BigCartel Vs Wix 2026 🚀 Best Platform For Creators?

Are you interested in comparing Big Cartel and Wix to determine the most suitable platform for your small business or creative project? You're in the right spot. Both Big Cartel and Wix offer distinct features tailored to different users, including independent artists, creators, and small business owners seeking to establish an online presence. With over twenty years of experience in digital marketing and web development, I understand the importance of selecting a platform that combines user-friendly features, customisation options, and cost-efficiency.

Entrepreneurs and creatives often face challenges in choosing between these platforms due to their varying capabilities in design, e-commerce, and scalability. This guide aims to alleviate these pain points by providing an in-depth analysis of Big Cartel and Wix. Whether you're looking for a simple store setup or a fully customizable website, this comparison will help you make an informed decision.

TL;DR 📌 For most small businesses and artists, Wix is the better choice due to its user-friendly interface, extensive customization options, and robust e-commerce features. However, if you're an independent artist or maker looking for a simple, cost-effective platform specifically tailored for selling a small number of products, BigCartel might be the ideal option.

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 Quick Comparison Table for BigCartel vs Wix

Feature	BigCartel	🥇 Wix (My Top Pick!)
Ease of Use	Very easy to set up, but limited customization options.	Intuitive drag-and-drop editor with a wide range of customization options.
Key Features & Flexibility	Basic features tailored for artists and makers, not as feature-rich as other platforms.	Wide range of features and apps available for various purposes including eCommerce, blogging, and marketing.
SEO & Marketing	Basic SEO features.	Comprehensive SEO features, plus marketing integrations and tools.
Ecommerce	Focused on small stores, offers basic eCommerce features.	Advanced eCommerce features suitable for stores of all sizes.
Customer Support and Resources	Email support and a range of articles.	24/7 customer support, extensive help center, and community forum.
Pricing	Plans start at $9.99/month. Check Pricing	Plans start at $14/month. Check Pricing
My View	BigCartel is simple and ideal for small-scale artists and makers, but limited in features.	Wix offers a robust set of features and customisation options, making it suitable for a wide range of businesses, including larger online stores.

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Overview of BigCartel vs Wix:

Big Cartel:

• Key Features:
  • Artist-Focused Platform: Designed specifically for artists, makers, and small businesses to sell their products online.
  • Simple Store Setup: Designed for small shops, offering easy setup and management.
  • Product Listings: Allows listing of a limited number of products depending on the plan.
  • Customizable Templates: Offers simple, clean templates that are easy to customize.
  • Payment Processing: Integrates with Stripe and PayPal for secure transactions.
  • No Transaction Fees: Does not charge transaction fees on sales.
• Pricing:
  • Free plan available for up to 5 products. Paid plans start at $9.99/month for up to 50 products.
• Strengths:
  • Simplicity: Very straightforward and easy to use, ideal for beginners.
  • Affordable: Low-cost plans and no transaction fees make it budget-friendly.
  • Focus on Creatives: Tailored for artists, crafters, and small-scale sellers.
• Weaknesses:
  • Limited Features: Basic e-commerce functionalities with fewer customization options.
  • Scalability: Not suitable for large stores with extensive product catalogs.
  • Template Limitations: Less flexibility and fewer template choices compared to more robust platforms.

Wix:

• Key Features:
  • Versatile Website Builder: An all-in-one platform suitable for creating a wide range of websites, including e-commerce stores.
  • Drag-and-Drop Builder: Intuitive editor that allows for extensive customization without coding.
  • Extensive Templates: Hundreds of professionally designed templates for various industries.
  • App Market: Access to numerous apps to extend website functionality, including e-commerce tools.
  • SEO Tools: Built-in SEO tools to help optimize your site for search engines.
  • Integrated Hosting: Includes reliable hosting and domain registration services.
• Pricing:
  • Free plan available with Wix branding. Premium plans for business and e-commerce start at $23/month.
• Strengths:
  • Design Flexibility: Highly customizable with a vast selection of templates and design options.
  • All-in-One Solution: Combines website building, hosting, and e-commerce capabilities.
  • Scalability: Suitable for a wide range of businesses, from small startups to larger operations.
• Weaknesses:
  • Wix Branding on Free Plan: Free plan includes Wix ads and domain.
  • Additional Costs: Can become expensive with premium apps and features.
  • Limited Export Options: Limited ability to move your site away from Wix.

