Carrd vs Format: Comprehensive comparison guide for 2024

Final verdict

Carrd and Format both offer unique advantages tailored to different user needs, but Carrd edges out with a slightly higher overall score.

• 
  Carrd (Overall Grade: 6.1/10)
  
  is a versatile platform ideal for users seeking to create simple, single-page websites quickly and affordably. It excels in ease of use, design flexibility, and speed optimization, making it a great choice for individuals and small businesses. Carrd’s straightforward interface and extensive customization options allow users to build attractive and functional websites without extensive web development skills. However, its ecommerce capabilities are basic, and it lacks advanced features like AI capabilities.
• 
  Format (Overall Grade: 5.8/10)
  
  is specifically designed for creative professionals, offering nearly 100 customizable templates tailored for showcasing portfolios. It provides robust features for photographers, artists, and designers, including an integrated online store and client proofing tools. While Format’s website editor and customer support are highly praised, it has a steeper learning curve and fewer customization options compared to Carrd. Format’s ecommerce functionalities are also basic, but it offers a more comprehensive solution for creatives looking to share their work and connect with clients.

Best for ecommerce

Verdict

: Carrd and Format both offer basic ecommerce functionalities, but Format edges out Carrd with slightly more robust features tailored for creative professionals.

• 
  Carrd
  
  : Carrd is primarily designed for creating simple, one-page websites. Its ecommerce capabilities are limited and rely heavily on third-party integrations like Stripe and Paypal. This makes it suitable for users who need a quick and easy way to sell a few products but not for those looking for extensive ecommerce features.
• 
  Format
  
  : Format, on the other hand, provides more comprehensive ecommerce tools, including inventory management, discounts, and multiple currency options. While still basic, these features make Format a better choice for creative professionals who need to sell their work online.

Best for informational & business websites

Verdict

: Carrd is the preferred choice for creating simple, single-page informational websites quickly and efficiently, while Format is better suited for creative professionals looking to showcase their portfolios with more advanced features.

• 
  Carrd
  
  : Carrd excels in creating fully responsive, single-page websites with ease. Its straightforward interface and variety of templates make it ideal for personal profiles, landing pages, and small business sites. With a score of 7.9, Carrd is particularly suitable for users who prioritize simplicity and speed in their website creation process. When comparing Carrd vs Format, Carrd stands out for its ease of use and customization flexibility.
• 
  Format
  
  : Format, scoring 7.2, is tailored for creative professionals such as photographers, artists, and designers. It offers nearly 100 customizable templates designed to showcase portfolios beautifully. Format’s drag-and-drop interface and additional features like an integrated online store and client proofing make it a comprehensive platform for creatives. While it has a slightly steeper learning curve, Format is ideal for those who need a robust platform to display their work professionally.

Detailed comparison

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Winner: Carrd.

Carrd offers a wider variety of templates and designs, and more customization flexibility, making it the preferred choice for users who want to create unique and personalized websites.

Carrd is a versatile platform that offers a wide variety of templates and designs, catering to different needs and preferences. Users can choose from a broad selection of themes, ranging from simple and minimalist to complex and dynamic layouts.

Carrd Themes

On the other hand, Format is a website builder specifically designed for creatives, offering nearly 100 customizable templates tailored for various artistic disciplines. It emphasizes high-quality imagery and mobile-friendly designs, ensuring portfolios look professional on any device.

Format Themes

🏆 Winner: Carrd

. Scoring a solid 9.0, Carrd stands out for its simplicity and straightforward approach to website building, making it ideal for beginners and those seeking to create single-page websites quickly. Format, with a score of 8.3, offers a robust platform but with a slightly steeper learning curve, especially for those new to creative portfolio building. If ease of use is a priority, Carrd is the clear winner in this category.

Learning Resources

🏆 Winner: Carrd

. While both platforms offer solid learning resources, Carrd goes a step further with its wide array of detailed tutorials and documentation, making it easier for users to learn and adapt.

