People often compare website builders to e-commerce platforms, hence the popular Shopify vs Squarespace debate. In essence, website builders and e-commerce platforms are the same. They both allow you to create a website, albeit, with different purposes.
Squarespace is a famous website builder whose focus is content-based websites. However, the provider includes e-commerce features if you want to sell online. Shopify is primarily built for online stores, containing an array of web-building features on top.
The Squarespace vs Shopify comparison for 2026 might seem unfair.
We’re, after all, comparing two different products. As you’ll see, they’re pretty comparable despite their different “paths”. To determine your path, it’s smart to read our Squarespace vs Shopify analysis and discover which is the best website builder to pick for your goals.
Squarespace vs Shopify: Quick Overview
| Squarespace | Shopify | |
| Our current ranking | #3 | #10 |
| Starting price | $16/mo | $24/mo |
| Free Domain | Yes | No |
| Free SSL | Yes | Yes |
| Number of templates | 180+ free templates | 230 templates, 13 are free |
| Transaction fees | 3% or 0% (Commerce Basic & Advanced) | 2.4-2.6% + 30¢ |
| Email marketing | Starts at $7/mo for 500 emails | 10,000 free emails monthly |
| Customer support | Email and live chat | Email and live chat (phone support in Shopify Plus) |
How to Get Started With Squarespace and Shopify
Getting started with Shopify and Squarespace is one of the easiest processes.
After registration, Squarespace will, like Wix, ask you a few questions about your website. For example, it’ll ask you what is your website about and try to “pull out” from you a few site-related goals. Once you’re done, Squarespace will offer two distinct options:
- Build a website from templates
- Build a website with an AI
Build Your Site With Squarespace
Opting for templates will immediately give you a template selection. From here, clicking on the desired template will allow you to edit it and adapt it to suit your needs and desires. More about that in the next Squarespace vs Shopify comparison.
Opting for an AI will thrust you into a few more question-ridden “situations”.
Your answers will dictate what the Squarespace Blueprint AI will offer you. However, even if you’re dissatisfied, you can edit the given template and further adapt it.
Shopify begins quite similarly. You get to answer a few questions – different ones. It immediately wants to know about your sales goals and products you want to well. Once you’re over it, Shopify lets you pick the template and work your way up.
Here, we come to the first Shopify limitation. It doesn’t have an AI website builder.
Is this too much of a fault? Definitely not. However, this is a result of Shopify’s focus on e-commerce and not particularly website building, as is the case with Squarespace or Wix.
Either way, both excel in start-up simplicity, which enables both to get a point.
Shopify vs Squarespace: Templates & Website Design
Shopify and Squarespace differ significantly in terms of their templates. We can discuss which one you like more; as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Something along those lines.
Template Number & Variety
First, we’ll address their number of templates:
- Shopify has about 230 templates; only 13 are free
- Squarespace has roughly 180+ templates and all are free
It’s interesting that Shopify, an e-commerce platform, has MORE templates than Squarespace. However, as most are premium and cost from $100 to $310 (one-time payment), we’re inclined to Squarespace more because its templates are free.
As for their aesthetics, we think Squarespace’s templates are more appealing. You don’t get 900+ of them like in Wix but the level of quality is astounding, as each template is also optimized for mobile devices for added versatility. Shopify’s templates are serviceable.
They don’t kill with their looks.
But you sure as hell can’t tell they’re ugly. Shopify’s templates are more function over form but function matters a LOT when shopping online. As you’ll see in this Shopify vs Squarespace duel, their editors are pretty similar – scroll down to the next sub-section.
Website Design
Once the template is set in stone, you can edit it but not much. By the way, we’re talking about both providers here. One thing that differentiates Wix, which is commonly compared to these two, is the degree of freedom. Neither of these gives you that much.
Shopify has a section-oriented website builder, so you can’t drag and drop elements. Instead, you can only edit these sections or elements by replacing, let’s say, an image for text or vice versa. There’s still plenty of freedom but less than you’d expect.
Squarespace works very similarly, which is surprising considering its popularity.
Its templates are more imaginative, so they give the illusion of greater freedom of choice. But in essence, you still get this segment-based solution, which lets you alter specific sections and tailor them to your needs. Still, we found Squarespace a bit easier to use.
That’s because of its left-hand-side menu with sections that you can quickly access and edit. For instance, if you click on Products, you’ll go to the Products page and modify it. A nice thing is that you can also access the mobile version by clicking on Mobile View.