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Ease of Use:

Big Cartel:

Big Cartel offers one of the easiest onboarding processes we’ve seen on any creative platform. You can easily sign up for an account and immediately get started with a working five-item store.

Also, it allows users to create their own unique online storefronts. Users have at least eighteen different design templates at their fingertips, all of which are customisable in terms of colours, fonts, and widgets. Once that’s set up, you can add your products, then select either Stripe or PayPal as modes of payment, and start doing business.

Wix:

Wix built its name out of features that make any user’s life as easy as it can be. The drag-and-drop system turns anyone into a web designer without knowing deep technicalities.

This, however, does not mean that the platform has not evolved in nearly 20 years. Over the past decade alone, we have seen the development of Wix’s own proprietary ecommerce creation platform – one that is deemed useful (and easy to manage) by both startups and more established businesses.

Winner – DRAW! We’re calling this ease of use match a draw between BigCartel versus Wix.

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Features and Flexibility:

Out of the box:

BigCartel:

WYSIWYG Storefront Builder

We see this as the ultimate in ease: you don’t need to know any form of coding or even a background in site creation to use Big Cartel’s storefront builder. Much like the most basic and user-friendly site-building platforms, you just point, drag, and click elements to suit your purposes. The fact that it also has eighteen customisable themes pre-installed takes a great deal of stress and guesswork out of the equation and you can create your storefront at a rapid clip;

Store Performance Dashboard

Metrics and analytics can be seen in real time through this particular feature. The dashboard allows users to see how many visitors browsed through the site, what items were purchased, and how many purchases were made during a given time period. This feature also enables users to determine which products are the most popular and which are slow-moving; how much money each product has earned in sales; and even how many times specific items were sold;

Wix:

Two Ways to Create a Website

Wix offers a well-stocked (in terms of features) drag and drop site building platform for those who want to put a truly personal spin on their sites, as well as the AI-driven intuitive tool Wix ADI for those short on time (and knowledge): just answer a few questions, and the platform will automatically create a working site for you;

A Built-in SEO Toolkit

There’s absolutely no need to learn coding here if you want an SEO-ready website. Wix has taken care of everything by building SEO features right into its UI, performing a variety of specific tasks like adding meta descriptions, alt text, and even 301 redirects;

Themes & Template Design:

BigCartel:

The platform offers well-designed, clean, and mobile-responsive themes, making it fast and easy to set up an online store. However, the selection isn't as diverse as other eCommerce builder options. The platform offers 16 themes you can use. They look aesthetically pleasing and are made for artists who are starting. The themes aren't exactly eye-popping, but they look professional.

Wix:

Wix has more than 800 templates in different styles, colours, and categories. This means you can dive right in and build the website you've always wanted.

check the latest wix Themes and templates now

That’s the good news; the bad news is that you can’t switch design templates when your site goes live.

3rd party apps market:

BigCartel:

Now this is what sets Big Cartel apart from the competition: third-party app compatibility. For enhanced analytics, it easily interfaces with Google Analytics and Lucky Orange in order to see where they can optimise marketing efforts or select the best products to sell for a specific season. Social media marketing is also a snap thanks to integration with platforms like Instagram, while applications like Mailchimp, Poptin, and Elfsight allow users to work with their email and other social media accounts to reach an even wider customer base.

Wix:

Wix offers over 300 third-party integrations through its App Market, and these include solutions for site functionality, eCommerce, online marketing, events management, design improvement, as well as streaming media (depending on your subscription plan, of course.) Partner companies and platforms include MailChimp, Modalyst for dropshipping, Spotify, Weglot, and Overtok.

