Selecting the right platform for your website builder can be challenging. When considering Shopify vs Squarespace, the decision relies on your specific needs.
Shopify excels for serious, large-scale online stores, earning it the top spot as the best ecommerce builder. However, it may only suit some due to product types, budget constraints, or style preferences.
On the other hand, Squarespace, known for its all-around website-building capabilities, offers more affordable options with appealing designs. If you prioritize design and plan to sell a limited range of products, Squarespace might be your ideal choice.
Our thorough research and user testing reveal detailed insights to help your decision. We will compare Shopify vs Squarespace in terms of the following:
- Pricing
- Ease of use
- Ecommerce features
- Template design and customizability
- Marketing features
- Third-party apps and integrations
- Performance analytics
- Customer support
Is Shopify better than Squarespace? Keep scrolling to find out!
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Is Shopify or Squarespace Better: 8 Main Differences
If you don’t have time to read all the details, take a look at the table below. It provides an at-a-glance overview of how Shopify vs Squarespace compare in key areas like:
Features | Shopify | Squarespace | Winner |
Pricing | + Starter: $5 per month + Basic: $39 per month + Shopify: $105 per month + Advanced: $399 per month + Shopify Plus: custom pricing based on requirements (with fees usually around $2,000 per month). | + Personal: $23 per month + Business: $33 per month + Commerce Basic: $36 per month + Commerce Advanced: $65 per month + Squarespace Business: for bigger companies | Squarespace |
Ease of use | Set up website with visual cues | Customize website without coding knowledge | An even match |
Ecommerce features | + Diverse array of sales tools and payment choices + Multiple shipping options available + Over 100 payment processors supported | + Collaborates with Square + Limits shipping features + Offers only three payment choices | Shopify |
Template designs and customizability | + Offers 173 templates in various themes, with only 12 available for free + Charges for premium themes between $140 and $400 each | Offers over 110 free templates | Squarespace |
Marketing features | + Enables integration with 10 platforms + Allows craft and send email campaigns through Shopify using mobile devices + Offers 10,000 free emails for paid plans + Provides robust, in-built SEO capabilities + Lacks specific analytics for blogging. | + Integrates with Facebook or Instagram integration + Offers useful SEO tools + Requires additional payment to send emails for each plans + Offers excellent blogging experience | Shopify |
Third-party apps and integrations | Over 8000 apps | About 40 apps | Shopify |
Performance analytics | + Offers 14+ in-depth report types + Allows you to monitor visitor behavior, receive stock-level report emails | + Provides basic stats and info on store/customers + Lacks stock monitoring alerts | Shopify |
Customer support | + Live chat 24/7 with phone support + Community | + Live chat + Community | Shopify |
Overall rating | 4.7/ 5 | 4.5/5 | Shopify |
We know that a brief cannot fully answer your question – is Squarespace better than Shopify? That’s why we are about to walk you through all the details in our following analysis of each aspect. Let’s get started!
1. Pricing
Let’s kick off our comparison with Squarespace pricing vs Shopify! This difference between Shopify and Squarespace will affect your choice if budget is your major concern.
Shopify
Shopify offers five monthly plans:
- Starter: $5 per month
- Basic: $39 per month
- Shopify: $105 per month
- Advanced: $399 per month
- Shopify Plus: custom pricing based on requirements (with fees usually around $2,000 per month).
Notes: These pricing tiers only apply to USA e-sellers. If you are selling in other regions, Shopify may offer you different plans.
Here are some points you can note about the Shopify plan:
- Shopify offers a 3-day trial. After the trial, Shopify offers a $1 monthly payment for 3 months for the Starter and Basic plans.
- Upfront yearly payment for Shopify plans comes with a 25% discount, making the plans $29, $79, and $299 for Basic, Shopify, and Advanced, respectively.
- The Shopify Starter plan allows basic product pages, product embedding, and sales on social media, but it lacks a fully editable standalone online store.
- Shopify Plus is designed for corporates, with pricing negotiable (usually starting at $2,000 per month). It includes features like managing up to 10 stores, advanced security, API access, and dedicated account management.
Squarespace
Squarespace provides four monthly pricing plans:
- Personal: $23 per month
- Business: $33 per month
- Commerce Basic: $36 per month
- Commerce Advanced: $65 per month
There is something to note that:
- You can try Squarespace free for two weeks.
