Squarespace vs Shopify 2026 – Which Platform is Better?

Squarespace and Shopify are two popular eCommerce website builders that offer extensive customizations, built-in eCommerce features optimized for SEO, responsive website design, affordable pricing, and more.  

Both platforms offer tools and features for building an online store, managing inventory, automating shipping and tax calculations, processing sales orders, and more. 

Depending on your store requirements, Squarespace vs Shopify for eCommerce has pros and cons; one is better for specific use cases. For example, Squarespace is better if you focus more on blogging than eCommerce, while Shopify is an e-commerce-first platform. 

Shopify or Squarespace? Which platform is right for you?

This article provides the answers you need to decide between Shopify and Squarespace. 

Squarespace vs Shopify – Overview

Shopify is an all-in-one eCommerce website builder that delivers fast-loading, beginner-friendly, hosted eCommerce solutions.

Its primary purpose is to enable entrepreneurs of all sizes – small, medium, or large-scale- to build, manage, and grow an online eCommerce business without dealing with technical or server-side management. 

Founded in 2006 by Tobias Lutke, Daniel Weinand, and Scott Lake, Shopify’s user base has expanded to 175 countries and now powers approximately 6 million eCommerce stores. 

As a hosted eCommerce platform, Shopify includes all the tools you need to start, manage, and grow your online stores. 

Shopify Magic, a leading AI tool in the Shopify ecosystem, enhances online store performance with its versatility and feature set, including content generation and automation.

Unlike Shopify, Squarespace is a versatile website builder that caters to a wide range of businesses and website needs. Its intuitive user interface and design-centric approach have made it popular among bloggers, businesses, artists, and e-commerce entrepreneurs. 

Founded in 2003 by Anthony Caselena, Squarespace has approximately 2.9 million active websites across different countries and regions. However, most Squarespace users and active online stores are from the US. 

Squarespace is also a hosted platform, which means all its plans include hosting and bandwidth features. You don’t need to host your Squarespace website elsewhere; it includes built-in hosting. 

Whether creating a blogging site, business portfolio, or a full-fledged e-commerce store, Squarespace’s website has all the tools to start, manage, and grow your business. 

Quick Rundown – Which Option Is Right for You and Why

Shopify is a much better option for selling online due to its superior eCommerce features and functionalities. 

It is a better eCommerce platform for dropshipping, POS (point of sale), selling globally, automating tax and advanced shipping calculations, and processing payments in global currencies. 

Shopify is also better than Squarespace for third-party integrations. Thanks to its 8,000+ Shopify apps, third-party app developers, and Shopify partners, integrating your Shopify store with other marketing tools and services is easier. 

The extensive selection of Shopify apps in the Shopify app store enhances store functionality, catering to novice and experienced merchants alike.

In addition, no matter the size of your business, small, medium, or large, Shopify handles high-volume monthly store transactions and processes orders efficiently.

Squarespace has an edge over Shopify, especially if your business is content-driven, such as news publications or blogging.

Squarespace is more suitable if you want to build a website solely to promote your business, run affiliate marketing, sell digital products, create online courses and membership sites, book appointments, or share your experience with others. 

It is a more versatile and multi-purpose content management System than Shopify and WooCommerce.

Squarespace has more free templates than Shopify, making it a suitable platform if you’re on a tight budget. Though it lets you build your own templates, there are plenty of free themes for most industries.  

In summary, Squarespace is an ideal website builder for content publishing websites, and eCommerce is an afterthought. Shopify is primarily an eCommerce platform, making it a better option for selling products online. 

However, Shopify has beefed up its content creation tools over the years, and Squarespace has added more eCommerce feature sets, too. So, both platforms can be used for online stores or content-driven websites. 

Shopify vs Squarespace: Pros and Cons

Now, let’s dive into a proper review of Squarespace vs. Shopify eCommerce platforms. 

Ease of Use

Both Shopify and Squarespace have similar, intuitive, and easy-to-use user interfaces. 

When you log into your Squarespace website account for the first time, the menu is on the left side of your screen, while the editor takes the center. 

Shopify also positions its menu on the left; depending on the active menu, the corresponding function is displayed on the screen accordingly.

If you need to access a function, click the menu label on the list. Now, you can access the function and take control of your store. 

Since it released its Fluid Engine drag-and-drop editor, customizing your Squarespace themes has been an amazing experience.  

With the Squarespace Fluid Engine feature, you can view your website customizations on mobile and desktop in real time via the customizer. And drag and drop block elements onto any part of the page. 

It makes Squarespace theme customization fun and painless.

