Squarespace vs Shopify for Ecommerce: Which is Right for Your Online Store in 2025?
Squarespace vs Shopify for Ecommerce: Which is Right for You?
Starting an online shop is exciting, but choosing the right platform can feel like a big decision. Both Squarespace and Shopify are trusted by entrepreneurs around the world, and both have their strengths. The key is knowing which one supports your goals best.
Let’s look at the most important things to consider when choosing between Squarespace and Shopify for your ecommerce store.
What to Think About Before You Choose
When deciding on a platform, it helps to step back and ask yourself:
What kind of products am I selling, and how many?
Do I need advanced shipping, wholesale, or dropshipping?
How important is design and branding to me?
Do I want to manage everything in one place, or use lots of apps and integrations?
What is my growth plan over the next one to two years?
With these questions in mind, let’s explore the differences.
What You Sell & How You Sell It
This is the very first question I ask my clients: what exactly are you selling, and how do you deliver it?
Are your products physical, digital, or service-based?
Do you offer customizable products (monograms, user-entered custom text/image)?
Do you need variants (size, colour, materials) with pricing differences?
Do you plan to offer subscriptions or memberships?
Do you need appointments, class bookings, or scheduling?
Squarespace handles a lot nicely out of the box: physical, digital, services, even memberships and scheduling-based products. A product can have up to six options, and up to 250 variant combinations.
If your customization needs are fairly simple (ex. input initials for product personalization), Squarespace often handles that well without the need for extra apps.
Shopify offers more flexibility when your product catalogue is large, your customizations are more complex (e.g. variable pricing depending on user input, or many variant combinations beyond what Squarespace supports without add-ons), or you expect to scale big. Shopify has a lot more third-party plugins/apps for advanced customization.
If your business is mostly creative, boutique, service-oriented or fairly small-to-mid sized, Squarespace often covers everything you need. If your business model is scaling rapidly, has a complex product structure, or you foresee needing more advanced features, Shopify gives you more room.
Inventory Scale & Growth Trajectory
Another question is: how many products are you expecting, and how fast do you plan to scale?
Squarespace allows up to 10,000 products per store page, and you can have multiple pages if needed. (Tho maintaining that number of inventory can be quite a hustle)
Shopify technically allows a much larger product catalogue (some limitations beyond ~50,000 products), and the app ecosystem supports more advanced inventory management.
If your product catalog is small or medium and unlikely to explode overnight, Squarespace is more than sufficient. If you anticipate rapid growth or very large catalogs (hundreds to thousands of SKUs with complex variant logic), Shopify offers more long-term scalability.
Shipping & Fulfillment
Shipping logistics can make or break an ecommerce experience, so this is a big one.
Here are some things to consider:
Do you ship domestically primarily, or internationally?
Will you offer flat-rate shipping, weight-based shipping, or live carrier-calculated rates?
Do you need to print shipping labels directly through the platform?
Will you use multiple fulfillment centers or drop-shipping services?
Is local pickup or delivery part of your strategy?
Squarespace offers:
Free, flat-rate or weight-based shipping with any carrier.
Carrier-calculated rates for UPS, FedEx, USPS (in the US) and shipping zones by country/state/postal code (US & Canada).
Print & pay for shipping labels directly through Squarespace or a shipping extension.
Third-party fulfillment via ShipWire and print-on-demand through services like Printful.
Shopify offers:
Carrier-calculated rates for major carriers, plus more flexibility if you’re able to negotiate carrier accounts.
Multiple location tracking & shipping (inventory from multiple warehouses).
Ability to print shipping labels directly through Shopify Shipping or third-party apps.
Drop-shipping, multi-warehouse fulfillment, plug-ins for local pickup or delivery, and integrations with third-party logistics providers.
If your fulfillment needs are relatively simple, Squarespace is often more than enough. But if your logistics are more advanced or you foresee complexity (multi-origin, dropshipping, international, multiple fulfilment centers), Shopify gives you more options.
Content, Design, and Flexibility
One of the things I always emphasize is that design and content matter - even for ecommerce. A beautiful, cohesive brand experience builds trust and can improve conversions dramatically.
Here are things to weigh:
How important is aesthetic/design flexibility to you?
Will you want content-heavy pages like landing pages, sales funnels, resource/download pages, blogs?
How easy is it for you or your team to update those pages?
How much custom code or creative layout tweaking might you need?
What does your long-term marketing strategy look like (blogging, SEO, landing pages, integrations)?
Squarespace:
Offers flexible styling options on every page and product block.
Easy creation of galleries, portfolios, custom forms, event calendars, blogs, etc., all without needing third-party plugins.
Generally tidy URLs out of the box.
Built-in SEO features and blogging tools.
Shopify:
Some themes limit interior page content flexibility or force certain layouts. Customizing interior pages often requires CSS/HTML or third party apps.
URL structures are sometimes less clean.
Blogging is possible but quite limited unless enhanced with apps or custom code.
