Head to head

Sharetribe vs CS-Cart Multi-Vendor: features and cost compared.

Sharetribe: A hosted marketplace engine billed by usage, where carts, coupons and languages need custom code, against a hosted marketplace with them built in. CS-Cart Multi-Vendor: A licence for multi-vendor shop software on your own server, with paid add-ons for bookings, offers and auctions, against a hosted marketplace with one monthly price. Here they are side by side, feature by feature, from their own websites, with Yclas as a third option.

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Last checked: 22 October 2026. Facts about other products come from their own websites; the sources are listed at the end of this page.

Feature by feature

Sharetribe and CS-Cart Multi-Vendor, side by side.

Not offeredNeeds a developerPaid add-onPartlyIncluded

Feature	Sharetribe	CS-Cart Multi-Vendor	Yclas
AI page builder	Not offered No AI design tools; Sharetribe suggests coding with AI tools on its APIs [1]	Not offered No AI page builder in the core or the add-on marketplace [2]	Describe a change, such as "darker hero, bigger search, rounder cards", and the AI makes it in a draft you preview. 109 ready-made looks and drag-and-drop sections.
AI sets up your site	Partly Set up in the Console by hand; no AI setup [1]	Partly You install it on your server; free installation by Customer Care, hosting not included [3]	Say what your marketplace is for and the AI writes your categories, subcategories, tagline and About page in your language. Live in about two minutes.
AI listing from a photo	Paid add-on Only in a partner's ecommerce template, $1,500 to $3,000 a month [4]	Not offered AI add-ons make model photos and videos from product images; none writes the listing [5]	Sellers add a photo; the AI writes the title, description and price, and picks the category and fields.
AI search	Paid add-on Only in the same partner template [4]	Paid add-on NLP Smart Search AI add-on, $29.50 [6]	Visitors search the way they talk, such as "red bike under 300 near Valencia", and get the right filters.
AI scam and spam checks	Partly AI fraud detection against spam sign-ups and stolen cards; listings and messages are not checked [1]	Partly Anti Fraud checks orders with a paid MaxMind account; listings and messages are not checked [7]	Every new listing is checked against your rules for scams, prohibited items, spam and wrong categories. Risky ones wait in your queue with the reason, and buyers are warned when a message asks for gift cards or off-site payment.
Automatic listing translation	Not offered Several languages need custom code; no listing translation [8]	Paid add-on AI Translator (GPT) add-on, $52.50 [9]	On multilingual sites each listing is translated into every site language, with its own page for search engines. 44 languages.
AI suggested replies	Not offered Not listed [10]	Not offered Not in the add-on marketplace [5]	The AI drafts a seller's reply from the listing and the conversation; the seller edits and sends it.
Shopping cart across sellers	Needs a developer A transaction holds one listing; a cart is custom code [11]	Included One cart, split into an order per vendor [12]	Buyers fill one cart from several sellers and pay once; the payment is split between the sellers automatically
Commission on every sale	Included Commission from buyers, sellers or both, a percentage with a minimum or a flat fee; Stripe Connect only [13]	Included Commission through vendor plans, by category on Plus; split payouts with Stripe Connect or PayPal; no service fee for buyers [12]	A percentage and a fixed fee on each sale, with rates by category or by seller, and an optional service fee for buyers
Seller payouts with or without Stripe Connect	Needs a developer Stripe Connect only; PayPal or other gateways need custom code [14]	Included Split payouts with Stripe Connect or PayPal, or vendor withdrawal requests you pay outside CS-Cart [15]	Sellers paid automatically through Stripe Connect, or buyers pay you through PayPal, Stripe or your other gateways and each seller withdraws their balance, less your commission, by PayPal or bank transfer
Payment held until delivery	Included Payout when the buyer marks the order received, or 14 days after delivery [16]	Partly Stripe Connect transfers can wait, by hand or for a number of days; not until the buyer confirms delivery [17]	The seller is paid once the buyer confirms the order arrived, or after the number of days you set
Product options and sale prices	Needs a developer Product options are custom code; price variations are for bookings only [18]	Included Variants, quantity discounts and product bundles [19]	Size, colour and other options with their own price and stock, sale prices, quantity discounts and bundles
Shipping rates per seller	Partly A flat fee per listing and per extra item; rates by country or carrier need code [20]	Included Vendors set their own shipping methods, with real-time carrier rates [21]	Each seller sets rates by country, with free shipping over an amount, and live carrier rates through your Shippo account
Coupons	Needs a developer Discount codes are custom code, for example with Voucherify [14]	Included Your promotions on every edition; vendor promotions on Plus [3]	Coupons from sellers and from you, used in the cart
Saved cards	Included Stored card details [10]	Not offered Not listed [22]	Buyers save a card and pay with one click next time
Classified ads in the same site	Partly Free-messaging flows without payment; featured listings and listing fees through a Stripe page or Zapier [23]	Partly Catalog mode swaps the cart for an outside link; every seller is a vendor company, no private ads [24]	Listings can be buy-now items or contact-the-seller ads, with featured listings, bump to top and paid categories you charge for
Offers and quotes	Included Quotes, counter-offers and reverse negotiation, paid online [25]	Paid add-on Buyers can ask a vendor a question; Make an Offer add-on $69, request a quote $99 [26]	Offers and counter-offers in the chat, and request a quote: the seller sends a price, the buyer pays it online
Auctions	Needs a developer No auction feature, says Sharetribe [27]	Paid add-on Auction add-ons from $29.70 [28]	Proxy bidding, reserve price, buy-now and anti-sniping
Bookings and rentals	Partly Hourly, daily and nightly bookings, slots and seats; booking requests only, deposits need code [29]	Paid add-on Booking add-ons from $99 [30]	Availability calendar by day, night or hour, instant booking, deposits and price rules, paid online
