- Over 500 Professionally Designed Website Templates
- Drag and Drop Website Builder for Total Design Freedom
- Free Trial with No Credit Card Required
- Free Plan Available for Up to 5 Products
- Purpose-Built E-Commerce Platform for Artists and Makers
- Simple Setup with No Transaction Fees on Any Plan
Quick Summary
Wix is the winner for anyone building a serious business. It operates as a complete business operating system, handling everything from unlimited product listings and inventory management to email automation, blogging, and SEO, all with 0% transaction fees and at roughly the same monthly cost as Big Cartel’s paid plans.
Big Cartel earns its place as a charming, simple platform for artists and makers who want to sell a small catalogue. If you are a band selling 3 t-shirts or a painter selling 10 prints, Big Cartel’s free “Gold” plan is hard to beat for sheer simplicity and zero overhead.
1. Pricing and Value for Money
Wix wins because its mid-tier plans include tools like email marketing, blogging, and unlimited products that Big Cartel forces you to buy separately, making Wix the better deal at every price point.
Wix
Wix’s Light Plan starts at USD17/mo and includes unlimited products, unlimited images, a blog, the AI site builder, and 24/7 support. The Core Plan at USD27/mo adds abandoned cart recovery and email marketing. At no tier does Wix charge transaction fees, and a free domain voucher for one year comes with every paid plan.
The value becomes especially clear when you compare feature-for-feature against Big Cartel’s paid offerings. For just USD2 more than Big Cartel’s Platinum plan, Wix gives you unlimited products instead of 50 and unlimited images instead of 5.
Big Cartel
Big Cartel’s headline is “Free,” but the reality is more expensive than it looks. The Gold plan is free forever, but you get 5 products, 1 image per product, and no custom domain included. Your store URL will be yourstore.bigcartel.com, which signals “amateur” to customers. To get a real domain, you must buy one separately from a registrar and manually configure DNS settings.
To get a functional store with 50 products, 5 images per product, and a custom domain, you need the Platinum plan at USD15/mo. And because Big Cartel lacks built-in email marketing, you will likely need Mailchimp or a similar service.
As your list grows, tools like Mailchimp can easily reach USD20/mo, pushing your total to USD30/mo or more. At that point, Big Cartel is actually more expensive than Wix’s Core plan at USD27/mo, which includes email marketing natively.
2. Core Features and Capabilities
Wix wins because it provides a complete ecommerce ecosystem with unlimited products, advanced inventory, AI site generation, abandoned cart recovery, and native email marketing, while Big Cartel caps products, limits images, and lacks most growth tools.
Wix
Wix’s feature set runs deep. I tested its inventory system by creating a hoodie with 5 sizes and 3 colours, generating 15 unique variants (e.g., Small/Red, Large/Blue). Wix handled this seamlessly, tracking stock for each specific combination. There is no ceiling on products or images at any ecommerce plan level.
I also tested the “Harmony” AI site builder. An AI agent named “Aria” greeted me in a chat interface and asked specific questions about my business name, location, and selling points.
I told Aria I was selling “eco-friendly hoodies” in “Portland, Oregon.” In 18 minutes, Wix generated a complete, multi-page website with a homepage, shop page, “About Us” section featuring my sustainability copy, and even a booking system for styling consultations.
The AI was not perfect. Despite my explicit instructions about clothing, it hallucinated an “Art of Food” section on the homepage, complete with stock photos of salad.
I spent 8 minutes manually deleting this section and replacing the images, bringing my total build time to 26 minutes. Even so, the AI did roughly 80% of the heavy lifting, creating a far more robust site than I could build manually on Big Cartel.
Beyond ecommerce, Wix includes a full blogging platform (I created a post about “Sustainable Fashion Trends” with tags, categories, and a scheduled publish time), a built-in email marketing suite, subscription products, and member areas for exclusive content. It is a complete business toolkit.
Big Cartel
Big Cartel’s product limit is its most significant constraint. The free plan caps you at 5 products with 1 image per product. Think about selling a t-shirt: you need to show the front, the back, and maybe a close-up of the fabric.
