Big Cartel

Big Cartel is a lightweight ecommerce platform purpose-built for artists, makers, designers, and independent creators who want to sell their work online without the complexity of full-featured ecommerce solutions. Founded in 2005, the platform has remained intentionally simple and focused, serving over one million artists worldwide. Big Cartel offers a clean, minimalist store builder with customizable themes designed to showcase creative work rather than overwhelming visitors with ecommerce clutter. The platform supports physical products, digital downloads, and made-to-order items with simple inventory tracking. Each plan includes a free custom domain connection, SSL certificate, and real-time stats. The standout feature is the generous free plan that allows up to 5 products with no monthly fees and no transaction fees beyond standard payment processor charges. Paid plans scale modestly, adding more product listings, theme code editing, inventory tracking, and promotional tools like discount codes and Google Analytics integration. Big Cartel integrates with Stripe and PayPal for payment processing, ShipStation for shipping, and offers a straightforward API for custom development. The platform prioritizes the creator experience with a streamlined admin interface that takes minutes to learn, automatic tax calculation for US sellers, and in-person selling capabilities through the Big Cartel mobile app. It deliberately avoids feature bloat, making it the anti-Shopify for creators who want beautiful simplicity.