Digital downloads	Included Digital download transactions, up to 10 files per listing [31]	Included Downloadable products on every edition [3]	Sell files: the buyer gets a download link as soon as they pay, with a limit on downloads
Memberships you charge sellers	Partly A Stripe payment page and manual changes, or Zapier; nothing renews inside the marketplace [32]	Included Vendor plans with a one-off or recurring fee [33]	Monthly seller plans, renewed automatically from the seller's saved card
Seller storefronts	Partly Seller profiles double as storefronts; no branded store page, followers or vacation mode [10]	Included A micro-store per vendor and a vendor page [3]	A store page for each seller with logo, banner, policies and rating, followers, a vacation mode, and a directory of every store
Sales dashboard for sellers	Needs a developer Seller sales dashboards are a customization [18]	Partly A vendor panel with orders, earnings and balance; detailed reports are for the admin [21]	Each seller sees their sales, views and payouts
Account types you define	Included User types with their own fields and rights, and user approval [34]	Partly Customers and vendors; customers apply to become vendors, with your approval [35]	Create your own account types, such as buyer, seller, provider or agency, each with its own sign-up fields, rights and approval; business accounts can import listings by CSV or a stock feed
Seller verification	Partly Stripe identity checks before payouts; ID checks through Zapier or a partner [36]	Paid add-on Vendor KYC add-on, $49 [37]	ID and business document checks, with Verified badges
Questions on listings	Not offered Not listed [10]	Paid add-on Product Q&A add-ons, $39 to $60 [38]	Buyers ask in public and the seller answers on the listing page
Messages between buyers and sellers	Included Built in, with up to 10 files per message [39]	Included Message Center between buyers and vendors; attachments not stated [40]	Built in, with photos and PDFs, read receipts and a "needs your action" list
Reviews	Included Two-sided, double-blind reviews after paid transactions [41]	Included Product and vendor reviews; vendor rating on Plus; no double-blind reviews listed [42]	Double-blind reviews after a completed order, and badges sellers earn
Disputes	Included Buyers open a dispute after delivery and you resolve it [16]	Paid add-on Only a third-party Disputes add-on [43]	The buyer reports a problem, the payout waits, and you decide: refund the buyer or pay the seller
Returns	Partly You can cancel with a full refund; partial refunds need code; no returns flow [44]	Included Return requests; vendors manage them on Plus [45]	The buyer asks within the return window, the seller accepts or refuses, and the refund goes back through Stripe
Saved searches with alerts	Needs a developer Not built in [10]	Not offered No saved searches; a Price Drop Alert add-on [46]	Instant or daily alerts for new matches, by email and push
Easy and safe sign-in	Partly Google and Facebook; other providers need code; Apple and two-step login not listed [47]	Partly Social sign-in included; two-step login through add-ons [48]	Google, Facebook, Apple, X, Microsoft and LinkedIn, a code by SMS, one-click email links and two-step login
Many languages in one marketplace	Needs a developer One language at a time; several need code; no right-to-left language listed [8]	Included 26 languages, right-to-left included; listings translated by hand or with an add-on [49]	44 languages, right-to-left included; visitors switch language and listings are translated for them
SEO toolkit	Included Editable meta tags, clean URLs, a sitemap of the 10,000 newest listings [50]	Included SEO-friendly URLs, sitemap and breadcrumb structured data [51]	Title patterns, redirects and a 404 log, structured data by listing type, sitemaps for every listing and IndexNow
Maps and map search	Included Map and location search, with your own Google or Mapbox account [52]	Partly Vendor locations on Google Maps (beta); no map search of listings [53]	OpenStreetMap with no API key, or Google Maps; search the area on the map or near a place
Referral rewards	Paid add-on Through Toppal, a partner app; built in it only records where users came from [54]	Paid add-on Referral Marketing add-on, $45; Affiliate Extension, $89 [55]	Members share an invite link and earn credit or a coupon when a friend buys or lists
Automatic social posting	Paid add-on Through ShopSync, a partner app [56]	Paid add-on Auto social posting add-ons; price not clear [5]	New listings posted to a Facebook Page, Instagram, X and Telegram
Your own iPhone app	Paid add-on Through partners such as Twinr; price not stated [57]	Partly One app for buyers and vendors on Plus and up, free for a year, then $1,199 a year; not on Standard [58]	Your marketplace as a branded app on the App Store, with push notifications, published for you
API, webhooks and MCP	Included Full APIs, SDKs and Zapier; events to poll, no outgoing webhooks [59]	Partly REST API and Zapier; vendor API on Plus; no outgoing webhooks or MCP listed [60]	Signed webhooks, scoped API keys, an OpenAPI description, and an MCP server so AI assistants can work with your site
Hosting, SSL, updates and backups	Partly Included without custom code; with custom code you host the front end [61]	Not offered Not included: you run your own server; Cloud plans temporarily unavailable [62]	Included, with support
PDF invoices	Partly Only through a Zapier and Cloudlayer tutorial, without commission or shipping on the invoice [63]	Included Editable invoices, sent as PDF with order emails [64]	Buyers download a PDF invoice for each order; right-to-left and Asian scripts use the printable invoice page
Seller tax reporting (DAC7)	Partly A guide to collecting the data, mostly from Stripe; no report [65]	Not offered No DAC7 report listed [66]	Sellers enter their tax details, and you get the yearly report EU rules ask marketplaces for
Tools for your team	Partly Log in as a user; admin actions shown on each transaction, no general audit log [67]	Included Logs of users' actions with their IP [68]	A "needs your attention" list, an audit log of staff changes, a conversation viewer and log in as a user
Moving your listings in	Needs a developer No CSV import; listings come in through the API or with Sharetribe's team [69]	Included CSV import of products, vendors and users; imports from Shopify and CS-Cart [3]	CSV import of listings and users, with a dry run and undo