On the free plan, you can only show the front. Customers cannot see the back of the shirt before buying. This makes the free plan unusable for serious clothing brands. To get 5 images per product, you must upgrade to the USD15/mo Platinum plan.
Big Cartel handles variants and tracks inventory, sending alerts when stock is low (which I verified by placing a test order). However, it lacks the deep complexity of Wix’s system.
On the positive side, sales tax is a tie. Big Cartel integrates with TaxJar to automatically calculate and remit US sales tax, and on both platforms I did not have to touch a calculator. Big Cartel also supports digital products natively.
There is no AI builder, no blogging platform, no native email marketing, no booking system, and no abandoned cart recovery unless you are on the Diamond plan. Big Cartel is effectively a digital checkout stand: great for a hobbyist, but insufficient for a brand.
3. Ease of Use
Big Cartel wins because its radically simple interface, flat navigation, and minimal configuration let you launch a shop in 15 minutes with virtually no learning curve.
Wix
Signup
My journey with Wix began with a focus on security. After entering my email address, the system immediately paused my progress and demanded I set up two-step verification before proceeding.
I had to pull out my phone, open my Authenticator app, and scan a QR code. This added about 90 seconds to the process compared to a standard signup.
While slightly tedious, it signalled that Wix takes the security of my future business seriously. Once verified, Wix presented me with a critical choice: Standard Editor or Wix Studio.
This split path can be confusing for beginners. I chose the Standard Editor to test the new AI features, knowing that this decision was permanent.
Dashboard on First Login
Wix’s dashboard is dense but logical. It uses a left-hand sidebar to organise its massive feature set, with clear tabs for “Home,” “Websites,” “Email & Office,” and “Marketing.”
Each click reveals a submenu. For example, clicking “Marketing” opens options for email campaigns, social posts, and SEO tools. The design is clean, using plenty of white space and crisp iconography. It feels like a modern operating system. You know exactly where to go, provided you are willing to click through a few layers.
Editor Experience
Wix’s AI-powered “Harmony” builder handled the initial site generation in 18 minutes, producing a multi-page website. But even after the AI does its work, you interact with a full drag-and-drop editor for refinements. You can drag elements (buttons, text boxes, images) and place them literally anywhere on the screen.
You are not confined to a grid or a list. The editor also offers “Quick Edit” bars.
When I needed to fix the AI’s hallucinated “food” section, I clicked it, and a sidebar appeared letting me swap the background image instantly. It felt intuitive, like using design software.
Editing Without Tutorials
Editing text, images, and layouts on Wix is straightforward once you understand the drag-and-drop model. Clicking any element opens inline editing options, and the Quick Edit sidebars make swapping images and adjusting sections fast.
The moderate learning curve comes not from the editor itself but from the sheer number of features surrounding it.
If you stick to the visual editor, you can make meaningful changes without watching a single tutorial.
Big Cartel
Signup
Big Cartel’s signup initially felt simple. I chose a plan, entered my email, and created a password. Instead of dropping me straight into the dashboard, it guided me through a short onboarding survey asking for basic details like my name, how I heard about the platform, what best described me as a seller, and what I planned to sell.
After verifying my email address, Big Cartel presented a setup checklist covering location, product catalogue, and checkout configuration.
The signup is lightweight, though it is not a “skip everything and go live instantly” experience.
Dashboard on First Login
The dashboard uses a left-hand sidebar with far fewer options: Dashboard, Orders, Products, Discounts, Marketing, App Centre, and Shop Settings.
The interface feels calm and uncluttered. You are not confronted with upsells, advanced tools, or deep submenus. Most actions are one click away, and it is easy to understand where to go without any learning curve.
This simplicity is intentional. Big Cartel is built around managing products, orders, and basic promotions, and the interface reflects that focus.
Editor Experience
Big Cartel has no AI builder and no drag-and-drop editor. You select a theme from a library of roughly 20 options, then fill in the blanks.
You manually upload your logo, type your welcome message, and toggle fonts and colours in the settings. It took me 15 minutes to set up a basic shop.
While the result was much simpler than what Wix’s AI generated, the process required almost no decision-making or troubleshooting.
