Shopify vs Squarespace: Comprehensive comparison guide for 2024

Final verdict

Shopify and Squarespace serve different niches within the website builder market, each excelling in its own right.

• 
  Shopify (Overall Grade: 8.1/10)
  
  is the superior choice for users looking for a dedicated ecommerce platform. With its comprehensive set of ecommerce features, advanced marketing tools, superior hosting quality, and robust security measures, Shopify is tailored for businesses aiming to scale. Its extensive app store and AI capabilities further enhance its appeal to online stores seeking to optimize operations and sales.
• 
  Squarespace (Overall Grade: 7.9/10)
  
  , while slightly trailing behind Shopify in the overall score, shines with its user-friendly design and ease of use, making it an excellent choice for creatives, small businesses, and users prioritizing aesthetics and simplicity. Squarespace’s strength lies in its beautiful templates, intuitive website editor, and solid basic ecommerce features, catering well to users who need a professional online presence without the complexity of a full-fledged ecommerce platform.

	Overall grade: 8.1	Overall grade: 7.9
Design Functionalities & Templates	8.2	8.0
Ease of Use	7.5	8.3
Ecommerce	9.2	8.2
Website Editors	7.9	8.3
Product Testing Options	8.1	7.4
Price	8.2	8.4
Hosting Quality	9.0	7.6
Website Speed Optimization	7.8	6.7
Plugins and Integrations	8.7	6.8
Marketing Features	8.8	8.1
Customer Support	8.6	7.8
Security	9.0	8.8
AI Capabilities	7.9	7.5
User Management	6.5	7.4
Overall	8.1	7.9

Best for ecommerce

9.2

8.2

Verdict

: Shopify shines for larger, more complex online stores with its extensive ecommerce features and scalability. Squarespace is best for those prioritizing ease of use and design.

• 
  Shopify
  
  : With a score of 9.2, Shopify is a powerhouse for ecommerce, offering advanced inventory management, a wide range of payment gateways, and detailed analytics. It’s designed for businesses looking to scale and diversify their online presence.
• 
  Squarespace
  
  : Scoring 8.2, Squarespace offers a more streamlined ecommerce experience with an intuitive interface and beautiful templates. While it may not match Shopify’s depth in ecommerce functionalities, it’s a solid choice for businesses focusing on design and simplicity.

Best for informational & business websites

6.8

8.4

• 
  Shopify
  
  : Known for its ecommerce strengths, Shopify can still support informational sites but is not as optimized for this purpose as Squarespace. Its focus on online stores means that while it can serve business websites, it might not offer the same level of design flexibility and ease of use for purely informational sites.
• 
  Squarespace
  
  : Squarespace shines in creating professional, aesthetically pleasing informational and business websites. With a higher score in this category, it demonstrates superior capabilities in offering user-friendly, versatile templates and tools that cater well to businesses looking to establish a strong online presence without an ecommerce focus.

Detailed comparison

8.2

8.0

Winner: Shopify.

If you’re looking for a platform that offers more ecommerce-focused design functionalities and templates, Shopify is the preferred choice.

Shopify’s templates are sleek and professional, ideal for ecommerce sites. They offer a sophisticated look with a focus on online stores. While the free template selection is not large, Shopify’s premium theme store provides a variety of industry-specific options, offering advanced features for a strong brand presence.

Shopify Themes

On the other hand, Squarespace boasts an impressive variety of website templates, offering over 120 pre-designed options to choose from. These templates cater to a wide range of needs and industries, from creative portfolios and sleek online stores to professional business websites and personal blogs.

Squarespace Themes

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7.5

8.3

🏆 Winner: Squarespace

. With a score of 8.3, Squarespace is known for its user-friendly interface and straightforward navigation, making it a great choice for those seeking a hassle-free website creation experience. Shopify, scoring 7.5, also offers a robust platform but with a steeper learning curve, especially for those new to ecommerce.

Learning Resources

🏆 Winner: Squarespace

. Both platforms offer solid learning resources, but Squarespace goes a step further with its comprehensive Help Center, clear video tutorials, live webinars, an informative blog, and an active community forum. This ensures a varied and accessible learning experience for users of all levels.

9.2

8.2

Shopify and Squarespace both offer robust ecommerce solutions, but they cater to different needs. Shopify, with a score of 9.2, is a leading ecommerce platform that provides a comprehensive set of features for online businesses. It’s ideal for businesses that require advanced inventory management and detailed analytics. On the other hand, Squarespace, scoring 8.2, is a user-friendly ecommerce solution that simplifies online store setup with an intuitive interface and customizable templates. It’s a good fit for businesses that value secure payment processing and built-in marketing tools.

