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E-Commerce · head to head

Big Cartel vs Braintree

Big Cartel logo

Big Cartel

E-Commerce

Straightforward pricing, no surprises

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Braintree logo

Braintree

E-Commerce

PayPal's payment gateway and processor for cards, PayPal, Venmo and digital wallets

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Big Cartel has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Big Cartel custom domain support is not included on the free Gold plan; it is listed as a Platinum-tier feature; Braintree the merchant relationship sits with PayPal, whose risk operations can place reserves on or hold funds in accounts they flag, and appeals run through support queues, so a business with thin working capital carries real exposure to a decision it cannot negotiate.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Big Cartel and Braintree actually diverge.

Attributes where Big Cartel and Braintree differ
AttributeBig CartelBraintree
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumtransaction
Free tierYesNo

Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (E-Commerce).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Big Cartel

Nothing recorded that Braintree does not also cover.

Only in Braintree

  • Card processing
  • PayPal and Venmo acceptance
  • Digital wallets
  • Hosted fields
  • Card vault
  • Recurring billing
  • Split payouts
  • Multi-market coverage

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Big Cartel

  • E-commerce store creationnot Braintree
  • Physical and digital product salesnot Braintree

Braintree

  • A United States consumer brand that wants Venmo in the checkout rather than as an off-site redirectnot Big Cartel
  • A subscription business that needs a vault and recurring billing alongside wallet acceptancenot Big Cartel
  • A marketplace splitting each payment between the platform and multiple sellersnot Big Cartel
  • A merchant consolidating card and PayPal acceptance into a single integration and a single settlementnot Big Cartel

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Big Cartel

  • Custom domain support is not included on the free Gold plan; it is listed as a Platinum-tier feature
  • Abandoned cart recovery, product drop scheduling and Zapier integration are restricted to the top Diamond tier at $30/month
  • Platinum's paid billing starts automatically after a 7-day free trial rather than requiring an active opt-in to convert

Braintree

  • The merchant relationship sits with PayPal, whose risk operations can place reserves on or hold funds in accounts they flag, and appeals run through support queues, so a business with thin working capital carries real exposure to a decision it cannot negotiate.
  • Cross-border transactions and currency conversion carry additional charges on top of the headline rate, so an international customer base costs materially more per order than the quoted percentage suggests.
  • Disputes carry a per chargeback fee in addition to the reversed transaction amount, so a category with a high dispute rate loses money at roughly twice the rate a naive model predicts.
  • Leaving means requesting a vault export to another PCI compliant processor and then re-tokenising every stored card and every active subscription, which is an engineering project with a customer-visible failure mode if any subscription fails to migrate.
  • It is a payments component rather than a commerce platform, so checkout, tax determination, invoicing and refund workflow still have to be built and maintained somewhere else, and merchants who assume otherwise underestimate the integration.

Pricing, plan by plan

Big Cartel

Free
  • GoldFree
    • Free tier with limited features
  • Platinum$15/month
    • Custom domains
    • Physical and digital product sales
    • Shipping label printing
  • Diamond$30/month
    • All Platinum features plus abandoned cart recovery
    • Product drop scheduling
    • Password-protected products

Braintree

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Braintree review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Big Cartel if

  • You want to start without paying.
Big Cartel review

Choose Braintree if

  • You need card processing.
  • You also want paypal and venmo acceptance.
Braintree review

Questions people ask

Is Big Cartel or Braintree better?
Neither clearly leads. Big Cartel starts at Free and Braintree at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Big Cartel or Braintree?
Big Cartel has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Big Cartel and On request for Braintree.
Does Big Cartel or Braintree run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Big Cartel for free?
Yes. Big Cartel has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Braintree starts at On request.
What is Big Cartel best used for?
Big Cartel is most often used for e-commerce store creation, physical and digital product sales. Of those, e-commerce store creation and physical and digital product sales are not what Braintree is typically brought in for.
What can Big Cartel do that Braintree cannot?
Braintree covers Card processing, PayPal and Venmo acceptance, Digital wallets, Hosted fields.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Big Cartel: How much does Big Cartel cost?

Big Cartel offers a free Gold plan with limited features. Paid plans start at $15 per month for Platinum and $30 per month for Diamond. Both paid plans include a 7-day free trial and have no commitment.

Source
Braintree: How is it different from using PayPal directly?

Braintree gives you a full processing account and a native checkout with cards, PayPal and Venmo in one integration, rather than a redirect flow bolted onto a separate card processor.

Big Cartel: What features does the Diamond plan add?

The Diamond plan at $30 per month adds abandoned cart recovery, product drop scheduling, password-protected products, Zapier integration with 7,000+ apps, and priority human support compared to Platinum.

Source
Braintree: Is Venmo the main reason to choose it?

For United States consumer brands, frequently yes. It is the practical route to native Venmo acceptance, and no competing processor offers an equivalent.

Big Cartel: Can I cancel Big Cartel anytime?

Yes, Big Cartel explicitly offers no commitment and allows cancellation anytime on paid tiers.

Source
Braintree: What does it actually cost?

A percentage plus a fixed fee per transaction on standard accounts, with interchange-plus available at volume. Add cross-border and currency conversion charges, plus a fee per chargeback, before comparing.

Braintree: How hard is it to switch away later?

Harder than most merchants expect. The vault export to another compliant processor is possible but every stored card and subscription has to be re-tokenised and tested.

Braintree: Can PayPal hold my money?

Reserves and holds are a documented part of PayPal's risk management. Ask about reserve policy for your category and volume before you migrate revenue onto it.

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