Editing Without Tutorials
Editing on Big Cartel requires no tutorials because there is almost nothing to configure. You change fonts, colours, and style presets through a settings panel.
If the theme places the logo in the centre, you cannot drag it to the left. If a product image appears in a certain position, you cannot reposition it visually. Everything is toggle-based.
The trade-off is that advanced users who know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript can directly edit template code under the Code section, making Big Cartel behave like a lightweight, hosted front-end framework. For non-coders, though, what you see in the settings panel is what you get.
4. Design Quality and Templates
Wix wins because its drag-and-drop editor gives 99% of users true visual design freedom, while Big Cartel restricts non-coders to toggling preset options within rigid templates.
Wix
Wix’s editor allows for total creative freedom. You can drag an element and place it literally anywhere on the screen.
You are not confined to a grid or a list. If you want to layer a text box over an image to create a magazine-style look, you just drag it there. This “unstructured” editor is powerful, but it means you have to be careful not to create a messy layout.
Wix also offers “Quick Edit” bars. When I needed to fix the AI’s “food” mistake, I clicked the section, and a sidebar appeared allowing me to swap the background image instantly. It felt intuitive, like using design software.
Backing all of this up is a library of over 2,000 templates spanning dozens of categories, such as portfolios, online shops, restaurants, blogs, and more. Whatever your niche, there is almost certainly a starting point that gets you 80% of the way there before you touch a single setting.
Big Cartel
Big Cartel does not use a drag-and-drop editor. You are not moving elements around a canvas. If the theme places the logo in the centre, you cannot drag it to the left. If a product image appears in a certain position, you cannot reposition it visually.
Big Cartel has 19 store themes available, and the amount of customisation you can do depends on your plan.
Free plans can only make very limited changes. Basically, you can upload images to pre-defined parts of your website, but you cannot change colours or layouts. If you upgrade to a paid plan, you unlock the code editor for deeper changes.
Where Big Cartel becomes genuinely powerful is in the code layer. A Big Cartel theme is made up of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and a combination of filters and variables. Advanced users can completely rewrite the theme, add background images through CSS, change layouts, or build custom components.
The reality is this: Big Cartel is not flexible for non-coders, but it is extremely flexible for coders. If you want visual, drag-and-drop control, Big Cartel will feel restrictive. If you are comfortable editing code, Big Cartel becomes a blank canvas.
5. Performance and Reliability
Wix wins because it ranks #4 globally for Core Web Vitals, delivering fast page loads that directly benefit search rankings and customer experience, while Big Cartel provides no comparable performance benchmarks.
Wix
Wix ranks #4 globally for Core Web Vitals, meaning its sites are fast and Google rewards them accordingly. Fast page loads reduce bounce rates and directly improve conversion rates for ecommerce shops.
Wix provides 24/7 priority customer care for users on Premium and Studio plans, including live chat and phone (callback) support directly from the dashboard.
Paid users can skip queues, get billing and subscription help, and access personalised support articles through the Help Centre. The “Owner” mobile app is comprehensive, letting you manage the entire site, chat with visitors, and track analytics.
Big Cartel
Big Cartel does not publish Core Web Vitals rankings or comparable performance benchmarks. Hosting is included on all plans, and in my testing the sites loaded without notable issues, but there is no public data to compare against Wix’s documented speed advantage.
Big Cartel advertises 24/7 support through in-app messaging and email. There is no phone support, but responses come from real humans. It is friendly and accessible, though less immediate than live chat or phone callbacks.
Big Cartel’s mobile app is more capable than you might expect. It is a free, all-in-one mobile dashboard for iOS and Android that lets you create and edit products, rearrange listings, update inventory, track orders, add tracking numbers, manage discount codes, and view real-time sales analytics.
For in-person selling, the app supports Tap to Pay via Stripe as well as manual cash or card transactions. This makes it especially useful for artists at craft fairs, bands selling merch at concerts, or vendors running pop-up events.
6. SEO and Marketing Tools
Wix wins because it includes advanced SEO tools, a native blogging platform, and built-in email marketing, while Big Cartel limits you to basic meta tags and forces you to outsource content and email to third parties.
