Shopify vs Squarespace
Shopify scores 9.0/10, Squarespace 8.4/10. Where each one wins, what they cost and who should pick which, side by side.
The short answer
Shopify scores 9.0/10 and Squarespace scores 8.4/10 on our rubric. Shopify is the stronger all-round pick.
Shopify leads on flexibility, value and support. Squarespace leads on ease of use and design.
Shopify starts at US$29/mo with no free plan; Squarespace starts at US$19/mo with no free plan. Squarespace is the cheaper way in.
How big a part of the business is the shop?
Both can sell, but they start from different ends. Shopify is commerce infrastructure first: inventory across locations, B2B catalogues, point of sale, and an app store for every edge case. Squarespace is a design-led website builder that includes a capable store on its Core plan and above.
A photographer selling prints or a studio selling a few products fits Squarespace well: Core at $29 a month charges no store transaction fee, and the site around the shop looks better with less effort. Once selling is the business, with hundreds of products, several staff or stock in more than one place, Shopify's depth pays for itself. Check where you are based first. Outside the 40 countries with Shopify Payments, Shopify adds up to 2% on every order, while Squarespace Core adds nothing on physical products.
| Shopify | Squarespace | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 9.0 | 8.4 |
| From | US$29 | US$19 |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Sells online | Yes | Yes |
| Code export | Yes | No |
| Ease of use | 8.4 | 8.6 |
| Design | 8.2 | 9.5 |
| Flexibility | 9.2 | 7.4 |
| Value | 8.0 | 7.8 |
| Support | 9.4 | 8.2 |
What Shopify does well
- Deepest commerce feature set anywhere
- App ecosystem handles every edge case
- Scales from first sale to enterprise
What Squarespace does well
- Best-looking templates without design work
- Strong built-in blog and scheduling
- Sensible defaults produce a good site fast
Who each one is for
Shopify. Anyone whose primary activity is selling physical or digital goods and who wants the commerce infrastructure to be someone else's problem. It is the right answer from the first sale up to very large volumes, and the point at which you outgrow it is far enough away that most merchants never reach it.
Squarespace. Portfolios, restaurants, studios and service businesses where visual quality is the point and the structure is conventional. If the site is mostly pages, images and a booking or contact path, this is the shortest route to something that looks professional.
Pricing side by side
Shopify
| Basic | $29/mo yearly · $39 monthly | 2% fee on third-party gateways, 10 inventory locations |
|---|---|---|
| Grow | $79/mo yearly · $105 monthly | 1% third-party fee, 5 staff accounts |
| Advanced | $299/mo yearly · $399 monthly | 0.6% third-party fee, 15 staff accounts, third-party shipping rates |
| Plus | from $2,300/mo | 0.2% third-party fee, full checkout customisation, unlimited staff |
Squarespace
| Basic | $19/mo | 2 contributors, 2% online store transaction fee, 7% on digital content |
|---|---|---|
| Core | $29/mo | unlimited contributors, 0% store fee, 5% on digital content, CSS and code injection |
| Plus | $49/mo | card rate from 2.7% + $0.30, 1% on digital content |
| Advanced | $99/mo | card rate from 2.5% + $0.30, 0% on digital content |
What a year costs
Shopify
The prices on the plan cards are yearly prices. Pay month to month and Basic is $39 rather than $29, Grow is $105 rather than $79 and Advanced is $399 rather than $299, so the monthly option costs about a third more. If you are confident enough to launch, the annual plan is the obvious saving.
Subscription, billed yearlyShopify's third-party transaction fee
Squarespace
Basic is $19 a month on an annual plan, and it can sell. But every online store sale on Basic carries a 2% Squarespace transaction fee on top of card processing, and Core, at $29, removes it. The $10 difference is covered once you sell about $500 a month. Above that, Basic is the more expensive plan, and a store taking $1,500 a month pays roughly $240 more a year on Basic than on Core.
Plan price, billed yearlySquarespace transaction fee
Who should skip each one
Shopify
A content site with a small shop attached. If you have ten products and two hundred articles, you are paying commerce pricing for a blog. It is also the wrong pick if you need an unconventional checkout, since the checkout is the part Shopify guards most closely.
Squarespace
Sites needing unusual layouts, heavy custom functionality or a large catalogue. The template does most of the work, which is the benefit until it becomes the ceiling.
The bottom line
Shopify
For most people starting a store, Shopify is the safe choice and the right one. Buy the annual plan, start on Basic, and move to Grow once you are selling more than about $5,000 a month and cannot use Shopify Payments, or once you need staff accounts.
Squarespace
For a design-led small business, Squarespace on the Core plan is excellent value: it looks good by default, sells without a platform fee, and gives you full code access if you ever need it. Skip Basic unless you are not selling anything.
Questions people ask
Is Shopify better than Squarespace?
Shopify scores 9.0/10 and Squarespace scores 8.4/10 on our rubric. Shopify is the stronger all-round pick. Shopify leads on flexibility, value and support. Squarespace leads on ease of use and design.
Which is cheaper, Shopify or Squarespace?
Shopify starts at US$29/mo with no free plan; Squarespace starts at US$19/mo with no free plan. Squarespace is the cheaper way in.
Which is easier to use, Shopify or Squarespace?
Squarespace scores 8.6/10 for ease of use against Shopify at 8.4/10.
Do Shopify and Squarespace have a free plan?
Neither Shopify nor Squarespace has a free plan.
Can you sell online with Shopify and Squarespace?
Both Shopify and Squarespace can take payments and run a store.
Can you move your site off Shopify or Squarespace?
Shopify lets you export your code; Squarespace does not export a working site.
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