- There are much better prices if you pay yearly instead of monthly. The four plans cost around $16, $23, $27, and $49 monthly.
- If you’re using the Personal plan, note that it doesn’t allow selling and restricts customizing the site with code. To run a Squarespace website, you must choose from the other three options.
- There is also a Squarespace Enterprise plan for bigger companies. As its name implies, it is for more corporate users. This plan offers extra help with design, search engine optimization, and security. The price is negotiable depending on what the company needs.
- With the Business plan, a 3% transaction fee and credit card processing fees apply to sales. This fee is eliminated in the two higher tiers.
Verdict: Comparing pricing between Shopify vs Squarespace, Squarespace stands as the more budget-friendly choice at $49/month, offering advanced features. In contrast, Shopify’s top functionalities start at a minimum of $299, demanding extra costs for scaling your business. Despite the cost variations, both Squarespace and Shopify are highly recommended for small businesses.
2. Ease of use
Ease of use is key when considering website builders. Which is better Shopify or Squarespace? Both Squarespace vs Shopify present simple, guided setups suitable for beginners. Squarespace emphasizes website building, offering a broader range of design tools. At the same time, Shopify focuses on creating online stores, ensuring a streamlined experience.
Evaluating the ease of setting up both Shopify vs Squarespace will help identify their user-friendliness. Let’s delve into this comparison:
Shopify
Unlike many other eCommerce platforms that find it challenging to balance functionality and user-friendliness, Shopify offers impressive features alongside a simple, approachable interface. Even those without technical expertise can easily begin their online store with Shopify. Day-to-day interactions with Shopify remain straightforward.
Despite its user-friendly nature, Shopify’s website editing relies on predefined sections, restricting customization unless you have coding skills.
Squarespace
Starting with Squarespace is also easy with choosing a website design preference and completing a questionnaire about site specifics.
After selecting a preferred theme, the platform guides the basic setup, explaining fundamental actions like page setup and editing. Your store reflects the details you inputted. Just add a bit more text and products, and your online business is set to go. Additionally, Squarespace offers a drag-and-drop editor for instant access and modification.
However, the Squarespace homepage editor can be difficult to navigate, lacking visual cues. For those completely new to creating eCommerce sites, it may take some extra time to fully understand how Squarespace works.
Verdict: Both Shopify vs Squarespace are user-friendly. But if you wonder whether selling on Squarespace vs Shopify, Shopify is a better choice. However, if you want a section or block customization, Squarespace seems to be easier since it requires no coding skills.
3. eCommerce features
This is the most exciting part for sellers since we will discuss features of Shopify vs Squarespace eCommerce. We will focus on the difference between Shopify and Squarespace in terms of the following:
- Products types
- Products presentation
- Payment methods
- Inventory management
- Shipping
- Selling offline – POS
Product types
Both Squarespace and Shopify eCommerce allow the sale of physical and digital goods. However, you’ll need an app on Shopify to sell digital products, while Squarespace supports various product types without additional installations.
Specifically for digital sales, Shopify surpasses Squarespace with its larger file upload limit, accommodating up to 5 GB compared to Squarespace’s 300 MB limit.
Product presentation
Squarespace gets a higher score here compared to Shopify. In Shopify, images with different shapes might get randomly adjusted to fit a grid, making the store look unappealing. To fix this, you’ll need to install another app. Plus, there’s no built-in zoom function; you must get an app like Magic Zoom Plus.
On the other hand, Squarespace offers a superior solution. All product images automatically adjust to fit once you set the preferred image ratio. You can also add a zoom feature and even turn images into videos for a 360° visual experience, a unique feature not available in Shopify.
Payment methods
With Shopify vs Squarespace, you can either use their own payment processors — or a third-party payment gateway.
Shopify supports over 100 payment gateways, allowing usage in various places and currencies for credit card transactions.
In contrast, Squarespace provides only three options: Squarespace Payments, Paypal, or Stripe. These options cover various credit card types and enable staggered payments through AfterPay (known as ClearPay in the UK). But it’s important to mention that Google Pay isn’t supported on Squarespace. (Note: US shops using Squarespace’s Point of Sale can also use Square for in-person payments.)
