AnyCart: a cart for the website you already have

Every site I build eventually gets asked the same question: can it sell something?

And the usual answers are both bad. Bolt on a platform that costs more than the site does, or rebuild the whole thing on software the client doesn’t need. Either way, a small business that just wanted to sell a few products ends up paying for a store it never asked for.

AnyCart, a drop-in shopping cart for any website, is the answer I wanted to be able to give. One script tag, a few attributes on a button, and the site you already have can take orders.

How does it work?

Three steps.

1. Add the script. Paste one <script> tag with your API key into your site’s <head>.
2. Tag your buttons. Add the anycart-add-item class and a few data attributes, an item ID, a name and a price, to the buy buttons you already have.
3. Start selling. Customers get a slide-out cart and a checkout through Stripe or Square.

That’s the whole integration. The cart widget is plain JavaScript with no framework behind it, so it works in a Jekyll layout, a Hugo partial, a Next.js component or a single HTML file. If a page can load a script tag, it can have a cart.

At checkout, AnyCart re-checks every item against your store. The product has to exist, the price has to match, and the stock has to be there. Then the buyer goes to Stripe or Square’s hosted checkout to pay. Card details go straight to the processor and never touch your site. The how it works page walks through every step, from the click to the order in your dashboard.

What do you get?

The things a small store actually needs, all in one dashboard:

• Products and inventory. Unlimited products, with optional stock counts. Leave the stock blank and it’s unlimited.
• Orders and customers. Every order and every customer profile in one place.
• Stripe or Square. Your choice, with payouts going directly to your own account.
• Abandoned cart emails. Carts left sitting get a recovery email after a delay you set.
• Discount codes. Percentage or fixed amount.
• Digital goods. Mark a product as digital and checkout skips shipping.
• Webhooks and an API. Send order events to the rest of your systems.
• Your look, not ours. Eleven CSS variables control the colors, corners and shadows of the cart, so it matches the site instead of the other way around.

The features page has the full list.

What does it cost?

One plan. $5 a month, plus 1.5% per sale. Every feature is included, and there are no tiers to upgrade through.

You can create an account, add products and embed the widget before you pay anything. You subscribe when you’re ready for live payments.

Your processor’s card fees apply on top, same as they would on any platform. The pricing page has a calculator, so you can see the number at your own monthly revenue before you commit.

Is it the right choice for you?

Not always. And I’d rather say so here than have you find out later.

If you expect to grow into a full Shopify store, with point of sale, a fulfillment network and an app ecosystem, the Shopify Buy Button is the better start.

If you sell one thing with no cart, like one coaching session or one donation, a Stripe Payment Link is hard to beat.

If you don’t have a website and don’t want one, Gumroad is faster.

AnyCart’s comparison pages make those same calls, against Shopify, Snipcart, WooCommerce, Gumroad and Stripe Payment Links. Read them before you decide.

Where AnyCart fits is the gap in between. A site you like, a host you’re happy with, and a handful of things to sell.

Where is it running?

I ship on it before I ask anybody else to. It runs on client work in my portfolio, and it’s the cart behind Toasty Peel Shop, the sticker shop I helped my kids build. That story is in Toasty Peel Shop: small stickers, bigger good days.

Getting started

1. Create a free AnyCart account.
2. Add your products from the dashboard.
3. Copy the script tag from the Embed page into your site.
4. Tag your buttons and connect Stripe or Square.

Before you sign up, click through the live demo store. It runs on the exact widget you’d embed. The developer docs list every attribute, JavaScript call, CSS variable and webhook on one page, and the support guides cover setup one step at a time, from adding AnyCart to your site to connecting Stripe. There are setup pages for Jekyll, Hugo, Next.js and WordPress.

If your site is still a folder of HTML files, HTMLtoJekyll can turn it into a Jekyll site first. I covered that in HTMLtoJekyll: from a folder of HTML to a site you can edit.

The short version

You shouldn’t have to rebuild a website just to sell something on it. AnyCart adds a cart and checkout to the site you already have, for $5 a month plus 1.5% when you sell.

The AnyCart project write-up has the story behind it. And if yall want the cart set up for you, or the whole store built around it, send it through the contact form. I’d love to help.