Cost

A working site in year one.

Sharetribe, year one	From $2,388 + usage
CS-Cart Multi-Vendor, year one	About $3,060
Yclas Marketplace, year one	$1,788

When Sharetribe is the better choice

You want to design your own transaction flows, step by step, for a marketplace that works unlike any other.
You have developers and want a headless engine with APIs and SDKs to build your own front end on.
You run a private marketplace where only approved members can see listings.

When CS-Cart Multi-Vendor is the better choice

You run a large online shop with many vendors and need warehouses, gift certificates, reward points or B2B price groups.
You want the code on your own server, with your developers changing anything.
Your vendors sell the same products side by side and buyers pick the cheapest offer (Common products).

Questions

Questions people ask

Yclas vs Sharetribe Yclas vs CS-Cart Multi-Vendor

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Which is cheaper, Sharetribe or CS-Cart Multi-Vendor?

In our counts, a working site costs From $2,388 + usage in year one with Sharetribe and About $3,060 with CS-Cart Multi-Vendor. Each comparison page lists the lines that make up the total.

Which includes more, Sharetribe or CS-Cart Multi-Vendor?

Of the 44 features compared here, Sharetribe includes 12 (or as a free add-on) and CS-Cart Multi-Vendor includes 17. Yclas includes all of them.

Is there a third option?

Yes: Yclas is hosted, with every feature in this table built in, a 15-day free trial and no credit card.

Sources

Checked on 22 October 2026. Prices change: the vendor's own page is always the latest word. If something here is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.

Product names belong to their owners and are used only to identify the products compared. Yclas is not affiliated with them.

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