Marketing your products online can be quite lucrative with approximately 2.14 billion people using the Internet to shop for goods and services. Squarespace and Shopify are industry leaders in offering user-friendly platforms to set up and maintain an online store.
Key Points
- Squarespace is the more affordable option with plans starting at $18/month, while Shopify‘s Advanced Plan offers valuable benefits at $299/month.
- Squarespace is known for its intuitive ‘drag-and-drop‘ approach, while Shopify offers helpful setup tutorials.
- Both Squarespace and Shopify come with built-in SEO tools to optimize website content for search.
Squarespace vs. Shopify: Side by Side Comparison
While both Shopify and Squarespace are industry leaders in providing e-commerce platforms that help businesses grow, there are some key differences between them:
| Squarespace | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Usage | Website builder and host with e-commerce integrations | E-commerce platform and retail point-of-sale system |
| Pricing | The Personal plan starts at $18/month The Business plan starts at $27/month The Premium plan starts at $69/month On annual contracts |
The Basic plan starts at $29/month The Shopify plan starts at $79/month The Advanced plan starts at $299/month On monthly contracts |
| Templates | All plans include templates and industry-specific designs | 10 free templates. 50+ premium templates (extra fees) |
| SEO Tools | Built-in SEO best practices and Google Analytics | Automated SEO page titles and meta descriptions |
| Blogs | Built-in blogging tools and analytics | User-generated content tools. Bulk blog post removal |
| Storage and Backup | Unlimited storage. Manual backups required. | Unlimited storage. Manual backups required. |
| Customer Support | 24/7 via live chat, social media, email. No phone. | 24/7 via live chat, phone, email. No social media. |
| Founded | 2003 | 2006 |
Squarespace vs. Shopify: What’s the Difference?
While both web builders help retailers create high-functioning, SEO-friendly online stores, their fundamental purposes yield different sets of pros and cons.
Shopify was founded as an e-commerce platform for online stores, later adding a website-building component. Squarespace started as a website builder, later integrating e-commerce features.
Shopify offers more advanced e-commerce features suited for high-volume transactions, with detailed inventory and order management. It also supports more payment processors.
Squarespace has superior website templates, fonts, and integrated social feeds. E-commerce is just one part of its broader website building capabilities.
With more specialized features comes higher pricing. Squarespace is more affordable, with plans from $18/month. But Shopify’s $299/month Advanced Plan offers lower transaction fees, discount codes, gift cards, reporting, and calculated shipping.
Pricing and Plans
After 14-day free trials, users must choose a paid monthly plan.
Shopify has three standard plans, plus Lite and Plus custom plans. Prices range from $9 to custom pricing monthly.
Squarespace has four plans ranging $16-$54 monthly, priced based on e-commerce features included. Squarespace is limited in payment options which can limit profitability.
User-Friendly Setup
Squarespace’s intuitive “drag-and-drop” approach enables sellers to create stunning sites without coding knowledge. Built-in marketing tools optimize for SEO, email, and tracking KPIs.
Shopify has fewer high-quality free templates. Its in-store editor can limit editing options within pre-coded templates, making product page creation more difficult. But its tutorials help guide setup.
Analytics and Reporting
Both platforms offer standard traffic and trends analytics. Shopify provides enhanced analysis with custom dashboards and predefined timeframes and data needs. Both integrate with Google Analytics for deeper conversion tracking and behavior analysis.
Squarespace: The History
Founded in 2003 by Anthony Casalena and based in New York City, Squarespace began as a blog hosting service, generating $1 million revenue in its first 3 years.
By 2013 e-commerce features were added. Within a year Squarespace had raised nearly $80 million in venture capital from Index Ventures and Accel Partners to expand offerings like mobile, logo creation, and Google Workspace integrations.
With over 550 employees, Squarespace now exceeds $100 million in annual revenue with over 4 million subscriptions, competing with WordPress, Wix, and Weebly. Recent enhancements include an updated analytics dashboard and PayPal integration.
Shopify: The Background
Based in Ottawa, Ontario, Shopify has over 2 million merchant customers globally. As of 2022 it’s one of Canada’s 10 largest publicly traded companies by market capitalization.
Shopify launched in 2006 to optimize the online store experience. The computer programmer co-founders built the initial Shopify platform themselves.
Adapting to digital trends, Shopify offered a mobile app in 2010 via the Apple Store so sellers could manage stores on the go. In 2013 Shopify Payments debuted to integrate credit card processing and sync sales data.
Between 2014-2019 Shopify launched new products, acquisitions, integrations and features. The COVID-19 pandemic led Shopify transitioning to being fully remote in 2020. Recently Shopify launched Linkpop to help brands connect their social media profiles.
5 Must-Know Facts
- SSL Certificates come standard, but Shopify also provides fraud analysis for security.
- Both offer unlimited product inventory as businesses scale.
- Squarespace’s tagline is “Everything to sell anything,” while Shopify is “the global commerce platform.”
- 14-day free trials let users preview platforms before paid plans.
- Both integrate social selling on Facebook and Instagram. Shopify extends to Google, Pinterest, Amazon, etc.
Which One Is Better? Which One Should You Use?
Both Squarespace and Shopify empower users to build successful online stores through essential features. The best platform depends on products, inventory size, and more:
Shopify was originally an e-commerce platform with retail point-of-sale capabilities. So it offers robust tools, albeit at a higher cost.
Squarespace added e-commerce post-launch as a website builder. It’s more affordable but has fewer commerce features.
Since SEO is vital for e-retailers, both platforms provide built-in SEO optimization. This makes each platform a cost-effective, user-friendly solution to help businesses sell online.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Squarespace offer that Shopify does not?
Squarespace enables more creative website design freedom through templates and drag-and-drop flexibility. Shopify offers less customization capability.
What‘s e-commerce SEO?
E-commerce SEO involves optimizing online store pages to generate qualified organic traffic from searches. This requires identifying top keywords for products/categories and strategically placing them across on-site content.
Which platform has better customer support?
It depends. Squarespace provides 24/7 live chat, social media, and email support. Shopify offers 24/7 live chat, phone, and email instead. Phone queues can be slow.
What if neither is best for my business?
Top alternative e-commerce website builders include Magento, WooCommerce, Wix, Etsy, and Site123.
How do I choose the right plan?
Important factors include selling volume, inventory size, and marketing budget. Choose features and pricing accordingly.
