Big Cartel vs. Squarespace

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Big Cartel
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
Big Cartel is an eCommerce platform built for artists, such as artists, designers, and musicians, to build an online store.
$9.99
per month
Squarespace
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Squarespace is a CMS platform that allows users to create a DIY blog, eCommerce store, and/or portfolio (visual art or music). Some Squarespace website and shop templates are industry or use case-specific, such as menu builders for restaurant sites.
$16
per month billed annually
Pricing
Big CartelSquarespace
Editions & Modules
50 Products
$9.99
per month
250 Products
$19.99
per month
500 Products
$29.99
per month
5 Products
Free
Basic
$16
per month billed annually
Core
$23
per month billed annually
Basic
$25
per month
Core
$36
per month
Plus
$39
per month billed annually
Plus
$56
per month
Advanced
$99
per month billed annually
Advanced
$139
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Big CartelSquarespace
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsPersonal: $12/month (paid annually) $16/month (paid monthly) Business: $18/month (paid annually) $26/month (paid monthly) Basic Commerce: $26/month (paid annually) $35/month (paid monthly) Advanced Commerce: $40/month (paid annually) $54/month (paid monthly)
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Big CartelSquarespace
Features
Big CartelSquarespace
Online Storefront
Comparison of Online Storefront features of Product A and Product B
Big Cartel
10.0
1 Ratings
24% above category average
Squarespace
-
Ratings
Product catalog & listings10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Product management10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Branding10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile storefront10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Product variations10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Website integration10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Visual customization10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Online Shopping Cart
Comparison of Online Shopping Cart features of Product A and Product B
Big Cartel
10.0
1 Ratings
26% above category average
Squarespace
-
Ratings
Checkout user experience10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Online Payment System
Comparison of Online Payment System features of Product A and Product B
Big Cartel
10.0
1 Ratings
19% above category average
Squarespace
-
Ratings
eCommerce security10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
eCommerce Marketing
Comparison of eCommerce Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Big Cartel
10.0
1 Ratings
26% above category average
Squarespace
-
Ratings
Promotions & discounts10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
eCommerce Business Management
Comparison of eCommerce Business Management features of Product A and Product B
Big Cartel
10.0
1 Ratings
21% above category average
Squarespace
-
Ratings
Order processing10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Inventory management10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Shipping10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom functionality10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Big Cartel
-
Ratings
Squarespace
8.0
65 Ratings
2% below category average
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.065 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
Big Cartel
-
Ratings
Squarespace
6.9
56 Ratings
11% below category average
API00 Ratings7.449 Ratings
Internationalization / multi-language00 Ratings6.435 Ratings
Web Content Creation
Comparison of Web Content Creation features of Product A and Product B
Big Cartel
-
Ratings
Squarespace
7.9
98 Ratings
2% above category average
WYSIWYG editor00 Ratings9.083 Ratings
Code quality / cleanliness00 Ratings8.077 Ratings
Admin section00 Ratings7.697 Ratings
Page templates00 Ratings7.798 Ratings
Library of website themes00 Ratings7.995 Ratings
Mobile optimization / responsive design00 Ratings7.994 Ratings
Publishing workflow00 Ratings8.085 Ratings
Form generator00 Ratings7.079 Ratings
Web Content Management
Comparison of Web Content Management features of Product A and Product B
Big Cartel
-
Ratings
Squarespace
6.5
88 Ratings
13% below category average
Content taxonomy00 Ratings7.475 Ratings
SEO support00 Ratings6.880 Ratings
Bulk management00 Ratings6.151 Ratings
Availability / breadth of extensions00 Ratings5.665 Ratings
Community / comment management00 Ratings6.866 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Big CartelSquarespace
Small Businesses
Ecwid by Lightspeed
Ecwid by Lightspeed
Score 10.0 out of 10
ManageWP
ManageWP
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus
Score 9.1 out of 10
RWS Tridion Sites
RWS Tridion Sites
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
IBM Digital Commerce
IBM Digital Commerce
Score 9.0 out of 10
RWS Tridion Sites
RWS Tridion Sites
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Big CartelSquarespace
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.3
(98 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(4 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.4
(12 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
Big CartelSquarespace
Likelihood to Recommend
Big Cartel LLC
It's well suited for simple e-commerce and basic inventory management needs.
Read full review
Squarespace
Squarespace is one of the best solutions out there for building a website or web experience that looks good, has great functionality and is cost-effective, even for smaller businesses. Although most people in marketing will find most of the elements intuitive, if the creator is struggling with any of the functionality, there are many, many support options and other users who can offer assistance.
Read full review
Pros
Big Cartel LLC
  • It's very easy to use and does not require a lot of configuration or setup.
  • It has been extremely reliable. Clients never have issues with purchasing from it and it has always has been up for us.
  • It's very fast. It loads quick both on the consumer/front end and also admin/backend.
  • Pricing model is flat, not percentage of transactions.
Read full review
Squarespace
  • Stupid simple to use. I know very creative people who cannot code and this is probably the easiest ever platform for them!
  • Pretty website templates and great functionality with showing off portfolios.
  • They've already figured out what are the problems that non-coding people have when creating websites and they've figured out a simple solution for all of it.
Read full review
Cons
Big Cartel LLC
  • For our needs I really can't think of anything!
Read full review
Squarespace
  • Customizing the sites can be highly UN intuitive
  • Navigation for editing the sites can be difficult and frustrating
  • Squarespace has different versions and it's hard to know which version you're on. You can't switch after you start making a site with one version.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Big Cartel LLC
No answers on this topic
Squarespace
Unless our website requires significantly more functionality in the future, I can't see us terminating our contract
Read full review
Usability
Big Cartel LLC
No answers on this topic
Squarespace
It's simple to use for someone who is really good with computers as well as those who are not. I've been using my personal squarespace for years and have also helped clients build a starting page which they are later able to manage theirselves.
Read full review
Support Rating
Big Cartel LLC
No answers on this topic
Squarespace
Help is available directly from the back end and uses full sentence searching to find answers to questions others may have asked before. With a ton of articles and support questions documents, it is very likely that your question has been answered. If not each page has the ability to open a direct email to support. Each case has a number and can be followed. Responses are often quick and have links and directions clearly stated
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Big Cartel LLC
No answers on this topic
Squarespace
Squarespace was quicker to set up and more accessible to manipulate the theme, pictures, and content. The page layouts are more versatile and fluid. With WordPress, more time-consuming efforts go into making a template work the way you want it to (because of the lack of the drag-and-drop grids that Squarespace has).
Read full review
Return on Investment
Big Cartel LLC
  • The basic plan at $10/month easily saves us that in time from having to manage our own e-commerce system on our own site.
Read full review
Squarespace
  • The cost is reasonably decent. My client says they spent about $20 a month or $240 a year. I asked her if she could add Google AdSense to her blog one day, and they believe they can. They said a custom site would cost them $3000-10,000 depending on who does it. And I agreed, but I found the website they created was on the lower end of that range.
Read full review
ScreenShots