Hosting:

BigCartel:

One letdown is that users can't host their online stores elsewhere since the platform is fully-hosted.

Wix:

Backups:

BigCartel:

Backups are possible with BigCartel through AWS integration.

Wix:

Unfortunately, you cannot back a Wix site up externally – and this is a cause for concern, especially with all the cloud server hacking incidents that have appeared in the news of late. Wix enables you to save previous versions of your site, enabling you to revert to a previous version if necessary. You could also save a duplicate of your site, but you will need to update it manually.

Migration:

BigCartel:

You can migrate to BigCartel within a few hours in just a few steps.

Wix:

If you are simply moving a Wix site from one account within the platform to another, you can easily use the Transfer Site function built into the UI.

Unfortunately, if you built your site on a different platform and want to move it to a Wix host, it's a complex process. There are however known workarounds for migrating from other providers with 3rd Party Tools.

Security:

BigCartel:

Addresses and custom domains in BigCartel are all encrypted with SSL.

Wix:

All Wix sites follow SSL and HTTPS protocols, ensuring secure visits between you and your customers.

Winner – WIX! As far as features and flexibility are concerned, we're giving this to Wix in this BigCartel vs Wix comparison.

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eCommerce Tools:

POS:

BigCartel:

It has a POS feature that lets you sell products from any location physically or online.

Wix:

Wix eCommerce tools include tax and dropshipping, inventory management, point of sale (POS), and abandoned cart recovery, among others.

Abandoned cart saver:

BigCartel:

It doesn't offer an abandoned cart feature by default. You need to integrate third-party apps to do this.

Wix:

You also need to install a third-party application to activate an abandoned cart feature.

Payment Gateways:

BigCartel:

In terms of payment processors, Big Cartel works with ApplePay, PayPal, and Stripe.

Wix:

The platform has its native payment gateway called Wix Payments. But you could also integrate it with other payment options like debit/credit cards, Apple Pay, PayPal, and others using a premium account.

Winner – DRAW! We’re calling this match on eCommerce a draw between BigCartel versus Wix.

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SEO & Marketing:

SEO:

BigCartel:

All Big Cartel pricing plans come with free SEO functionality, including automated sitemap generation and capability for plain-text URLs. In the paid plans, Google Analytics is integrated into the sites, providing real-time reports and insights.

Wix:

The platform’s interface already has a number of SEO features built into it, so creating meta descriptions, alt text as placeholders for images or graphics, and even code redirects are taken out of the user’s hands as these are generated automatically.

Mobile First:

BigCartel:

For those who want to keep tabs on their online business whilst on the go, Big Cartel actually offers a mobile application that works on either Apple iOS and Android devices. While these don’t exactly have the same level of functionality as the desktop/website version of the platform, they will nevertheless help users track orders and make necessary adjustments to orders whenever necessary, regardless of their location and the time of day.

Wix:

Unfortunately, you can't edit your website directly from your mobile phone. Still, all Wix pages are mobile-optimised and will appear stunning on whatever device.

Marketing:

BigCartel:

Another neat thing about Big Cartel is that digital or intellectual property creators like musicians, authors, and cineastes can actually sell their work through the platform through an application called Pulley. This medium for selling digital downloads is, unfortunately, a premium service, but users can try it for free for a fourteen-day trial period.

Wix:

Wix offers several marketing tools and analytics that let you track the progress of your Facebook ad and other social media campaigns.

Pagespeed:

BigCartel:

The platform's mobile pagespeed score over Google is 58 out of 100, while its pagespeed score for desktop is 89 out of 100. Pretty impressive!

Wix:

Wix websites are known to be laggy, with mobile pagespeeds rating 28 out of 100 and desktop pagespeeds at 87 out of 100.

Winner – DRAW! Between BigCartel vs Wix, both platforms are tied in terms of SEO and marketing features.

