When I was deciding between Shopify and Squarespace, it all came down to what I needed for my online business.
Shopify is made for selling—it’s packed with tools to manage products, payments, and shipping. Squarespace, on the other hand, shines with its stunning designs, perfect if you’re focused on showcasing your brand or portfolio first.
Shopify makes e-commerce simple, especially if you’re planning to grow your store. But Squarespace works better if you’re selling just a few items and want a visually striking website.
The catch? Shopify can feel a bit more business-like, while Squarespace may require extra add-ons for advanced selling features.
So, which one is right for you? In this guide, I’ll compare their features, pricing, and who they’re best for, helping you make the perfect choice for your needs.
Shopify
Shopify is a leading e-commerce platform that enables individuals and businesses to create and manage online stores with ease.
It offers a comprehensive suite of tools for website design, payment processing, inventory management, and marketing.
Shopify supports businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises, with customizable templates, integrations, and apps. Its user-friendly interface and powerful backend make it accessible for non-technical users while providing advanced features for developers.
Shopify also supports multichannel selling, allowing businesses to connect with customers across social media, marketplaces, and brick-and-mortar locations, empowering entrepreneurs to grow and scale their online presence efficiently.
SquareSpace
SquareSpace is an all-in-one website building and hosting platform designed for individuals, businesses, and creatives to create professional websites without coding.
It offers sleek, customizable templates tailored for portfolios, e-commerce, blogs, and more. Features include drag-and-drop design, integrated SEO tools, analytics, and 24/7 customer support. Users can seamlessly manage content, online stores, and marketing campaigns in one place.
With built-in mobile optimization, websites look great on any device. Advanced users can further customize with CSS and JavaScript.
SquareSpace is ideal for those seeking a polished, easy-to-use solution for building a strong online presence, whether for personal or professional purposes.
Features Comparison: Shopify vs SquareSpace
Here’s a concise comparison of Shopify and Squarespace, highlighting their features and explaining why Shopify often emerges as the preferred choice for e-commerce businesses:
1. E-Commerce Focus
Shopify: Built exclusively for e-commerce, offering advanced tools for selling, managing inventory, and scaling businesses.
Squarespace: Primarily a website builder with e-commerce as a secondary feature. Best suited for small-scale e-commerce needs.
Why Shopify Wins: Shopify’s entire platform is optimized for online stores, whereas Squarespace’s e-commerce functionality feels secondary.
2. Payment Gateways
Shopify: Supports 100+ payment gateways, including Shopify Payments, PayPal, Stripe, and others. Offers multicurrency support.
Squarespace: Limited to a few payment options like Stripe, PayPal, and Afterpay.
Why Shopify Wins: Greater flexibility for global selling with broader payment options.
3. Scalability
Shopify: Offers plans and tools that scale with business growth, from small startups to large enterprises (Shopify Plus).
Squarespace: While capable of handling small and medium businesses, it lacks features like advanced inventory management and customization for larger operations.
Why Shopify Wins: Shopify provides tools and resources that grow with your business, making it a long-term solution.
4. App Ecosystem
Shopify: Over 8,000 apps and plugins in the Shopify App Store to extend functionality (e.g., marketing, analytics, shipping integrations).
Squarespace: Limited extensions and integrations, with fewer options to expand features.
Why Shopify Wins: Shopify’s app ecosystem offers unmatched flexibility and customization.
5. SEO and Marketing
Shopify: Advanced SEO tools, robust marketing integrations (Google Ads, Facebook, TikTok), and a built-in email marketing platform.
Squarespace: Strong SEO features for blogs and content but limited marketing integrations compared to Shopify.
Why Shopify Wins: Shopify’s marketing tools and integrations are better suited for e-commerce businesses aiming to grow their reach and sales.
6. Multi-Channel Selling
Shopify: Allows seamless selling on multiple platforms, including Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Squarespace: Supports social media selling but lacks deep integration with platforms like Amazon and eBay.
Why Shopify Wins: Shopify’s multi-channel selling capabilities are critical for modern e-commerce.
7. POS Integration
Shopify: Comes with a powerful Point of Sale (POS) system that syncs online and offline sales.
Squarespace: Recently introduced POS functionality but is less robust and integrated than Shopify’s.
Why Shopify Wins: Shopify’s POS is a proven solution for omnichannel businesses
8. Customization
Shopify: Highly customizable themes and access to custom coding (Liquid framework) for tailored store designs.
Squarespace: Beautiful templates for content-heavy sites but limited flexibility for e-commerce customization.
Why Shopify Wins: Shopify’s themes and development flexibility cater better to diverse e-commerce requirements.
10. Support
Shopify: 24/7 customer support via chat, email, and phone.
Squarespace: Email and live chat support but no phone support.
Why Shopify Wins: Shopify’s superior customer support is invaluable for businesses needing quick resolutions.
Conclusion
Shopify Wins because it’s purpose-built for e-commerce, with unmatched scalability, flexibility, and tools to grow a business. Squarespace shines for content-heavy sites and small-scale stores but falls short in handling complex e-commerce needs. If you’re serious about online selling, Shopify is the clear winner.
