Shopify and Squarespace are two popular products that business owners, entrepreneurs, and creative types use to conduct business. Both are known for meeting the requirements of e-commerce or online store businesses. To meet their specific requirements and needs, entrepreneurs, business owners, and organizations must distinguish the differences between software solutions to determine the best solution for their business.
Shopify is an e-commerce platform that helps companies create an online store, manage transactions, and process payments. In contrast, Squarespace is a website builder that allows a company to create a website for any purpose, including an e-commerce website. Both software products have similar functionality, such as point-of-sale (POS) and e-commerce capabilities, but different pricing structures.
Shopify vs. Squarespace: Comparison table
Both software solutions may have similar features, but one feature may be better suited to meet a specific need or have an added capability that can be a deciding factor for a business. The provided comparison table will highlight similar features and note the differences.
| Platform and functionality | Designed as an e-commerce platform | Focus on website building, including building an e-commerce website |
| Payment gateway | Apple Pay, PayPal, and Stripe, ACH debits, credit and debit cards | Apple Pay, ACH debits, and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) |
| Payment methods | Can be configured to accept payments from multiple payment providers | Can be configured to accept payments, but it is limited |
| Easy to use and learn | Steeper learning curve | Yes, particularly for beginners |
| Shipping options | Offers more shipping options, including multiple shipping carriers | Limited shipping option |
| Integrations and compatibility | Connects to more business applications | Connects to a limited number of business applications |
| Starting price | $25 | $25 |
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Shopify vs Squarespace: Pricing
The pricing for these software products can be a deciding factor for large, medium, and small businesses.
Shopify pricing
Shopify has a free trial period of only three days. Shopify also allows interested customers an extended three-month trial period for one dollar a month. Shopify’s Advanced plan comes with more features and lower rates to meet the needs of a growing business. The enterprise version is designed for high-volume businesses.
Shopify tiered plans start with the basic subscription:
- Free 3-day trial period
- Basic: $25 per month
- Shopify: $65 per month
- Advanced: $399 per month
- Enterprise: $,2300 per month
Shopify’s POS system can operate in multiple countries. That said, their pricing may be out of reach for a small business. For global enterprise organizations, Shopify’s international capabilities and features will serve you best.
Squarespace pricing
Squarespace tiered plans are not as expensive as Shopify. Squarespace starts with the personal plan.
- Free 14-day trial period
- Basic: $25 per month
- Core: $36 per month
- Plus: $56 per month
- Advanced: $139 per month
Squarespace also has a POS system, but it’s only available for U.S. customers. Both competing platforms will have transaction fees added to usage costs. Squarespace is the best choice if there are budget constraints, provided you only have U.S. customers.
Squarespace offers refund money-back guarantees and free domain registration, making it more attractive for budget-minded businesses.
Shopify vs Squarespace: Feature comparison
Performance
Shopify’s performance is better for e-commerce stores. Shopify outperforms Squarespace for large online stores due to the number of e-commerce features available.
Shopify Performance
Shopify’s third-party selection options and e-commerce features will outperform a created Squarespace website. Its advanced features, like payment gateways and dropshipping, outperform Squarespace even when the primary platform is Squarespace.
Plus, Shopify’s uptime guarantee, automated backups, and real-time monitoring for threats 24/7 is the best choice for enterprise organizations needing reliable performance.
Squarespace Performance
Squarespace is designed for small businesses with limited coding knowledge but wants staff to easily create and manage a website. Small businesses or entrepreneurs requiring basic e-commerce functionality should consider Squarespace.
The solution is also suitable for content-driven websites specializing in blogs, reviews, or educational topics. A content-driven website also uses Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which helps users find specific content quickly.
E-commerce features and functionality
Shopify’s e-commerce platform is designed for any business size, while Squarespace caters better to mid to small businesses.
Shopify e-commerce
Shopify provides a user-friendly interface that allows a semi-knowledgeable person to build an online store in a reasonable time. It features more marketing and functional business applications like order management and accounting in its e-commerce solution that can operate internationally. Additionally, Shopify offers more shipping options and multiple payment methods to accept payments from customers globally.
Its marketing features, payment options, and social media integration make it more suitable for a marketing-based business. If a marketing feature is missing a crucial element, Shopify can add that essential element by using an extension, API, or HTML.
Shopify is the best e-commerce solution since it’s specifically designed to perform e-commerce operations. Its third-party tools are more comprehensive than Squarespace, and the application marketplace gives Shopify the edge for features and functionality.
Squarespace e-commerce
Squarespace is better suited for small businesses, entrepreneurs, freelancers, bloggers, and creative types wanting to display their portfolios. Squarespace e-commerce capabilities can be integrated into a business website to process payments and manage inventory.
Developers can build a limited set of business functional applications. If developers cannot develop the application and a third-party tool is available, they can attempt to use the third-party integration tool to attain the full functionality of a business application.
