Etsy alternative
Sell on your own website instead of Etsy.
To sell outside Etsy, open a channel you own: your website, or payment links you share on Instagram, by email, and at markets. On Etsy, a $50 US order costs $5.20 in listing, transaction, and processing fees, or $12.70 when an Offsite Ad brought the buyer, and Etsy’s rules bar you from sending its buyers to your site or adding them to your mailing list without consent. Flint Pay runs the channel you own at 3.79% + 35¢ per card payment with no monthly fee: products with variants, inventory, gift cards, returns, and customer accounts, with your customers list in your own dashboard.
3.79% + 35¢ on cards · no monthly fee · free sandbox · no credit card
last reviewed 2026-10-27 · sources
01The alternatives
Etsy alternatives for sellers who want their own channel.
Ranked for US makers and small shops adding a channel they own, alongside Etsy or instead of it. Each price is from the vendor's own pricing page, checked on the date under Sources.
- 01
Flint Pay
Etsy sellers who want to sell from their own site, Instagram, email, or a market table, with no listing fees, no monthly plan, and customer records they keep.
- Cards
- 3.79% + 35¢, processing included
- Monthly
- No monthly fee
- Listing fees
- None
- 02
Big Cartel
A hosted shop builder for artists and makers, priced by monthly plan.
- Platinum
- $15/mo after a 7-day trial
- Diamond
- $30/mo
- 03
Shopify
A hosted store and theme on a monthly plan, with a fee on third-party payment providers.
- Basic
- $29/mo billed yearly
- Shopify Payments
- 2.9% + 30¢ online
- Other providers
- +2% on Basic
- 04
Pattern by Etsy
Etsy's own website builder, synced to your Etsy listings and run from Etsy's Shop Manager. Etsy says you drive the site's traffic yourself.
- Monthly
- $15 after a 30-day trial
- Etsy search
- Not included
02Side by side
An Etsy shop vs your own channel on Flint.
The Etsy column is what Etsy's own fee, payments, and seller policies say for a US seller today, each linked under Sources. The Flint column is what a Flint account does.
| What you need | Etsy shop, US seller | Flint |
|---|---|---|
| Listing a product | Etsy shop, US seller: $0.20 per listing, which expires after four months and renews automatically, and renews again after each sale when you have more than one in stock. | Flint: No listing fee and no expiry, however many products you sell.POST /v1/products |
| Fees on each sale | Etsy shop, US seller: A 6.5% transaction fee on the item price, shipping, and gift wrap, plus 3% + 25¢ payment processing on the whole order. | Flint: 3.79% + 35¢ per card payment, which covers processing. Nothing on top.POST /v1/checkout-sessions |
| Advertising | Etsy shop, US seller: Offsite Ads take 15% of an order Etsy's ad brought in within 30 days, capped at $100 an order. Once a shop sells $10,000 in 365 days, it pays 12% and can't opt out for the life of the shop. | Flint: No advertising fee. You choose where to advertise and pay that channel directly. |
| Monthly fees | Etsy shop, US seller: Etsy Plus is $10 a month. Pattern, Etsy's website builder, is $15 a month. | Flint: No monthly fee |
| Pointing buyers to your site | Etsy shop, US seller: Not allowed. Etsy bans sending members to a personal website to buy, sharing contact details to finish a sale off Etsy, off-Etsy discounts, and QR codes that lead off Etsy. | Flint: Share your link anywhere: your website, your Instagram bio, an email, a QR code on your market table or packaging.POST /v1/payment-links |
| Your customers | Etsy shop, US seller: A buyer's email from an Etsy order may be used only for Etsy-related messages, and you may not add the buyer to your mailing list without consent. | Flint: Every buyer who checks out with you is your customer: a customers list in your dashboard, and orders you can export as a CSV file. Marketing to them follows the consent you collect and email law.GET /v1/customers |
03Etsy's rules
Can you send Etsy buyers to your own website?
No. Etsy's Off-Platform Transactions Policy forbids it, and Etsy can hold part of your balance in a reserve. Your own channel grows from the audience Etsy doesn't control.
Etsy’s Off-Platform Transactions Policy, last updated October 5, 2026, bars four things: telling a member to buy through “a personal website, social media shop, or another online marketplace”, sharing a phone number, email, or social handle to finish a sale off Etsy, offering discounts, free items, or cheaper shipping for buying elsewhere, and using a QR code to send members off Etsy. A sale that starts on Etsy has to finish on Etsy.
