Shopify vs Squarespace (2026): Which Is Better for Selling Online?

Squarespace and Shopify are both hosted platforms where you pay a monthly subscription and the company runs the servers, security and checkout. The difference is emphasis. Squarespace is known for polished templates and is built for websites that sell (products, services, courses, memberships and bookings). Shopify is built for stores first, with a commerce admin, checkout and app ecosystem designed around selling products at volume.

As of October 2026, Squarespace sells four plans (Basic, Core, Plus and Advanced) from $19 to $99 a month on annual billing. Shopify's main plans cost $29 to $299 a month on annual billing. Squarespace is cheaper and simpler for brands with a modest catalog and a strong visual identity. Shopify is the better fit once you need wholesale, multiple locations, many sales channels or specialist apps.

Below we compare plans, fees, commerce features and growth room using each company's own pricing and help pages. For more on the platform, see our Shopify hub.

Plans and pricing

Squarespace's pricing page shows four plans and a 14-day free trial ("Squarespace doesn't offer a free plan"). Annual plans include a free custom domain for the first year. Shopify starts with a 3-day free trial, then $1 a month for 3 months, according to shopify.com/pricing.

Squarespace's 2% fee on Basic applies to products, services and donations sold online, which makes Core the realistic starting plan for a store. Shopify's equivalent fee only applies if you choose a payment provider other than Shopify Payments; our Shopify transaction fees guide explains when it applies.

Card rates and payment options

Both platforms run their own payment service: Squarespace Payments and Shopify Payments. Squarespace also accepts Stripe and PayPal. US online rates:

The rates are close enough that most stores won't choose a platform on card fees alone. Squarespace is cheaper on Amex at the lower tiers and on currency conversion; Shopify is cheaper on international cards and on the Plus tier. The bigger cost differences come from tax, shipping and the subscription itself.

Tax and shipping

Sales tax. Squarespace calculates tax in "over 100 countries" for a fee on each transaction: 0.15% on Core, 0.10% on Plus and 0.05% on Advanced, each capped at $0.99, and automated tax isn't included on Basic. Shopify Tax is free until you reach $100,000 in sales (an annual threshold for older stores and a lifetime threshold for stores created on or after 13 May 2026), then 0.35% on Basic, Grow and Advanced in the US, capped at $0.99 per order. A small US store may pay nothing for Shopify Tax for a long time, while Squarespace's fee starts on the first sale. See our Shopify Tax guide for details.

Shipping. Squarespace includes UPS and USPS shipping labels for US orders and carrier-calculated shipping on Core and higher. Shopify advertises "up to 87% off" shipping labels on all plans; third-party carrier-calculated rates are included on Advanced and Plus and available as an add-on on Grow. Shopify Grow and higher plans with Shopify Payments also get up to $200 of shipping insurance per eligible label.

Commerce features compared

Both platforms cover the essentials: unlimited products, physical and digital goods, gift cards, subscriptions, discounts, abandoned cart recovery, customer accounts, Google Shopping and Meta catalog sync, and in-person selling. The differences are in depth.

Where Squarespace is strong

• Content and services in one place: courses, memberships, blogs, video, scheduling and free invoicing are part of the platform. Digital content and memberships carry their own transaction fee (7%, 5%, 1% or 0% by plan).
• Product drops: "Sell in releases" tools include express checkout, quantity limits (Core and up) and reserved carts with a countdown timer (Plus and Advanced).
• Payment plans: deposits and installment schedules on Core and up.
• Design: the Fluid Engine drag-and-drop editor and designer templates, with CSS and JavaScript customization on Core and up.

Where Shopify is strong

• Catalog scale: up to 2,048 variants per product (3 options) and structured product data with metafields and metaobjects.
• Wholesale: native B2B with company profiles, payment terms and up to 3 catalogs on every paid plan since 2 Apr 2026, unlimited on Plus. See Shopify B2B.
• Retail: casual in-person selling on every plan and POS Pro at $89 a month per location (billed yearly). Squarespace's POS runs through Square in its mobile app, which Squarespace lists as US-only.
• International: Shopify Markets manages currencies, languages, domains and pricing per market, and Managed Markets can act as merchant of record in the US, Canada and the UK.
• Automation and checkout logic: Shopify Flow is free on every paid plan, and Shopify Functions apps can customize discounts, shipping and payment options.
• Channels: Marketplace Connect for Amazon, Walmart, Target Plus and eBay, plus Agentic Storefronts for ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Meta.

Apps, extensions and integrations

Squarespace Extensions are third-party tools for jobs like tax compliance, dropshipping, SEO and social media, and Core and higher plans include Commerce APIs for back-office integrations. That covers many small-store needs.

Shopify's App Store is far larger: Shopify's apps homepage said "over 16,000 apps" on 1 Oct 2026, and its 10-K reported more than 21,000 at the end of 2025. Subscription, loyalty, reviews, ERP, 3PL and email vendors typically support Shopify first. If you already know the tools you want to use, check whether each has a native integration with both platforms before deciding.

Staff, permissions and growth room

Squarespace allows 2 contributors on Basic and unlimited contributors on Core and up. Shopify Basic doesn't support adding staff accounts, Grow includes 5, Advanced 15 and Plus unlimited. If you need several staff logins on a budget, Squarespace Core is cheaper than Shopify Grow.

At the top end, Squarespace Advanced ($99 a month annually) is the ceiling. Shopify continues to Plus (from $2,300 a month) and Shopify for enterprise, with higher API limits, checkout customization, expansion stores and 200 inventory locations. If you expect to grow into that range, starting on Shopify avoids a later platform migration.

Side-by-side summary

Which should you choose?

Choose Squarespace if your site is as much about content, services or bookings as products, your catalog is modest, you want strong design without a developer, and you value one predictable subscription that includes many tools.

Choose Shopify if products are your core revenue, you expect to add wholesale, retail locations or international markets, you need specific apps, or you want room to grow into Plus. If you're already on Squarespace and outgrowing it, our Squarespace to Shopify migration guide covers how to move without losing rankings.

Conclusion

Squarespace is a capable, good-looking and affordable option for smaller stores, especially when commerce sits alongside content or services. Shopify costs more in the middle tiers but offers deeper commerce features, cheaper tax for small US stores and a clear path to enterprise scale. Price both against your expected sales mix rather than headline plan prices. If you pick Shopify, eSEOspace can help with Shopify SEO from launch.

Frequently asked questions