Squarespace’s responsive design can scale your website up or down to fit any screen size. However, Squarespace may not scale up adequately with larger websites.
Integrations and compatibility
Both software solutions can integrate with other popular business software solutions. Squarespace can use Shopify online store to improve its online efficiency. Both solutions can be integrated with analytical software such as Google Analytics and other tracking software solutions.
Shopify integrations and compatibility
Shopify can integrate with several types of business applications. Business applications like inventory, accounting, customer relationship management (CRM), shipping, payment gateways, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) can integrate with Shopify. To address a specific need, developers can also use Shopify’s Software Development Kit (SDK), application marketplace, or Application Programming Interface (API).
More importantly, it can integrate into more business applications than Squarespace. Shopify can integrate into a Squarespace website or e-commerce store. However, Squarespace features cannot be used in a Shopify e-commerce online store. Shopify is the better product due to its integration capabilities.
Squarespace integrations and compatibility
Squarespace can integrate with applications like Syncee, Mailchimp, Pipedrive, and some payment gateways. Squarespace provides plugins that help organize content, highlight calls to action, or display specific content. The other plugins help reduce scrolling and collapsible sections, convert a video link into a customized popup, or guide users to important content.
Security
Both software solutions incorporate security features to protect business data. Each software provider uses state-of-the-art security features to ensure data is protected.
Shopify: Security
Shopify’s security features are built-in to protect sensitive payment information. Additionally, Shopify’s protections include a security team that constantly monitors threats. Automatic backups, threat protection, and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) are security resources used to protect business data.
Shopify provides better security protection due to its dedicated security team that can respond to immediate threats.
Squarespace: Security
Squarespace also has robust security measures to protect data, similar to Shopify. Backups, threat detection, and DDOS security features, including two-factor authentication like Shopify, are implemented.
Shopify pros and cons
Shopify pros
- Free trial period for 3-days or a three-month trial period for a $1 per month
- Security monitoring 24/7
- Provides 24/7 Customer Support
- Security
- Variety of templates
- Hosting websites
- Integrations
Shopify cons
- Pricing
- Content creation
- Email Hosting
- Customization due to limited drag-and-drop options and update conflicts
- Development process
- Transaction fees
- Exiting Shopify
- Difficult to learn
Squarespace pros and cons
Squarespace pros
- Affordable
- Free trial period for 14 days
- All-in-one software solution
- Drag and Drop feature
- Blogging
- E-commerce friendly
- Easy to learn
Squarespace cons
- Limited customization options
- Customer telephone support is lacking
- Limited E-commerce options
- Limited marketing tools
- Email Hosting
- Transaction fees
- Lacks third-party integration support
Should your organization use Shopify or Squarespace
Startups, entrepreneurs, or small businesses with fiscal constraints should select Squarespace for their e-commerce or website needs. Additionally, if a small business has employees with limited knowledge of information technology, Squarespace is the recommended choice.
Medium to large-size enterprise businesses with an international customer base must use Shopify. Businesses intending to grow a global customer base or grow at all should use Shopify. The application marketplace allows a large company to enhance its functionality to meet a business requirement in any functional area. Scalability, advanced analytics, and multi-channel selling enable a business to grow without moving away from Shopify.
Review methodology
Our review methodology compared pricing, performance, e-commerce capabilities, security, integration, and compatibility category by category. All features or functions were measured using a point system in each category. Some categories had a slight point difference. If a feature in that category was significant in point differential, then the deciding factor was the feature for either Squarespace or Shopify.
FAQ
What are the main differences between Shopify and Squarespace?
Shopify is an e-commerce-focused platform with advanced sales tools, while Squarespace is a website builder with e-commerce capabilities. Shopify excels in scalability, inventory management, and integrations, whereas Squarespace is ideal for visually appealing websites with built-in design flexibility but fewer e-commerce features.
Which platform is more cost-effective for small businesses?
Squarespace is generally more affordable for businesses focused on content and basic e-commerce. Shopify offers more powerful e-commerce tools but comes with higher monthly fees and transaction costs. Small businesses with simple online stores may find Squarespace sufficient, while Shopify is better for growing sales operations.
How do the e-commerce features of Shopify and Squarespace differ?
Shopify offers advanced inventory management, multi-channel selling, and extensive app integrations. Squarespace includes essential e-commerce tools like product pages, subscriptions, and digital downloads but lacks Shopify’s robust backend, automation, and POS options.
What payment gateways are available on Shopify and Squarespace?
Shopify supports over 100 payment gateways, including Shopify Payments, PayPal, and Stripe. Squarespace primarily integrates with Stripe, PayPal, and Square, offering fewer options but sufficient coverage for most small businesses.
Which platform is better suited for scaling a growing business?
Shopify is better for scaling, offering features like multi-channel sales, advanced analytics, extensive third-party integrations, and global commerce support. Squarespace can handle moderate growth but lacks the advanced tools needed for large-scale e-commerce operations.