Having your own website is a different thing, and Etsy sells one itself: Pattern, at $15 a month, “to expand your online sales beyond the Etsy marketplace.” The rule is about Etsy’s members and Etsy’s messages. Your Instagram followers, the people at your market stall, wholesale buyers, people who find you on Google, and subscribers who joined your list on your own site are yours to sell to directly.
Etsy can also hold part of your balance. Its Payments Policy describes reserves that keep a percentage of your sales for a clearing period (its own example is 30% held for 45 days on a rolling basis) and variable reserves that delay funds for up to 180 days. When all of your sales run through one marketplace, a reserve or a suspension stops all of them. A second channel keeps orders coming in while you sort it out.
04What you can take
What can you legally take from Etsy to your own shop?
Your listings and photos, yes. Your Etsy buyers' emails, only with their consent. Here is what Etsy's own policies say, with US email law alongside. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Your listings. In Shop Manager, open Settings, then Options, then Download Data, and download the listing CSV. It holds each active listing’s title, description, price, quantity, tags, materials, image URLs, and SKUs. Variations aren’t in that list, so you set up sizes and colors again on your new products. You can also download your sold order history and monthly statements for your records.
Your photos and descriptions. Etsy’s Terms of Use say Etsy doesn’t claim ownership of what you post. You grant Etsy a perpetual license to use it, which means Etsy may keep using it, not that you can’t.
Your Etsy buyers. Etsy’s Seller Policy says a buyer’s email or other information you receive from a sale “may only be used for Etsy-related communications or for Etsy-facilitated transactions,” never for unsolicited commercial messages, and that without the buyer’s consent you may not add any Etsy member to your email or physical mailing list. Combined with the off-platform rule, an export of past buyers is a record, not a marketing list.
Your own list. Customers who sign up on your site, at your stall, or from your Instagram are yours. Marketing email to them follows the CAN-SPAM Act: a truthful sender and subject line, your physical postal address, a clear way to opt out, and opt-outs honored within 10 business days. The FTC lists penalties of up to $53,088 for each email that breaks the law. Buyers in the EU and UK bring data protection law with them, which Etsy’s Seller Policy points to as well.
05Your channel on Flint
How does an Etsy seller run their own channel on Flint?
It runs from the Flint dashboard with no code: products with sizes and colors, each with its own price, SKU, and stock, payment links where the buyer picks the variant, QR codes, gift card offers, shipping and pickup, discounts, a return policy, and your customers list. Only a cart built into your own website goes through Flint's API, set up by a developer or an AI assistant connected to Flint's MCP server.
Payment links made in the dashboard, with a URL and a QR code to share anywhere.
POST /v1/payment-linksProducts with a price, categories, and a delivery profile, created in the dashboard.
POST /v1/productsVariants such as size and color, each with its own price, SKU, and stock, set up on the product page in the dashboard.
POST /v1/products/{product_id}/variantsStock per location, tracked from the dashboard, held when payment starts and released if the payment fails.
held_quantityGift card offers in a fixed value, at a discount, or in a range of values, emailed to a recipient on a date up to 90 days ahead.
gift_card_configurationShipping rates by destination or weight, local delivery, and pickup.
POST /v1/delivery-methodsDiscount codes and automatic promotions: percent off, amount off, or buy X get Y.
POST /v1/promotionsA return policy you set in the dashboard, with returns and exchanges the buyer starts from their account.
POST /v1/return-policiesA hosted customer account where buyers sign in with an emailed code to see orders, track parcels, and check gift card balances.
GET /v1/me/ordersA customers list in your dashboard, and orders you can export as a CSV file.
GET /v1/customersAdd a store to a Framer site →Sell gift cards online →Customer accounts →Big Cartel alternative →
06Worked example
What one $50 order costs on Etsy and on Flint.
Etsy’s fees come to 10.4% of this order, or 25.4% when an Offsite Ad brought the buyer. Flint’s come to 4.5%. For a month of orders at a few shop sizes, with Etsy Plus and Offsite Ads at both rates, see Etsy fees, worked out per order.
| $44 item, $6 shipping | Found in search | Via Offsite Ad | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order total | $50.00 | $50.00 | |
| Listing renewal | $0.20 | $0.20 | |
| Transaction fee, 6.5% | $3.25 | $3.25 | |
| Payment processing, 3% + 25¢ | $1.75 | $1.75 | |
| Offsite Ads fee, 15% | $0.00 | $7.50 | |
| Etsy fees | $5.20 | $12.70 | |
| Flint, 3.79% + 35¢ | $2.25 | $2.25 | |
Assumptions
- A US seller, a US buyer, and a card payment. Etsy's transaction and Offsite Ads fees apply to the item price plus shipping; its processing fee applies to the whole order.