Ecommerce themes and templates	8.2	7.5
Product page customization	8.5	7.0
Payment processing and commissions	8.8	7.8
POS capabilities	8.1	6.5
Payment gateways	9.5	7.5
Product numbers	9.0	6.8
Additional ecommerce features	9.1	7.2

Shopify ecommerce features:

• Comprehensive store builder
• Shopify Payments and other gateways
• Advanced inventory management
• Multi-channel selling
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Detailed analytics and reporting

Squarespace ecommerce features:

• Intuitive interface
• Secure payment processing
• Built-in marketing tools
• SEO optimization
• Website analytics

Ecommerce themes & templates

Shopify offers about 150 modern responsive themes for creating a virtual storefront, ensuring a good look on both desktop and mobile devices. While some themes are free, others cost between $170 to $380. Squarespace, on the other hand, provides a diverse selection of around 50 ecommerce templates, catering to various industries like fashion, beauty, home goods, and technology. These templates range from clean and minimalist to bold and colorful, accommodating different brand aesthetics and product types.

Product page customization

Shopify allows three options per product, totaling 100 unique variations. While Shopify offers titles, descriptions, and image galleries with zoom effects, customization options like adding ribbons, size charts, and wishlists are not as straightforward. However, Shopify distinguishes itself with additional features through its extensive library of extra apps, offering functionalities like reviews, Facebook stores, eBay item importers, and a unique Augmented Reality feature for an enhanced customer experience.

Squarespace offers options for layout, design, and interactive elements on product pages. Features like customizable buttons, wishlists, comparisons, reviews, and related products enhance engagement. Advanced options include custom code injection and third-party app integrations. However, limitations include fixed core page structure and the need for technical expertise.

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Payment processing

Shopify offers payments with typical charges of 2.9% + 30¢ per online transaction on basic plans, and lower fees for higher-tier plans. However, it adds extra fees for using other payment gateways. Shopify Payments is Shopify’s own payment processing gateway, simplifying the payment process, reducing transaction fees, and streamlining the handling of finances.

Squarespace provides flexible payment processing for online stores with integrated gateways like Stripe and PayPal. External gateways can be set up for specific needs. Transaction fees may apply depending on the plan and payment method. Security measures include PCI compliance and fraud prevention. Additional features include payment links, support for subscriptions, and the ability to accept international payments in various currencies.

7.9

8.3

🏆

Winner: Squarespace

. Squarespace, with a score of 8.3, offers a user-friendly editor that allows easy drag-and-drop website creation without coding. With visually appealing templates and customization options, it caters to beginners and pros alike. The real-time editing experience ensures instant previews. Prioritizing content, it’s mobile-responsive and offers functional features like forms, social media integration, and online stores. Squarespace seamlessly integrates with tools for extended capabilities.

Shopify’s editor, scoring 7.9, excels in providing a streamlined, ecommerce-focused editing experience. It’s particularly beneficial for users who prioritize efficient management of online stores. The editor is straightforward, making it easy to add products, manage inventory, and set up payment methods. While it may not offer the same level of design flexibility as Squarespace, Shopify’s editor is optimized for sales and business growth, with built-in tools specifically designed for ecommerce businesses.

8.0

8.5

🏆

Winner: Squarespace

. Both Shopify and Squarespace offer mobile apps for managing your website, but they cater to different needs and skill levels. Shopify’s mobile app is more focused on ecommerce, allowing users to manage their online stores directly from their mobile devices. This includes adding, removing, editing, and rearranging content on the store’s website, offering convenient on-the-go adjustments to the store’s appearance and layout.

Squarespace, on the other hand, offers a more general website management experience through its mobile app. It allows users to edit content, view website analytics, manage their online store, and schedule social media posts. However, it’s worth noting that some complex tasks such as advanced design customization or creating new page layouts require access to the desktop editor, as the app doesn’t offer the full range of functionalities available on desktop.

In summary, Squarespace receives a slightly higher rating due to its broader range of website management features, while Shopify is strong in ecommerce management but may be better suited for users with some experience.

8.1

7.4

Overall Result

:

Shopify Wins

. Shopify scores 8.1, offering the benefit of testing all features, including premium ones, during its 14-day free trial. Squarespace, scoring 7.4, also provides a 14-day free trial, but with limitations on testing some premium features such as custom code, premium integrations, and removal of Squarespace branding.

Free Plan	No (14-day free trial)	No (14-day free trial)
Trial Duration	14 days	14 days
Testing Premium Features	All features during free trial	Limited to non-premium features

8.2

8.4

Shopify and Squarespace both offer competitive pricing, but Squarespace scores slightly higher in terms of price. Shopify offers a 20% discount on annual subscriptions, while Squarespace offers discounts ranging from 25% to 30% depending on the plan. Both platforms also offer enterprise plans for larger businesses, with Shopify’s starting at $2,000 per month and Squarespace’s varying depending on specific requirements.