So overall, comparing Squarespace eCommerce vs Shopify, Shopify is the more attractive, professional option from a payment processing point of view. The flexibility provided for accepting payments is significantly greater.
Inventory management
In Shopify vs Squarespace inventory management, Shopify provides advanced features allowing users to track, manage, and edit inventory seamlessly. It offers comprehensive tools for handling incoming and committed stock and facilitating product movement across warehouses and sales sites. The dashboard allows users to monitor order statuses and make edits before shipping.
On the other hand, Squarespace offers basic inventory management, permitting the addition of unlimited SKUs in various colors and sizes. The platform also sends low-stock notifications. However, users need to rely on third-party apps for more advanced inventory management capabilities.
Shipping
Regarding Shopify vs Squarespace eCommerce shipping features, Shopify is more advanced than Squarespace. Shopify has integrated with a variety of carriers like NHL or UPS. Linking your Shopify account with Shopify’s shipping carriers offers several advantages:
- Purchase and print shipping labels directly via Shopify admin.
- Obtain discounted rates for your shipping labels.
- Showcase calculated shipping rates during checkout instead of flat rates for your customers.
Furthermore, Shopify allows sellers with physical stores to provide local delivery and in-store pickup options.
In contrast, Squarespace falls short in comparison to Shopify’s shipping functionalities. While Squarespace allows local pickup facilitation and displaying shipping rates to customers, it lacks certain capabilities. Managing returns or printing labels with carriers other than the U.S. Postal Service requires third-party apps.
Selling offline – POS
Shopify created two systems for selling: one for sales on the move (Shopify POS Lite) and one for physical stores (Shopify POS Pro). Shopify POS Lite is included in all Shopify plans and works smoothly with your online stores.
To get started, you’ll have to get the Shopify app and purchase specific hardware like the Shopify Chip & Swipe Reader or Tap & Chip Card Reader. Regarding transaction fees, Shopify charges 2.7% for the Basic plan, 2.5% for the Shopify plan, and 2.4% for the Advanced plan for each offline sale.
Meanwhile, Squarespace collaborated with Square to create Point of Sale. To start, you’ll require the Squarespace Commerce app and a Square card reader, priced at approximately $49. Keep in mind that POS is solely accessible with a Commerce Basic or Commerce Advanced plan. And Squarespace won’t charge extra transaction fees.
Verdict: In comparing Squarespace vs Shopify for eCommerce, Shopify emerges as the clear winner since it primarily caters to eCommerce website owners.
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4. Template design and customizability
Next on our Shopify vs Squarespace comparison, let’s head to templates from these store builders!
Shopify templates
Shopify offers 173 templates in various themes, with only 12 available for free. While the designs are generally appealing, they all cater to eCommerce needs, covering various industries like electronics, fashion, sports, and beauty. However, some themes lack scrolling navigation bars, which can be quite inconvenient to fix.
If the limited free selection fails to meet your needs, there’s an alternative. Shopify allows users to explore premium themes priced between $140 and $400 each. Alternatively, for more affordable options, users can turn to third-party themes available in online marketplaces, offering thousands of templates at prices ranging from $20-100. This broader range of choices is quite advantageous for users.
Squarespace templates
Squarespace doesn’t dive deep into third-party templates or provide any paid options. Instead, it offers more than 110 themes, all free and accessible to users. This makes a big difference between Shopify and Squarespace.
In comparing Shopify vs Squarespace for eCommerce, Squarespace presents only 7 themes, specially for online stores. However, you should highlight two key points. Firstly, any Squarespace theme can accommodate an online shop—whether designed for eCommerce or not; the functionality remains the same.
Verdict: Squarespace wins for websites’ templates. It lets you easily create very high-quality and professional-looking sites. Squarespace themes are sleek and modern for many types of businesses. Though Shopify has over 100 templates, with 10 free, they are not as visually appealing compared to Squarespace options.
5. Marketing features
Promoting your online store, attracting more customers, and establishing your brand – that’s what marketing is all about. The significance of effective marketing is already evident. That’s why we also compare Shopify vs Squarespace about which marketing tools they offer.
Social media integration
Shopify integrates with 10 social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. This provides merchants with a powerful way to reach a wider customer base.