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Support and Resources:

Big Cartel:

As with most creative platforms, Big Cartel’s primary online support measure is its Help Centre which is divided into different sections ranging from the basics of setting up, to online security, to customisation, to billing – practically everything you need to know about working with the platform and more.

However, despite the fact that Big Cartel allows its users to interact with it through its social media channels, online technical support is only offered through its website during business hours (EST) and only from Monday through Friday.

For more pressing concerns regarding your Big Cartel account and / or transactions, you will need to send the platform an email requesting for support. Turnaround is a little slow, though: around two days tops.

But what we like about Big Cartel is that even customers are given priority when it comes to support as there is a separate email address where they can air their grievances regarding certain vendors on the platform.

Wix:

You can find plenty of guides, video tutorials, and references on Wix’s Help Centre. You can also connect with support staff via email and a phone call. Monday to Thursdays, 5 am – 5 pm EST.

Winner – BigCartel! In this support comparison between BigCartel vs Wix, BigCartel offers better help.

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Big Cartel vs Wix Pricing Comparison:

Pricing Comparison Table:

Platform	Plan Name	Monthly Price	Annual Price	Key Features	Free Trial	My View
BigCartel	Free	$0	N/A	5 product limit, 1 image per product, free themes, basic tracking	Yes (Free Forever Plan)	Best for small stores or beginners wanting to test selling online without any upfront cost.
	Gold	$9.99	N/A	50 product limit, 5 images per product, discount codes, shipment tracking	Yes	Ideal for small businesses that need more product listings with added features like shipment tracking.
	Platinum	$19.99	N/A	500 product limit, customizable themes, inventory tracking, sales tax autopilot	Yes	Suitable for more established sellers needing greater product capacity and customisation options.
Wix	Free	$0	N/A	Wix ads, 500MB storage, 500MB bandwidth, subdomain	Yes	Best for testing site building features before upgrading to premium plans.
	Combo	$23/month	$16/month billed annually ($192/year)	2GB bandwidth, 3GB storage, custom domain, free SSL, no ads	14-day refund policy	Best for personal websites or small businesses needing a custom domain and ad-free experience.
	Unlimited	$29/month	$22/month billed annually ($264/year)	Unlimited bandwidth, 10GB storage, site booster app, visitor analytics	14-day refund policy	Best for freelancers and entrepreneurs looking for more storage and advanced tools.
	Business Basic	$34/month	$27/month billed annually ($324/year)	Secure online payments, customer accounts, 20GB storage, ad-free, custom domain	14-day refund policy	Ideal for small eCommerce stores needing essential eCommerce features like payments and customer management.
	Business Unlimited	$38/month	$32/month billed annually ($384/year)	All Business Basic features + subscriptions, multiple currencies, automated sales tax, 35GB storage	14-day refund policy	Great for growing businesses needing more storage, international selling, and tax automation.
	Business VIP	$64/month	$59/month billed annually ($708/year)	All Business Unlimited features + priority support, VIP support, 50GB storage	14-day refund policy	Best for large online stores requiring priority support and maximum storage for multimedia-rich content.

Big Cartel Overview:

Big Cartel is free to use under its Gold plan, but users may only sell five products at any given time.

The Platinum plan will set you back by $9.99 monthly and the Diamond plan by $19.99 a month. Both allow users to sell more products and also gain access to numerous premium features that will enhance their store management experience.

Click for the latest BigCartel pricing

Wix Overview:

Where Wix is concerned, the price of your subscription will be dependent on why you’re building a website in the first place.

To build a personal website, you can start with a free plan or, if you want a bit more pizazz for your site, consider the Combo for $8.50 a month. However, if you’re setting up an online store, go for the Unlimited plan for $12.50 monthly.

Click for the latest Wix pricing

Free trial, refund policy, and money-back guarantee:

Big Cartel:

As stated in their service terms, Big Cartel is free to use but keep in mind that features will be limited.

Wix:

For those on a very tight budget, their service terms say you can actually use this platform for free but with the annoying ads.

