Big Cartel and Squarespace are both web-based platforms that have the same general purpose: enabling people to do business online. They are both available on Google Play and the App Store, so you can manage your business on the go. They both have a huge customer base, and we’d have to say – they’re pretty successful in what they’re doing.
But which one is better for you? Of course, that’s going to depend on a few things. So, let’s compare the two platforms and see what the striking differences are. By the end of the article, you’ll know which one will be the right choice for you.
| A quick comparison: | ||
| Big Cartel | Squarespace | |
| Who’s it for? | Smaller businesses, typically a lot of artists. | A range of businesses, both big and small, but in particular, businesses with plans to grow. |
| Themes and customization |
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| Pricing |
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| Customer support |
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Table of Contents
Who Is Big Cartel For?
Big Cartel is great for small businesses, entrepreneurs with relatively small catalogs, and freelancers, mainly in the fields of arts and crafts. It’s inexpensive and easy to use, providing you don’t need to do any major customization.
So, if you’re an artist or artisan, own a small-scale business with handicrafts, or maybe you’re just a fan of simplicity, Big Cartel might be a good choice for you.
Who Is Squarespace For?
Squarespace is more suitable for growing businesses that are small- to medium-sized. As you’ll see, it’s not as cheap as Big Cartel, but it leaves more room for customization. This makes it slightly more complex to use than Big Cartel, but it’s still fairly easy to use.
It’s more of a general purpose e-commerce site builder, so it doesn’t matter if you’re an artist or an athlete – you can sell a wide range of products on Squarespace.
One more thing worth mentioning is that Squarespace provides excellent marketing tools, along with customization and design options.
Themes and Customization
Big Cartel
Big Cartel offers 18 themes, and all are free. They are simple, well-designed, and aesthetically pleasing, making them a good fit for the target customers overall – artists and artisans.
The main downside is that, under the hood, they are actually all quite similar. This is why many Big Cartel websites tend to resemble each other.
But one of the coolest things about Big Cartel themes is that they are easily switchable. Once you’ve selected your theme, it can be changed with zero effort, and everything will automatically adjust to the newly chosen look.
You can personalize your theme by adding a logo, header, background image, and slideshow, or by changing the number of featured products. You can also add buttons, pages, embed a newsletter subscription form, and do some other cool stuff. Colors and fonts are customizable, too. For anything more specific, you’ll have to add HTML or CSS code.
Big Cartel doesn’t give you a blog option, and it doesn’t have a theme specifically built with blogging in mind, although the Nova Theme may do the trick.
That means you’ll have to turn to a third-party blogging app like DropInBlog. DropInBlog will give you all the functionality you need, and then some. If you want to look at the integration process for yourself, check out this helpful tutorial to step you through the process of adding a blog post to Big Cartel.
Squarespace
Squarespace has more than 100 themes divided into 22 categories, like art and design, food, photography, and fashion. They’re responsive, and they’re all included in the existing pricing plans, so you don’t have to pay extra money for a theme.
Squarespace allows for a lot of customization, even without using any code. With the regular editor tools, you’ll be able to change many things on your site, with coding, you can change virtually everything.
You can change page spacing, alignment, layout, fonts, and the way products are displayed. You can rearrange or resize blocks, change the size of your headers, tweak the navigation dropdown menu, and create custom buttons, borders, and graphics.
Squarespace really goes the extra mile when it comes to coding. It lets you modify not just HTML and CSS but JavaScript code too. This gives you both freedom and creative control at the same time.
As is the case with Big Cartel, the themes are easily switchable. However, just like with Big Cartel, some reviewers complain that Squarespace themes are quite similar. It’s possible that if you don’t adapt your theme too much, then it will have some similarities to other Squarespace sites. But if you want to make your site really special and unique, you can always make use of the coding possibilities Squarespace provides.
While Squarespace has a built-in blogging option, it’s a bit underwhelming. If you want to get serious about content marketing – which is probably the most efficient way to attract new customers – I’d suggest checking out DropInBlog yet again. It integrates very easily and is really good for SEO. As a bonus, if you decide to switch to Big Cartel, you can bring your blog with you versus starting all over again.
Pricing
Big Cartel
Big Cartel offers three pricing plans.
Big Cartel Gold
Gold is the name of the first plan, and the beauty of it is that it’s completely free. You can sign up and get started with the Gold plan without submitting credit card details, so in a sense, it’s like an endless trial period.
It includes:
- A custom domain
- Free themes
- In-person sales
- Real-time stats
- The possibility to offer discounts and run promos
- Shipment tracking
- A sales tax tool
Of course, since it’s free, there are some limitations. You can only have five products and one photo per product, but limitations are to be expected with a free package.
Big Cartel Platinum
Platinum costs $9.99/month, and you’ll be able to sell up to 50 products and include five images per product. Some of the extra features include:
- Theme code editing
- Google Analytics
- Inventory tracking
- Bulk editing
Big Cartel Diamond
Diamond is the highest tier and will cost you $19.99/month. The features included with the Diamond plan are exactly the same as those included with the Platinum plan, except you’re able to sell up to 500 products. The main difference between the plans is the number of products you can sell.
