Wholesale comparison
Crate vs BlueCart
A wholesale portal with a published price, fed by your Square, Clover or Shopify catalog.
By the Crate teamUpdated
The short answer
- Crate publishes its price and lets you start today: $50/month for up to 20 active buyers, $80/month for up to 50, with a 14-day free trial and no card.
- BlueCart does not publish prices; its pricing link opens a demo request.
- BlueCart is built for food and beverage distributors.
- Crate is built for roasters, bakeries and brands whose products already live in Square, Clover or Shopify.
Why pick Crate
- A price you can see before you talk to anyone. Crate Starter is $50/month, Growth $80/month and Plus $150/month. BlueCart's pricing link opens a demo request and lists no plans or prices. Source
- Set it up yourself, this week. Start a 14-day free trial with no credit card and connect your catalog on your own. BlueCart's team sets up your catalog and invites your customers, and BlueCart says it can have you running in a week. Source
- Your catalog stays in Square, Clover or Shopify. Crate imports the products and stock you already keep in Square, Clover or Shopify. BlueCart's pages name QuickBooks, Xero and NetSuite for accounting and do not mention Square, Clover or Shopify. Source 1 Source 2
- Your name on the portal. Buyers order from a portal with your logo and your products. BlueCart's mobile ordering app for buyers is listed in the App Store as BlueCart for Buyers. Source
- Built for roasters. Set roast weekdays with an order cutoff banner, show the roast date on every order, and print a production sheet PDF that sums orders by SKU.
Where BlueCart may still fit: if you are a food or beverage distributor with delivery routes and sales reps, want a team to load your catalog for you, or need partial payments and NetSuite or Xero sync.
What it costs at 10 and 50 accounts
| Accounts | Crate | BlueCart |
|---|---|---|
| About 10 accounts | Starter: $50/month, 14-day free trial | Not published: the pricing link opens a demo request. |
| About 50 accounts | Growth: $80/month, with standing orders and invoicing | Not published: ask BlueCart for a quote after the demo. |
Crate and BlueCart, side by side
| Topic | Crate | BlueCart |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Published: Starter $50/month, Growth $80/month, Plus $150/month. | Not published. The pricing link opens a demo request; BlueCart says there are no termination fees. Source 1 Source 2 |
| Who it is built for | Roasters, bakeries and independent brands selling wholesale to cafes, shops and restaurants. | Food and beverage distributors: broadline, dairy, bakery, seafood, produce, meat, coffee, specialty and more. Source 1 Source 2 |
| Catalog source | Import products and stock from Square, Clover or Shopify, or keep a standalone Crate catalog. | Catalogs are built in BlueCart, by its team at onboarding. Square, Clover and Shopify are not mentioned on its site. Source 1 Source 2 |
| Buyer prices and catalogs | Account prices and price tiers per buyer, on the same products you sell at retail. Private-label products for the accounts you pick, or a custom catalog per account. | Subcatalogs with different prices and SKUs per client, pricing tiers and order minimums per account. Source 1 Source 2 |
| Invoices and payments | Payment terms per buyer. QuickBooks Online on every plan; Crate invoicing and payment collection on Growth. | BlueCart Pay: card, bank transfer and ACH, terms per account, reminders, partial payments; QuickBooks, Xero and NetSuite sync. Source |
| Getting started | Self-serve signup with a 14-day free trial and no credit card. | Demo first; BlueCart's team sets up your catalog and client list and says it can have you running in a week. Source 1 Source 2 |
Keep the catalog you already have
Crate brings in your Square, Clover or Shopify catalog, so there is no second product list. Invoice through Square, Shopify, QuickBooks Online or Crate.
Already on BlueCart? Read the step-by-step switch guide.
Questions
- How much does BlueCart cost?
- BlueCart does not publish prices. Its pricing link opens a demo request, so you get a quote after talking to sales. BlueCart says there are no termination fees.
- Is Crate a BlueCart alternative for coffee roasters?
- Yes, when your products live in Square, Clover or Shopify. Crate gives buyers a branded portal with account prices from $50/month, plus roast-day cutoffs and production sheets. BlueCart serves coffee distributors too, inside a platform built for food and beverage distribution.
- Does BlueCart work with Square or Shopify?
- BlueCart's pages name QuickBooks, Xero and NetSuite for accounting and do not mention Square, Clover or Shopify, so ask BlueCart how your catalog would get in. Crate imports products from all three.
Sources
Published by Crate from BlueCart's published information, not a hands-on test. No affiliation or endorsement is implied.
- BlueCart pricing link (opens Book a Demo)
- BlueCart B2B eCommerce
- BlueCart home
- BlueCart Pay and wholesale invoicing
- BlueCart for Buyers on the App Store
- BlueCart for wholesale coffee distributors
- Why BlueCart
Other comparisons
See Crate with your catalog
Connect Square, Shopify or Clover, set each account's prices and send buyers their login. Plans start at $50/month.
14-day free trial. No credit card required.