As you edit the desktop version, you immediately see the changes on the mobile version. This allows you to optimize the site for both types of devices simultaneously in short succession. Remember that a mobile-friendly site can drive more traffic to it as well!
Despite their similarities, Squarespace is a bit easier to use and offers more free templates (though not more templates in general) than its rival. This round, henceforth, goes to Squarespace.
E-Commerce Features Analysis
If you want to build an e-commerce website, which option should you pick: Squarespace or Shopify? Let’s explore this complex question below.
Shopify
Squarespace has four plans but e-commerce features start in the Business one. However, Shopify’s focus on this aspect means even the cheapest plan is well-equipped to handle sales. Speaking of sales, Shopify’s interface allows you to set up your store efficiently.
You can quickly add products and set titles, descriptions, categories, and status of each. Moreover, Shopify allows you to customize shipping rules and insert relevant tags, which helps your visitors find the desired products more easily.
Another thing we like is product variants. This means you can add multiple variants of the same product – for instance, a shirt in multiple colors. Shopify supports videos, not just photos, which can be used for more accurate product descriptions.
Shopify’s multi-channel selling is one of its paramount features, allowing you to sell your products outside your website simultaneously. More importantly, there’s the option to edit your search engine listing for products to customize their appearance on Google.
Build an Online Store With Shopify
Squarespace
Squarespace’s e-commerce features are slightly “weaker” because you don’t get them in the cheapest plan. However, if you get Business, Squarespace will include all the e-commerce features we mentioned, with the ability to sell unlimited products, like in Shopify.
Similarly to its rival, Squarespace supports multi-channel selling and in our Shopify vs Squarespace test, we had no problem listing our products on Instagram and even Facebook. Paying more for the Commerce plan brings about a new batch of such features.
For example, you can sell subscriptions and use advanced shipping options. This is handy for catering to your customers and making sure all of them get the desired product. Advanced discounting is another feature, which aids sales during Holidays and seasonal discounts.
Much like Shopify, Squarespace includes abandoned cart recovery. We love this feature because so many of us rush to buy something, only to change our opinion midway and abandon the cart. Squarespace will gladly fix this issue for you.
It also includes POS to allow you to sell in person, on top of which, each customer can make an account on your online store and leave product reviews. These two features are in Commerce Basic and Commerce Advanced plans only.
Start an Online Store With Squarespace
Transaction Fees
Transaction fees are pretty important; they’re a make-or-break parameter.
In this Squarespace vs Shopify duel, we found that their fees are very similar:
- Squarespace has 0% to 3% fees, depending on the plan.
- Shopify has 2.4% to 2.9% fees + 30¢, depending on the plan
When we compared Wix to Shopify, we saw that Shopify was a better option for higher sales. This time, the situation is a bit different. Shopify will ALWAYS take a fee and the lowest it can be is 2.4% + 30¢ if you pick its more expensive plans. Alternatively, it will be 2.6% or 2.9%.
Squarespace’s plans have a 0% transaction fee on invoices.
However, product sales yield a 3% fee for each transaction. Personal and Business plans are, therefore, not the most suitable, as these cheaper options include a fee. Opting for the Commerce Basic or Commerce Advanced plans will drop them to 0%.
In this case, Squarespace actually becomes a better option for more sales. Keep in mind that both website builders support third-party payment vendors like Stripe, PayPal, and credit/debit cards and they may take their “share”.
Shipping Options
Earlier in the Squarespace vs Shopify duel, we briefly mentioned shipping options.
Of course, you can customize them and use different third-party companies if you want. Squarespace and Shopify allow you to use free, flat-rate, or weight-based shipping no matter the carrier you pick. Carriers can, again, take their share, depending on many things.
You can go with FedEx, DHL, UPS, and other carriers in the USA, Canada, and worldwide.
We love that both services let you track products and keep a watchful eye on your shipments. The so-called Print & Pay feature lets you obtain shipping labels and use them to track products and their delivery status, knowing exactly what’s happening in the process.
Both providers offer third-party apps to aid your shipping, sales, inventory management, and more. However, Shopify offers more e-commerce apps than Squarespace, while the latter’s third-party apps are a mix of e-commerce and web-building and management apps.
Having everything in mind, we must say this round makes it hard for us to judge.
