integrated payment processing
- Shipping labels and tracking
- Robust order management and fulfillment
- Built-in marketing including email campaigns and coupons
There are also over 3000 apps to extend functionality – marketing automation, accounting, wholesale buying and more.
Simplicity
Despite the abundance of features, Shopify aims to make selling online easy, especially for first-timers. The admin dashboard uses clean, intuitive menus while the store editor lets you point and click instead of code. 24/7 customer support is available to troubleshoot anything that pops up.
Scalability
All Shopify plans support unlimited storage and bandwidth so you‘ll never outgrow your store. Powerful features like advanced reporting provide data insights to optimize as you expand. The platform easily handles Black Friday level traffic.
Affordability
Shopify‘s Basic plan starts at just $29/month. While not the cheapest option, you get tremendous value for the capabilities. Transactions fees start at 2.4% + $.30 per charge for their integrated payment processing. You can use alternate gateways with higher percentage fees.
Support
Phone, email and 24/7 chat support are offered across all plans. Common issues typically receive responses in under an hour. Shopify also provides an abundance of resources like guides, webinars and a thriving community forum.
Best For
Almost any type of merchandise – Shopify stores sell everything from tshirts to wine. Their balance of simplicity and customization makes it suitable for small shops yet scalable for 7-figure enterprises.
2. Squarespace
Squarespace is better known as a general website builder but their beautiful templates and flexible commerce features power many online boutiques.
Features
In addition to secure hosting and SEO optimization, Squarespace Commerce plans offer:
- Physical/digital inventory with variants
- Integrated shipping Calculations
- Tax calculations by location
- Robust order management and tracking
- Discount codes and coupons
- Abandoned cart recovery email
- CRM for managing customers
- Integrates with payment processors like Stripe
Their simple product data sheets support customization for showcasing merchandise attractively.
Simplicity
Squarespace is renowned for its intuitive drag and drop site editor. Premade blocks let you quickly assemble pages while styling your brand. Built in guidance helps you optimize technical aspects from metadata to image sizing.
Scalability
All plans support unlimited storage and bandwidth for expansion. Enterprise-grade infrastructure ensures sites handle high traffic volumes without crashing.
Affordability
Squarespace Commerce basic plans start at $26/month. A 2.4% + $.30 fee applies for using their integrated Stripe payments. You can alternately use external payment options at slightly higher transaction fees.
Support
Phone, chat and email ticketing support is offered, with live agents available Monday-Friday. Responses average under 2 hours. They also offer Setup Services starting at $150 for guided launch assistance.
Best For
Boutique shops selling lower volumes looking for an integrated site and storefront. The beautiful galleries showcase jewelry, art, fashion and photography elegantly.
3. Wix
Wix is another premium website builder supporting ecommerce. It appeals with 500+ stylish store templates.
Features
Wix Stores provides the functionality to sell online including:
- Physical/digital catalog management
- Customizable product pages
- Built-in secure SSL cart checkout
- Order management and tracking
- Discount coupons and promotions
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Tax rate rules by location
- Print shipping labels with tracking
There are also marketing tools like email newsletters, built-in SEO and dynamic galleries to showcase products.
Simplicity
The Wix site editor is extremely intuitive, letting you drag, drop and preview instantly. It caters well to visual learners who prefer a what-you-see-is-what-you-get builder vs. working in code.
Scalability
Unlimited bandwidth and storage allow room to grow your catalog. Enterprise-grade hosting and infrastructure provide stability as your traffic expands.
Affordability
Basic ecommerce plans start at $23/month. Wix Payment processing incurs a competitive 2.4% + $.30 per transaction using Stripe. Alternate gateways are supported with slightly higher percentage fees.
Support
Phone, email and 24/7 chat support is offered. Well-stocked help documentation makes it easy to self-serve answers for common questions. Wix also provides a forum community.
Best For
Boutique shops wanting a stylish, customizable storefront paired with a visual site builder. Merchants praise the built-in CRM and email marketing capabilities.
4. BigCommerce
True to its name, BigCommerce packs an enterprise-level feature set to support fast-growing online stores.
Features
Some highlights of their extensive built-in capabilities:
- 100+ professional storefront themes
- Customizable checkout flows to increase conversion
- Built-in cart abandonment features with powerful segmentation
- Advanced shipping rules and rate quoting
- Robust order, inventory and fulfillment management
There‘s also a full marketing suite, CRM, and API access for custom integrations.
Simplicity
Despite the abundance of advanced capabilities, BigCommerce aims to help small businesses sell quickly. The interface offers a friendly getting started checklist and walkthroughs explain key concepts clearly.
However, certain aspects like theme customization and shipping setup involve moderately complex configuration vs. turnkey setup.
Scalability
True enterprise-grade engineering means stores effortlessly handle spikes in holiday or promotion traffic without slow loading pages or downtime.
