Big Cartel vs Vexels Comparison 2026
Both cover merch & print on demand. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
At a glance
- Vexels starts cheaper, at $9.08.
- Only Big Cartel has a free tier.
Side by side
Big Cartel | Vexels | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $15 | From $9.08 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free plan, paid tiers | Paid subscription |
| Free tier (they differ) | Yes | No |
| 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 | None |
| Runs on | Web | Web |
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
Vexels
Print-ready merch designs by subscription
Vexels sells the artwork rather than the shirt: thousands of print-ready designs licensed for merchandise, plus an editor and a mockup generator for putting them on a product photo. A download limit per month is what separates the tiers. For a seller who can pick a niche but not draw, this replaces commissioning every design. The catalogue leans hard into slogan tees, and it shows.
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.