Lanternbee vs Big Cartel

Looking for a Big Cartel alternative for your books?

A small, low-cost store for artists and makers. Here is what it costs, where it does better than Lanternbee, and what moving would take.

What Big Cartel is

Big Cartel is made for independent artists selling a limited range: prints, zines, merch and, on paid plans, digital downloads.

Who it suits

Authors with a short list of books and art or merch, who want a small store for a low monthly price.

What Big Cartel costs

US prices, checked against the sources at the bottom of this page.

Plan	Price	Fee on sales
Gold	Free. Up to 5 products	None; card fees apply
Platinum	$15 a month, or $12 a month paid yearly. Up to 50 products	None; card fees apply
Diamond	$30 a month, or $24 a month paid yearly. Up to 500 products	None; card fees apply

Big Cartel and Lanternbee side by side

The jobs a bookstore has to do, and how each one handles them.

Big Cartel and Lanternbee, feature by feature
What you need	Big Cartel	Lanternbee
One book with several editions	Not listed	Yes. Ebook, audiobook, paperback and hardcover live on one book page.
Series with a reading order	Not listed	Yes, with the reading order you set.
Bundles and box sets	Not listed	Yes. Readers who own book one pay less for the rest.
Ebook and audiobook delivery	PartlyPaid plans; one file per product on Platinum.	Yes. Download links by email, and a reader library.
Send to Kindle	Not listed	Yes, from the reader library.
Print on demand for books	Not listed	Yes, through BookVault or Lulu.
Your reader list	Not listed	Yes. Every buyer lands on your list, with tags.
Your own domain	Yes	Yes. yourname.lanternbee.shop or shop.yourname.com.
Monthly cost	Gold: Free. Up to 5 productsPlatinum: $15 a month, or $12 a month paid yearly. Up to 50 productsDiamond: $30 a month, or $24 a month paid yearly. Up to 500 products	Free: nothing a month. Author: $45 a month, or $35 paid yearly.
Fee on sales	Gold: None; card fees applyPlatinum: None; card fees applyDiamond: None; card fees apply	Free: 5%, only when you sell. Author: none.

US prices. “Not listed” means we could not find it on Big Cartel’s own pages or in the sources below, so check with them. Card fees apply everywhere; on Lanternbee they are Stripe’s, with nothing added.

What Big Cartel does better

No store is right for every author. These are fair reasons to stay.

A low monthly price and no fee on sales.
Made for artists, so prints, zines and handmade work feel at home.

Moving from Big Cartel

There is no importer for Big Cartel. Here is what you would do by hand.

Add your books on Lanternbee. Each format counts as an edition of one book, not a separate product.
Keep Big Cartel for art and merch if you sell it, and link the stores to each other.
Download your Big Cartel customers if you need them and keep them in your email tool. Lanternbee cannot import that list yet.

Questions about Big Cartel and Lanternbee

Does Big Cartel limit how many books I can list?

Yes. Gold allows 5 products, Platinum 50 and Diamond 500. If each format is its own product, a series uses those up quickly. On Lanternbee, Free holds up to 5 titles with all their formats, and Author has no limit.

Can Big Cartel deliver ebooks?

On paid plans, yes. Platinum allows one file or link per product, and Diamond five. Lanternbee delivers ebooks and audiobooks by email, keeps a reader library and sends ebooks to Kindle.

What does Big Cartel cost?

Gold is free, Platinum $15 a month and Diamond $30 a month, with no fee on sales. Card fees apply.