Conversely, Squarespace only permits selling on Instagram and Facebook and allows content sharing on LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, and (X) Twitter. This limitation in social media integration could challenge business expansion and connecting with customers.
So if you want to sell on multichannel, comparing Shopify vs Squarespace, Shopify is the way to go.
Email marketing
Shopify’s email marketing tool, Shopify Email, is included across all Shopify plans without a fixed monthly commitment. Merchants can create and send email campaigns directly from their Shopify accounts, even using mobile phones. They can customize their emails to align with their brand and share product links with customers.
Each month, paid Shopify subscription plans offer 10,000 free emails, and additional emails beyond that charge $0.001 per email. Automation features like welcome emails and upsell emails based on subscriber actions have recently been added to Shopify Email.
On the other hand, Squarespace integrates email campaigns seamlessly within its platform. However, it requires additional payment and offers four plans:
- Starter for $5 per month (3 campaigns with 500 emails),
- Core for $10 per month (5 campaigns and 5,000 emails),
- Pro for $24 per month (20 campaigns and 50,000 emails),
- Max for $48 per month (unlimited campaigns and 250,000 emails).
Squarespace’s benefit lies in its integration of website and mailing list management in one place. It automatically adapts design settings from your website to ensure consistency in newsletters.
Both Shopify Email and Squarespace Email Campaigns provide competitive pricing and value to users. However, due to its complementary nature, generous send limits, and slightly better automation, Shopify Email currently wins this round for the more cost-effective email marketing tool.
Blogging
Blogging has a part to play in marketing, driving traffic, and boosting sales through quality content. Both Shopify vs Squarespace offer built-in blogging features, unlike many other ecommerce platforms.
Between Squarespace and Shopify, Squarespace’s blogging tools slightly outshine Shopify’s. Squarespace offers more versatility in displaying blog content, allowing easy integration into any page using flexible ‘summary blocks.’ While Shopify lets you add posts to pages, Squarespace gives more control over how they look, like showcasing featured posts, specific author content, or certain tagged posts.
Moreover, Squarespace allows categories and tags for posts, whereas Shopify only supports tags. For enhanced blogging capabilities beyond basic features, Shopify relies on third-party apps.
SEO
Both Squarespace vs Shopify effectively manage the fundamental aspects of search engine optimization (SEO), giving you control over essential on-page SEO elements. However, Shopify simplifies SEO maintenance a bit more than Squarespace in a few ways:
- Shopify automatically creates page titles and meta descriptions using the content provided, which greatly benefits SEO, especially for product pages.
- Shopify handles URL redirection more efficiently than Squarespace. When a page’s URL changes, Shopify creates a 301 redirect, aiding in maintaining search rankings.
- Shopify offers integration with Yoast SEO, an advanced tool that provides actionable recommendations for enhancing pages. This exclusive integration is available only on Shopify and WordPress, but it requires a $19 monthly fee.
- In speed tests, Shopify sites generally exhibit faster loading times compared to those built on Squarespace.
Squarespace also offers handy SEO tools for enhancing website visibility on search engines. It automates the creation of title tags, meta tags, and sitemaps, streamlining the SEO process. Unlike Shopify, when changing page URLs, users must manually set up 301 redirects, which can be inconvenient and time-consuming.
Verdict: Overall, Shopify presents more robust marketing tools and SEO features compared to Squarespace in terms of social media integration, email marketing, and SEO tools. In contrast, Squarespace’s blogging features surpass Shopify’s, offering more flexibility in displaying content.
6. Third-party apps and integrations
As an online seller, apps, and integrations are crucial to adding up store functionality. Hence, this is another aspect in our Shopify vs Squarespace comparison!
Shopify
Shopify has an impressive eCommerce app store, offering over 8,000 apps through the Shopify App Store. In particular, it covers a buffet of features, offering a range of free plugins and premium apps starting at $15 per month. While certain paid apps can be expensive, they bring substantial advantages to the platform.
Squarespace
Squarespace’s app store, Squarespace Extensions, offers high-quality app integrations with free and paid options. However, at present, there are about 40 extensions available from third-party providers. Plus, certain extensions are limited to specific countries, so you should review the extension’s page before integration with your site.
