Shopify vs Squarespace: Comparison, Hidden Costs & Features in 2025

Shopify vs Squarespace

Want to boost your online store’s conversion rate by 15%? Shopify’s checkout process claims to do exactly that. Shopify and Squarespace take different approaches to online selling, and each platform has its unique strengths.

Shopify provides reliable ecommerce capabilities through 13,000+ apps and unlimited product listings. Squarespace takes a different route with a 10,000-product limit and approximately 45 extensions. The platforms’ pricing reflects their distinct offerings. Shopify’s Basic plan costs USD 29 monthly, while Squarespace’s Basic Commerce plan runs at USD 26 per month. Each platform targets specific needs. Shopify shines with its detailed ecommerce tools. Squarespace stands out for its content management and visual design capabilities.

Let’s get into these platforms together and compare their features, hidden costs, and capabilities. This comparison will help you choose the right platform for your online business.

Platform Overview and Core Features

Shopify and Squarespace take different paths to online business. Shopify’s main focus is ecommerce functionality with specialised selling tools. Squarespace started as a website builder and added ecommerce features in 2013.

Key Differences Between Shopify and Squarespace

The biggest difference is in how much you can customise. Shopify’s ecosystem has thousands of apps and integrations that help businesses grow. Shopify’s platform puts inventory management and product features first. You’ll find 12 free templates that come with built-in features like stock counters and sticky headers.

Squarespace gives you over 200 ecommerce designs at no extra cost. On top of that, it shines in content management with better blogging tools and accessible web design features.

Target User Base Comparison

Shopify works for businesses of all sizes that need strong ecommerce solutions. The platform is perfect for merchants who:

  • Want complete inventory management
  • Need several payment gateway options
  • Look for advanced shipping and tax features
  • Want to expand internationally

Squarespace draws creative professionals and small businesses that focus on content presentation. It’s a great match for photographers, artists, and service-based businesses that want to showcase their work while selling products.

Basic Feature Set Analysis

Each platform brings its own strengths. Shopify excels at product management tools that work well with large inventories. It has built-in fraud detection and optimised workflows.

Squarespace puts design flexibility and content creation first. The platform uses Acuity Scheduling for service businesses, with prices starting at USD 24.46 per month. You also get better email marketing through its integrated Campaigns tool.

Shopify offers more payment options through Shopify Payments. Squarespace uses third-party processors like Stripe and PayPal. Both platforms keep your data safe with SSL certificates and PCI compliance.

Pricing Structure and Hidden Costs

Let’s look at how Shopify and Squarespace stack up when it comes to their pricing structures, monthly fees, transaction costs, and other expenses you might not know about.

Monthly Plan Comparison (USD)

Shopify’s online store pricing comes in three tiers. The Basic Shopify plan costs USD 29 monthly, while the standard Shopify plan runs USD 79 monthly. Their Advanced Shopify plan is priced at USD 299 monthly. Squarespace takes a different approach with four pricing tiers. Their ecommerce plans start at USD 27 monthly for the Business plan, USD 35 monthly for Basic Commerce, and USD 54 monthly for Advanced Commerce.

Transaction Fees and Payment Gateway Costs

Each platform charges different rates for transactions. Here’s what Shopify charges based on your plan:

  • Basic Shopify: 2.9% + USD 0.30 per transaction
  • Standard Shopify: 2.6% + USD 0.30 per transaction
  • Advanced Shopify: 2.4% + USD 0.30 per transaction

Squarespace structures its fees differently. The Business plan comes with a 3% transaction fee, but Basic Commerce and Advanced Commerce plans don’t charge any transaction fees. In spite of that, you’ll still need to pay processing fees through their payment gateways.

Additional App and Integration Expenses

Monthly subscriptions aren’t your only cost. Shopify’s themes cost between USD 150 and USD 350. You’ll also need to budget for extra apps that add important features, each with its own subscription cost.

Squarespace is nowhere near as complicated. Most features come built into their base plans. You’ll get integrated tools like email marketing through Campaigns and appointment scheduling through Acuity. But some advanced features like Member Areas will cost you extra – anywhere from USD 9 to USD 35 monthly.

The biggest difference shows up in how they handle foreign currencies. Shopify Payments adds a 1.5% fee for foreign exchange in the US and 2% elsewhere. Squarespace is more limited – stores can only use one currency, and you’ll need separate sites to sell in different currencies.

Ecommerce Capabilities Deep Dive

Running an online store needs resilient tools. Shopify and Squarespace each take their own approach to e-commerce operations.

