Big Cartel vs Cratejoy (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Big Cartel: it is second in our ranking of online store builders, and it grades higher too, 2.8 against 1.6.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Big Cartel grades higher on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Big Cartel
Simple online store for artists, makers and independent sellers
Cratejoy
Store builder and marketplace for subscription box businesses
Which one is for you
Pick Big Cartel if
- Fits if you're an artist, band or maker selling merch or small batches
- Works for a small catalog at a flat $12 a month on yearly billing
Look elsewhere if
- Too light for larger shops, as it's built for small catalogs and keeps its tools simple
- Tight if you stay free, as Gold allows 5 products, one template and no custom domain
- Pricey if you want abandoned-cart recovery, drops, automatic discounts or Zapier, all on Diamond at $24 a month yearly
- Watch out: the pricing pages don't say how many products Platinum and Diamond allow
- Watch out: card and PayPal fees still come from your payment provider, and the Platinum trial lasts 7 days
Pick Cratejoy if
- Fits if you sell subscription boxes and want a marketplace plus your own site
- Works for new box sellers who want recurring billing without custom development
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you sell a lot, since each order adds 1.25% plus $0.10 on every plan
- Not for you if you sell one-off products, as the plans are built for recurring boxes
- Skip it if you want a trial, because none is listed
- Watch out: marketplace orders and renewals carry a 15% referral fee, and monthly billing costs more on every plan
How we grade them
| 2.8GPABig CartelGood | 1.6GPACratejoyWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPlatinum is $12 a month on yearly billing ($15 monthly) with your own domain, labels and stock tracking, which sits in the lowest-priced quarter of this category. Prices are flat with no Big Cartel fee on sales, so you only pay your payment provider. | C$24.99 a month billed yearly ($29 monthly) is inside the category's $20 to $89 range. Fees of 1.25% plus $0.10 an order come on top of every plan. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe free Gold plan takes card and PayPal checkout and handles sales tax, but it's 5 products, one template and no custom domain. You'll hit that fast. There's also a 7-day trial of Platinum. | FNo free plan and no trial is listed, so you pay from the start. |
| Features | CIt covers the basics: physical and digital products, unlimited labels, stock tracking, in-person sales and print-on-demand apps. But it's a simple toolbox, Google Shopping is the one outside channel named, and the pricing pages don't say how many products paid plans allow. | CRenewals and shipping, a marketplace listing, your own website, dunning and tax. It does the box job fully and is a narrower job than a general store, and the vendor does not position it for one-off products. |
| Ease of use | A4.74 from about 6,800 App Store ratings, above our line for an A. Pick a template, add your products and the shop is open. | CYou set up the boxes, site and billing yourself. No store rating is on record. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with PayPal, Afterpay, Venmo, Google Shopping and Etsy imports, and Zapier's 7,000+ apps on Diamond. No desktop app, so not an A. | CWeb only, with TaxJar the only listed integration. |
| Best for | artists and makers selling small runs | subscription box sellers |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Big Cartel and Cratejoy. How we grade
Price against what you get
Big Cartel starts at $12 a month and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Cratejoy starts at $24.99 a month and scores 2.0.
Big Cartel scores higher and starts $12.99 a month lower. Of the other online store builders on the chart, none scores higher than Big Cartel for less, and 14 score higher than Cratejoy for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Big Cartel also covers inventory, digital downloads and shipping labels.
At a glance
| Big Cartel | Cratejoy | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Paid |
| Starts at | $12 per month, billed annually ($15 billed monthly) | $24.99 per month, billed yearly ($29 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Gold plan: 5 product listings, one template, card and PayPal checkout, sales tax autopilot and real-time stats, with no credit card required. Custom domains need a paid plan. | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of Platinum | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Big Cartel, LLC | Cratejoy |
| Price read from | bigcartel.com | sell.cratejoy.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Big Cartel
- The free Gold plan allows only 5 products and one template, with no custom domain.
- Abandoned-cart recovery, scheduled drops, automatic discounts and Zapier need Diamond at $30 a month, or $24 billed annually.