Also, the Squarespace eCommerce features are easier to access and use. This could be because fewer features make them easy to access on one page. 

While you can preview your Shopify store in live mobile and desktop views in the theme customizer, editing with the theme editors is not as slick or intuitive as in Squarespace.  

Shopify, with more extensive eCommerce features, also makes it easier to access them. Editing your store theme is also not difficult, though not as slick and intuitive as Squarespace. 

But you won’t require support or a steep learning curve to manage your store in the admin backend. 

That said, Shopify’s drag-and-drop editor also lets you customize your theme store, add content, edit headers and footers, create product collections, and more with minimal effort. 

However, Squarespace Fluid Engine seems to be the better option, and a user-friendly editor. It’s more flexible, sleek, and provides a better user experience.

Templates/Themes

Both platforms offer free, gorgeous templates, allowing entrepreneurs to grow an online presence while saving on design costs. 

As it is, Squarespace has an extensive library of free themes compared to Shopify. There is a big gap between Squarespace’s 157 free stunning templates and Shopify’s 13. 

Squarespace theme gallery.

Shopify free themes gallery.

Squarespace themes are designed to accommodate diverse blog and business needs. The themes serve users who want to blog, showcase work portfolios, creative artists, recipe blogs, gyms, salons, make appointment bookings, etc. 

On the other hand, Shopify themes are created with eCommerce selling in mind. They are geared towards making online selling more appealing, attractive store designs, and straightforward order processing. 

Shopify has made it easier to search for your store themes, allowing you to filter by industry, product catalog, and eCommerce features. The Squarespace templates filter allows you to search only by industry or niche. 

One notable Squarespace theme feature is the integration with Unsplash and Getty Images. This integration lets you use beautiful royalty-free stock images directly with your design.  

Use the built-in image search function to find suitable stock images from Unsplash or premium Getty Images and add them to your design. 

This feature can be helpful for bloggers or businesses that heavily rely on images. You can quickly find stock or premium images to add to your post, improving the user experience. 

Although briefly mentioned above, Squarespace allows you to create your own templates. 

The feature lets you design the homepage, choose your color palette, and pick your preferred font families. It is a guided process with step-by-step recommendations for sections and layout styles. 

Well, Squarespace is not a clear winner in the template sections; this is because Shopify packs a lot into its premium themes. 

Assuming you can’t find suitable free themes, Shopify premium themes offer many options, features, and store functions, including paid themes for a single-product store. 

Today, Shopify has 202 premium themes. Buying a premium theme gives you more control, advanced features, and customization options, and can mean a unique store design. 

One drawback I have with Squarespace themes is that it is impossible to switch or change templates in version 7.1. You can only switch templates for the Squarespace site version 7.0. 

This can be a problem if you prefer a different theme to the current one. However, since Squarespace site themes are built on the same technology, you can customize a template to your unique design. 

So, the inability to change themes isn’t a big issue, but it would be better if Squarespace allowed switching templates. 

Payment Processors

Regarding payment processors or gateways, Shopify’s extensive partnerships with payment providers allow merchants access to over 100 payment gateways.  

Aside from Shopify Pay, which allows customers to make payments in their currency, Shopify offers payment providers from most continents. 

In contrast, Squarespace offers two payment gateways – Stripe and PayPal. In addition, it offers Square POS only to US merchants. 

Square POS allows customers to pay in person using cash and credit cards. 

Although Squarespace, Stripe, and PayPal support payments from various credit card providers, they do not support Google Pay. 

Shopify offers more payment options and flexible transaction fees, allowing customers to choose from different currencies. The disparity in payment gateways is significant and should be one of the factors to consider. 

Transaction and Credit Card Fees

One of the core factors you should consider when choosing between Squarespace and Shopify is the associated processing fees. When customers complete orders in your store, you’re charged two transactions: credit card and transaction fees. 

A transaction fee is the sales percentage or fee you pay your eCommerce platforms for completed orders. Credit card fees are the payment processing charges you pay your payment method’s processing provider.

To save on transaction fees, Shopify offers its built-in payment system, Shopify Payments. 

Using the Shopify payments system removes transaction fees on all Shopify plans except the Starter plan. 

In the Starter plan, you’ll pay a 5% transaction fee on all third-party payment providers you use. 

Whichever payment system you select, you’ll still pay for credit card processing fees. This charge is a transaction fee between 2.9% and 2.4% for all third-party payment providers.

However, using third-party credit card payment providers means Shopify will take additional transaction fees from your sales. Depending on your Shopify subscription plan, this fee ranges from 0.5% to 2%. 

