The best Big Cartel alternative for makers whose shop became a brand
Big Cartel is a small, honest storefront for artists, and it stays small on purpose: a few products, a few pages, no blog, no newsletter. Grigora is what the shop grows into: a full site with a CMS, a newsletter and an uncapped store, from $12/mo.
Last updated September 2026
Big Cartel is one of the more likeable products in this comparison: a cheap, uncomplicated shop for people who make things, with a free plan, no transaction fees and a design that gets out of the way. Its limits are the point. Products are limited by plan, the site is a handful of pages, there is no blog engine worth the name and no email marketing at all. A maker whose shop has become a brand needs the rest of the website. Grigora provides it, with the store included and uncapped.
- A store with no product limit on any plan
- A blog with directories and moderated comments
- A newsletter for the people who bought
- A site designed for the brand, not the shop
- SEO tooling for traffic you do not have to send
- •Sell a handful of pieces and want it simple
- •Want a free plan with no fees
- •Value a storefront that never gets in the way
Big Cartel alternatives at a glance
How the small-shop platforms and all-in-one builders compare.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column
| Platform | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Sales commission | Export your site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grigora | A full site with an uncapped store | Yes | From $12/mo | 0% (processing only) | |
| Big Cartel | Artist and maker shops | Yes (Gold) | From $15/mo | 0% (processing only) | Partial |
| Ecwid | A store on any existing site | No | From $5/mo | 0% (processing only) | Partial |
| Square Online | Square merchants | Yes | From $49/mo paid | 0% (processing 2.9% to 3.3%) | |
| Podia | Digital-product storefronts | No (trial) | From $42/mo | 5% on Mover, 0% above | Partial |
| Shopify | Serious online stores | No (trial) | From $29/mo | 0% w/ Shopify Payments | Partial |
List pricing as of September 2026; payment-processor fees apply to all. Verify current pricing on each provider's site.
Why people switch from Big Cartel to Grigora
The moments a maker's shop needs the rest of the website.
Nowhere to tell the story
The process, the studio, the influences. Big Cartel has a product grid and an About page.
No list for the next drop
Past buyers are orders, not subscribers. The announcement goes through another platform.
The product limit
The catalogue grew and the plan did not.
It looks like a shop
Clean and plain, which was the point, until the brand needed to look like itself.
What Big Cartel does well
- A free plan and cheap paid plans
- No transaction fees
- The simplest storefront in this comparison
- Made for artists and makers, and it shows
Where Big Cartel falls short
- Products limited by plan
- No blog engine or CMS
- No email marketing
- A small set of themes and basic SEO
Grigora vs Big Cartel at a glance
What a small shop includes, and what a brand needs.
Maker storefront
All-in-one platform
Grigora vs Big Cartel: feature by feature
A category-by-category breakdown, pricing, AI, design, e-commerce, email, SEO, performance, and support.
Built small
Even matchBig Cartel's limits are a design choice: products by plan, a handful of pages, themes that frame the work and stop. For a maker with twenty pieces it is exactly enough. Grigora has no product cap and unlimited pages, which matters only once the shop needs them.
| Feature | Grigora | Big Cartel |
|---|---|---|
| Product limit | None | Limited by plan |
| Pages | Unlimited | A few |
| Free plan | Yes | Gold, free |
| Simplicity | Easy | Simplest here |
Takeaway: If small is the right size, Big Cartel is the right shop.
Blog & content
Grigora winsBig Cartel has no blog engine of consequence. The story of the work, the process, the studio, lives on Instagram or nowhere. Grigora's CMS has directories, author profiles, moderated comments and an AI writer.
| Feature | Grigora | Big Cartel |
|---|---|---|
| Blog | Full CMS | Minimal |
| Directories and collections | Built in | |
| Comments and moderation | Included, with admin replies | |
| AI blog writing |
Takeaway: A brand needs somewhere to tell the story. Big Cartel has the shop and not much else.
Newsletter & email
Grigora winsBig Cartel has no email marketing. Customers who bought once are not a list unless another platform makes them one. Grigora includes the list, the campaigns and the automations.
| Feature | Grigora | Big Cartel |
|---|---|---|
| Email included | 2,500 to 25,000 subscribers | |
| Campaign builder | Included | Third-party |
| Automation and segmentation | Included | Third-party |
| Signup forms tied to the site | Embed |
Takeaway: The drop announcement is another subscription on Big Cartel. It is in the plan on Grigora.
Design
Grigora winsBig Cartel's themes are clean and deliberately plain, which suits the work. Grigora generates a design direction for the brand and gives you a block editor and 131 templates.
| Feature | Grigora | Big Cartel |
|---|---|---|
| AI first-draft site | ||
| Templates | 131 | A small set of themes |
| Design control | Block editor | Theme settings, custom code on paid plans |
| Looks like | The brand | A Big Cartel shop |
Takeaway: Big Cartel frames the work. Grigora builds the brand around it.
The store
Even matchBoth sell physical and digital products with variants and stock and take no platform commission. Big Cartel's checkout is simple and its plans are cheap. Grigora's store sits inside a full site.
| Feature | Grigora | Big Cartel |
|---|---|---|
| Physical and digital products | ||
| Variants and stock | ||
| Platform commission | 0% | 0% |
| Payment gateways | Stripe, Razorpay | Stripe, PayPal |
| Discount codes and shipping | Paid plans |
Takeaway: Comparable shops. The difference is what surrounds them.