Affordability
Pricing starts at $29.95/month. While not cheap, you access premium features unavailable in basic ecommerce platforms or open source solutions that would require costly developers to implement.
Credit card processing incurs a competitive 2.4% + $.30 fee through supported gateways. Alternates like PayPal are available with slightly higher rates.
Support
Phone, chat and email support is offered with reasonably fast response times. There are also active community forums and extensive self-help resources available 24/7.
Best For
Ambitious small businesses planning to scale. BigCommerce makes it possible to look like an enterprise right out the gate. The advanced segmentation, promotions and UX optimization yield proven higher conversions.
5. 3DCart
3DCart stands out with a lifetime free tier with impressive functionality dubbedBeginner‘s Package.
Features
3DCart Beginner‘s Package, free forever, includes:
- Professional templates
- Product catalog
- Integrated payment processing
- Shipping integration
- Order management
- Abandoned cart saver
- Blog, SEO and marketing tools
- Secure hosting
3DCart essentially gives away what competitors charge monthly for, making it extremely enticing. The framework supports upgrading to more advanced capabilities in the future seamlessly.
Simplicity
The templates make it easy to launch a polished looking store out the gate. While some areas like shipping setup involve moderately complex configuration, overall the dashboard guides you step-by-step.
Scalability
If you outgrow the free tier, paid packages with premium features are available to scale, including Enterprise services.
Affordability
Free forever is hard to beat. When ready to upgrade, paid plans start at an affordable $24.99/month.
Credit card rates are competitive at 2.4% + $.30 through supported gateways. Alternate processors are available.
Support
Phone, chat and email support is provided, including 24/7 for some packages. There are also ample online resources and guides to leverage.
Best For
Early stage ecommerce merchants who want to validate or grow their business before paying. It essentially lets you try before you buy serious hosting and services.
6. Volusion
Volusion offers an easy-to-use ecommerce platform with built-in marketing tools to help you sell online.
Features
In addition to secure hosting, themes and product/order management, Volusion includes marketing capabilities like:
- Email newsletter campaigns
- SEO optimization
- Social media integration
- Affiliate marketing
- Google/Facebook ad management
- Abandoned cart emails
- CRM for saving customer details
- Blog and videos
There are also easy integrations for payment processors and shipping carriers.
Simplicity
Volusion uses an intuitive point-and-click editor for customizing pages and setting up products. The dashboard also simplifies managing orders, inventory and shipping.
While certain areas offer expansive options, the getting started guides help simplify initial setup.
Scalability
Volution stores can handle over $100 million in annual sales volume. Configurable caching provides fast page loads even during peak promotion days.
Affordability
Plans start at $29/month making it reasonably affordable.
Credit card processing incurs competitive 2.4% + $.30 transaction fees through supported gateways. Alternates can be integrated.
Support
All packages include Priority Support with phone, chat and email channels. Common issues receive reasonably prompt responses. There are also community forums and online knowledge bases with self-help.
Best For
The integrated marketing capabilities make this suitable for merchants committed to actively promoting their store vs. passive selling. The advanced analytics help optimize campaigns.
7. Weebly
Weebly is a drag and drop website builder supporting ecommerce capabilities. It makes it easy to create a professional looking online store.
Features
Weebly ecommerce plans enable you to:
- Showcase products attractively
- Process secure payments
- Print shipping labels
- Offer customer promotions
- Leverage built-in SEO
- Email newsletters
- Square/POS integration
There are advanced options available through App Center integrations including accounting, shipping, etc.
Simplicity
Editing pages and adding products uses an intuitive what-you-see-is-what-you-get editor. Drag, drop and arrange content visually and preview changes in real time.
While some marketing automations involve moderate configuration, overall management is user-friendly.
Scalability
Weebly recommends upgrading to a Performance plan for stores anticipating significant growth. Caching provides faster load times on high traffic days.
Affordability
The basic ecommerce enabled Starter plan costs $25/month. Given Weebly‘s limited scope of built-in features, it provides decent value if you leverage App Center extensions.
Credit card processing incurs competitive 2.4% + $.30 transaction fees through Square integration. Alternate payment gateways are available.
Support
Email based support is offered with reasonably fast response times in most cases. There are also community chat forums and extensive self-help documentation.
Best For
Beginner ecommerce merchants who value simplicity in site editing. While features are limited out the gate, you can extend functionality as needed through apps.
Choosing the Best Alternative
All seven platforms offer compelling capabilities beyond Big Cartel‘s basics. Determine the best one for your needs based on:
Budget – Compare monthly fees and transaction costs across packages. Leverage free tiers or trials to validate ideas first.
Features – Balance simplicity vs advanced customization abilities based on what you sell. Audit shipping, tax, promotions etc.
Bandwidth needs – Estimate expected traffic and storage needs using free tools. Confirm the platform can scale.
We hope this detailed feature comparison helps you find the best Big Cartel alternative to take your online store to the next level!
