Quick answer
- Choose Shopify for serious product selling, larger catalogs, POS and growth.
- Choose Squarespace for a design-led brand or portfolio site with a modest shop.
- Both are hosted, secure and beginner-friendly.
Shopify vs Squarespace at a glance
| Shopify | Squarespace | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Ecommerce | Design-led websites |
| Starting store price | $29/mo (Basic, yearly) | Commerce plans from about $23/mo yearly |
| Templates | Conversion-focused themes | Award-winning designs |
| Catalog size | Any | Small–medium |
| Payments | Shopify Payments, Shop Pay + many gateways | Stripe, PayPal, Square, others |
| App ecosystem | Very large | Small |
| POS | Shopify POS | Limited |
| Our score | 9.4 | 8.1 |
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Design
Squarespace wins on out-of-the-box beauty. Its templates are cohesive and it's hard to make a Squarespace site look bad. Shopify themes look professional and are tuned for selling, with product-focused layouts and fast mobile pages.
Ecommerce depth
Shopify is far deeper: multi-location inventory, advanced discounts, abandoned cart flows, international selling, wholesale and thousands of apps. Squarespace covers products, digital downloads, services and subscriptions nicely, but reaches its limits sooner.
Growth
If you expect to grow your catalog, add sales channels or sell internationally, Shopify is the safer long-term bet. Migrating later is possible but disruptive.
Who should choose which?
- Photographers, artists, designers, consultants: Squarespace, unless the shop is the main business.
- Product brands of any size: Shopify.
- Handmade sellers: either, but see best platform for handmade items.
Our verdict
If your business is selling products, choose Shopify. If your business is your creative work and the shop is a side channel, Squarespace is a lovely choice.
Try Shopify free (opens in a new tab)Frequently asked questions
Is Squarespace good for ecommerce?
Yes, for small and medium catalogs, especially creative brands. It's less suited to large inventories, complex variants and multichannel growth.
Is Squarespace cheaper than Shopify?
Squarespace's commerce plans start slightly lower. Check whether lower tiers add transaction fees, and compare features at the plan you'd actually need.
Which has better templates?
Squarespace is famous for its templates and is hard to beat on looks out of the box. Shopify's themes are more conversion-focused.