Shopify vs Squarespace: Which Platform is Best for Your Online Store?

If you are starting an online store, you will run into the same fork in the road almost immediately: Shopify vs Squarespace. Both let you build a website and sell products, but they are built with different priorities.

• Shopify is built specifically for ecommerce: product management, checkout, payments, shipping, apps, and scaling.
• Squarespace is built primarily for beautiful websites and content, with ecommerce added on when you need it.

This guide breaks everything down for beginners, including pricing, ecommerce features, design, ease of use, SEO, apps, payments, support, scalability, and which one to pick based on your situation.

Quick verdict

Choose Shopify if your main goal is selling products and growing a real online store.

Choose Squarespace if your main goal is a beautiful brand site, portfolio, or content-first website with a smaller store attached.

Shopify’s £1 for 3 months offer: the cheapest way to try start.

If you have been sitting on the idea of starting an online store, Shopify’s current intro deal removes a lot of the risk. Right now you can try Shopify free for 3 days, then continue for £1 per month for 3 months. That is basically a low-cost runway to build your store properly before you commit to a full plan.

Why this offer matters for beginners

Most people do not fail because Shopify is “too hard”. They fail because they never give themselves enough time to set things up properly. This deal buys you breathing room to:

• Build your storefront, pages, and navigation without rushing
• Add products, variants, collections, and policies
• Set up payments, shipping rates, and taxes
• Test checkout end-to-end and place test orders
• Connect a domain and start basic marketing
• Launch, learn, tweak, and improve before paying normal pricing

Who should jump on it

This is especially useful if you are:

• Launching your first store and want a real ecommerce platform
• Planning to run ads soon and want time to get tracking and checkout right
• Unsure whether Shopify is worth it, but want to test it properly without spending much

Quick tip before you start

Use the trial period to build everything, then treat the £1 months as your “soft launch” period. Get your first products live, gather feedback, and fix the obvious issues before scaling traffic.

If you want, I can rewrite this section in a more salesy tone, or in a more neutral “comparison blog” tone so it fits your Shopify vs Squarespace article perfectly.

Overview: Shopify vs Squarespace

What is Shopify best at?

Shopify is a subscription platform built purely for ecommerce. It is designed to help you build and run an online store with everything from product and inventory management to payments and shipping. It is widely used by brands from tiny startups to huge stores.

What is Squarespace best at?

Squarespace started as a design-first website builder. It is known for templates, layout control, and an easy visual editor. Ecommerce is strong enough for many small businesses, but it is not as deep as Shopify when you get into advanced store operations.

Shopify vs Squarespace comparison table

Pricing: Shopify vs Squarespace

Pricing is not just the monthly plan. You also need to think about payment processing, transaction fees, and add-ons.

Shopify pricing

Shopify’s main plans for online stores are:

• Starter Offer : $1 for 3 months. (get it here)
• Basic: $39/month
• Shopify: $105/month
• Advanced: $399/month

Shopify includes store features like unlimited products, SSL, abandoned cart recovery, and support. You can reduce the effective monthly cost by paying annually.

Important: If you use Shopify Payments, Shopify does not charge an extra platform transaction fee. If you use an external gateway, Shopify adds a transaction fee (plan-dependent).

Squarespace pricing

Squarespace has multiple plans, but for selling products you typically look at:

• Business: $36/month (includes selling, but has a 3% transaction fee)
• Commerce Basic: $40/month (0% Squarespace transaction fees)
• Commerce Advanced: $72/month (0% Squarespace transaction fees plus more selling tools)

Key point: If you plan to sell consistently, you usually want Commerce Basic or Advanced so you avoid the 3% fee on the Business plan.

Which is cheaper?

Right now, Shopify is significantly cheaper to try than it normally is thanks to its current introductory offer:

• 3 days free
• Then $1 per month for 3 months

That means you can run a real Shopify store for £3 total over three months while you build, test, and even launch your business. During that time, you get access to Shopify’s full ecommerce infrastructure, not a cut-down version.

Ecommerce features: Which is better for selling?

Product management and inventory

Shopify is built for managing products at scale. You get bulk editing, better workflows, multi-location inventory options, CSV imports, and an admin designed around running a store.

Squarespace supports strong product basics, but management can feel slower when your catalog grows. If you have dozens of products, it can feel fine. If you have hundreds or are constantly updating stock, Shopify tends to feel easier.

Physical products vs digital products vs services

Both platforms can sell:

• Physical products
• Digital products

For services and appointments:

• Squarespace offers Scheduling as an add-on, which is great if bookings matter.
• Shopify usually uses an app for booking-style services.

Variants and options

Both can handle product variants like size and colour. Shopify is more robust when you have complex option setups, and you can extend it further with apps if needed.

Checkout and abandoned carts

• Shopify’s checkout is widely considered best-in-class, with strong optimisation and conversion focus.
• Shopify includes abandoned cart recovery on its entry plan.
• Squarespace’s abandoned cart recovery is typically tied to higher commerce tiers.

If you care about conversion rate from day one, Shopify is usually stronger.

Shipping and fulfilment

Shopify has more mature shipping tooling and a larger ecosystem for fulfilment, label printing, carrier rates, and automation.

Squarespace can handle shipping basics and has carrier tools on higher plans, but Shopify generally wins if shipping gets complex.

Dropshipping

Shopify is the clear winner for dropshipping because of the huge range of dropshipping apps and integrations.

Squarespace can do some dropshipping via a limited set of integrations, but it is not the same depth.

Design and customisation: Which one looks better?