- The pricing pages do not state how many products Platinum and Diamond allow, beyond saying the paid plans add listings.
- Card and PayPal processing fees come from the payment provider; Big Cartel advertises flat monthly prices with no hidden fees.
Cratejoy
- Every plan adds a transaction fee of 1.25% + $0.10 on top of the monthly price.
- Marketplace orders and renewals carry a 15% referral fee, which applies to Essentials and Advanced too.
- The plans are built for recurring boxes; the vendor does not position them for general one-off product stores.
- Prices shown are the yearly-billed rate; paying monthly costs more on every plan.
Key features
Big Cartel
- Templates and shop design
- Start from a template in Big Cartel's free library and change the design without code. The free Gold plan is limited to the Cosmos template.
- Physical and digital products
- Sell physical goods and downloads with size and color variants, edit products in bulk and import listings from Etsy, Squarespace and Shopify.
- Shipping labels and tracking
- Print unlimited shipping labels with discounts of up to 90% on postage, track shipments and keep count of stock on the paid plans.
- Payments and in-person sales
- Take cards, wallets, Venmo, PayPal and Afterpay online, and sell in person by taking payments on a phone with the iOS and Android app.
- Apps, Zapier and promotions
- Install apps for print-on-demand and product reviews, run discounts and a Google Shopping connection, and on Diamond link 7,000+ apps through Zapier.
Cratejoy
- Subscription renewals and shipping
- Advanced rebilling and shipping features and built-in customer management tools aimed at recurring boxes.
- Marketplace listing
- Sellers list on Cratejoy's consumer Marketplace, which the vendor says draws about 4 million monthly page views.
- Your own website
- Essentials and Advanced include a custom site built on responsive templates, with app integrations and an API.
- Checkout and currencies
- Secure checkout supporting 138 currencies, with fraud protection included.
- Dunning and tax
- Advanced adds advanced dunning for failed payments and a native TaxJar integration.
- Seller support
- Support by live chat and email, with priority support included on Advanced.
Plans
Big Cartel
Gold$0
5 product listings, the Cosmos template, size and color variants, card and PayPal checkout, automatic sales tax and real-time stats.
Platinum$12
per month, billed annually ($15 billed monthly)
Custom domain, physical and digital products, shipping labels and tracking, design changes, apps, in-person sales and inventory tracking.
Diamond$24
per month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly)
Adds abandoned-cart recovery, scheduled product drops, password-protected products, automatic discounts, Zapier and priority support.
Cratejoy
Marketplace Only$24.99
per month, billed annually ($29 billed monthly)
A listing on the Cratejoy Marketplace plus subscription tools. Adds 1.25% + $0.10 per transaction and a 15% referral fee on every order and renewal.
Essentials$59
per month, billed annually ($79 billed monthly)
Your own custom website and themes plus a Marketplace listing. Adds 1.25% + $0.10 per order; Marketplace orders also carry the 15% referral fee.
Advanced$159
per month, billed annually ($199 billed monthly)
Everything in Essentials, plus native TaxJar integration, advanced dunning, a referral app and priority support. Same transaction and referral fees.
Ways to pay less
Big Cartel
- Annual discount
Pay annually to save 20%
Platinum costs $144 a year ($12 a month) against $15 monthly, and Diamond $288 a year ($24 a month) against $30 monthly.
Cratejoy
- Annual discount
Lower rate for yearly billing
The pricing page shows each plan cheaper when paid yearly: $24.99 vs $29, $59 vs $79 and $159 vs $199 per month.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Big Cartel or Cratejoy?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Big Cartel is cheaper to start with: $12 a month, against $24.99 a month for Cratejoy. Big Cartel starts at $12 per month, billed annually ($15 billed monthly), and Cratejoy starts at $24.99 per month, billed yearly ($29 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Big Cartel or Cratejoy?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Big Cartel has a free plan. Cratejoy does not.
Which platforms do Big Cartel and Cratejoy run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Big Cartel lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.