Squarespace has 0% transaction fees but only in the two most expensive plans. Shopify’s fees are larger, and while it offers access to the dropshipping network, Squarespace specializes in POS (Point of Sale), which allows you to sell products in person.
All of this brings us to yet another tie, raising the tension between the two famous website builders.
SEO & Marketing Options: Which One Is More Efficient?
We know that Semrush and SE Ranking are the top SEO tools but sometimes, you don’t want to spend more. Can you still perform SEO using Squarespace or Shopify and get excellent results? You can but don’t expect hundreds of features and metrics.
SEO Tools
Squarespace, which we’ll talk about first, offers a comprehensive Analytics tab.
Here, you can even research keywords and explore traffic sources. There’s the option to discover your audience’s origin by using the Geography tab. You can see where your customers are and how they interact with your site.
Squarespace also allows you to add SEO titles and descriptions, with the option to include SEO-friendly images and videos. One feature we like is an included sitemap, so you don’t have to make one. Plus, automatic markups are there to keep your SEO immaculate.
Squarespace AI is included in the SEO package. This is handy for further optimization and ensuring that your pages appear higher in SERPs.
Shopify’s SEO features are very similar but we found the provider a bit more elementary. For instance, there’s no way to edit the robots.txt file. Shopify, instead, relies on third-party apps from its store to handle your SEO but the problem is – they’re premium and usually pricey.
The silver lining is that Shopify supports Google Analytics integration (like Squarespace), which lets you squeeze out a bit more information. If not, you must be content with Shopify’s built-in data regarding total sales, sales by channel, average order value, and so forth.
Optimize Your Website With Squarespace
Email Marketing
Email marketing is effective at keeping your customers around. You can do this through promotional emails and newsletters to spike their interest. We love that Shopify has a free email marketing tool, which allows you to send 10,000 monthly emails.
With so many templates to choose from, you can enjoy customization and forge outstanding-looking emails. If you want to send more emails, Shopify lets you choose from a myriad of third-party tools. Squarespace has its in-house email marketing suite – but it’s not free.
The price starts at $7/mo for the Starter plan, which allows you to send 500 emails. You can go up to 250,000 emails with the Max plan at a whopping $68/mo. All plans include unlimited subscribers, email automation, sender details, and mailing lists.
Squarespace also offers numerous email templates and after analyzing them, we think they’re prettier than Shopify’s equivalents. However, a huge relief on Shopify’s side is that you can send 10,000 free emails monthly and that’s a big advantage in our book.
Get Free Email Marketing With Shopify
Since Squarespace is better for SEO and Shopify is superior in email marketing, both providers scored a point, resulting in a tie.
Blogging: Shopify vs Squarespace
Blogging is a nice strategy to get more out of your online store. Actually, you don’t have to have an online store to maintain an eye-catching blog.
Can Shopify be a good alternative to Squarespace in this aspect?
We think it can but not entirely. Shopify has a nice-looking blog editor, which, apart from adding blog posts, allows you to insert SEO titles, featured images, and other vital elements. During our tests, we found Shopify a bit basic but enough to complement an online store.
Now, Squarespace is a more content-oriented website builder. This means you get better blogging templates and possibilities to make the blog shine brighter than Sun. What’s more, Squarespace’s blog editor is optimized for mobile devices, which we found incredibly handy.
With it, we can log in using our phone and create a blog post, add images, and edit our existing posts to keep them fresh. Whether on your phone or desktop computer, Squarespace lets you schedule posts in advance and share them automatically on social media.
Squarespace feels more substantial and streamlined. There’s a clear distinction in this Shopify vs Squarespace round, where we can see that the former’s web-building characteristics are superior. Thus, Squarespace takes the blogging round.
Enjoy Superb Blogging With Squarespace
Squarespace vs Shopify: Website Performance Tests
Looking to maximize your website performance? Perhaps a fast web hosting provider will do you better. This, however, doesn’t mean Shopify or Squarespace won’t feel fast and responsive. It’s just smart to know that they can’t be Hostinger or SiteGround’s level.
Nevertheless, our test has shown some interesting results that we’re eager to share with you. Before we proceed, we’ll inform you that made two similar websites using both and tested them using GTmetrix and its server in Vancouver, Canada.
