Ginta vs Big Cartel
Ginta vs Big Cartel: which is better for a small shop?
Big Cartel is an online shop builder made for artists and makers, with a free plan for up to 5 products and paid plans for more. Ginta builds the whole website around your shop: you describe the business, it writes the pages, sets up the shop with your products, and it's live in about a minute.
Both are free to start. On Big Cartel's free Gold plan you get 5 products with one image each; Ginta's free plan holds 25 products per website with photos, variants (sizes, scents), sale prices and discount codes, and card payments through your own Stripe account.
Checked on Big Cartel's own website on . We make Ginta.
Ginta vs Big Cartel at a glance
| What | Ginta | Big Cartel |
|---|---|---|
| Price to start | Free plan. Paid from €5 a month (Hosting: you build with your own Claude or ChatGPT) or €19 (Light: Ginta's AI, 150 credits a month). Monthly billing; yearly = 10 months' price for 12. | Platinum: $15 a month (7 days free first) or $144 a year. Diamond: $30 a month or $288 a year. |
| Free plan | Yes: up to 20 websites live at name.ginta.page, with a small “Made with Ginta” badge. 25 AI credits when you confirm your email, then 5 a day. Booking, a shop and events included (up to 25 products, 30 bookings a month and 5 upcoming events per website), with online payments through your own Stripe, plus customer reviews you approve. | Yes: Gold, 5 products, 1 image per product, 1 template. No custom domain, discount codes or inventory tracking on Gold. |
| AI building | Yes: describe the business in a sentence, answer a few questions, and it's live in about a minute. Change anything by asking, or click a text on the page. | No AI building on its plans pages: you pick a template and add products yourself. |
| Hosting included | Yes, on every plan, on Cloudflare's network. | Yes, the shop is hosted by Big Cartel. |
| Forms that email you | Yes, on every plan: each message goes to your email (once it's confirmed) and to your Ginta inbox. | Yes: the shop's contact form sends messages to your account email. |
| Custom domain | On paid plans (from €5 a month): 1 domain on Hosting and Light, more on bigger plans. Connect one you own (Ginta shows the DNS steps for your registrar) or buy one in Ginta for €29 a year, registered in your name and set up for you. | On Platinum and Diamond, not on the free Gold plan. |
| Owner admin | yoursite.com/admin, when the site has a form or a ready-made part: messages, menu, bookings and the like, without the editor. You plus 1 helper on Free, 3 helpers on Light. | One shop owner: admin access goes to the shop email on file. |
| Build from Claude/ChatGPT | Yes: Ginta's MCP server (ginta.app/mcp, also in Claude's connector directory) lets Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Codex or Cursor build, publish and change the site, using no Ginta credits. | No official option. Zapier's Big Cartel MCP manages products, orders and discounts, not the shop's design. |
Ginta's prices include tax and are the same number in euros (eurozone) or US dollars (everywhere else). Big Cartel's prices can differ by country: check its pricing page before you buy.
When to pick Big Cartel
- Selling is the whole business. Big Cartel is a shop first: label printing with shipping discounts (paid plans), sales tax automation, in-person sales, and imports from Etsy, Squarespace and Shopify.
- Digital downloads. Big Cartel's paid plans sell digital products. Ginta's Shop sells physical products only.
- Product drops. Diamond has scheduled product drops, password-protected products and abandoned cart emails.
- PayPal or Afterpay at checkout. Big Cartel lists cards, PayPal and Afterpay. Ginta takes cards (and Apple Pay and Google Pay) through Stripe.
When to pick Ginta
- You need more than 5 products for free. Ginta's free plan holds 25 products per website, each with its own page and several photos.
- Discount codes and stock from day one. Codes (percent, amount or free delivery), sale prices and stock counts are on every Ginta plan; on Big Cartel they start at Platinum.
- A website, not only a shop. Your story, opening hours, a contact form, a blog, bookings or events next to the shop, written for you.
- You don't want to set it up yourself. Write your products and prices in one message; Ginta builds the pages and the shop. Change anything later by asking, or in the Shop's settings without the AI.
- You build with Claude or ChatGPT. Your assistant can build and change the whole site through Ginta's MCP server.
How the shop works on Ginta
Each product gets its own page with photos, options (up to two kinds, such as scent and size, each combination with its own price and stock), "You might also like", and a cart. Buyers pay by card on Stripe's page; the money goes to your Stripe account, Stripe charges its card fees, and Ginta takes no commission. Delivery options per zone, pickup, free delivery from an amount, and discount codes are set in the Shop's settings. What it can't do yet: digital downloads, subscriptions, or multi-buy discounts. A real example, start to finish: how to sell online without Shopify.
Moving from Big Cartel to Ginta
There's no automatic import. Paste your products and prices into Ginta's chat (or ask Ginta to read them from a screenshot), add your photos, then connect Stripe and your domain. Keep Big Cartel open until the new shop has taken its first order.
Sources (checked 29 October 2026)
Big Cartel pricing · Gold plan · Plans and features (help article dated 25 February 2025) · Contact form messages · Account ownership · Zapier's Big Cartel MCP · Ginta: pricing and limits
See your website before you decide
Describe your business in one sentence and see it live in about a minute. Free to start: 25 credits when you confirm your email, then 5 a day.
Start freeQuestions
Is Big Cartel free?
Its Gold plan is free, with 5 products, one image per product and one template; custom domains, discount codes and inventory tracking start at Platinum ($15 a month). Ginta's free plan holds 25 products per website.
Does Ginta charge a commission on sales?
No. Buyers pay through your own Stripe account; Stripe charges its card fees, and Ginta adds nothing on any plan.
Can I use my own domain for free?
Not on either. Big Cartel's custom domains start at Platinum; Ginta's start at €5 a month (Hosting, with your own Claude or ChatGPT) or €19 on Light.
Can I sell digital downloads on Ginta?
Not yet: Ginta's Shop sells physical products and pickup. If downloads are most of what you sell, Big Cartel's paid plans or a digital-product platform fit better.
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