Great plugin ecosystem for landing page builders, sales funnels, pop-ups, reviews, upsells, etc., but often at an extra cost.
If your business leans heavily on branding, rich content, SEO, or frequent updates, Squarespace often lets you maintain beautiful, cohesive design while staying functional. If your growth strategy requires many apps or advanced integrations, Shopify offers more built-in app compatibility.
Cost, Apps, and Transaction Fees
Here’s where the numbers matter (and sometimes surprise people).
Some things to evaluate:
Monthly subscription cost
Transaction fees (and whether you’re using the platform’s own payment gateway)
Cost of required apps or integrations
Contributor/account/user limits
Other recurring costs (shipping apps, review tools, pop-ups, third-party checkout, abandoned cart recovery, etc.)
Squarespace:
Shopify:
If your anticipated app/integration needs are minimal, Squarespace is often more cost-effective. If you need many apps, Shopify gives you more flexibility - but with that flexibility comes higher cost.
Squarespace vs Shopify Website Roundup
Squarespace for E-commerce
Squarespace is known for its beautiful design, user-friendly editor, and all-in-one approach. It is a wonderful choice if you want a professional website that blends both your business information and your online shop in one seamless, elegant experience.
Why entrepreneurs choose Squarespace for ecommerce
Elegant templates that make your shop look polished right from the start
Built-in tools for inventory, product variations, and digital products
Smooth integration with marketing features like email campaigns and scheduling
All-in-one hosting, security, and updates handled for you
What to keep in mind
Payment options are limited compared to Shopify (mainly Stripe, PayPal, and Afterpay in some regions)
Shipping tools are more basic and may not be ideal for large-scale operations
Apps and third-party integrations are fewer than Shopify’s ecosystem
Squarespace is perfect if you are a small to mid-sized business, a creative entrepreneur, or someone who wants your shop to feel beautifully integrated with your brand site.
Shopify for Ecommerce
Shopify was built specifically for online selling, which makes it one of the most powerful ecommerce platforms available. It is trusted by everyone from small startups to major retail brands.
Why entrepreneurs choose Shopify
Advanced inventory management for hundreds or thousands of products
Wide variety of payment gateways, shipping tools, and international options
A huge app marketplace for almost any feature you could dream of
Scalable platform that can grow with your business long term
What to keep in mind
Templates are more functional than elegant out of the box, and customizing design often requires extra apps or coding
Pricing can add up very quickly once you include apps and advanced features
The editor is a lot less intuitive than Squarespace, which may feel overwhelming at first
Shopify is ideal if your main focus is e-commerce and you need a platform that can handle large inventories, advanced shipping, or international growth.
So, which one is best for your online shop?
Who Should Choose Squarespace Ecommerce
Squarespace is a wonderful fit for entrepreneurs and creatives who want to sell products but also need their website to tell a bigger story. It’s ideal when your brand is more than a shop and you want a blend of content, services, and sales in one place.
Here are some examples:
Artists and handmade businesses selling original work: If you are selling a handful of original pieces or small collections, Squarespace handles small batch inventory beautifully (<100 products) and allows you to focus on the design and presentation of your work without worrying about complicated shipping tools.
Digital product creators: If you sell things like templates, workbooks, or online classes, Squarespace’s digital product features make delivery seamless and allow you to combine your shop with a blog, podcast, or services page.
Service-based businesses with add-ons: Coaches, consultants, or wellness professionals who mainly sell services but also want to offer a few physical or digital products (journals, guides, or merchandise) benefit from Squarespace’s all-in-one simplicity.
Squarespace shines when your site is a blend of content, services, and products, and when design and storytelling matter as much as the shop itself.
Who Should Choose Shopify Ecommerce
Shopify is definitely the stronger option when ecommerce is your primary focus and you’re planning to manage higher volumes of products, orders, or customizations. It’s built to support businesses where scaling sales is the number one priority.
Here are some examples:
Clothing company: If you’re selling apparel with multiple sizes, colors, and styles, Shopify makes managing variations much easier. It’s also stronger for larger inventories and advanced order fulfillment, which clothing brands often need.
Businesses planning wholesale or dropshipping: Shopify’s integrations and apps make it much easier to sell wholesale to other retailers or manage dropshipping partnerships.
Subscription companies: If your business model involves recurring orders (monthly boxes or memberships), Shopify offers the flexibility you need.
Large or scaling product brands: If you anticipate quickly moving from a handful of products to hundreds, Shopify’s backend is built to handle the growth.
Shopify shines when ecommerce is not just part of your brand but the central driver of your business.
At the end of the day, the best choice depends on your goals. Squarespace offers an elegant, content-rich platform that’s ideal for boutiques, service-based shops, and creative entrepreneurs. Shopify offers advanced tools and integrations for businesses focused solely on ecommerce growth.
Both platforms are strong, so choose the one that feels aligned with where your business is today and where you see it going.