One important note: Shopify’s built-in Payments method is unavailable in all countries. So you must check with your country’s eligibility before switching. You can only choose from third-party payment providers if your country is not listed. 

Squarespace charges only a 3% transaction fee on its Business Plan. If you don’t want to pay this fee, upgrade to the Squarespace eCommerce plan (Basic or Advanced) to enjoy 0% transaction fees. 

However, credit card fees still apply for every completed card transaction in your store. Credit card fees are compulsory for your payment processing service providers. 

If you want to sell offline, Squarespace offers Square POS, which enables in-person sales and allows customers to pay in cash or using POS payment methods. 

In addition, you can enable AfterPay or ClearPay, allowing customers to make installments or use buy-now-pay-later systems with no interest fees. Both payment methods charge 6% of the total order, plus $0.30 for US merchants and $0.30 for UK merchants.

Shopify also offers installment payments using the Shop Pay payment option. It allows customers to make interest-free installment payments over up to 24 months. 

You can activate the features in your online store and in POS payments. 

E-commerce Features

When it comes to eCommerce features, both Shopify and Squarespace offer a range of tools to help you build and manage your online store. 

Both Squarespace and Shopify let you sell physical products (merchandise, apparel, electronics, appliances, cosmetics, etc.) on their platforms through a recurring subscription or a one-time payment.

However, Shopify’s more comprehensive and advanced features make it a more robust e-commerce platform.

Inventory Management

Shopify offers advanced inventory management features, including automatic inventory tracking, low-stock alerts, and detailed inventory reporting. 

These features make it easier for businesses to manage their stock levels and ensure they never run out of popular products. Shopify also offers multi-location inventory management, allowing businesses to track inventory across multiple locations.

Squarespace, on the other hand, offers more basic inventory management features. While it includes manual inventory tracking and low stock alerts, it lacks Shopify’s advanced reporting and multi-location capabilities. 

However, Squarespace’s inventory management features may be sufficient for smaller businesses or those with more straightforward inventory needs.

Shipping and Tax Options

Shopify offers a wide range of shipping and tax options, making it easier for businesses to manage these aspects of their online store. 

Shopify’s shipping features include real-time shipping rates, shipping label printing, and integrations with major carriers like UPS, FedEx, and DHL. 

Shopify also offers advanced tax management features, including automatic tax calculations and the ability to set tax rates by region.

Squarespace’s shipping and tax options are more basic but still robust. Squarespace offers shipping rate management and the ability to set tax rates, but it lacks Shopify’s real-time shipping rates and carrier integrations. 

However, Squarespace offers integrations with third-party shipping solutions that can help fill some gaps.

While both Squarespace and Shopify offer eCommerce features, Shopify’s features are more comprehensive and advanced. 

Shopify’s inventory management features, shipping and tax options, and payment gateways make it a more robust eCommerce platform. 

However, Squarespace’s e-commerce features remain robust, offering a range of tools for creating and managing online stores.

Apps and Plugin Ecosystem

To further extend your store’s functionality, both Shopify and Squarespace offer apps and extensions with additional features. 

Shopify’s app store is significantly larger than Squarespace’s. It contains over 8,000 apps (including third-party apps) offering a range of features and functions. 

For example, there are SEO optimization apps, dropshipping integrations, image optimization, design, selling, and print-on-demand. 

Some apps connect your Shopify store to third-party services, such as newsletters, chatbots, bookkeeping, customer care, social media, and invoicing. 

Shopify is a popular eCommerce platform, so it is no wonder the app store is so big. Many eCommerce solution providers have partnered with Shopify to reach a larger audience and create brand awareness. 

By contrast, Squarespace has 36 extensions as of this writing. Third-party app providers create these extensions to enhance Squarespace sites and add more features. 

Beyond this, if you need features without an extension, you can code directly using code snippets or other supported Squarespace methods. 

However, Squarespace has access limitations and supporting codes based on active subscription plans. You must check the documentation page to learn more about code restrictions and access control. 

For example, Squarespace does not support adding server-side scripts, such as Ruby, PHP, Rails, or SQL. You can only inject HTML and JavaScript code into the Business and Commerce plans. 

In summary, Shopify is way ahead of Squarespace in terms of third-party applications and service integrations. You will hardly find a service that seamlessly integrates with your Shopify store, but doing the same for Squarespace might require a bit of a workaround or some restrictions.

This is partly because Squarespace is more like a closed or guided platform; it does not allow straightforward integration with third-party services and tools. 

Unlike full open-source platforms, Sauqrespace does not give you full access to your site’s code. As a developer, you can only do certain things with Squarespace. 

