Squarespace vs Shopify: The Real Differences That Matter

Here's the short version: Shopify is built for selling stuff. Squarespace is built for beautiful websites that can also sell stuff. That distinction matters more than you'd think.

If ecommerce is your primary business, Shopify wins. If you want a gorgeous website with some selling capability, Squarespace is your pick. Let's break down exactly why.

Quick Comparison: Squarespace vs Shopify

FeatureSquarespaceShopify
Starting Price$16/month (annual)$29/month (annual)
Free Trial14 days3 days
Transaction Fees0-2% depending on plan0% with Shopify Payments
Best ForContent-focused sites with light ecommerceSerious online stores
App MarketplaceLimited extensions8,000+ apps
Templates~190 templates (45 ecommerce)213 themes (13 free, 200 paid)
Product Variants250 per product2,000 per product
Product Limit10,000 (version 7.1)Unlimited
Inventory LocationsLimited10+ depending on plan
POS SystemSquare integration (US only)Native Shopify POS

Pricing Breakdown: What You'll Actually Pay

Squarespace Pricing

Squarespace recently rolled out four new plans: Basic, Core, Plus, and Advanced. Here's what they cost (billed annually):

All annual plans include a free custom domain for the first year. After that, you're looking at $20-70/year for renewal depending on your domain extension. For more details, check out our full Squarespace pricing guide.

Important note: Starting in February, Squarespace charges a per-transaction fee for automated tax calculations, ranging from 0.15% on lower-tier plans to 0.05% on higher-tier plans. This is a relatively new cost to factor in.

Shopify Pricing

Shopify's pricing is higher but you're getting a dedicated ecommerce platform:

Important: If you don't use Shopify Payments (their built-in payment processor), you'll pay an additional 0.5-2% transaction fee on top of your external payment provider's fees.

Shopify offers $1/month for the first 3 months for new users, which is a solid way to test the platform.

The Hidden Costs You Need to Know About

Both platforms have costs beyond the base subscription that catch people off guard:

Shopify hidden costs:

Squarespace hidden costs:

The reality? A basic Shopify store with necessary apps often runs $80-150/month. A Squarespace store typically stays closer to its base price unless you add Acuity or other premium features.

Ease of Use: Which Platform Is More Beginner-Friendly?

Both platforms are drag-and-drop and don't require coding. But they feel different:

Squarespace's Approach

Squarespace is more intuitive for people who want a website. The interface is clean, editing is visual, and everything feels connected. Their Blueprint AI can even generate a custom template from a few words about your business.

The editor works inline - you click on elements and edit them directly on the page. Changes appear in real-time, which makes design decisions easier. The learning curve for basic site building is minimal.

However, ecommerce-specific features are sometimes buried in settings. Finding where to configure shipping zones or tax settings isn't always obvious.

Shopify's Approach

Shopify is more intuitive for people who want a store. The dashboard is organized around products, orders, customers, and analytics. If you're thinking like a merchant, it makes sense immediately.

Setup involves answering questions about your business, which helps Shopify configure default settings. The product addition process is straightforward, and bulk editing tools help you manage large catalogs efficiently.

The downside? Customizing the look of your store requires switching between the theme editor and preview mode. It's less visual than Squarespace.

The Verdict

If you've never built a website before, Squarespace is probably easier to start with. If you've never run an online store before, Shopify's guided setup is more helpful for that specific task.

When to Choose Squarespace

Squarespace makes sense when:

Real talk: Squarespace has built-in scheduling (Acuity), email campaigns, and member areas. These would cost extra on Shopify.

Try Squarespace free for 14 days →

We also have a Squarespace coupon if you decide to pull the trigger.

When to Choose Shopify

Shopify is the right call when:

Shopify's checkout also converts about 15% better than competitors on average. For serious stores, that alone can justify the higher price.

Ecommerce Features: Head to Head

Where Shopify Wins

Where Squarespace Wins

Inventory Management: A Critical Difference

This is where the platforms diverge significantly, and it matters more than most beginners realize.

Shopify's Inventory Management

Shopify's inventory system is built for scale. You get real-time tracking across all sales channels - when something sells on Instagram, your Amazon listing updates automatically. The system tracks inventory at 10+ locations (depending on your plan) and handles transfers between warehouses.

Key features include:

For stores with complex inventory needs - multiple colors, sizes, materials, and custom options - Shopify's 2,000 variant limit is a massive advantage. Squarespace caps at 250 variants per product, which sounds like a lot until you do the math: if you offer 5 colors × 6 sizes × 3 materials, that's 90 variants for one product. Add more options and you hit limits fast.

Squarespace's Inventory Management

Squarespace's inventory is simpler, which works fine for smaller operations. You can track stock levels, set low-stock alerts, and manage variants - but the system isn't designed for complexity.

