The best Big Cartel alternative depends on why you're leaving. For more products, several shops in one account and 0% of your sales, look at LotsStore. To add a shop to a website you already have, Ecwid. For a free store with in-person sales, Square Online. For the most apps and themes, Shopify. For downloads, Gumroad.
Big Cartel is a good, simple start: a free plan, low prices and "we never take a cut". People usually look elsewhere when they hit its product limits (5, 50 or 500), want more than one shop under one login, or need a feature it doesn't have. Below are eight alternatives, each checked on its own pricing pages on 23 October 2026, with what each one is good at.
Big Cartel alternatives at a glance
Checked on 23 October 2026. List prices in US dollars before tax; monthly price first, then the monthly price when billed yearly where the vendor offers it.
| Platform | Price | Cut of your sales | Products | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LotsStore | $12 ($10 yearly) for 1 store, $29 for 3, $79 for 10 | 0% | Unlimited | Several shops or client stores in one account, Stripe, Razorpay, UPI and WhatsApp orders |
| Ecwid | Starter $5; Venture $35 ($29); Business $65 ($49); Unlimited $149 ($119) | 0% | 10, 100, 2,500 or unlimited | Adding a store to a site you already have |
| Square Online | Free $0; Plus $49; Premium $149 (per location) | No platform fee; online cards 3.3% + 30¢ on Free, 2.9% + 30¢ on paid plans | Not stated | Shops that also sell in person |
| Shopify | Basic $39 ($29); Grow $105 ($79); Advanced $399 ($299) | 0% with Shopify Payments; 2%, 1% or 0.6% with another provider | Unlimited | The biggest app and theme stores |
| Squarespace | Basic $25 ($19); Core $39 ($29); Plus $65 ($49); Advanced $139 ($99) | 2% on Basic, 0% from Core | Unlimited | A design-led website with a shop |
| Wix | Prices vary by location (not quoted) | Not stated on its plans page | Not stated | A full website builder; payments from the Core plan |
| WooCommerce | Free plugin; hosting $25 to $350 a month for most stores (WooCommerce's estimate) | No platform fee | Unlimited | Full control on your own WordPress site |
| Gumroad | No monthly fee | 10% + 50¢ per direct sale, 30% through Discover | Not stated | Digital products, e-books and courses |
| Big Cartel (for reference) | Gold free; Platinum $15 ($144 a year); Diamond $30 ($288 a year) | 0% | 5, 50 or 500 | Small shops for artists and makers |
1. LotsStore: more products and more shops, still 0%
LotsStore is an online store that looks established on your own domain and pays you directly. Like Big Cartel, it takes 0% of your sales. What changes is room to grow.
- No product caps. Products, variants, orders, customers and teammates are unlimited on every plan, so the $12 store holds the same catalog as the $79 plan. On Big Cartel, the limit is 5 products on Gold, 50 on Platinum and 500 on Diamond.
- Several shops in one account. Big Cartel's help center says "you can only be logged in to one account at a time", so with two shops you log out of one to open the other. LotsStore covers 1 store on Starter ($12 a month), 3 on Pro ($29) and 10 on Business ($79), all in one account, each with its own products, orders, team and payment account. That's why it suits agencies building stores for clients, and founders running more than one brand.
- Every feature on every plan. Your own domain with HTTPS, variants, categories and collections, CSV import and export, stock per variant, discount codes, shipping zones and rates, shopper accounts and reviews you approve, and analytics with a visit-to-order funnel. Big Cartel keeps abandoned cart recovery and product drops for Diamond.
- A team with roles. Owner, admin, manager, staff and viewer, invited by email, on every plan.
- More ways to get paid, straight to you. Your own Stripe account (in the countries Stripe supports) or Razorpay account (businesses registered in India), plus UPI to your own UPI ID and orders on WhatsApp. LotsStore never holds the money. You accept each order before it goes ahead.
LotsStore is built for physical products and doesn't deliver digital files, so if you sell downloads on Big Cartel, see Gumroad or Ecwid below. It also doesn't print shipping labels or calculate sales tax: you set your own shipping zones and rates and ship with any carrier. New accounts get 15,000 free credits, valid 90 days, no card: about a month of one store. Plans are on the pricing page, and I compared the two side by side in LotsStore vs Big Cartel.
2. Ecwid: add a store to the site you already have
Ecwid, by Lightspeed, also takes 0%: "we don't charge any setup or transaction fees on any of our plans." Starter is $5 a month for up to 10 products, Venture $35 ($29 billed yearly) for 100 products plus e-goods and selling on Instagram and Facebook, Business $65 ($49) for 2,500 products with 2 staff accounts, and Unlimited $149 ($119) for unlimited products and staff.
It's a strong pick if you want to drop a shop into a website you already run, or need many payment providers: Ecwid lists over 70, including PayPal and Stripe. Like Big Cartel, it sizes plans by product count. I compared it in LotsStore vs Ecwid.
3. Square Online: a free plan, and in-person sales too
Square Online's Free plan costs $0 a month, and Plus ($49) and Premium ($149) are charged per location. There's no platform fee, but every payment runs through Square: online card payments are 3.3% + 30¢ on Free and 2.9% + 30¢ on the paid plans.