Shopify vs Squarespace For SEO 

Choosing the right eCommerce website platform can set the stage for strong search engine visibility. A platform that simplifies adding essentials like meta descriptions, titles, and SEO-friendly URL structures can significantly enhance your search engine optimization efforts.

Thankfully, in our comparison between Squarespace and Shopify for small business owners, both platforms handle SEO optimization well and help users achieve better SEO visibility. 

Both platforms add meta descriptions, a user-friendly permalink structure, title tags, image alt tags, 301 redirects, and a robots.txt file. TX files are easier to handle.  

Also, you don’t have to submit an XML sitemap to Google manually; both platforms automatically generate one whenever you update your site pages.

While using both platforms, Shopify SEO is one step ahead and better than Squarespace. 

For instance, Shopify automatically adds page titles, URL slugs, and meta descriptions for you. The content of the page is used to generate them. 

This might seem minor, but it helps save time and ensure that basic SEO stuff like this is noticed. 

In Squarespace, you can use variables or plain text to write page titles automatically, saving you time writing them manually. However, it gives you less control than Shopify. 

Another advantage over Squarespace for SEO could be in Shopify’s app store. 

You can further enhance Shopify SEO with relevant apps, such as Yoast SEO, image-optimization apps, speed-and-performance apps, and Core Web Vitals. 

As of writing, Squarespace does not have SEO tool extensions to enhance core platform optimization. This can put your Squarespace sites at a disadvantage compared to competitors, especially if the platform needs to improve speed and performance. 

However, I found one SquareSpace SEO feature helpful: Google Search Console integrations. 

You can connect your site to Search Console and import its data, making it easier to learn about your site traffic and keyword performance in Squarespace. 

Regarding Google Core Web Vitals improvement, there is little you can do. Squarespace and Shopify use their servers, proprietary code, and templates, making it challenging to improve performance. 

Nevertheless, they are optimized to deliver high performance and excellent site speed straight out of the box. You won’t have many problems with site speed and overall store performance. 

Email Campaign

Squarespace and Shopify email are solid tools for managing email campaigns. Both are tailored for users within their ecosystems but differ in features, integrations, and pricing. 

Squarespace is designed for businesses that prioritize aesthetics and storytelling. It’s perfect for creative brands that want to maintain a consistent look across their site and emails.

Shopify’s email is made for e-commerce. It focuses on helping you create campaigns that drive sales directly from your store, like product promotions, abandoned cart recovery, and seasonal offers.

In terms of design, Squarespace offers visually stunning templates. If you’ve already built a Squarespace website, your email can pull colors, fonts, and designs directly from your site. This makes it easy to create emails that match your brand.

You can also use their drag-and-drop editor to tweak templates, add images, and format text without design skills.

Shopify email also integrates seamlessly with your store, letting you quickly add products, discounts, and branding to your emails. However, Shopify templates are simpler than Squarespace and are optimized for e-commerce.

For example, you can insert products with live pricing and inventory data into your emails. This saves time and ensures your customers always see accurate information.

Unlike Shopify, Squarespace focuses on simplicity. You can set up campaigns with scheduling options and basic audience segmentation, like sending emails to subscribers based on sign-up forms or site activity.

Shopify’s marketing email offers more advanced options for e-commerce campaigns. You can:

These e-commerce-specific settings help you increase sales and retain customers.

Squarespace email campaigns don’t heavily rely on integrations since they are built into the Squarespace ecosystem. However, you can connect to tools like Zapier or Google Analytics to track performance or sync your email list with external tools.

Shopify email connects with third-party apps available on the Shopify App Store. For example, you can use apps to extend email automation or integrate with CRMs like HubSpot and GetResponse. If you need more advanced functionality, you’ll find plenty of options to expand Shopify Email’s capabilities.

Squarespace Email Campaigns offers a 4-tiered plan based on the number of emails you send per month:

There’s a free trial with no time limit, Squarespace branding in the email copy, a maximum of 5,000 emails sent per campaign, and three email blasts. 

Unlike Squarespace, Shopify Email is free for the first 10,000 emails you send monthly. After that, it costs $1 per 1,000 emails. Also, Shopify’s abandoned cart recovery email automation is always free and does not count toward email usage.

This makes Shopify Email one of the most affordable options, especially for growing stores that don’t need to send high volumes initially.

Comparing Shopify and Squarespace Support

Understanding the support options of Shopify vs Squarespace is essential when choosing between them. Both platforms cater to different needs, and their support offerings vary in accessibility, resources, and efficiency.