The 250 variant limit per product is the biggest constraint. Many Squarespace users hit this wall and have to get creative with custom forms or split products into multiple listings. Neither solution is ideal.

Squarespace also lacks:

If you're selling a simple catalog - t-shirts in 3 colors and 5 sizes (15 variants), art prints, digital products, or services - Squarespace handles it fine. But grow beyond that and you'll feel the limitations.

Product Variants: Understanding the Limits

This deserves its own section because variant limits stop many businesses from using Squarespace.

Squarespace allows up to 6 options per product with 250 total variant combinations. Options are things like Color, Size, Material. Each combination creates a variant.

Example: A t-shirt with 5 colors × 6 sizes = 30 variants. Still fine.

But a custom cake business with 16 scents × 12 ingredients × 4 oil options = 768 variants. Can't do it.

The workaround? Use custom forms at checkout to collect options, but then you lose inventory tracking for specific variants, and checkout becomes clunky.

Shopify's 2,000 variant limit per product handles almost any scenario. Plus, you can have unlimited products, so truly complex catalogs can be organized properly.

Point of Sale (POS): Selling In Person

Shopify POS

Shopify's POS system is robust and fully integrated. It works on iOS and Android devices, syncs inventory in real-time between online and offline sales, and includes:

Shopify POS syncs with your full business system - when you sell in-store, online inventory updates instantly. When someone buys online, your store staff see it on their dashboard. It's truly unified commerce.

The POS comes in two versions: POS Lite (included with all plans) and POS Pro ($89/month per location). Pro adds unlimited staff, advanced reporting, and features like store credits and cash tracking.

Squarespace POS

Squarespace integrates with Square for in-person payments, but only in the United States. Outside the US, there's no POS capability at all.

The Square integration is functional but not as seamless as Shopify's native system. You're essentially using two separate platforms that sync inventory. This creates potential issues:

For occasional in-person sales at a craft fair or pop-up, it works. For a business with both physical and online presence, Shopify's unified system is significantly better.

Acuity Scheduling: Squarespace's Secret Weapon

This is where Squarespace shines for service businesses.

Acuity Scheduling (formerly Squarespace Scheduling) is a powerful appointment booking system built into Squarespace. It handles:

Pricing for Acuity as a standalone service:

If you're already on a Squarespace plan, Acuity integrates seamlessly through a Scheduling Block - no coding required.

On Shopify, you'd need a third-party booking app. Good options exist (Bookly, Sesami), but they cost $10-30/month extra and never integrate as smoothly as a native solution.

For consultants, coaches, therapists, photographers, salons, fitness instructors, and any appointment-based business, Squarespace + Acuity is hard to beat.

Design and Templates

This isn't even close. Squarespace wins on design.

Squarespace templates are gorgeous out of the box. They're modern, mobile-optimized, and feel premium without any customization. For creatives, portfolios, restaurants, and service businesses, this matters.

All 190+ templates are free, and about 45 are specifically designed for ecommerce. They feature:

Switching templates is relatively easy in Squarespace, though some customization doesn't always transfer perfectly.

Shopify Templates

Shopify has improved with its Online Store 2.0 architecture and new drag-and-drop editor, but templates still feel more "ecommerce functional" than "beautiful website." The free themes are limited - only 13 free options versus 200 paid themes ranging from $140-450.

That said, Shopify themes are optimized for conversion. If you're running a serious store, you probably care more about checkout flow than aesthetic perfection.

The themes are organized by industry (14 categories) and feature filters (16 options like age verifier, infinite scroll, quick view). This makes finding the right starting point easier.

Customization options in Shopify are extensive but require more technical knowledge. The theme editor offers drag-and-drop sections, but detailed styling often needs CSS knowledge.

The Trade-off

Squarespace sites look like designer portfolios. Shopify sites look like online stores. Neither is wrong - it depends on your priorities.

Performance and Loading Speed

Speed matters for SEO and conversions. Testing shows Shopify loads significantly faster - around 0.9 seconds vs Squarespace's 2.2+ seconds for speed index.

For a content site, Squarespace's speed is acceptable. For an ecommerce store where every second costs conversions (studies show 1-second delays can decrease conversions by 7%), Shopify's performance edge matters.

Shopify's infrastructure is built specifically for high-traffic ecommerce. Their servers are optimized for handling product pages, checkout flows, and image-heavy catalogs.

Squarespace's slower speeds come from their template flexibility and design features. The trade-off is intentional - more design control means more code to load.

SEO Capabilities

Both platforms cover the basics: custom meta titles, descriptions, alt text, sitemaps, SSL certificates, and mobile optimization.

Shopify SEO

Shopify has a slight edge for ecommerce SEO with:

However, Shopify has some built-in SEO quirks. It auto-generates multiple URLs for products (collections pages create duplicate URLs), which requires proper canonical tag management.