Big Cartel charges by the month – there is no option for an annual subscription and therefore no possibility of getting a discount for paying on a yearly basis instead.
However, one of the perks of all Big Cartel paid plans is that you don’t pay listing and transaction fees. Of course, the payment gateway of your choice will deduct a cut from your sale, but Big Cartel itself doesn’t. This means more profit in your pocket.
Squarespace
Squarespace has four pricing plans, and it allows you the option to pay monthly or annually. If you sign up for an annual subscription, you get a 24%-30% discount. There’s no free plan, but if you want to get the feel of the software before you commit, it does offer a 14-day free trial.
Personal Plan
Personal is the most basic plan, and it will cost you $23/month. However, if you choose to pay yearly, you’ll only pay the equivalent of $16/month.
With this plan, clients get access to some really cool features, like:
- A free custom domain
- SSL security certificate
- Unlimited bandwidth and storage
- SEO features
- Free themes
- Up to two contributors
- Around-the-clock support
- Website metrics
- Access to Squarespace extensions
This plan is best for those with a very small website. It gives you all the basics but no advanced features or tools that a bustling business would require.
Business Plan
Business is the next package. Squarespace says that it’s the most popular plan and costs $33/month. The annual pricing will save you 30% and costs $23/month.
It includes all the features found in Personal, only instead of just two contributors, you can have an unlimited number of contributors. Some of the extra features include:
- A professional email from Google
- Premium integrations
- The possibility to modify not just CSS but also JavaScript code
- Advanced analytics
- Promotional pop-ups
- Gift cards
- Unlimited products
- The option to accept donations
It’s a great all-rounder, perfect for most businesses, whether they’re just starting out or are quite established and are beginning to scale up.
Basic Commerce Plan
Basic Commerce is next in line. You’ll pay $36 per month, or if you choose to pay annually, it brings the price to $27/month.
The Basic Commerce plan has everything that the Business plan has, plus some extra stuff like customer accounts, powerful advanced analytics, a checkout on your page, and advanced merchandising tools.
One of the differences is that you don’t pay transaction fees with this plan. By comparison, the Business plan deducts 3% from each of your sales. This package is most suitable for both small and medium-sized e-commerce stores.
Advanced Commerce Plan
The Advanced Commerce plan is the highest-tier pricing plan. You’ll pay $65/month or $49/month (yearly equivalent).
Again, it includes every feature from the previous plan, as well as some additional perks like:
- Abandoned cart recovery – an extremely useful e-commerce tool
- Advanced shipping
- Advanced discounts
- Commerce API
- The ability to sell subscriptions, allowing your customers to subscribe to your products or services on a weekly or monthly basis
It’s no surprise that the Advanced Commerce plan is ideal for larger businesses with a higher turnover of products and sales.
Customer Support
Big Cartel
Big Cartel’s Help page is well-organized and extremely helpful, offering all the FAQs and how-to tutorials you’ll ever need.
It’s divided into 11 sections, each of them covering a different topic for ease of navigation:
- Basics
- Customization
- Products
- Orders
- Dashboard
- Discounts
- Settings
- Billing
- Security
- Apps and integrations
- Live classes
In addition to the help page, there’s also a contact center. It consists of a small team of customer service representatives who are available seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST. Clients can contact them via email only. Unfortunately, there’s no live chat or phone support.
Squarespace
Squarespace has a great Help page, where you can find everything you need to be able to run your store smoothly.
The company offers support 24/7 through a variety of channels: guides, videos, webinars, forums, email, a chatbot (called Support Assistant), and Twitter. There’s also a live chat, but it’s only available during workdays (Monday–Friday) from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. EDT.
Similar to Big Cartel, Squarespace also doesn't provide phone support.
FAQs
Which is the less pricey e-commerce platform, Big Cartel or Squarespace?
Big Cartel is by far the cheaper option for an e-commerce platform. However, as your online store grows you will be restricted by the product limits within the Big Cartel plans.
While Squarespace is the more expensive of the two, you will have greater room to grow and a more comprehensive range of e-commerce features at your disposal (with the commerce-specific plans).
Can I start an SEO-friendly blog on Squarespace?
Squarespace does include a blogging functionality and a collection of specially designed templates exactly for this purpose. They also include built-in SEO tools, but for greater ease of use, and if you’re blogging on a professional level, DropInBlog is a great option.
Over and Out
Big Cartel is certainly cheaper, and the free plan is a nice option. However, you’ll most likely hit limitations as your online store grows. If you intend to keep your online store as a side hustle, then this platform could be just the budget option you’re looking for.
Of course, for anyone with grand plans of scaling up and analyzing their customer base to optimize marketing and sales, Squarespace has all the tools and capabilities. It’ll cost you more, but there’s room to move. Now it’s up to you to decide which platform will suit your budget and needs better.