Squarespace design

Squarespace is famous for templates that look polished right away. If your store is part of a brand story, portfolio, or aesthetic experience, Squarespace is a strong choice.

The editor is visual and flexible, and beginners can get a high-end look without touching code.

Shopify design

Shopify themes are designed for ecommerce performance. Free themes are solid, and paid themes often look fantastic.

Shopify can look just as good as Squarespace, but you may need:

• A premium theme
• More setup time
• Some custom code if you want very unique layouts

Simple rule: If design control is your top priority and your store is smaller, Squarespace feels easier. If selling and conversion is your top priority, Shopify themes are built for that.

Ease of use: Which is easier for beginners?

Squarespace is easier for website building

Squarespace is generally simpler for beginners because:

• Everything is managed in one place
• Editing is visual and direct
• It is content-first by nature

Shopify is easy, but more “store-first”

Shopify is still beginner-friendly, but you will deal with more store settings: shipping rules, tax settings, payment gateways, apps, product collections, and so on.

If you are store-first, this is a good thing. If you are website-first and only selling a little, it may feel like extra work.

SEO: Shopify vs Squarespace for Google rankings

Both platforms can rank well. Neither guarantees traffic. You still need content, good structure, and keyword targeting.

Core SEO features

Both Shopify and Squarespace support:

• Custom page titles and meta descriptions
• Custom URLs
• Mobile responsive templates
• SSL security
• Sitemaps
• 301 redirects
• Image alt text

Blogging and content marketing

Squarespace has the edge for content creators because the blogging experience is richer and more natural.

Shopify’s blogging is functional, but not as content-friendly out of the box. Many Shopify stores still rank extremely well, especially when they commit to content.

If your SEO strategy is content-heavy, Squarespace feels more natural.

If your SEO strategy is product and category driven at scale, Shopify often wins.

Apps and integrations

Shopify app ecosystem

Shopify’s app ecosystem is one of its biggest advantages. You can add:

• Email marketing
• Reviews
• Upsells and bundles
• Loyalty programs
• Advanced analytics
• Subscriptions
• Fulfilment integrations
• B2B tooling

This flexibility is also where costs can creep up if you install too many paid apps.

Squarespace extensions

Squarespace has fewer extensions and relies more on built-in functionality. That can be nice if you want simplicity, but it can also be limiting if you need a specific ecommerce feature later.

Payments and fees

Shopify payments

• Shopify Payments is the smoothest setup
• Many gateway options
• Extra transaction fee if you avoid Shopify Payments
• Better multi-currency options

Squarespace payments

• Primarily Stripe and PayPal
• Simple setup
• Commerce plans have no Squarespace transaction fee
• Less flexibility for gateway choice and multi-currency

If you are selling internationally and want local currencies, Shopify is usually better.

Support: Who helps you faster?

• Shopify: 24/7 chat and email, plus phone support in many regions.
• Squarespace: 24/7 email, live chat in set hours, no phone support.

If you value being able to get help instantly, Shopify tends to win here.

Scalability: Which one grows with you?

Shopify scalability

Shopify is built to scale. You can run a small store or a very large one, and the platform is designed for higher complexity: more products, more orders, more staff workflows, more integrations.

Squarespace scalability

Squarespace is great for small to mid-size stores. It can grow with you for a while, but businesses that become store-heavy often switch to Shopify later.

If you are serious about becoming ecommerce-first long-term, Shopify is the safer bet.

Real-world use cases: Which should you pick?

Pick Squarespace if you are:

• A creator selling a small range of products
• A service business that needs a great website and light ecommerce
• A brand that is content-first (blog, portfolio, storytelling)
• Someone who wants a beautiful site fast, with minimal setup

Pick Shopify if you are:

• Launching a store-first business
• Planning to run ads and optimise conversion
• Dropshipping or using fulfilment services
• Expecting a growing product catalog
• Needing lots of integrations (email, CRM, reviews, upsells)
• Wanting in-person selling with a proper POS

Pros and cons summary

Shopify pros

• Best-in-class ecommerce foundation
• Scales extremely well
• Massive app ecosystem
• Lots of payment options and selling channels
• Strong support availability

Shopify cons

• Higher starting cost
• Apps can add ongoing expenses
• Design control can require premium themes or code

Squarespace pros

• Gorgeous templates and strong design experience
• Easier for beginners building a website
• Great blogging and content tools
• All-in-one feel with fewer moving parts

Squarespace cons

• Less ecommerce depth for complex stores
• Smaller integrations ecosystem
• Can feel limiting as store operations grow

Final recommendation: Shopify vs Squarespace

If your goal is to build a real ecommerce business, with growth, ads, optimisation, and a catalogue that may expand, Shopify is the better long-term platform.

If your goal is to build a beautiful website where selling is secondary, or your store is small and curated, Squarespace is the smoother, more design-forward choice.

FAQ: Shopify vs Squarespace

Is Shopify better than Squarespace for ecommerce?

Generally yes. Shopify is built for ecommerce first, with deeper selling features and more integrations.

Is Squarespace cheaper than Shopify?

Squarespace can be cheaper at the start, especially if you want a design-first website with light selling. Shopify can be better value as your store becomes more complex.

Which is better for SEO, Shopify or Squarespace?

Both can rank well. Squarespace is often nicer for blogging and content marketing. Shopify is often stronger for ecommerce SEO at scale.

Can you migrate from Squarespace to Shopify later?

Yes, but it takes time. Product data can be moved more easily than blog and design. If you think you will become store-first, starting on Shopify can save you hassle later.