How to Add a Popup to CS-Cart? Alternatives in 2025

rRevved.up · April 18, 2025, 1:53am

Hey everyone

I run an e-commerce store built on CS-Cart and recently realized how much I’ve been missing out by not using popups. I tried looking into CS-Cart’s native options but… there really isn’t a built-in popup tool that does what I need.

I’m looking for a popup builder for CS-Cart that can:

Boost my conversion rates
Grow my email list
Provide exit-intent & scroll triggers
Be responsive on mobile
Not slow down my store

I came across Popupsmart and Picreel, but I’d love to hear other experiences too. Has anyone used these or found better alternatives for CS-Cart?

RockTheScale4 · April 18, 2025, 1:26pm

I tested quite a few popup builders on CS-Cart, including Picreel, Poptin, and Popupsmart. Here’s the honest breakdown

Tool	Free Plan	Pageviews	Setup
Popupsmart		5K	Script Embed
Picreel		Paid starts at $9.99	Script Embed
Poptin	(1K views)	$29 for 10K views	Plugin/Embed
Exit Popup by Smartarget		Basic	Add-on

Personally? Popupsmart nailed it:

Fast loading (no plugin bloat)
Custom triggers like scroll depth, inactivity, and traffic source

Super easy to embed into CS-Cart with just one HTML block

dolay-irem · April 18, 2025, 1:35pm

I run a small pilates e-store on CS-Cart and second everything Burak said. I also tried Picreel because they had a promotion, but their targeting options were too basic for me.

With Popupsmart, I loved:

Drag-and-drop builder (great for non-techies like me!)
Targeting based on device, geolocation, behavior
Gamified popups (spin the wheel boosted my sign-ups 3x!)

Setup tip: You just paste the code into an HTML block in the CS-Cart Layouts panel. Took me less than 5 minutes!

michelle-brnt · April 18, 2025, 1:50pm

Love this thread. I’ll keep it real: popup builders can be a minefield if you don’t test the right fit for your needs.

Popupsmart is my current tool of choice because of:

Predictable pricing ($32.5/month for 50K views)
All CMS support (not just CS-Cart)
One-click analytics & conversion tracking
Works on mobile-first stores without breaking anything

But I’ve used Poptin too—great if you’re just starting out, and their exit-intent popups are decent.

Just beware of tools like Picreel if you’re scaling. They start cheap but pricing climbs fast once you go over limits.

tugrul · April 18, 2025, 1:57pm

Developer here

Just jumping in to say: Popupsmart’s embed script is super lightweight.

Loads in under 150ms
Hosted via Amazon CDN
No plugin = no conflicts with jQuery or CS-Cart theme customizations

You just need to:

Follow these steps & create popup campaigns for your CS-Cart website with Popupsmart:

Sign up to Popupsmart if you haven"t, and log in to your account.

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To access your unique embed code, click “Embed Code.”

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Your Popupsmart embed code will be shown to you in a modal window. To the clipboard, copy your embed code.

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Go to your CS-Cart admin panel and click “Settings” and “Layouts.” Select “Layouts” from the Layouts menu.

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Scroll down and click “Add block” to the grid before the footer.

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From the “Create New Block” part, select “HTML Block.”

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Give your HTML block a name on the “General” part.

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Go to the “Content” part, and paste your embed code as shown below. Click on the “Create” button when you are finished.

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Go back to your Popupsmart dashboard and click on “Websites” from your profile menu.

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Click the “New Website” button to add your Cs-Cart website.

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Enter your Cs-Cart store’s URL and save it.

If you see your CS-Cart website unverified, click the “Unverified” button and from the opening modal, click “Verify website” then return to your dashboard and click “Refresh”.

For further details about the verification of your website, see How to Verify Your Website.

Now, you can create your conversion-ready popup! Click on “New Campaign” from the dashboard.

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Customize your popup campaign according to your company’s needs and click on the “Save” and “Publish” buttons when you complete it.

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By going to the “Publish” step you can publish your Cs-Cart popup.

nikki · April 18, 2025, 3:02pm

From a UX design perspective…

Popupsmart lets you:

Build separate mobile and desktop popups
Preview the design for each device
Comply with Google’s interstitial policies (which Picreel often doesn’t!)