Winner – Wix! We think that comparing BigCartel vs Wix for value for money, Wix has a slight advantage.

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Conclusion and Recommendations

Choosing between BigCartel and Wix depends on your specific needs, technical skills, and business goals. BigCartel is an excellent choice if you're an independent artist or small maker looking for a simple, affordable platform to sell a limited number of products without the need for advanced features or extensive customization. It's ideal for those who prefer a minimalist approach and want to get their products online quickly.

On the other hand, Wix is perfect for small to medium-sized businesses that require more design flexibility, advanced e-commerce functionalities, and scalability. If you want to create a fully customized website with robust features to grow your online store, Wix provides the tools and flexibility to make it happen.

Who Is It Best For?

• BigCartel: Best for independent artists, crafters, and small makers looking for a simple, cost-effective platform to sell a limited number of products.
• Wix: Best for small to medium-sized businesses, entrepreneurs, and creatives who need a versatile website builder with advanced design and e-commerce features.

Who Is It Not Best For?

• Wix: May not suit users who prefer a minimalist platform or those looking for the lowest-cost option for selling a small number of products.
• BigCartel: Not ideal for businesses needing advanced e-commerce features, extensive customization, or those planning to scale significantly.

BigCartel vs Wix eCommerce Alternatives:

Great alternatives to Wix and BigCartel include;

Compare leading eCommerce website builders by pricing, best use case, core selling features, and review status. Use this table to quickly shortlist platforms for building an online store, selling products, managing payments, and scaling a commerce-focused website.