Shopify’s support has changed in recent years. It no longer offers 24/7 support through phone and inbound email. You must visit the Shopify website and start a conversation using the AI live chat. 

This might be ideal for businesses that need quick and straightforward assistance with general platform issues. Shopify’s Help Center features a wide range of articles and guides, and its active community forum offers peer-to-peer support moderated by staff. 

For professional help, you can hire experts through the Shopify Partner program or on a platform like Fiverr, though these services are paid. 

Squarespace offers email support 24/7, a Twitter handle at (SquarespaceHelp), and live chat during weekday business hours (Eastern Time). Its Help Center includes detailed guides and video tutorials, and its community forum provides additional resources. 

However, like Shopify, Squarespace support also lacks phone calls, which can be a drawback for users requiring immediate assistance. It also offers Squarespace partner experts for hire.

With Squarespace’s partner marketplace, you can find experts for various eCommerce needs, from design to product sourcing and content.

Shopify and Squarespace Plan and Pricing

Both platforms offer competitive, affordable plans that cater to beginners, small businesses, medium-sized businesses, and large businesses.

Aside from its 14-day free trial, Squarespace offers four standard plans: Personal, Business, Commerce (Basic), and Commerce (Advanced). 

Subscribing to annual billing gives you a significant discount on each plan. You pay $16, $23, $27, and $49 per month, but you pay the 12-month plan upfront.

In addition to the standard Squarespace plans, there is an Enterprise plan for large business websites. You should contact sales to negotiate and discuss your business needs. 

When choosing the right Squarespace pricing plan for your business, look for specific differences. Each plan has different features, limitations, and code restrictions. 

For example, the personal plan does not allow you to sell online or add CSS and JavaScript code to your site. It also does not allow you to access advanced Squarespace Analytics. 

Square POS is available only on the Commerce plan and to US merchants. This lets you keep inventory, sell in person, process payments via point of sale, and sync with your online store. 

Check the Squarespace pricing page for more details on the differences in pricing and features. 

Shopify pricing offers five standard plans, each with access to account levels, eCommerce features, transaction fees, and admin control. 

You get a 3-day free trial for the Shopify store. If you need more time to set up your online shop and explore the eCommerce features, Shopify offers an extended $1/m for 3 months.

This means your free trial of Shopify is just $3 for a whopping 93 days.

If you are considering the Plus plan, we are looking at six Shopify plans. 

Shopify Plus is ideal for enterprise-level businesses. The starting price is $2,000/month, and it offers additional features, admin access, staff accounts, and more store locations. 

As with Squarespace, the Shopify subscription has key differences you must learn before choosing. 

In the Starter Plan, you can only sell via embedding products on existing websites, at events, on social media, on messaging apps, etc. You can not sell using a full-fledged Shopify eCommerce store. 

To sell via the Shopify online store, subscribe to the Shopify basic or higher plan.

In addition, you pay the high 5% transaction fee for all third-party payment gateways.

Regarding users’ seats, the number allowed varies by plan. For example, the Advanced plan allows up to 15 additional users, while the starter plan allows a single-user account. 

In between, each plan allows a certain number of additional users. Check the Shopify pricing page for more details. 

The Shopify Plus plan, designed for enterprise-level businesses, supports up to 10 store locations and includes advanced Shopify API access, dedicated account managers, and order fulfillment features. 

Shopify’s Analytics report quality also varies as the plan goes higher. The higher the plan, the more stored data reports you can access. 

Shopify POS is available on all plans except the Starter plan. It allows you to sell in physical stores and events and process payments while syncing with your online store. 

However, Shopify has advanced POS features and an upgraded version of Shopify POS Lite. 

To access the Shopify POS Pro features, you must upgrade to the plan, which costs an additional $89 per store location per month. 

The Shopify POS Pro features include:

FAQ

Conclusion

While Squarespace vs Shopify offer eCommerce and blogging functionalities, I’d argue they serve different audience needs. 

If blogging is your main priority and selling is your side hustle, Squarespace is the better option. It provides more features and tools that make content-driven sites excel and reach more audiences. 

Squarespace is a suitable platform for creative authors, such as artists, musicians, photographers, and bloggers. It uses images in a more creative and attractive format, making it appealing to your audience. 

However, Shopify is an undisputed platform if you plan to go full-time with eCommerce selling. The platform lets you create a professional eCommerce store, enable automatic shipping and tax calculations, manage staff, support more payment options, start dropshipping, and keep a large product inventory. 

In addition, Shopify’s powerful POS features make it the right platform for selling in physical stores. With its support for global currencies, Shopify is the ideal eCommerce store builder for merchants outside the US.