Big Cartel vs Square Online
Features, use cases, pros and cons, and pricing side by side — and which one to pick.
Best for: Hobbyist makers — jewelry creators, printmakers, crafters — launching their first online shop on the free $0/month plan, Bands and musicians who want to sell merchandise directly to fans without paying for retail features they won't use
Read the full Big Cartel reviewBest for: Brick-and-mortar retailers already using Square POS who want their online and in-person inventory to stay in sync automatically, Restaurants and cafes that need pickup and delivery orders tied to their existing Square setup
Read the full Square Online reviewCommission may apply at no extra cost
Big Cartel vs Square Online: features compared
Compare key features side by side
Feature Comparison Summary
Which should you choose?
Choose Big Cartel if
- You need only simple monthly billing
Choose Square Online if
- You expect serious growth and need higher-tier plans
- You want yearly, one-time, or usage-based billing
Big Cartel vs Square Online: pros and cons
Big Cartel
Big Cartel strips ecommerce back to the basics artists actually need: a customizable storefront, product listings, order management, and flat pricing from $0 to $90 a month with no hidden fees. The intentionally minimal toolset and $90/month ceiling mean big catalogs will outgrow it. Overall, it's a low-risk launchpad for creative side hustles and first shops.
Pros
- A free plan at $0 per month lets you open a real store with no upfront investment, which is rare among ecommerce platforms
- Flat monthly pricing from $0 to $90 with no hidden fees keeps costs predictable instead of fluctuating with your sales
- The interface is simple enough for non-technical creatives to launch a shop quickly without developer help
Cons
- The feature set is intentionally minimal, so sellers who need advanced shipping rules, marketing automation, or a large app ecosystem may outgrow it
- The $90 per month top plan is the pricing ceiling, and high-volume stores with large catalogs may find better value on platforms built for scale
- Third-party review coverage is thin, which makes it harder to benchmark long-term user satisfaction before committing
Square Online
Square Online makes it easy to launch a store that shares inventory, orders, and payments with your Square POS, and the free plan with included hosting removes upfront costs. Design flexibility is limited and you're tied to Square's ecosystem for payments. Overall, it's a low-risk pick for Square users, but less compelling for anyone else.
Pros
- Free plan with free web hosting lets you launch a store with no upfront infrastructure cost
- Inventory, orders, and payments sync natively between Square POS and the online store, eliminating manual reconciliation
- No coding or web design experience is required to publish a professional-looking site
Cons
- Design and customization are more limited than what dedicated website builders or self-hosted platforms like WooCommerce offer
- The tightest benefits only apply if you stay within the Square ecosystem, so merchants using other payment processors or POS systems get less value
- Advanced ecommerce features and lower processing rates generally require moving up to paid plans, and costs grow as you add capabilities
Big Cartel and Square Online in detail
Big Cartel
Big Cartel is a hosted ecommerce website builder designed for DIY makers and artists. It provides the core tools of an online store — product listings, a customizable storefront, and order management — in a package simple enough for someone with no technical background. The platform's entire focus is helping independent creatives sell their goods and grow from a first sale into a sustainable shop.
Standout features
- Customizable Storefront Themes
- Product and Inventory Management
- Order Management
- Built for Creative Sellers
Use cases
- Launching a First Shop for Handmade Goods
- Selling Band Merchandise Directly to Fans
- Selling Art Prints and Photography
- Testing a Side Hustle Before Going Professional
Square Online
Square Online is a hosted ecommerce platform that provides website templates, a drag-and-drop style editor, product management, checkout, and payment processing in a single package. Square provides the web hosting itself, so there is no separate hosting account or server to manage. Inventory, orders, and payments flow through your Square account, which means items you sell in a physical location and items you sell online can be managed from the same dashboard.
Standout features
- No-Code Store Builder
- Free Web Hosting with Built-In Performance and Security
- Unified Online and In-Person Selling
- Integrated Square Payments
Use cases
- Brick-and-Mortar Retailers Going Online
- Restaurants and Food Businesses
- First-Time Sellers Testing Demand
- Pop-Ups and Seasonal Sellers
Pricing compared
List prices from each vendor's pricing page, before taxes and add-ons. Costs are per month.
| Pricing compared | Big Cartel | Square Online |
|---|---|---|
| From (cheapest paid plan) | $15/mo Tools to grow your sales | $10/mo Start running your business with Square |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| Money-back guarantee | Not stated | Not stated |
| Annual billing savings | — | — |
| Pricing model | Flat price | Flat price |
| Cost for 1 user | $15/mo Tools to grow your sales plan, billed monthly | FreeCheaper Cash or check plan, billed monthly |
| Cost for 5 users | $15/mo Tools to grow your sales plan, billed monthly · price per account (user limit not stated) | $10/mo Start running your business with Square plan, billed monthly · price per account (user limit not stated) |
| Cost for 10 users | $15/mo Tools to grow your sales plan, billed monthly · price per account (user limit not stated) | $10/mo Start running your business with Square plan, billed monthly · price per account (user limit not stated) |
| Cost for 25 users | $15/mo Tools to grow your sales plan, billed monthly · price per account (user limit not stated) | $10/mo Start running your business with Square plan, billed monthly · price per account (user limit not stated) |
| Plans | 3 | 4 |
| Prices checked | Checked Oct 13, 2026 | Checked Oct 12, 2026 |
| Price history | Tracking prices since Oct 1, 2026. No price change detected yet. | Tracking prices since Oct 1, 2026. No price change detected yet. |
- Cheapest plan that fits each team size. Per-user plans are multiplied by the number of users (respecting stated minimums and seat packs). Plans that include some users cost their base price plus the extra-user price for each user beyond those included. Flat-priced plans with no stated user limit are counted as one licence per user.
Cheaper for your team size
For 1 user (billed monthly), Square Online costs $0/mo vs Big Cartel at $15/mo.
- Only Square Online has a free plan.
Computed from published list prices on the dates shown. Excludes taxes, add-ons and promotions.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do Big Cartel and Square Online both have free plans?
Yes. Both tools offer free plans, so you can start selling without paying anything upfront.