When it comes to ecommerce, both Carrd and Format offer basic functionalities. Carrd, primarily a platform for building one-page websites, does not inherently offer robust ecommerce features. Users looking to incorporate ecommerce functionalities would need to integrate third-party services or use external links to platforms like Etsy or Shopify. On the other hand, Format, designed specifically for creatives and photographers, offers basic ecommerce functionalities for selling physical and digital products. However, its ecommerce capabilities are basic and may not suit those looking for extensive ecommerce features.

Carrd ecommerce features:

• Paypal and Stripe Integration
• External Widgets integrations
• Basic Product Listing options

Format ecommerce features:

• Inventory management and tracking
• Discounts
• Multiple currency options

Ecommerce themes & templates

Carrd provides a selection of 14 e-commerce templates aimed at users looking to quickly launch online stores for products ranging from e-books to physical goods. These templates are crafted with a focus on simplicity and conversion optimization, featuring designs that vary from dark themes to minimalist aesthetics. They are priced starting at $19 or $25, depending on the template, and require a Pro Standard account or higher due to the use of advanced elements and widgets. Format, however, does not have ecommerce specific templates.

Product page customization

Carrd offers a streamlined approach to ecommerce product page customization, primarily through integrations with third-party platforms such as Stripe, Lemon Squeezy, and Gumroad. Users can create product pages within Carrd by adding product details like name, description, image, and price, and then integrate a checkout button using Carrd’s Widget element for platforms like Stripe. Format offers limited specific details on product page customization directly, but its e-commerce features suggest a focus on showcasing products through high-quality imagery and detailed descriptions.

Payment processing

Carrd allows for payment-enabled forms for Pro Plus users or higher, integrating with Stripe Checkout for payment processing. This setup enables creating forms for various transactions like order forms or paid email lists. The process requires setting up the payment through Stripe, either via a preconfigured price or a custom price, and entering Stripe API keys. There’s no direct mention of Carrd charging commissions or offering POS capabilities within this documentation. For payment gateways, it specifically supports Stripe and Paypal. The Format website builder offers integration with major payment gateways, including Paypal and Stripe. It charges a 15% commission on the Pro plan and 5% on the Pro Plus plan. However, the platform does not have built-in POS (Point of Sale) capabilities.

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Winner: Format

. With a score of 7.5, Format’s website editor offers a variety of features for creating online portfolios. It provides nearly 100 professionally designed templates and thousands of design variations without requiring any coding. Users can express creativity with custom pages, incorporating unique gallery layouts, colors, text formatting, and custom code embeds. The templates and pages are fully responsive, ensuring a mobile-first experience.

Carrd’s website builder editor, scoring 7.0, is designed for simplicity and efficiency, catering primarily to users looking to create single-page websites. It offers a user-friendly interface that allows for easy drag-and-drop functionality, enabling users to add, customize, and position elements such as text, images, buttons, and forms with minimal effort.

Mobile editor/app

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Winner: Carrd

. Both Carrd and Format do not offer a dedicated mobile editor app. However, Carrd allows users to edit their websites on a mobile browser, which provides a bit more flexibility compared to Format. Format’s mobile editing experience is the same as the desktop version, which can be difficult to use on a smartphone. Therefore, Carrd has a slight edge over Format in terms of mobile editing, reflected in its higher mobile editor score of 5.5 compared to Format’s score of 4.0.

Overall Result

:

Format Wins

. Format scores 8.3 in product testing options, outperforming Carrd which scores 6.0. Both Carrd and Format do not offer a free version, but they provide trial versions for users to test their platforms. Format offers a longer trial period of 14 days compared to Carrd’s 7 days. Both allow users to test premium features during the trial period. However, Format stands out with its 30-day money back guarantee, which Carrd does not offer.

Carrd offers more affordable options, but Format provides more features tailored for creative professionals.

Winner: Tie

. Both Carrd and Format offer hosting services integrated with their website-building platforms. However, neither platform provides specific details about their hosting services, such as the type of hosting, uptime, uptime guarantee, and data center locations. Therefore, it’s difficult to determine which platform offers superior hosting quality based on the available information.