	Offerings	Offerings
$10-$15	No offering at this amount.	Personal ($12/month): Build a basic website with limited features for personal use. Access to basic templates, mobile-friendly design, and some social media integrations. Value for price: 5.0
$15-$20	No offering at this amount.	Business ($16/month): Upgrade features with custom domain, SEO tools, marketing tools like email campaigns, and analytics. Value for price: 6.5
$20-$30	Shopify Basic ($29/month): Unlimited products, 2.9% + 30¢ card fee with Shopify payments, Extra 2% gateway fee without Shopify Payments, Abandoned cart recovery, Automated sales tax, Digital products, POS Integration, 2 staff accounts. Value for price: 8.0	Commerce ($26/month): Perfect for online stores with built-in eCommerce functionality (unlimited products), secure checkout, inventory management, and marketing tools. Value for price: 8.0
$40-$80	Shopify Standard ($79/month): Lower card fees (2.6% + 30¢), Gift cards, Professional reports, 5 staff accounts. Value for price: 8.5	Advanced Commerce ($40/month): Cater to high-volume stores with advanced eCommerce features like abandoned cart recovery, product subscriptions, gift cards, and real-time shipping quotes. Value for price: 9.0
$200+	Advanced Shopify ($299/month): Lowest card fees (2.49% + 30¢), Advanced report builder, Real-time carrier shipping, Up to 15 staff accounts Value for price: 8.8	No offering at this amount.

9.0

7.6

Winner: Shopify

. Shopify’s hosting quality is superior, with a 99.99% uptime guarantee and five global data centers. It offers unlimited bandwidth and storage in all plans, making it ideal for growing businesses. Squarespace also provides reliable hosting with a 99.9% uptime guarantee and data centers across North America, Europe, and Asia. However, it falls slightly short in comparison to Shopify’s offerings.

Do they offer hosting?	Yes, included in all paid plans	Yes, included in all paid plans
Data Centers:	5 globally: USA (Ashburn, Virginia; Santa Clara, California), Canada (Toronto, Ontario), Ireland (Dublin), and Singapore	Data centers are strategically scattered across North America, Europe, and Asia
Type of hosting:	Proprietary cloud-based hosting	Proprietary cloud-based hosting
Uptime:	99.99%	99.9%
Uptime Guarantee:	Yes, 99.99%	Yes

7.8

6.7

🏆 Winner: Shopify

Both Shopify and Squarespace prioritize website performance and page speed, but Shopify’s score of 7.8 outperforms Squarespace’s 6.7 in website speed optimization.

Focus	App optimization, Google AMP	Responsive design, image optimization
Performance Tools	Google Lighthouse, PageSpeed Insights	Google PageSpeed Insights Integration
Key Strategies	App efficiency, Theme optimization	Responsive design, image optimization, CDN, code minification, lazy loading of images
Load Times	Varies widely, dependent on optimization	0.7s to 9.1s (Average: 2.9s)
Page Speed Scores Range	Scores vary; influenced by apps, images	20/100 to 93/100 (Average: 62.7/100)
Core Web Vitals Improvement	Emphasis on LCP, FID, CLS improvements	Emphasis on LCP, FID, CLS improvements

Shopify’s approach to enhancing site speed includes app optimization by removing unneeded app code, conditionally loading apps, avoiding immediate pop-up displays, and incorporating app functionality directly into themes. This approach leverages Shopify’s fast servers and CDN network to boost load speed. Shopify also suggests utilizing Google AMP for faster mobile page loads, although with some design compromises. Analysis of three Shopify sites showed a range of Shopify speed scores from 14 to 75, Google PSI scores from 8 to 80, and load times varying from 10.6 seconds to 2.3 seconds. Continuous maintenance and optimization are essential for keeping Shopify stores fast.

Squarespace, on the other hand, focuses on responsive design, image optimization, CDN, code minification, and lazy loading of images to enhance website speed. However, the load times for Squarespace websites can vary significantly, ranging from 0.7 seconds to 9.1 seconds, with an average of 2.9 seconds. The PageSpeed scores also vary, ranging from 20/100 to 93/100, with an average of 62.7/100. Squarespace also emphasizes improvements in Core Web Vitals, specifically LCP, FID, and CLS.

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8.7

6.8

🏆 Winner: Shopify.

With a score of 8.7, Shopify outperforms Squarespace, which scores 6.8. Shopify offers over 8,000 apps in its App Store, covering a wide range of functionalities. These apps come with various pricing options, including free, paid, freemium, and one-time payment models. On the other hand, Squarespace lacks an official app store but supports integrations and extensions through custom code injection and third-party tools. While Squarespace offers seamless functionality with over 20 official partner integrations, Shopify’s extensive range of ecommerce-focused plugins and seamless integrations make it a more powerful option.