Wix
Wix is a powerhouse for SEO and marketing. It automatically generates Schema Markup, which helps your products show up with price tags directly in Google Search results. Combined with its #4 global Core Web Vitals ranking, Wix gives shops a genuine edge in organic search visibility.
The blogging platform is fully integrated. I created a post about “Sustainable Fashion Trends,” complete with tags, categories, and a scheduled publish time. This is critical for driving organic traffic to a shop, and it lives right inside the dashboard with no external tools needed.
Wix’s built-in email marketing suite rounds out the package. I set up an automated “Welcome” email that sends a 15% discount code to new subscribers.
Abandoned cart recovery is included on Core plans and above. Social media posting tools are also native to the platform.
Big Cartel
Big Cartel offers basic meta tags. You can edit the page title and description, but that is about it. There is no advanced structured data, no URL control, and no keyword guidance.
Big Cartel has zero blogging functionality. If you want a blog, you have to build a WordPress site separately and try to link them together. It is a disjointed experience.
For email marketing, Big Cartel does not include built-in newsletter or promotional email tools. You cannot create, design, or send bulk emails directly from the dashboard. What Big Cartel does provide are essential transactional emails (order confirmations, shipping updates) and, on the Diamond plan, abandoned cart recovery emails.
For actual email marketing (newsletters, campaigns, automations, and segmentation), you must connect a third-party service such as Mailchimp, Omnisend, or MailerLite. These integrations work well, but they introduce extra setup and ongoing cost.
7. Integrations and Ecosystem
Wix wins because its broad native ecosystem covers bookings, email, social media, and advanced ecommerce without third-party dependencies, while Big Cartel relies on external integrations for most functionality beyond basic selling.
Wix
Wix’s ecosystem is designed to keep everything under one roof. The Wix App Market provides a broad library of first-party and third-party integrations covering categories from print on demand to loyalty programmes.
Shipping is a notable strength: Wix allows calculated shipping rates, pulling real-time rates from USPS and FedEx on higher plans. This is far more accurate than manual flat-rate rules.
Wix also supports member areas for exclusive content, booking and appointment scheduling for consultants and service providers, and native POS capabilities. The “Art Store” and “Print on Demand” integrations are often more powerful than what artists find on Big Cartel, and the platform allows protected areas for subscriber-only content, which Big Cartel cannot do.
Big Cartel
Big Cartel’s integration ecosystem is smaller and more focused. The App Centre provides connections to essential services, and the platform integrates cleanly with PayPal and Stripe for payments and TaxJar for tax automation.
For shipping, Big Cartel generally relies on flat-rate or per-item shipping rules. This is simpler to configure but can lose you money if you are not careful with your maths, since you cannot pull real-time carrier rates.
Where Big Cartel leans on its ecosystem most is email marketing. Because there is no native email tool, you must connect Mailchimp, Omnisend, or MailerLite. These work well but add cost and complexity. The mobile app’s Tap to Pay via Stripe is a genuine highlight for in-person selling at fairs and events.
Migration is worth mentioning: you can import products from Big Cartel to Wix via CSV, but you cannot migrate your design. Since Big Cartel themes are rigid and Wix is a drag-and-drop canvas, you will have to rebuild your site’s look from scratch.
In 2026, Wix is the superior platform for almost every user. It provides a complete business toolkit covering SEO, email, blogging, and inventory for roughly the same price as Big Cartel’s paid plans. The “premium” you pay (USD17 vs USD15) unlocks unlimited growth potential. Big Cartel has a place, but it is a small one. It is the perfect digital card table for artists dropping a limited run of prints or tees. If that is you, and you want zero overhead, go for it. For everyone else, Wix is the engine you need.
Choose Wix if: You are building a brand, need to sell more than 5 products with multiple photos, want content marketing and blogging to drive traffic, need appointments or bookings, or want 24/7 phone support.
Choose Big Cartel if: You are a band, artist, or maker with a tiny catalogue of 1 to 5 items, want a shop that feels “indie,” sell in-person at fairs and need a simple POS app, know HTML/CSS and want to code your own theme, or strictly want a free place to test if anyone will buy your art.