🏆 Winner: Carrd

Carrd and Format both prioritize website speed optimization, but Carrd’s strategies and higher score give it the edge in this category.

Carrd, a platform for building fully responsive, single-page websites, prioritizes speed optimization through mobile responsive design, caching, and the use of a Cloudflare CDN. Given the simplicity of websites built with Carrd, load times are expected to be minimal and page speed scores are expected to be high. However, Carrd does not disclose any information related to Core Web Vitals improvements.

Format, a website builder designed for creative professionals, focuses on image and video optimization for speed optimization. Load times and PageSpeed scores vary depending on optimization and website complexity. Like Carrd, Format does not disclose any information on their Core Web Vitals improvements.

🏆 Winner: Carrd.

Carrd, with a score of 5.8, offers a range of plugins and extensions, both free and paid, that enhance user interactions, content presentation, and media enhancements. Format, scoring 4.9, offers a limited selection of plugins/integrations, including Adobe Lightroom, Mailchimp, and Google Analytics. However, Carrd’s broader range of plugins and extensions gives it the edge in this category.

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Overall Winner: Carrd

. Carrd edges out Format with a slightly higher score, offering basic yet effective marketing tools. Both platforms allow for third-party integrations, but Carrd’s flexibility and simplicity make it a more attractive option for users looking to implement various marketing strategies.

🏆 Winner: Format

. In the Carrd vs Format comparison, Format takes the lead in customer support with a score of 7.0. Format offers 24/7 customer support through email and live chat, ensuring users can get assistance at any time. The support team is distributed across different countries, which helps maintain round-the-clock availability and quick response times.

Carrd, on the other hand, provides 24/7 email support with responses typically within 24 hours. While Carrd’s support is reliable, it lacks the immediacy of live chat, which can be crucial for users needing quick resolutions. Despite this, Carrd’s straightforward interface and helpful email support make it a solid choice for those who prefer simplicity and efficiency.

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Winner: Carrd

. Carrd’s security measures are more comprehensive and transparent. It automatically enables SSL for all sites, including custom domains and subdomains, ensuring data security and encryption. Carrd also has measures in place to protect personal information online and offline.

Format also emphasizes user data security with encrypted data storage and strict access controls. However, specific details about its security measures are not directly mentioned, which makes it slightly less transparent than Carrd. Both platforms comply with data protection regulations and offer resources for account security, including two-factor authentication options.

🏆 Winner: None

. Both Carrd and Format do not have AI capabilities. They focus on providing a straightforward and user-friendly interface for users to create and manage their websites. While they lack AI features, they make up for it with their simplicity and ease of use.

🏆 Winner: Carrd

. Both Carrd and Format have limited user management features, but Carrd has a slightly higher score.

• Carrd is primarily designed for individual use or small teams, with each account managing its own sites. The platform introduced a Team feature to allow multiple users to collaborate, but traditionally, Carrd sites are managed by a single account holder with full control. The specifics of access levels and permissions for collaborators, if available, are less detailed but generally include editing capabilities.
• Format, on the other hand, allows only one user to manage and edit websites. This could be a limitation for teams or businesses that require multiple people to manage and update their website.

Additional Features

User Feedback

Users overwhelmingly praise Carrd.co for its user-friendly interface, excellent customer support, and attractive templates, making website creation effortless and enjoyable. The drag-and-drop builder, affordability, and mobile-friendly designs are highlighted as significant benefits. However, some users express limitations, such as the inability to create multi-page websites or a desire for more design options. Overall, Carrd.co is praised for its affordability, ease of use, and suitability for creating quick, simple webpages.

Users highly praise Format for its user-friendly website builder, particularly noting the ease of adding images and the effectiveness of customer service. Many reviewers appreciate the variety of modern templates and the platform’s suitability for users without technical expertise, especially photographers. Format’s mobile app and proofing section receive special mentions for their convenience and functionality. However, some users desire more customization options, particularly for mobile views, and mention minor limitations in template flexibility and SEO functionality. Overall, Format is celebrated for its ability to provide a professional online presence easily and efficiently, solving users’ needs for showcasing work and attracting new clients.

FAQ