Platform	Price / Basic Plan + CTA	Best For	Key Features	Transaction Fees	Review
🥇 Shopify	Free trial / Paid from $29/mo annually or $39/mo monthly | Check Pricing	Best overall ecommerce website builder	Full online store, unlimited products, app store, multichannel selling, POS, strong checkout	Shopify Payments card fees vary by market; extra third-party payment provider fees may apply	Shopify Review
2. Wix eCommerce	Free site builder / Ecommerce from Core plan around $29/mo+ | Check Pricing	Best for beginners and small stores	Drag-and-drop editor, AI builder, templates, product pages, bookings, payments, marketing tools	Processor fees apply; no separate Wix platform transaction fee on standard ecommerce sales	Wix eCommerce Review
3. BigCommerce	Free trial / Paid from $39/mo+ | Check Pricing	Best for scaling stores with built-in features	Unlimited products, strong SEO, multi-channel selling, B2B options, no-code storefront tools	Processor fees apply; verify 2026 payment provider changes before publishing	BigCommerce Review
4. Squarespace Commerce	Free trial / Paid commerce plans from around $23/mo+ annually | Check Pricing	Best for design-led ecommerce sites	Beautiful templates, product pages, subscriptions, scheduling, email campaigns, member areas	No commerce transaction fee on current plans; Squarespace Payments or processor fees apply	Squarespace eCommerce Review
5. WooCommerce	Free plugin / Hosting required | Check Hosting	Best for WordPress control	Open-source ecommerce, flexible plugins, full ownership, SEO control, huge extension ecosystem	No WooCommerce platform fee; gateway, hosting, plugin, and development costs apply	WooCommerce Review
6. Square Online	Free / Paid plans available | Check Pricing	Best for local stores and POS users	Online store, POS sync, pickup, delivery, inventory tools, simple product setup	Square payment processing fees apply	Square Online Store Review
7. Ecwid by Lightspeed	Starter from $5/mo+ | Check Pricing	Best for adding a store to an existing site	Embeddable store, social selling, marketplace selling, product sync, multi-site use	No Ecwid platform transaction fee; gateway fees apply	Ecwid Review
8. Hostinger Website Builder	Paid from $2.99/mo+ | Check Pricing	Best budget ecommerce builder	AI website builder, hosting, SSL, basic ecommerce, product tools, no-code setup	No platform transaction fee; payment processor fees apply	Hostinger Review
9. Webflow Ecommerce	Ecommerce plans from around $29/mo+ | Check Pricing	Best for designers and custom storefronts	Visual design control, CMS, animations, custom layouts, responsive product pages	2% Webflow fee on Standard ecommerce plan; higher ecommerce plans remove Webflow transaction fee	Webflow Review
10. GoDaddy Online Store	Paid ecommerce plans from around $29.99/mo+ | Check Pricing	Best for quick store launches	Simple builder, appointment tools, marketing suite, product listings, payments	Processor fees apply	Review Coming Soon
11. Duda eCommerce	Website plan plus ecommerce add-on from around $8/mo+ | Check Pricing	Best for agencies building client stores	Client management, white-label tools, team workflows, ecommerce add-ons, fast pages	No Duda platform transaction fee; gateway fees apply	Duda Review
12. Big Cartel	Free / Paid from $15/mo+ | Check Pricing	Best for artists and small catalogs	Simple store builder, product listings, discount codes, digital products on paid plans	No Big Cartel transaction fee; processor fees apply	Big Cartel Review
13. Sellfy	Paid from $22/mo annually or $29/mo monthly | Check Pricing	Best for digital products and creators	Digital products, physical products, subscriptions, print-on-demand, simple storefront	No Sellfy transaction fee on current paid plans; processor fees apply	Review Coming Soon
14. Payhip	Free / Paid from $29/mo+ | Check Pricing	Best free-start digital store builder	Digital downloads, courses, memberships, affiliate tools, simple storefront	5% Payhip fee on Free, 2% on Plus, 0% on Pro; processor fees also apply	Review Coming Soon
15. Shift4Shop	Free with Shift4 Payments / Paid or custom options | Check Pricing	Best for US merchants using Shift4	Store builder, product management, checkout, marketing tools, built-in ecommerce features	Shift4 processing terms apply; availability and terms vary by merchant/location	Shift4Shop / 3dcart Review
16. ShopWired	Paid from around £34.95/mo+ | Check Pricing	Best UK-focused ecommerce builder	UK ecommerce features, VAT-friendly setup, themes, product management, support	No ShopWired platform transaction fee; processor fees apply	ShopWired Review
17. Adobe Commerce / Magento	Magento Open Source free / Adobe Commerce custom pricing | Check Pricing	Best for enterprise and complex catalogs	Advanced catalog control, B2B, multi-store, custom workflows, enterprise scalability	No standard platform transaction fee; hosting, development, gateway, and enterprise costs apply	Magento Review
18. PrestaShop	Free open-source platform / Hosting required | Check Hosting	Best open-source Shopify alternative	Customizable store, modules marketplace, product management, international selling features	No PrestaShop platform transaction fee; hosting, modules, and gateway fees apply	PrestaShop Review
19. IONOS Online Store	Paid plans with changing introductory pricing | Check Pricing	Best budget EU-friendly store builder	AI website setup, domain and hosting bundle, SSL, ecommerce tools, multilingual options	Processor fees apply; renewal pricing should be checked carefully	IONOS Website Builder Review
20. Lightspeed Retail + eCom	Paid from around $89/mo+ | Check Pricing	Best for retail businesses needing POS + ecommerce	POS, inventory, online store, retail reporting, loyalty, multi-location tools	Lightspeed Payments or processor fees apply	Review Coming Soon

Final word:

For most small businesses and artists, Wix is the recommended choice due to its user-friendly interface, extensive customization options, and robust e-commerce features. However, if you're an independent artist seeking a simple, affordable platform for a small product line, BigCartel is a strong contender.

Ready to build your online store?

Click for the latest Wix pricing

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That's all for now:

If you've read all the way through this Big Cartel vs Wix comparison, we are thankful. We hope you can now answer the question of what are the pros and cons of these website builders! We have a large collection of articles, guides, and comparison reviews of eCommerce solutions, web hosting providers, website builders, and more! Feel free to check them out;