Verdict: Shopify is a better choice for this round. Squarespace’s apps are good quality but have few options.
7. Performance analytics
By monitoring the performance of your online store, you gain insights into your site’s visitors, areas of strength, and potential areas for improvement. This analytical insight is vital when it comes to choosing Shopify or Squarespace.
Shopify
Shopify wins in analytics comparison to Squarespace. Shopify offers 14+ in-depth report types covering finance, products, sales, and customers. It allows you to monitor visitor behavior and receive stock-level report emails. However, we suggest linking your site with Google Analytics for more comprehensive data.
Squarespace
Squarespace utilizes its analytics tool called Squarespace Analytics, providing basic stats and info on stores/ customers. However, it lacks stock monitoring alerts. Similar to Shopify, integrating your store with Google Analytics provides deeper insights and more detailed statistics.
Verdict: For analytics comparison, Shopify totally wins over Squarespace.
8. Customer support
Both Shopify vs Squarespace offer outstanding customer service. Whenever trouble arises, you can contact them for help via email, phone, live chat, or their community forum. However, there are some slight differences when we compare Shopify and Squarespace in terms of the support they offer.
Shopify
Shopify, however, goes further with phone support available around the clock for you. Also, you get a special support agent with Shopify if you buy the Shopify Plus plan. As your business expands, you have the option to hire a Shopify Expert to offer coding or design assistance, adding a professional touch to the website.
Squarespace
On the other hand, Squarespace’s customer support options are more limited. Most issues find resolution through their excellent forum, which is considered one of the best and most reliable. Additionally, you can access live chat support available from Monday to Friday, 4 am – 8 pm (EST), if you can’t find answers in the forum.
Verdict: Shopify and Squarespace offer decent customer support, but Shopify takes the lead with its 24/7 assistance—something Squarespace lacks. Hence, Shopify provides the most effective solutions if you seek help or have questions about website builders.
Shopify vs Squarespace: Quick Assessment & Verdict 200w
The previous comparison covered the main ways Shopify and Squarespace are similar and different. For an at-a-glance view of their strengths and weaknesses, check out the table below.
Shopify | Squarespace | |
Pros | + Great eCommerce features and marketing tools + Multi-selling with various platforms + Many app options + Great customer support | + Modern, sleek template designs + Reasonable pricing |
Cons | + Extra charges for some payment options + Monthly costs rise with added apps | + Fewer app integrations + Limited payment options + Limited integrated sale channels |
Final Verdict:
If you want to open an online store, Shopify is top of the choices. This is because it excels in ecommerce features, offering more diverse selling options, which Squarespace doesn’t fully match.
On the other hand, Squarespace shines in content presentation and management, making it a superior choice for creating visually appealing blogging sites with simpler selling capabilities.
Squarespace vs Shopify: FAQs
If you wonder whether Shopify or Squarespace is better for artists, we would recommend the latter. Squarespace offers more diverse templates and portfolio-friendly designs, making it a preferable choice for artists. On the other hand, Shopify is well-suited for eCommerce needs. The decision largely relies on what the artists specifically require. Between Shopify vs Squarespace, Shopify seems to be the more suitable option for ecommerce purposes. It has a set of eCommerce features that appear significantly more extensive than Squarespace. It includes advanced selling tools and crucial functionalities currently unavailable on Squarespace. Key features like accepting payments in multiple currencies and providing extensive dropshipping options are unique strengths of Shopify’s platform. You can integrate Squarespace and Shopify through a third-party app such as litcommerce. This connection allows users to join their Squarespace website with their Shopify store. By doing this, you can enjoy the advantages of both platforms and establish a more complete online presence for your eCommerce site.
Squarespace vs. Shopify: What is your choice?
In short, when it comes to eCommerce, both Shopify and Squarespace stand out as excellent website builders. Shopify excels in sales tools, whereas Squarespace shines in blogging and showcasing captivating images. So, the choice between “Shopify vs Squarespace: Which is better?” boils down to what you need and what you prefer.
If you’re considering Squarespace Shopify integration to make use of all their features, LitCommerce is an ideal partner. For further platform comparisons, explore our eCommerce blog or join our Facebook Community for valuable eCommerce insights and updates. Contact us anytime you need assistance!