Squarespace SEO

Squarespace handles content SEO well with strong blogging features, clean code, and good on-page optimization tools.

Limitations include:

That said, Squarespace has made significant SEO improvements in recent years. Their templates are clean-coded, load times have improved, and they handle technical SEO fundamentals well.

For most businesses, either platform will do fine. Neither is going to tank your rankings if you follow basic SEO practices.

Marketing and Email Tools

Shopify Marketing

Shopify Email is included, allowing you to send 10,000 emails/month for free to subscribers. Beyond that, pricing is $1 per 1,000 additional emails.

Shopify Flow provides powerful marketing automation with 175 templates for customer journeys. You can create sophisticated workflows for abandoned carts, customer win-back, upselling, and segmentation.

Built-in features include:

The app store adds thousands of marketing options - email marketing (Klaviyo, Omnisend), SMS marketing, loyalty programs, referral programs, and review management.

Squarespace Marketing

Squarespace's email campaigns are well-designed and integrate with your site aesthetically. Pricing is usage-based after initial free sends included with your plan.

Built-in tools include:

Squarespace's marketing tools are more limited but cover the basics well. For advanced marketing automation, you'd need third-party integrations with Mailchimp, ConvertKit, or similar platforms.

Customer Support

Shopify offers 24/7 chat support on all plans plus phone support on higher tiers. Their help documentation is extensive, with detailed guides, video tutorials, and active community forums. The Shopify Academy offers free courses on running an online business.

Response times are generally quick - chat support typically connects within minutes. The quality of support is solid, with reps who understand ecommerce.

Squarespace has 24/7 email support with live chat available during business hours (weekdays). Response times for email are typically within a few hours. Their documentation is also solid with webinars and guides.

The community forum is less active than Shopify's, but Circle community members often provide helpful answers.

Edge to Shopify here, especially if you need help at 2am when your store breaks. 24/7 phone support for ecommerce emergencies is valuable.

Security and Compliance

Both platforms are Level 1 PCI DSS compliant, meaning they meet the highest standards for payment security. Your customers' payment information is encrypted and secure.

Both include:

For HIPAA compliance (required for health-related businesses), Acuity Scheduling on Squarespace offers BAA documentation on the Powerhouse plan. Shopify requires third-party apps for HIPAA compliance.

International and Multi-Currency Selling

Shopify International Features

Shopify excels at global ecommerce:

Shopify Markets makes managing international sales straightforward, with centralized control over pricing, currencies, and shipping for different regions.

Squarespace International Features

Squarespace offers basic international capabilities:

However, you can't easily create fully localized versions of your site, and duties/taxes aren't calculated automatically. For truly international operations, Squarespace is more limited.

Dropshipping and Print-on-Demand

If your business model involves dropshipping or POD, Shopify is the clear winner.

Shopify integrates seamlessly with major dropshipping and POD platforms:

These integrations automatically sync products, process orders, and update tracking information. When a customer orders, the fulfillment happens automatically without you touching the product.

Squarespace has limited dropshipping capabilities. Printful works with Squarespace, but the integration isn't as smooth. Other major dropshipping platforms don't officially support Squarespace or require workarounds.

Migration: Can You Switch Later?

What if you choose wrong?

Squarespace to Shopify

Moving from Squarespace to Shopify is relatively straightforward. Shopify provides migration guides and apps (like Cart2Cart) that help transfer:

You'll need to rebuild your site design since templates don't transfer. Content pages can be copied manually.

Shopify to Squarespace

Moving from Shopify to Squarespace is harder and usually only makes sense if you're drastically simplifying your business model. Product and customer data can be exported and imported via CSV files, but it's manual work.

The Hybrid Approach

Some businesses use both: a Squarespace site for content, branding, and marketing with Shopify's Buy Button embedded for ecommerce functionality. This lets you leverage Squarespace's design strengths while using Shopify's ecommerce power.

It's not common because it adds complexity, but for businesses that truly need both platforms' strengths, it's an option.

Analytics and Reporting

Shopify Analytics

Shopify's analytics are comprehensive:

Professional reports come with the Grow plan ($79/month) and above. Custom reports are available on the Advanced plan ($299/month).

Shopify also integrates with Google Analytics, providing even deeper insights into customer behavior.

Squarespace Analytics

Squarespace provides solid analytics:

Analytics are more limited than Shopify's, especially around advanced customer segmentation and marketing attribution. For most small businesses, they're sufficient.

Google Analytics integration is available for deeper analysis.

Mobile App Management

Both platforms offer mobile apps for managing your business on the go.

Shopify mobile app (iOS and Android) lets you:

The Shopify POS app is separate and handles in-person sales.