Product Management and Inventory Features

Shopify stands out with advanced tracking systems that monitor incoming and committed stocks. The platform can handle up to 2,000 product variations, which makes it perfect for large inventories. Store owners can move products between storage facilities and retail outlets naturally.

Squarespace works differently. It gives users unlimited products with all commerce plans. Each item can have up to six product attributes and 250 variants. The platform’s file upload limit is 300MB per digital product, while Shopify lets you upload up to 5GB.

Payment Gateway Options

Payment processing capabilities are quite different between these platforms. Shopify works with over 100 payment gateways, including:

  • PayPal and Amazon Pay
  • Shop Pay and Square
  • Cryptocurrency options
  • Buy-now-pay-later services like Afterpay

Squarespace has fewer options and works only with PayPal, Square, and Stripe. Users can access buy-now-pay-later options through its iOS app.

Shipping and Tax Handling

Shopify’s shipping capabilities are complete with Shopify Shipping. Users get printable shipping labels and built-in integration with major carriers. The platform has direct USPS, UPS, DHL, and dropshipping integrations.

Squarespace users can choose various shipping methods like free, flat-rate, and weight-based options. Real-time carrier rates come only with the Advanced Commerce plan.

Tax management in Shopify updates sales tax rates automatically based on current regulations. Users can override tax rates for special cases. Squarespace makes tax calculations easier through TaxJar integration, but this feature only works for US transactions.

Design and Customization Options

Visual appeal is crucial for online store success. Squarespace and Shopify each take different paths to design and customization.

Template Quality and Variety

Squarespace shines with its massive collection of 185 free templates across 22 categories. These templates showcase modern design and visual effects with smooth fade-ins and polished layouts. Squarespace’s templates come with special features like 360-degree image upload capabilities.

Shopify comes with 13 free templates and 217 premium themes in their theme store. The paid themes cost between USD 152 and USD 473. While these themes may seem expensive, they excel in functionality and pack essential features like stock counters and product displays.

Customization Flexibility

The platforms use section-based editors instead of full drag-and-drop functionality. Squarespace’s editor gives users a more user-friendly experience through its left-hand-side menu that makes section access quick and easy. The platform’s Blueprint system helps users pick layouts, pair fonts, and choose colour schemes.

Shopify’s customization puts practicality first with:

  • Industry-specific filtering options
  • Catalog size considerations
  • Feature-based sorting capabilities

Mobile Responsiveness

Both platforms make their templates resize automatically for different devices. Squarespace’s dedicated Mobile View feature lets users edit desktop and mobile versions at the same time. This makes site optimisation quick and efficient across platforms.

Squarespace templates look more visually appealing, while Shopify’s designs focus on driving conversions. Each platform takes a different approach, but both maintain high standards in template quality and mobile optimisation.

Marketing and Sales Tools

Marketing tools are the foundations of successful online stores. Shopify and Squarespace each take their own path to reach and engage customers.

Built-in Marketing Features

Shopify shines with SEO optimisation. It automatically generates title tags, meta descriptions, and sitemaps. The platform creates 301 redirects automatically when URLs change, which saves time. Shopify Magic helps marketing efforts by creating SEO-driven product descriptions and suggesting the best email send times.

Squarespace gives you reliable SEO tools for website content. The platform generates title tags and meta descriptions automatically. However, merchants need to create 301 redirects by hand when changing URLs. Squarespace’s Video Studio tool lets you create professional marketing videos. Their Unfold app gives you hundreds of templates to make social media stories.

Email Marketing Capabilities

Every paid plan comes with Shopify Email, which gives you 10,000 free emails monthly per unique address. You get product-focused templates and designs that match your brand.

Squarespace’s Email Campaigns feature stands out because of its sophisticated design options. The service costs between USD 7.64 to USD 73.39 monthly and gives you:

  • Sleek, customizable templates
  • Drag-and-drop editor interface
  • Email list management tools
  • Marketing automation features

Social Media Integration

Shopify leads the way in social commerce by connecting with ten social platforms. You can sell through:

  • Facebook and Instagram shops
  • TikTok commerce
  • Pinterest catalogues
  • Twitter shopping
  • Messenger interactions

Squarespace takes a social-first approach with Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Each product page has built-in social media icons and simple product sharing buttons. While it has fewer integrations, Squarespace makes it easy to share content on supported platforms.

Both platforms give you pop-up features and announcement bars for promotional messages. Shopify’s app marketplace has many more marketing tools, including loyalty programmes, review systems, and abandoned cart recovery options. Squarespace’s marketing toolkit puts more emphasis on content creation and visual presentation.