- No sales tax on the order. On a taxed US order, Etsy's processing fee also applies to the tax it collects, and Flint's card rate applies to the whole payment.
- A listing with more than one in stock, which Etsy renews at $0.20 after each sale.
- With Flint's automatic US sales tax on the order (+0.50%), Flint's fee is $2.50.
- The Offsite Ads column uses the 15% rate for shops under $10,000 in yearly sales. Shops past that pay 12%.
07Who Flint is for
Flint is built for US makers and shops selling online.
Flint is the commerce and payments behind your own channel, not a marketplace and not a website builder. If that fits, everything above is running the day you create your account.
US businesses
Flint onboards businesses in the US and pays out in USD to your own bank account. Buyers can pay from anywhere with a card.
Your site, or no site
Flint doesn't host a storefront. Put payment links on the site you already have, in your bio, in an email, or on a QR code.
Handmade and made to order
One-of-a-kind pieces and limited runs capped by a payment limit, shipping or local pickup, gift cards, and returns by your own policy.
Online payments
Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH debit, and Affirm online. Flint has no card readers for in-person sales.
08Switching
How do you set up your own channel next to Etsy?
Keep your Etsy shop open while you build, and point only your own audience at the new links. Every step runs in the Flint dashboard, with no code.
Download your Etsy listings
In Etsy's Shop Manager, open Settings, then Options, then Download Data, and save the listing CSV with each title, description, price, quantity, and SKU.
Create your products
POST /v1/productsAdd each product in the Flint dashboard with its name, price, and categories, and pick how it ships.
Add sizes and colors
POST /v1/products/{product_id}/variantsOn the product page, choose Add option for Size or Color and enter its values, then Add variants gives each combination its own price and SKU. Turn on Track stock for these variants and record how many you have of each.
Set shipping, pickup, and returns
POST /v1/return-policiesAdd shipping rates by destination or weight, local delivery, and pickup, then set a return window and policy so buyers can start a return from their account.
Make payment links
POST /v1/payment-linksCreate a payment link for a product, and for one with sizes or colors, choose Let buyers choose so buyers pick on checkout. Set whether buyers can change the quantity and enter a promotion code. Tracked stock stops a sold-out variant on its own; for an untracked product, cap a limited run with the link's payment limit. Then copy its URL or download its QR code for your website, bio, emails, and market table.
Add a gift card offer
gift_card_configurationCreate a gift card offer in a fixed value, sell one at a discount, or turn on Let buyers choose the value so buyers enter any amount in a range you set. Buyers can email one to someone on a date up to 90 days ahead, and the recipient spends it at checkout.
Tell your own audience
Announce the shop to your followers, your market customers, and subscribers who joined your list themselves. Don't message Etsy buyers about it through Etsy.
09Start
Sign up, make your first link, and pay it yourself.
Sign up, add a product or make a payment link in the dashboard, and open it on your own phone to see exactly what your buyers will see. No code and no monthly plan.
3.79% + 35¢ on cards · no monthly fee · free sandbox · no credit card
Then read these
- 01Etsy fees, worked out per orderThe monthly math at a few shop sizes
- 02
- 03
- 04
Sources
Where each claim comes from.