Let’s begin with Shopify’s results:
- FCP – 470 ms
- LCP – 581 ms
- TBT – 0 ms
- TTI – 719 ms
- TTFB – 206 ms
- FLT – 6.2 s
These are some nice performance results for a website builder. However, the Fully Loaded Time of 6.2 seconds isn’t the best compared to Hostinger which scored a few seconds less in our test. Also, TTI or Time to Interactive of 719 ms is another excellent result from the test.
This means the site takes that “much” to be fully interactive after you visit it.
Here are the test results from our Squarespace-made website:
- FCP – 536 ms
- LCP – 651 ms
- TBT – 0 ms
- TTI – 738 ms
- TTFB – 202 ms
- FLT – 5.6 ms
With these results in place, Squarespace is very close to Shopify. Some parameters, like FCP, LCP, and TTI are on Shopify’s side. However, its rival’s Time to First Byte was 202 ms, compared to 206 ms, with FLT now at 5.6 ms, indicating a slightly faster fully-loaded time.
The performance differences aren’t stark. Both perform well for what they are – website builders. Wix is similar to them but slightly faster. Given the circumstances, we can declare this round a tie like a few others before.
Squarespace vs Shopify: Pricing & Plans
Both providers offer four subscription plans, allowing us to compare them side by side. Here’s how much Squarespace costs in 2026:
Most importantly, it starts at $16/mo and this plan is enough for basic needs, not online stores. Such features begin with the Business plan and extend to the two others.
Okay, so here’s Shopify pricing updated for 2026:
There’s a lot more going on here, including the higher initial price of $24/mo. Perhaps it’s time to think about Squarespace as a Shopify alternative – right? Let’s see.
The Personal plan from Squarespace is way cheaper than Shopify’s Basic. However, it won’t work for e-commerce as well as the Basic plan. The next one, Business, compares directly to Shopify’s self-titled plan but costs way less – $23/mo vs $69/mo, billed annually.
Features-wise, the two aforementioned Shopify’s plans ARE better but at what cost?
Now, you can do PLENTY with Squarespace’s Commerce Basic, which costs only $28/mo.
You have Shopify Advanced at $299/mo as a direct competitor. We think it’s a no-brainer, especially because Commerce Basic has 0% transaction fees, whereas, Shopify still takes 2.4% and thirty cents for each transaction PLUS third-party payment vendor fees.
Not to mention Commerce Advanced at $52/mo, Squarespace’s flagship plan, which, as you saw, is very close to Shopify at a noticeably lower price. We’d say Commerce Advanced is, in terms of features, closer to Shopify Advanced but either way, it’s way less expensive.
Another of Shopify’s downsides is the lack of a refund policy. Squarespace vows to give you a refund in 14 days, should it fail to impress you. The conclusion is straightforward – Squarespace is infinitely more affordable.
Customer Support
Both companies provide email and live chat support, which, in most instances should suffice. Shopify has an ace called phone support but to get it, you have to buy the Shopify Plus plan at a measly $2,300/mo; you can hopefully see our eye-piercing sarcasm.
These support teams are responsive and helpful, even when you have complex issues with, let’s say, a template or advanced customization. The pain in the butt is the fact that you can’t get in touch directly, so you first have to browse the help center and seek answers.
Only if you can’t resolve the problem, you can ask for help from a human representative, but after this moment, everything flows smoothly. We’re not fond of this because most people – at least we think – first search for the solution and then contact the support team.
Why force us to look for the fix beforehand? Perhaps not to disturb the support team?!
Let’s not complicate things too much. Whether you pick Squarespace or Shopify, the customer service will never disappoint you, so yup, another tie is on the way.
Shopify vs Squarespace: The Final Verdict
If we do the math, the final score would be 8:5 in favor of Squarespace, but in our opinion, the “on-paper” score doesn’t tell the whole story.
Squarespace is indeed the winner but we don’t think you should discard Shopify just like that. The latter is more expensive but still an overwhelming favorite of many e-commerce businesses looking for the best and most reliable tools to work with.
Paired with over 13,000 third-party apps, mostly for e-commerce, Shopify is a force to be reckoned with.
For the majority of you, Squarespace will be a more sensible option. It’s multiple times more affordable while still packing a punch and offering ample e-commerce, blogging, and web-building tools. Best of all, Squarespace includes a free domain name for a year.
Shopify doesn’t.
That said, Squarespace’s all-aroundness should suit you better. You’ll pay less, get an excellent experience, and have enough money left in the tank to invest in other aspects of your website. Perhaps a flagship SEO tool or additional collaborators.