SEO
Grigora winsBig Cartel covers basic metadata. Grigora adds schema controls, IndexNow and 210 free tools.
| Feature | Grigora | Big Cartel |
|---|---|---|
| Meta and sitemap controls | Basic | |
| Schema controls | ||
| IndexNow submission | ||
| Free SEO tools suite | 210 tools |
Takeaway: Big Cartel assumes the audience comes from elsewhere. Grigora is built to be found.
Ownership & export
Even matchBoth export products and orders. Neither exports a design.
| Feature | Grigora | Big Cartel |
|---|---|---|
| Export products and orders | ||
| Export content | Not applicable | |
| White label for agencies | $199/mo plan | |
| Support | Email, priority on higher plans |
Takeaway: Comparable. Neither locks the shop in.
Grigora vs Big Cartel pricing
Both are cheap. One includes the rest of the website.
Website, newsletter & store in one plan
Annual rates shown. 0% platform commission on any gateway.
Maker storefront, three plans
Big Cartel pricing as listed 2026-09-02 on bigcartel.com/pricing. No transaction fees. Product limits apply by plan. No blog engine or email marketing on any plan.
Grigora Starter at $12/mo includes a full site, a newsletter and an uncapped store. Big Cartel Platinum at $15/mo includes a limited shop.
The real cost: Grigora vs Big Cartel
A maker whose shop has grown into a brand.
| What you pay for | Big Cartel | Grigora |
|---|---|---|
| Store plan | $0 to $30/mo | $12 to $45/mo (all-in) |
| A blog for the story of the work | Another platform | Included |
| A newsletter for drops | Another platform | Included (2,500 to 25,000 subs) |
| Product limit | By plan | None |
| Design | A small set of themes | 131 templates + AI |
| SEO tooling | Basic | 210 free tools |
Grigora vs Big Cartel, side by side
Big Cartel sells a small shop. Grigora sells the site the shop grows into.
Is Grigora the right Big Cartel alternative for you?
Where each platform is the right one.
Best Big Cartel alternative for makers building a brand
The shop, plus the blog, the newsletter and a site that looks like the brand.
… for growing catalogues
No product limit on any plan.
… for drops and launches
A list of past buyers and a campaign tool to tell them, included.
Big Cartel is the right call if…
You sell a small number of pieces, want it free or nearly free, and do not need a website beyond the shop.
Which one is right for you?
Choose Grigora if…
- The shop has become a brand
- You need a blog and a newsletter
- Your catalogue is growing
- You want a site designed for you
- You are an agency that resells
Choose Big Cartel if…
- •You sell a handful of pieces
- •Free or $15 is the budget
- •Simplicity is the priority
How to switch from Big Cartel to Grigora
Big Cartel exports products and orders; the site is small enough to rebuild in an afternoon, and the AI draft does most of it.
- 1
Export products and orders
Download the catalogue and order history from Big Cartel.
- 2
Start your Grigora site
Describe the brand in a sentence and the AI generates a site with its own design.
- 3
Import products
Bring the catalogue into Grigora Commerce, with no limit, and connect Stripe or Razorpay.
- 4
Add the blog and the list
Start the story in the CMS and import past customers into the newsletter for the next drop.
- 5
Point your domain and redirect
Connect your domain and redirect old product URLs.
Why people look for a Big Cartel alternative in 2026
Big Cartel is exactly what it says it is, and people leave it for the same reason they chose it. It is a small shop for people who make things, it costs almost nothing, and it does not do anything else.
A shop, not a site
A product grid, an About page, a few more. No blog engine to speak of, no directories, no CMS. The story of the work, which is what makes people buy handmade things, has to live somewhere else.
No list
Big Cartel has no email marketing. Every past customer is an order record, not a subscriber, and the next drop is announced on a platform that is not the shop.
Limited on purpose
Products are limited by plan and themes are a small, plain set. That is a coherent design for a maker with twenty pieces, and a ceiling for a maker with two hundred.
How Grigora compares
Grigora is the website a maker's shop grows into: the store, uncapped, inside a site with a blog, a newsletter and a design generated for the brand.
The whole site for $12
Starter at $12 a month billed annually includes an AI-designed site, the CMS with directories and moderated comments, a newsletter with 2,500 subscribers, and a store with no product limit and no platform commission on your own gateway.
Where Big Cartel still wins
Smallness and price. A free plan with no fees for a handful of pieces is a better deal than anything Grigora offers for that job, and Big Cartel's plainness is a feature for work that should speak for itself. Choose by the size of the shop.
Frequently asked questions
For makers whose shop has grown into a brand and who need a blog, a newsletter and an uncapped store, Grigora is the strongest all-in-one Big Cartel alternative from $12/mo. For a handful of pieces sold simply, Big Cartel's free and $15 plans remain hard to beat.
As listed in September 2026, Big Cartel's Gold plan is free, Platinum is $15/mo and Diamond is $30/mo. There are no transaction fees. Product limits apply by plan.
No. Big Cartel charges no platform fee; only your payment processor's fees apply. Grigora likewise charges 0% platform commission.
Big Cartel has no email marketing and only minimal blogging. Grigora includes a full CMS with directories and moderated comments, and a newsletter with 2,500 to 25,000 subscribers.
Yes, by plan. Grigora has no product limit on any plan.
Yes. Big Cartel exports products and orders, which import into Grigora Commerce. The site is rebuilt, which the AI draft makes quick, and old product URLs should be redirected.
Compare Grigora with other platforms
Make the switch from Big Cartel to Grigora
The site your shop grows into, with the blog, newsletter and an uncapped store, from $12/mo. Try Grigora free, no credit card required.
14-day free trial • No credit card required • Cancel anytime