Squarespace mobile app (iOS and Android) lets you:

Both apps are functional for managing your business remotely, though Shopify's is more feature-rich for ecommerce-specific tasks.

Backup and Data Export

Shopify Backup

Shopify automatically backs up your store data, but there's no built-in way to create manual backups of your full site design and settings.

You can export:

For full site backups including theme customizations, you need third-party apps like Rewind Backups.

Squarespace Backup

Squarespace automatically backs up your site continuously. You can't download a complete backup of your site, but you can export:

Site content and design can't be easily exported, making you somewhat locked into the platform.

Scalability: Growing Your Business

Shopify Scalability

Shopify is built to scale from first sale to IPO. The platform handles:

Shopify Plus (enterprise plan) supports businesses doing tens of millions in annual revenue with features like dedicated support, custom checkout, and priority API access.

Squarespace Scalability

Squarespace can handle growth for small to medium-sized businesses but has practical limits:

If you're planning aggressive growth, you'll likely outgrow Squarespace and need to migrate. That's not a deal-breaker for early-stage businesses, but it's worth considering.

Membership Sites and Digital Products

Squarespace Advantage

Squarespace excels at membership sites and digital products:

This makes Squarespace ideal for:

Shopify for Digital Products

Shopify can sell digital products, but it requires apps like Digital Downloads or SendOwl. It's functional but not as elegant as Squarespace's native solution.

For businesses primarily selling digital products or memberships, Squarespace is often the better choice.

Real-World Business Scenarios

Let's look at specific business types and which platform makes more sense:

Choose Squarespace If You're:

Choose Shopify If You're:

The Bottom Line: Which Should You Choose?

Choose Squarespace if:

Start your Squarespace free trial →

Choose Shopify if:

What About Alternatives?

If neither feels right:

Final Recommendations by Business Stage

Just Starting (Testing an Idea)

Squarespace. Lower cost, easier to build a professional-looking site quickly, good enough features to validate your product. Take advantage of the 14-day free trial and test it.

Early Stage (First 100 Customers)

Either works. If you're product-focused → Shopify. If you're brand/content-focused → Squarespace. Both can handle early growth.

Growth Stage (100-1,000 Customers/Month)

Shopify for most, unless you're purely services/appointments. You'll want the advanced features, multichannel selling, and scalability.

Established (1,000+ Customers/Month)

Shopify or BigCommerce. You've likely outgrown Squarespace's capabilities and need enterprise features, advanced inventory management, and serious scalability.

The Decision Framework

Still unsure? Ask yourself these questions:

  1. What percentage of your business is ecommerce? Over 80% → Shopify. Under 50% → Squarespace.
  2. How many product variants do you need? Over 250 per product → Shopify. Under 250 → Either works.
  3. Do you need appointment booking? Yes, it's central → Squarespace. Nice to have → Either works.
  4. Will you sell in physical locations? Yes, regularly → Shopify. Occasionally → Squarespace can work.
  5. How important is design/aesthetics? Critical → Squarespace. Less important → Shopify.
  6. What's your technical comfort level? Low → Squarespace. High → Either works.
  7. Do you need to sell on multiple marketplaces? Yes → Shopify. No → Either works.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake #1: Choosing Based on Price Alone

The cheapest option isn't always the best. Calculate total cost including apps, themes, and time spent managing the platform.

Mistake #2: Ignoring Future Needs

Think 2-3 years ahead. Will you outgrow the platform? Migrating later is painful.

Mistake #3: Not Using Free Trials

Both platforms offer trials. Build a test store on each before committing.

Mistake #4: Underestimating Inventory Complexity

Count your variants carefully. That 250 limit on Squarespace comes faster than you think.

Mistake #5: Choosing the Wrong Platform for Your Business Model

Service businesses on Shopify end up paying for features they don't need. Product businesses on Squarespace hit limitations quickly.

Making the Switch: What to Expect

If you decide to migrate between platforms:

Budget 20-40 hours for a proper migration including design, data transfer, and testing.

Expect temporary SEO impact. URL changes and site restructuring can temporarily affect rankings. Plan accordingly.

Test everything. Checkout, shipping calculations, tax settings, email notifications - test every flow before going live.

Consider hiring help. Professional migration services cost $500-2,000 but save time and prevent costly mistakes.

Conclusion: There's No Wrong Choice

The right choice depends on what you're building. Both Squarespace and Shopify are excellent platforms - just for different jobs.

Squarespace is for beautiful, content-rich websites that happen to sell things. It's perfect for creatives, service providers, and small shops where brand and design matter most.

Shopify is for serious online stores where selling is the primary function. It's built for scale, complex inventory, and multichannel commerce.

Most importantly: don't get paralysis by analysis. Pick one, start building, and focus on creating great products and content. Your platform matters less than your execution.

You can always migrate later if needed. But the best platform is the one you actually launch on.