Honest comparison

Thinking of switching from Homegrown? Here's the honest comparison.

Homegrown is a marketplace — buyers find you through their search. CottageOps is operations software — you bring the buyers, we run the business behind the storefront. Different tools, different jobs.

Start free for 30 days See pricing

Feature-by-feature

Homegrown stats reflect publicly-listed features as of 2026-05. Verify before you switch.

Feature	CottageOps	Homegrown
Marketplace discovery (find new buyers)	Direct-to-buyer storefront link only	Built-in marketplace + map search
SEO presence for individual bakers	Storefront page indexable; we don't drive search traffic	Marketplace pages rank in Google for local queries
State-compliance labels (per-state)	TX SB 541, CA Class A/B, FL, TN, OH wired in	Generic label, baker writes the disclosures
Revenue cap tracking (per-state law)	Live counter, alerts before you hit the cap	Not tracked
Multi-window pickup scheduling	Multiple pickup windows per day, per location	Single pickup window per event
Custom-order intake forms	On the roadmap (custom-quote feature deferred to v1.1)	Basic order form
Payment methods supported	Stripe + Venmo / Zelle / cash tracking	Stripe / card-only
Multi-baker / family-household accounts	On the roadmap (Q3 2026 — family teams)	Single-operator only
Address-privacy by default	Home address hidden until the buyer pays — enforced at the API layer	Operator-managed
AI assist (label suggestions, auto-categorization)	On the AI roadmap — nothing shipped today	Not advertised

Where Homegrown wins

Marketplace discovery. Buyers actively search Homegrown to find new bakers nearby. If your funnel today is "send my link to friends," a marketplace gives you a top-of-funnel you don't have.
SEO traffic to baker pages. Marketplace pages rank for local queries ("home baker <your city>") in a way an individual bakery storefront generally can't.
Lower entry price. Homegrown sits around $10/month — cheaper than our $19 if you literally just need a buyer-finding listing.

Where CottageOps wins

Per-state compliance is the product. TX SB 541, CA Class A vs B, FL, TN, OH — label disclosures, revenue caps, and registration prompts adapt to your state automatically. A marketplace can't do this without becoming co-liable.
Revenue cap tracking. Texas caps cottage food at $50K/yr. California Class A is $150K. We track it live and warn you before you cross it — protects your legal exemption.
Multi-window pickup. Saturday morning farmers' market AND Sunday afternoon porch pickup, both in one schedule. Marketplaces optimize for one-shot listings.
Multi-baker / family accounts (Q3 2026). About 15% of cottage businesses run as family teams. A marketplace listing is a single business — we'll model the team.
Address-privacy enforced at the API layer. Your home address is hidden from buyers until they pay. Not a togglable setting — it's the platform default.
Auto-cancel unpaid orders. Configurable timeout when a Venmo/Zelle handle isn't paid. A marketplace handles checkout for you, but our flow handles your existing payment handles too.
$19/mo flat, zero transaction fees. Marketplaces typically take a transaction cut on top of their subscription. We don't.

Which one should you actually use?

Pick Homegrown if…

You need new buyers and don't have an audience yet.
You sell in 1-2 events and don't need workflow depth.
You're fine writing your own state disclosures.

Pick CottageOps if…

You're running a real business — recurring buyers, weekly windows, and compliance you don't want to babysit.
You're close to a revenue cap and need it tracked.
You're a family team or multi-baker household.

Plenty of bakers run on both — Homegrown for discovery, CottageOps for the operations behind the storefront. They're not mutually exclusive.

How to switch

Sign up for CottageOps — 30 days free, no credit-card friction beyond the trial.
Recreate your menu — paste in items manually (most bakers finish in 20-30 min) or wait for the Homegrown CSV importer (next backend release).
Set your pickup windows and link your Stripe / Venmo / Zelle handle.
Send your customers your new storefront link. Keep the Homegrown listing live for discovery if it's still bringing in new buyers — they're not mutually exclusive.

Pricing at a glance

CottageOps

$19/month

30-day free trial. Cancel anytime — most-recent month refundable. Zero transaction fees.

Homegrown

$10/month

Marketplace listing + basic seller tools. Verify current pricing on their site before signing up.

Try CottageOps free for 30 days.

Run both if you want — Homegrown for discovery, CottageOps for the operations behind the storefront. Cancel any time, refund on the most-recent month if you forget.

Start free for 30 days

Homegrown comparison reflects publicly-listed pricing & features as of 2026-05. Not legal advice — verify cottage-food requirements with your state agency.