It fits a shop that also sells at markets or a counter, since the store shares Square's point of sale, with pickup and local delivery, and shipping label printing from the Square Dashboard.
4. Shopify: the most apps and themes
Shopify Basic is $39 a month ($29 billed yearly), Grow $105 ($79) and Advanced $399 ($299). Products are unlimited. With Shopify Payments there's no extra transaction fee; with another provider, Shopify adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced.
It's the platform to pick when you need apps for almost anything (subscriptions, print on demand, reviews, labels), a large theme store, point of sale and marketplace selling. It costs more each month than Big Cartel. My full comparison is in LotsStore vs Shopify.
5. Squarespace: a design-led website with a shop
Squarespace Basic is $25 a month ($19 billed yearly) with a 2% fee on online store sales. Core ($39, or $29 yearly), Plus ($65, or $49) and Advanced ($139, or $99) take 0%. From Core, it adds shipping labels, real-time carrier rates and automated tax calculation (0.15% per transaction on Core, up to $0.99).
Pick it if the website matters as much as the shop: a portfolio, a band site or a studio with a store attached.
6. Wix: a full website builder with ecommerce
Wix is a full website builder, and its ecommerce starts on the Core plan: the Light plan has no payments, while Core, Business and Business Elite add accepting payments and ecommerce at basic, standard and advanced levels. Wix says prices vary by location, so I don't quote them here.
It's a good fit if you want a whole website with lots of design freedom and a shop as one part of it.
7. WooCommerce: full control on WordPress
WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin with "no platform fees, no revenue share". You host it yourself: WooCommerce estimates hosting at $25 to $350 a month for most stores, and paid extensions at $29 to $299 a year each. Its own payment option, WooPayments, charges about 2.50% to 2.90% + 30¢ per transaction.
Pick it if you already run WordPress and want to own the code and server. You also take on updates, backups and security. I covered the trade-off for client work in WooCommerce alternatives for agencies.
8. Gumroad: for downloads, not stock
Gumroad has no monthly fee and takes 10% + 50¢ of each direct sale, or 30% of sales through its Discover marketplace. It handles sales tax for you. It's made for digital products, e-books, courses and memberships, so it suits a musician or artist whose Big Cartel shop is mostly downloads. For physical products, see Gumroad alternatives for selling physical products.
What Big Cartel still does well
Before you move, it's worth knowing what you'd leave behind. Big Cartel's Gold plan is free for up to 5 products. Platinum ($15 a month or $144 a year) and Diamond ($30 or $288) add a custom domain, digital products, label printing with up to 90% off shipping and shipment tracking. It has sales tax autopilot, in-person selling from your phone, and imports from Etsy, Squarespace and Shopify. For a small shop with a handful of products, it's still a fine choice.
How to choose
- More products or more than one shop, 0% of your sales: LotsStore. It also has UPI and WhatsApp orders built in, and a plan that covers 10 client stores for $79 a month.
- A shop inside your existing website: Ecwid.
- Market stalls or a counter as well as online: Square Online.
- Apps, themes and every sales channel: Shopify.
- A design-led site with a store: Squarespace or Wix.
- Your own WordPress server: WooCommerce.
- Mostly digital downloads: Gumroad.
For every platform's fees side by side, see ecommerce platforms with no transaction fees.
If you work in ChatGPT or Claude, you can also manage a LotsStore store from there: it works with the AI agent you already use, and the setup page shows how to connect it. Everything also works in the dashboard.
FAQ
What is the best free alternative to Big Cartel?
Square Online has a Free plan at $0 a month, with online card payments at 3.3% + 30¢ through Square (checked on 23 October 2026). LotsStore has no free plan, but new accounts get 15,000 free credits, valid 90 days, no card: about a month of one store.
Which Big Cartel alternatives also take 0% of sales?
LotsStore and Ecwid take 0% on every plan, and so does Big Cartel. Squarespace takes 0% from its Core plan, and Shopify adds no transaction fee when you use Shopify Payments (checked on 23 October 2026). Your payment provider still charges its own processing fee.
Can I sell more than 500 products without leaving 0%?
Yes. LotsStore has unlimited products on every plan and takes 0% of your sales, from $12 a month. Ecwid's Unlimited plan ($149 a month, or $119 billed yearly) also has unlimited products with no transaction fees.
Can I run more than one shop from one account?
On LotsStore, yes: Pro covers 3 stores and Business 10, all in one account, each with its own products, orders, team and payment account. Big Cartel's help center says you can be logged in to only one shop at a time.
Can I sell digital downloads on LotsStore?
No. LotsStore is built for physical products and doesn't deliver files. For downloads, Gumroad, Ecwid (from Venture) and Big Cartel's paid plans do.
How do I move my products from Big Cartel?
Copy your product list into LotsStore's CSV template and import it, or add products one by one with their variants, prices, stock and images. Keep your Big Cartel shop open until the new store is live, then point your domain.
Sources
Checked on 23 October 2026: Big Cartel pricing, Big Cartel: premium features, Big Cartel: log out, LotsStore pricing, Ecwid pricing, Square Online plans, Shopify pricing, Squarespace pricing, Wix plans, WooCommerce pricing, Gumroad pricing.