Shopify vs Squarespace

Your 2025 Guide to Choosing the Perfect E-commerce Platform

Compare features, pricing, and capabilities to find the ideal platform for your online business

Updated for 2025
Expert Analysis

Summary

2025 Platform Overview

Choose Your Perfect E-commerce Solution

Shopify

Enterprise-grade e-commerce platform with powerful features, extensive customization, and scalability. Ideal for growing businesses and large-scale operations.

$5 - $2,300+ monthly

Squarespace

Intuitive platform with beautiful templates, perfect for creative professionals and small businesses needing both content and commerce capabilities.

$16 - $99 monthly

Platform Comparison

Compare key features and capabilities of Shopify and Squarespace to make an informed decision

E-commerce Features

Shopify

Enterprise-grade features including unlimited products, multi-channel selling, advanced inventory management, and automated dropshipping

Squarespace

Suitable for small to medium businesses with basic inventory management, product variants, and digital downloads

Design Flexibility

Shopify

Over 100 professional themes, full HTML/CSS access, and extensive app marketplace for customization

Squarespace

Award-winning templates with intuitive drag-and-drop editor and built-in image editing tools

SEO Tools

Shopify

Comprehensive SEO toolkit, structured data support, and advanced app integrations for optimization

Squarespace

Built-in SEO tools, automatic XML sitemaps, and AMP support for mobile optimization

Payment Processing

Shopify

100+ payment gateways, Shopify Payments with reduced fees (2.4-2.9% + 30¢), cryptocurrency support

Squarespace

Square, Stripe, PayPal integration with 3% transaction fees on Core plan, 0% on Plus and Advanced plans

App Ecosystem

Shopify

Over 8,000 apps for extending functionality, including marketing, inventory, and automation tools

Squarespace

Limited but curated extensions focusing on essential business needs

Marketing Tools

Shopify

Advanced email marketing, social media integration, abandoned cart recovery, and marketing automation

Squarespace

Email campaigns, social media integration, and basic marketing tools included

Shopify

Best For

  • Large-scale e-commerce operations
  • Multi-channel sellers
  • International businesses
  • Custom development needs

Pros

  • Powerful e-commerce features
  • Extensive app marketplace
  • Advanced inventory management
  • Multiple sales channels
  • Robust API and customization

Cons

  • Higher monthly costs
  • Transaction fees for external gateways
  • Can require technical knowledge
  • Premium themes can be expensive

Squarespace

Best For

  • Creative professionals
  • Small businesses
  • Service-based businesses
  • Content-focused websites

Pros

  • Beautiful templates
  • All-in-one platform
  • Easy to use interface
  • Built-in marketing tools
  • Integrated analytics

Cons

  • Limited e-commerce features
  • Fewer integration options
  • Less flexibility for customization
  • Limited payment gateways

Pricing Plans

Shopify Payments

2.4-2.9% + 30¢ per transaction

Squarespace Commerce

2.9% + 30¢ per transaction

Shopify

Shopify Starter

$5/mo
  • Sell on social media and messaging apps
  • Add buy buttons to existing website
  • Basic inventory management

Basic Shopify

$39/mo
  • 2 staff accounts
  • Up to 1,000 inventory locations
  • 2.9% + 30¢ online payment fees
  • Basic reports

Shopify

$105/mo
  • 5 staff accounts
  • Professional reports
  • 2.6% + 30¢ online payment fees
  • International domains & currencies

Advanced Shopify

$399/mo
  • 15 staff accounts
  • Custom report builder
  • 2.4% + 30¢ online payment fees
  • Third-party calculated shipping rates

Shopify Plus

$2,300+/mo
  • Enterprise-grade solutions
  • Advanced automation
  • Custom integrations
  • Dedicated support team

Squarespace

Basic

$16/mo
  • Free custom domain for 1 year
  • Unlimited bandwidth
  • Basic website analytics
  • Mobile-optimized website

Core

$23/mo
  • Professional email from Google
  • Complete website analytics
  • 3% transaction fees
  • Premium integrations & blocks

Plus

$39/mo
  • Point of Sale integration
  • Customer accounts
  • 0% transaction fees
  • Products, orders & inventory

Advanced

$99/mo
  • Abandoned cart recovery
  • Advanced shipping
  • Advanced discounts
  • Subscription products

Find Your Perfect Platform

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Frequently Asked Questions

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