Listing fee $0.20, four-month expiry and automatic renewal, renewal after each sale on multi-quantity listings; 6.5% transaction fee on item price, shipping, and gift wrap, not on US sales tax; Offsite Ads 15% or 12% by the $10,000 threshold, 30-day attribution, $100 cap per order, required for the life of the shop past the threshold; Etsy Plus $10 a month; Pattern $15 a month; Etsy collects and remits US sales tax. Last updated October 5, 2026. Etsy: Fees & Payments Policy
www.etsy.com · checked 2026-10-26No instructing members to buy through a personal website, social media shop, or another marketplace; no sharing contact information to complete a transaction off Etsy; no off-platform discounts or incentives; no QR codes that direct members off Etsy. Last updated October 5, 2026. Etsy: Off-Platform Transactions Policy
www.etsy.com · checked 2026-10-26US payment processing fee 3% + 0.25 USD on the gross order including shipping and tax; fixed reserves (example: 30% held on a 45-day rolling basis) and variable reserves delaying funds up to 180 days. Last updated July 31, 2026. Etsy: Etsy Payments Policy
www.etsy.com · checked 2026-10-26Buyer information from a transaction may only be used for Etsy-related communications or Etsy-facilitated transactions; no unsolicited commercial messages; no adding Etsy members to your email or physical mailing list without the buyer's consent. Last updated October 5, 2026. Etsy: Seller Policy
www.etsy.com · checked 2026-10-26Etsy doesn't claim ownership of Your Content; sellers grant Etsy a perpetual, non-exclusive license to use it. Etsy: Terms of Use
www.etsy.com · checked 2026-10-26Shops that have never made $10,000 in a 365-day period pay 15% and may opt out; shops past it pay 12% and must participate. Etsy Help: How Etsy's Offsite Ads work
help.etsy.com · checked 2026-10-26Shop Manager > Settings > Options > Download Data; the listing CSV holds title, description, price, currency code, quantity, tags, materials, image URLs, and SKUs; sold order history and statements download as CSV. Etsy Help: How to download your listing information
help.etsy.com · checked 2026-10-26Pattern is free for 30 days, then $15 a month; your Pattern site isn't surfaced in Etsy search and you drive its traffic. Etsy: Pattern
www.etsy.com · checked 2026-10-26Commercial email needs a valid physical postal address and a clear opt-out; opt-outs are honored within 10 business days; penalties up to $53,088 per violating email. FTC: CAN-SPAM Act compliance guide
www.ftc.gov · checked 2026-10-26Platinum $15 a month after a 7-day free trial; Diamond $30 a month. Big Cartel: Pricing
www.bigcartel.com · checked 2026-10-26Basic $29 a month billed yearly; online card rate 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic; third-party transaction fee 2% on Basic. Shopify: Pricing
www.shopify.com · checked 2026-10-26
last reviewed 2026-10-27 · corrections: Flint Help
FAQ
Questions people ask.
Is Flint a good alternative to Etsy?
Yes, for a US seller who wants a channel they own. Flint has no listing fees and no monthly fee, and charges 3.79% + 35¢ per card payment, which covers processing. You sell from your own website or from payment links in your bio, emails, and QR codes, with products and variants, inventory, gift cards, returns, and a customer account for every buyer. Flint is not a marketplace, so you bring the buyers.
Can I sell on my own website and on Etsy at the same time?
Yes. Etsy's rules stop you from sending Etsy buyers to your site, not from having one, and Etsy sells its own website builder, Pattern. Keep Etsy for the shoppers who search its marketplace if you like, and build repeat sales on your own channel, where you keep the margin and the customer record.
Can I email my Etsy customers or add them to my mailing list?
Not without their consent. Etsy's Seller Policy says buyer information from an Etsy sale may only be used for Etsy-related communications or Etsy-facilitated transactions, and you may not add an Etsy member to your mailing list without the buyer's consent. The Off-Platform Transactions Policy also bars offering discounts to buy elsewhere. Build your list from your own site, social accounts, and in-person sales instead.
How much does Etsy take per sale?
For a US seller, $0.20 per listing, a 6.5% transaction fee on the item price and shipping, and 3% + 25¢ payment processing on the order. On a $44 item with $6 shipping that is $5.20, or $12.70 when a 15% Offsite Ads fee applies. Flint charges $2.25 on the same order. The full math by shop size is on Etsy fees, worked out per order.
Can I turn off Etsy Offsite Ads?
Only while your shop has never made $10,000 in any 365-day period. Under that, Offsite Ads charge 15% on attributed orders and you can opt out in Shop Manager. Once you reach $10,000, the fee drops to 12%, you're enrolled for the life of the shop, and an earlier opt-out no longer applies. Each fee is capped at $100 an order.
Do I need a website to sell with Flint?
No. You can make payment links in the Flint dashboard and share them in your Instagram bio, a DM, an email, or a QR code, and each buyer gets a hosted checkout and an order. If you have a website, put the links behind its buttons. A full cart built into your own site needs a developer or an AI site builder; see adding a store to a Framer site.
Who handles sales tax when I sell on my own website?
On Etsy, Etsy calculates, collects, and remits sales tax on orders to US buyers. On your own channel that is your job. Flint's automatic US sales tax computes it on each order, at 0.50% of each payment that carries tax, and you file and remit it where you're registered.
Keep Etsy for discovery. Keep the margin on repeat sales.
Free sandbox, no credit card. Add a product, make a payment link, and take a test order before you tell a single follower.
Or run npm install -g @flintpay/cli && flint signup to create your account and a sandbox key from the terminal. CLI guide
More comparisons · last reviewed 2026-10-27