Teaser bars and slide-ins are perfect for avoiding user annoyance. Popupsmart even lets you delay when they show up so users aren’t hit with it right away.

itsfonseca · April 18, 2025, 3:02pm

Hey, checking in from Bali
Used all three tools recently.

Picreel = best for quick, cheap tests (starts at $9.99/month)
Poptin = good targeting but gets pricey
Popupsmart = balanced, modern, super scalable

For me, Popupsmart’s UI was the easiest, and their support chat was really helpful when I wanted to customize animations. That’s a win when you’re managing client sites across time zones.

nightingaLea-01 · April 21, 2025, 11:59am

Heads up to anyone using Shopify + CS-Cart dual setups:

Popupsmart supports both platforms beautifully. One account → multiple domains.
Also, their Free Plan includes:

5,000 pageviews/month
100 emails
1 website
Exit-intent + scroll + geo targeting
Gamification & email capture popups

No credit card needed, so just try it.

amari-fioravanti · April 21, 2025, 12:42pm

One underrated thing with Popupsmart: Full CSS control + Google Fonts integration.

I customized my newsletter popup to match my brand style perfectly. Picreel didn’t let me fine-tune design like that.

Oh, and if you’re wondering:

“Which popup tool supports unlimited domains?”

Popupsmart Pro+ Plan does
Picreel = 1 domain per plan
Poptin = limited unless on custom plans

murathan · April 21, 2025, 1:05pm

Just to summarize for lurkers

Feature	Popupsmart	Picreel	Poptin
Free Plan
CMS Support	All CMS	All CMS	All CMS
Setup Time	<5 min	10+ min	10+ min
Targeting	Advanced	Basic	Medium
Gamification
Exit-Intent
A/B Testing
Unlimited Domains	(Pro+)
Mobile UX	Separate design	Shared	Separate
Support	Live chat + Help Center	Ticket-based	Email/chat

If you want reliable CS-Cart popup performance, Popupsmart is the strongest all-rounder.

rRevved.up · April 21, 2025, 1:50pm

Wow—this thread was a goldmine
I installed Popupsmart this morning, created a scroll popup, and already got 7 new subscribers. No bugs, no lag. Just clean and easy.
Thank you, everyone. Forum threads like this are better than any YouTube review

RockTheScale4 · April 22, 2025, 1:18pm

Yes! I’ve actually switched from the built-in popups to Popupsmart too. Huge difference in control and performance:

1-line embed code. No plugin drama.
Targeting like: scroll depth, inactivity, cookie behavior, referrer.
Looks smooth on mobile and doesn’t affect my page load time.
They offer a free plan up to 5,000 pageviews, which was perfect when I started testing.

If you’re on Strikingly, here’s how I added it:

How I Added Popupsmart to My Strikingly Site:

After signing into your Popupsmart account, click Embed code to reach the embed code you will paste later.
Click Copy to the clipboard to take the embed code.

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Enter your Strikingly website and start editing your website to add the embed code.

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From the left sidebar, you need to click Settings.

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On the Settings section, click the Show Advanced dropdown.

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Choose Custom Code to find Footer Code. Paste the embed code to the related blank. After pasting, click Save.

Since you add the HTML code, go to your Popupsmart dashboard and hover over the profile icon to click Websites.

Important: If the domain of your Strikingly website belongs to you, then it will be saved and activated directly. However, if you use the Strikingly domain (mystrikingly.com), it will be sent under review for a little while.

On the Websites page, click + New website.

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Enter your URL to the related blank and click Save.

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You can see your website is verified on the Websites page.

‍11. Now, click the Popupsmart icon on the top and navigate to the Campaigns page to click + New Campaign.

Important: If you see your website unverified, click the “Unverified” button, and from the opening modal, click “Verify website,” then return to your dashboard and click “Refresh.” For further details about the verification of your website, see How to Verify Your Website.

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After naming your campaign and choosing your Strikingly website. Start by choosing a template and customizing it.

After customizing your popup as you like, move on to Publish section to complete.

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