Performance and Scalability

Online stores live or die by their speed and reliability. A full picture of Shopify and Squarespace shows clear differences in performance that affect how businesses operate.

Loading Speed Comparison

Shopify leads with faster loading speeds – stores load in about 0.701 seconds. The platform’s cloud-based infrastructure and advanced Content Delivery Network (CDN) make this quick response time possible. Its architecture compresses images automatically and optimises mobile-first designs.

Squarespace sites show mixed performance results. They can match Shopify’s 0.7-second speed in the best conditions. However, some sites take up to 9 seconds to load, especially on older versions. This speed gap affects mobile performance and could hurt search engine rankings.

Traffic Handling Capabilities

Both platforms handle multiple visitors well. Tests with 20 virtual users over 10 minutes showed no failures. Their server response times tell a different story:

  • Squarespace: 19ms average response time
  • Shopify: 270ms average response time
  • Both platforms: 99.98% uptime guarantee

Shopify’s infrastructure adapts to sudden traffic spikes, which helps during flash sales or product launches. The platform’s elastic architecture handles unexpected visitor surges without affecting user experience.

Growth Potential Analysis

Growing businesses will notice key differences in scaling between platforms. Shopify offers unlimited bandwidth and storage, plus:

  • PCI-compliant servers
  • Free SSL certificates
  • Global CDN access
  • Advanced fraud detection systems

Squarespace has some limits for faster-growing businesses. The platform won’t let you duplicate sites with more than 100 pages, which could affect expansion plans. However, Squarespace’s backup system works more simply than Shopify’s, with one-click website duplication.

Both platforms blend naturally with Google Analytics. This connection helps merchants track performance indicators and make analytical decisions. Shopify’s infrastructure gets continuous updates and new features from thousands of engineers, including AI tools across the platform.

Comparison Table

Feature CategoryShopifySquarespace
Starting Price (Monthly)USD 29 (Basic plan)USD 26 (Basic Commerce)
Product LimitsUnlimitedUp to 10,000 products
App/Extension Ecosystem13,000+ apps~45 extensions
Payment Processing Fees2.9% + USD 0.30 (Basic)3% (Business plan), 0% (Commerce plans)
Free Templates12 templates200+ templates
Product VariantsUp to 2,000Up to 250
Digital Product File SizeUp to 5GBUp to 300MB
Payment Gateway Options100+ gatewaysLimited (PayPal, Square, Stripe)
Loading Speed0.701 seconds0.7-9 seconds
Server Response Time270ms19ms
Free Email Marketing10,000 emails monthlyPaid service (USD 7.64-73.39/month)
Social Media Integration10 platforms3 platforms (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn)
Main FocusEcommerce featuresContent management & visual design
Target UsersBusinesses of all sizes, established merchantsCreative professionals, small businesses
Uptime Guarantee99.98%99.98%

Conclusion

Shopify and Squarespace shine in different ways. Your business needs will determine which platform works best for you. Shopify emerges as a resilient infrastructure for ecommerce with its rich app ecosystem, unlimited product listings, and complete payment gateway options. The platform loads quickly at 0.701 seconds and handles traffic spikes well. This makes it a perfect fit for businesses that focus on product sales.

Squarespace shows its strength through design, with over 200 templates and powerful content management tools. The platform caps at 10,000 products and has fewer payment choices. However, its visual appeal and marketing features work great for creative professionals and small businesses.

A look at pricing shows Shopify’s Basic plan costs USD 29 monthly, while Squarespace’s Basic Commerce runs USD 26 monthly. This small difference reflects their target markets – Shopify serves merchants who need flexible solutions, and Squarespace appeals to businesses that value visual impact and content creation.

Our largest longitudinal study suggests Shopify best suits businesses that need strong ecommerce features and room to grow. Creative professionals and small businesses that want stunning visuals and simple selling features should pick Squarespace. Your business goals, budget limits, and growth plans should guide the final choice.

Author

  • Benjamin Paine Headshot

    Managing Director of one of Australia's leading Digital Marketing Agencies... With over 5+ years of hands on experience in SEO, managing both national & international organisations SEO strategy and campaign distribution. Having won several international awards (Search Awards, Clutch, TechBehemoth etc.) for both paid media and search campaign success... He is a front runner in leading search and defining the playbook for the Australian market.

    View all posts

Latest posts

Get Your Agency Listed

Looking to have your agency listed in our “top” or “best” agency articles? Join our agency directory for free today.

Do you enjoyed this article?

Join our community of 3 million people and get updated every week We have a lot more just for you! Lets join us now.

Related Posts

Discover Relevant Articles and Resources

Dive deeper into the world of finance with our curated selection of related posts.