Shopify Applications

Squarespace Applications

8.8

8.1

🏆

Overall Winner: Shopify

. Shopify stands out for its more advanced ecommerce-focused marketing tools, especially in analytics and ad campaign management. Squarespace is strong in email marketing and blogging, ideal for content-driven strategies.

Marketing Features
SEO Tools
Email Marketing
Blogging
Social Media Integration	Advanced integration for selling directly on social platforms	Direct linking and selling on social platforms, plus feed displays on-site
Analytics and Reporting	Detailed analytics for in-depth insights	Detailed insights into website performance and visitor behavior
Ads and Promotions	Google Ads integration; sophisticated ad campaign management	Integration with Google Ads and tools for managing sophisticated ad campaigns

8.6

7.8

🏆 Winner: Shopify

. Shopify outperforms Squarespace in this category with a score of 8.6 compared to Squarespace’s 7.8. Shopify provides 24/7 support through chat, email, and phone, and it offers a dedicated program and additional resources for enterprise-level businesses.

Squarespace, on the other hand, provides various customer support options, including live chat, email, a community forum, and a comprehensive help center. However, live chat and phone support operate only on weekdays from 6 AM to 6 PM PST, while email support is available 24/7. Squarespace also extends support to enterprises through its dedicated Squarespace Enterprise plan, offering tailored features and assistance.

9.0

8.8

🏆

Winner: Shopify

. Shopify’s security measures are robust and comprehensive, with a focus on ecommerce security. They offer SSL certificates, secure infrastructure, encryption, and limited access to data. They also comply with data privacy regulations and have additional security measures such as two-factor authentication, regular audits, and a dedicated incident response team.

Although it may not offer the same level of specialized ecommerce security features as Shopify, Squarespace also prioritizes data privacy and security, with secure server storage, encryption, strict access controls, and compliance with regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. They also offer vulnerability scanning and malware detection. However, their security measures are not as focused on ecommerce as Shopify’s, which gives Shopify the edge in this comparison.

7.9

7.5

Personalized Design		AI-powered copywriting for product descriptions
SEO Optimization	AI-driven recommendations for better search engine visibility	AI-guided SEO advice for optimal content placement and structure
Customer Behavior Analysis	Advanced analytics to understand customer preferences	Insights for personalized email marketing campaigns
Sales Predictions	AI-powered sales forecasting tools
Inventory Management	AI tools to assist in efficient inventory handling	Inventory management insights
Content Generation	AI-assisted content creation	AI assistance in creating diverse content

🏆 Winner: Shopify

. Shopify, with a score of 7.9, utilizes AI mainly to enhance the ecommerce experience. Its AI features focus on customer behavior analysis, personalized shopping experiences, inventory management, and sales predictions. While Squarespace, scoring 7.5, offers a range of AI-powered features, it lacks a fully automated AI website builder and does not provide sales prediction tools.

6.5

7.4

🏆 Winner: Squarespace

. Managing your online team with Shopify and Squarespace involves different approaches to website editing access.

• Shopify enforces staff account limits based on plans, ranging from 2 to 15, with Shopify Plus offering unlimited
  accounts. Collaborators with limited access are also an option.
• The number of users with editing access on your Squarespace website varies by plan. The Personal Plan allows one owner, Business and Commerce Plans permit 2 collaborators with different access levels, and the Enterprise Plan offers unlimited users, each with customizable access privileges, from full administrators to restricted contributors.

Shopify User Roles and Access Levels:

Squarespace User Roles and Access Levels:

Additional Features

SSL Certificate
Custom Domain
Free Custom Domain Included
International Domains
Mobile Responsive
Page Speed
Website Builder Mobile App
Convert a Website To An App
Website Analytics
Multilingual Sites
Multiple Users

User Feedback

Shopify

4482 reviews

4.4 out of 5 starts

Squarespace

1049 reviews

4.4 out of 5 starts

Shopify’s high rating on G2 Crowd is largely attributed to its specialization in ecommerce. Its comprehensive features, ease of use, and robust customer support cater specifically to online businesses, leading to high user satisfaction among those seeking a dedicated ecommerce solution.

Squarespace, on the other hand, is well-liked for its easy-to-use interface and versatile tools, making it ideal for those who aren’t tech-savvy. It offers various features like website creation, SEO, online selling, and more, catering to different users. Customers appreciate its good customer support and visually appealing templates, creating a professional online presence. However, some users find issues with domain transfer/setup, limited customization options, and consider the pricing slightly higher. There are also occasional concerns about customer service and technical limitations like template rigidity and missing features. Despite these concerns, Squarespace maintains a high rating on G2 Crowd, matching Shopify’s rating.

FAQ