Best Big Cartel Alternatives for Artists & Makers (2026)
Tolodora Editorial Team
Independent software reviews for founders and small businesses.
Big Cartel is a beloved, simple store for artists and makers — but as your creative business grows, you may want more: deeper features, stronger marketing tools, better scalability, or a marketplace that brings buyers to you. Whatever's prompting the search, there are excellent Big Cartel alternatives, each with a different strength for selling art, prints and handmade goods.
Below are the best Big Cartel alternatives for artists and makers in 2026, ranked for how well they fit a creative business — from beautiful all-in-one builders to powerful e-commerce platforms, marketplaces and print-on-demand. Match the tool to whether you value simplicity, growth, built-in traffic or zero inventory.
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| # | Tool | Best for | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shopify | Artists and makers building a serious, scalable brand. | 4.4/5 |
| 2 | Squarespace | Creators wanting a stunning portfolio and shop in one. | 4.4/5 |
| 3 | Etsy | Makers wanting built-in buyers browsing for handmade. | 4.2/5 |
| 4 | Ecwid | Makers wanting to add a shop to an existing site. | 4.3/5 |
| 5 | Wix | Makers who want total drag-and-drop design freedom. | 4.3/5 |
| 6 | Printful | Design-led makers selling prints and products with no inventory. | 4.3/5 |
Shopify
- Pricing
- 8.0/10
- Functionality
- 9.8/10
- Ease of use
- 8.4/10
- Support
- 8.6/10
What I like
The most capable e-commerce platform, with a huge app store.
Best for
Artists and makers building a serious, scalable brand.
If you run this kind of artists & maker operation, it belongs on your list. Shopify is the go-to when you're ready to treat your creative work as a real business. It handles unlimited products, variations, marketing, shipping, payments and a vast app ecosystem, all on a platform built purely for selling. It's more powerful (and more than the smallest shops need) than Big Cartel, but for a maker building a growing brand, Shopify scales beautifully and future-proofs your store.
Squarespace
- Pricing
- 8.6/10
- Functionality
- 8.8/10
- Ease of use
- 9.2/10
- Support
- 8.4/10
What I like
Gorgeous templates that showcase creative work beautifully.
Best for
Creators wanting a stunning portfolio and shop in one.
Plenty of artists & makers land on it after weighing the field. Squarespace is perfect for artists and makers who want their whole online presence — portfolio, blog and shop — to look stunning with minimal effort. Its templates are famously beautiful, ideal for showcasing visual work, and you get a full website plus commerce for a simple monthly price. For a creator who cares as much about presentation as selling, Squarespace delivers a polished, gallery-like experience.
Etsy
- Pricing
- 7.8/10
- Functionality
- 8.4/10
- Ease of use
- 9.2/10
- Support
- 8.0/10
What I like
Millions of ready buyers already searching for art and crafts.
Best for
Makers wanting built-in buyers browsing for handmade.
Etsy's superpower is discovery — shoppers are already there hunting for handmade and creative goods, so you can make sales without a marketing budget. The trade-offs are fees, competition and less branding control. Many makers use Etsy alongside their own store: Etsy for discovery, their own shop for margins and loyal customers. As a Big Cartel alternative, it swaps ownership for built-in traffic. Among artists & makers, it earns its spot for the reasons above.
Ecwid
- Pricing
- 8.4/10
- Functionality
- 8.6/10
- Ease of use
- 8.8/10
- Support
- 8.2/10
What I like
Embed a store on any website, social media or marketplace.
Best for
Makers wanting to add a shop to an existing site.
Ecwid lets you add an online store to a website you already have — plus social media and marketplaces — all synced to one catalogue, with a free tier to start. If you've built a site or portfolio you love and just want to add selling, it's the least disruptive option. For makers with an existing web presence who want multichannel selling without rebuilding, Ecwid bolts commerce onto what you already have. For artists & makers, it's one of the stronger options on this shortlist.
Wix
- Pricing
- 8.8/10
- Functionality
- 8.8/10
- Ease of use
- 8.8/10
- Support
- 8.2/10
What I like
Pixel-level control over a unique storefront, plus e-commerce.
Best for
Makers who want total drag-and-drop design freedom.
Plenty of artists & makers land on it after weighing the field. Wix gives makers who like to tinker complete creative control, with a drag-and-drop editor to place everything exactly where they want and a big template and app library. It includes e-commerce at flexible pricing. If you have a clear vision for a distinctive shop and want freedom to build it without code, Wix lets you craft precisely the storefront you picture.
Printful
- Pricing
- 8.2/10
- Functionality
- 8.6/10
- Ease of use
- 8.8/10
- Support
- 8.4/10
What I like
Print-on-demand fulfilment — items made and shipped on order.
Best for
Design-led makers selling prints and products with no inventory.
Printful isn't a storefront alone — it's the fulfilment engine that lets design-led makers sell without holding stock. Upload artwork, and products (prints, apparel, mugs) are printed and shipped only when ordered. It connects to Shopify, Etsy, Squarespace and Wix, so you can add no-risk print-on-demand products to whatever store you run — ideal for expanding a creative range without inventory. For a artists & makers setup, it's well worth a closer look.
How to choose the right Big Cartel alternative
It depends what you value. Building a serious, scalable brand? Shopify. Want a stunning portfolio-and-shop? Squarespace. Need built-in buyers? Etsy (ideally alongside your own store). Adding a shop to an existing site? Ecwid. Want total design freedom? Wix. Selling designs without inventory? Printful. Most offer free trials or tiers, so list a few products on your top choice and see how it feels before committing.
Frequently asked questions
Why would an artist move from Big Cartel to another platform?
Usually for more features, growth or traffic. Big Cartel is simple and commission-free but lighter on marketing, scalability and built-in discovery. Artists move to Shopify or Squarespace for deeper features and growth, to Etsy for built-in buyers, or to Ecwid to add a shop to an existing site. The right move depends on whether you've outgrown Big Cartel's simplicity.
Which alternative is best for selling art prints specifically?
For prints, Shopify and Squarespace both handle size and framing variations beautifully and look professional, while Printful lets you sell prints with no inventory via print-on-demand. Etsy is great for discovery. Many print sellers combine a marketplace for traffic with their own Shopify or Squarespace store for margins and branding.
Do these alternatives charge commission on sales like a marketplace?
It varies. Etsy charges listing and transaction fees as a marketplace. Hosted builders like Shopify, Squarespace, Wix and Ecwid charge a monthly plan plus payment processing rather than a per-sale commission. Like Big Cartel, the builders let you keep more of each sale than a marketplace, though you drive your own traffic.
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