Big Cartel vs Spreadshop Comparison 2026
Both cover merch & print on demand. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
A small shop for people who make things
A print on demand shop that costs nothing
At a glance
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Big Cartel | Spreadshop | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $15 | Free |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free plan, paid tiers | Free |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Not stated |
| Free trial | 7 days | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on | Web | Web |
| Covers | Merch & Print on Demand, Digital Products & Storefronts |
Shaded rows are where the two answers disagree and both listings have answered. A row where one side has not stated a fact is left plain, because silence is not a difference.
Big Cartel
A small shop for people who make things
Big Cartel has sold for artists and bands since before most of this category existed, and the product still reflects that: a handful of themes, a product limit rather than a transaction limit, and no upsell machinery. Setting up a shop takes an evening. The free plan is genuinely usable for a first release, and the paid ones are cheaper than any general storefront. Anybody who wants apps, subscriptions or a hundred variants should look elsewhere.
Our note
Count your products before choosing, because that single limit is the whole pricing model and it is easy to outgrow in a month if you sell variants as separate listings. For a catalogue that stays small this is cheaper than any general storefront in this directory and stays that way as sales grow.
Only on this side
- Covers digital products & storefronts
Spreadshop
A print on demand shop that costs nothing
Spreadshop opens a merchandise shop with no fee at either end: Spreadshirt prints and ships, and you keep whatever you set above the base price of each item. Because there is no subscription, a shop that sells nothing for six months costs nothing to leave open. The trade is that the storefront and the product range are theirs, so it is less yours than a shop you build.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.