Pricing Comparison: Shopify vs SquareSpace
Shopify Pricing
Shopify offers a range of pricing plans tailored to various business needs in India:
1. Starter Plan:
Priced at ₹399 per month, this plan is ideal for selling products through social media platforms and messaging apps. It does not include a full online store but allows for the creation of product links and buy buttons.
2. Basic Shopify:
At ₹1,499 per month (billed annually), this plan provides a complete online store with unlimited products, two staff accounts, and basic reports. It’s suitable for new businesses starting their online presence.
3. Shopify:
For ₹5,599 per month (billed annually), this plan includes all Basic features plus professional reports, five staff accounts, and standard reporting capabilities, making it ideal for growing businesses.
4. Advanced Shopify:
At ₹22,680 per month (billed annually), this plan offers advanced report building, up to 15 staff accounts, and third-party calculated shipping rates, catering to larger businesses with more complex needs.
5. Shopify Plus:
Starting at ₹1,75,000 per month on a 3-year term, this enterprise-level solution provides advanced features and customization options for high-volume businesses.
Please note that transaction fees apply when using third-party payment providers, varying by plan. Additionally, Shopify periodically offers promotional rates, such as ₹20 for the first month on select plans.
Squarespace Pricing
1. Personal Plan:
- $16/month (billed annually) or $23/month (monthly billing).
- Features:
- Free custom domain (with annual plan).
- Unlimited bandwidth and storage.
- SSL security.
- Basic website features, no e-commerce.
2. Business Plan:
- $23/month (billed annually) or $33/month (monthly billing).
- Features:
- All Personal Plan features.
- Advanced website customization (with CSS/JavaScript).
- Basic e-commerce with 3% transaction fee.
- Marketing tools like promotional pop-ups and banners.
3. Basic Commerce Plan:
- $27/month (billed annually) or $36/month (monthly billing).
- Features:
- No transaction fees.
- Full e-commerce tools (product management, checkout pages).
- Customer accounts and analytics.
4. Advanced Commerce Plan:
- $49/month (billed annually) or $65/month (monthly billing).
- Features:
- Advanced e-commerce capabilities (subscriptions, abandoned cart recovery).
- Advanced shipping tools and discounts.
Verdict
Shopify is slightly more expensive, but its features and scalability make it the better choice for businesses serious about e-commerce. SquareSpace is better suited for individuals or small-scale sellers prioritizing design over advanced e-commerce functionality.
Shopify’s AI is Much More Robust, But Squarespace’s is Still Useful
Shopify Magic isn’t just what happens when you make your first online sale; it’s the name of the eCommerce platform’s feature suite for AI writing, AI photo editing, and even AI customer support.
As of this writing, all Shopify users get free access to pretty impressive integrated AI functionality.
Shopify Magic does things like generate product image backgrounds, write SEO-driven product descriptions, suggest and create FAQs, recommend marketing email send times, and offer customer support message responses.
Shopify is soon even rolling out Sidekick, a conversational AI chatbot assistant, to “select merchants” for early access.
Squarespace AI, Squarespace’s much less cleverly named AI, is also available to all users for no added charge.
Squarespace AI is integrated directly into the interface, with its little lightning bolt icon popping up wherever it can be used.
Creating a welcome email? Just highlight the text and automatically shorten, simplify, lengthen—or make a custom personalization request in the chatbox. And while it isn’t exactly a full-blown AI website generator, it can populate the copy for an entire website based on your preferences for style.
As you probably noticed, there’s a pretty big difference between these two generative AI offerings. Shopify Magic is more robust, enabling you to generate much more than just text. Meanwhile, Shopify AI is limited to just text generation.
And while they’re both free for now, I could imagine Shopify being more likely to gate-keep it behind higher-tier packages or create a paid add-on for it.
The Final Verdict
Shopify is the better choice for businesses focused on e-commerce. While Squarespace offers beautiful templates and is great for content-driven websites, it lacks the robust e-commerce tools Shopify provides.
Shopify excels with advanced inventory management, payment gateways, shipping solutions, and a vast app ecosystem tailored to online selling.
Its scalability and focus on growing businesses make it ideal for e-commerce entrepreneurs.
For those prioritizing a powerful, feature-rich platform designed specifically for online stores, Shopify is the superior choice over Squarespace.
FAQ’s
Which is better for e-commerce?
Shopify, with advanced selling tools and scalability.
Which is more affordable?
SquareSpace is cheaper for simple websites; Shopify offers better value for serious e-commerce.
Who wins for multi-channel selling?
Shopify, with built-in integrations for Amazon, Facebook, and more.
Does SquareSpace have a POS system?
Yes, but it’s basic compared to Shopify’s robust POS.
Which is better for global selling?
Shopify, with multi-currency support and extensive shipping tools.
Final verdict?
Shopify for serious e-commerce; SquareSpace for simple, visually appealing sites.
