# Big Cartel vs BigCommerce

The clearest difference is monetization model: BigCommerce at free against Big Cartel's free with in-app purchases. BigCommerce also leads on review sentiment (40% vs 28%). Big Cartel's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.5) and ratings volume (6.8K vs 640). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Big Cartel holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Big Cartel has 6.8K ratings behind it against 640, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 28% of Big Cartel's written reviews are positive against 40% of BigCommerce's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Big Cartel ships an update fortnightly, BigCommerce every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Big Cartel | BigCommerce |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (6.8K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/big-cartel/id739285899/reviews)** | [4.5 (640 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bigcommerce/id1418570678/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **6.8K** | 640 |
| Positive reviews | 28.4% of reviews | **40.3% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Fortnightly** | Every 2 weeks |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 170 MB | 38 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Big Cartel](https://appshunter.io/developer/739285902) | [BigCommerce](https://appshunter.io/developer/1417625852) |

## What reviewers say

### Big Cartel

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/big-cartel/id739285899)

Build and manage your online store from your phone. This platform provides all the tools needed to start selling your creations, from adding products and managing inventory to processing orders and running promotions. It's designed for creators to easily turn their passion into profit.

**Highlights:** Add and edit products, Manage inventory and photos, Real-time order notifications, Shipment management, Offer discounts, In-person payments

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Apple Wallet, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Easy to use
- 🚀 Affordable
- 🚀 Great for small businesses
- 🚀 Customizable store
- 🚀 Good customer service

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Constant crashing/glitching
- 🐛 Slow loading times
- 🐛 Buggy app
- 🐛 Logging out issues
- 🐛 Limited features compared to competitors

**Reported bugs**

- App crashes on startup
- Products/orders not loading
- Inability to save changes
- Constant 'error' messages
- Black screen issues after updates

**Requested features**

- Ability to add more product images
- Integrated shipping tracking
- Discount code management
- Abandoned cart emails
- More payment options (e.g. Afterpay)


### BigCommerce

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bigcommerce/id1418570678)

Manage your online store from anywhere with this mobile app. Create and process orders, update product listings, view customer information, and monitor key business performance metrics on the go. It's a powerful tool for growing brands to run their e-commerce operations from their mobile device.

**Highlights:** Live store performance metrics, Order creation and management, Catalog updates and product management, Customer details and history, Payment processing and refunds, Product image uploads

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Awesome app
- 👍 Great for managing store on the go
- 🚀 Intuitive and well-designed
- 🚀 Reliable and functional
- 👍 Convenient and easy to use

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Buggy and crashes frequently
- 🔒 Requires constant login
- ⚠️ Limited functionality compared to website
- ⚠️ Missing key features like order editing
- 🐛 Unreliable product search and inventory management

**Reported bugs**

- App crashes on launch or during use
- Login issues and inability to stay logged in
- Inaccurate or missing data in analytics and reporting
- Compatibility problems with newer iOS/Android versions
- Inconsistent performance and frequent bugs

**Requested features**

- Add ability to edit orders and product details
- Improve search functionality and inventory management
- Implement push notifications for orders and updates
- Allow more customization and control over the app
- Provide better integration with the main BigCommerce platform


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Big Cartel free?

Big Cartel is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is BigCommerce free?

BigCommerce is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Big Cartel or BigCommerce?

Big Cartel is rated higher. Big Cartel averages 4.7 out of 5 from 6.8K ratings, while BigCommerce averages 4.5 from 640 ratings.

### Do Big Cartel or BigCommerce have ads?

Neither Big Cartel nor BigCommerce shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Big Cartel or BigCommerce?

Big Cartel ships an update fortnightly, and BigCommerce every 2 weeks. Most recently, Big Cartel was updated on November 1, 2026 and BigCommerce on November 2, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*