The question people actually ask here is “can I sell products on Squarespace instead of paying for Shopify?” The answer is yes, and whether you should depends on one thing: is selling the business, or is it something the business also does?
If your revenue comes from products, Shopify. If your revenue comes from services, content or a physical location and you also sell some things, Squarespace is likely enough and considerably simpler.
What Each Was Built For
Squarespace is a website builder with commerce added. The site comes first — templates, pages, blog, portfolio, booking — and the store is a section of it. That ordering shows in the product.
Shopify is a commerce platform with a website attached. Inventory, orders, fulfilment, payments, tax and shipping come first; the storefront exists to sell them.
Neither is a compromise. They are optimised for different businesses.
Where Squarespace Wins
The site looks better with less effort
Squarespace templates are genuinely well designed and difficult to make ugly. For a brand where presentation matters and there is no designer, this is worth real money.
Content and blogging
Better blogging, better portfolio handling, better editorial layouts. Shopify’s blog is functional and clearly secondary.
Simplicity and total cost
One subscription covering site and store. No app ecosystem to accumulate, which matters more than it sounds — Shopify’s true cost is frequently the apps rather than the plan.
Services, bookings and memberships
Scheduling, member areas and course sales are native. For a business selling appointments or access rather than objects, Squarespace covers more of the job.
Where Shopify Wins
Everything about selling at volume
Inventory across locations, variants, bundles, abandoned cart recovery, discount logic, multi-currency, shipping rate calculation, returns handling. Squarespace covers the basics; Shopify covers the operation.
Payments and checkout
Shopify’s checkout is heavily optimised and consistently converts well. Shop Pay’s accelerated checkout is a genuine advantage for repeat buyers.
The app ecosystem
Whatever you need — subscriptions, print on demand, loyalty, reviews, advanced shipping — exists. That is both the strength and the cost.
Point of sale
If you sell in person as well as online, Shopify POS shares inventory with the online store. Squarespace has POS capability but it is far less developed.
Scale
Shopify handles growth from first order to substantial revenue on the same platform. Squarespace stores generally hit limits sooner.
Head to Head
| Squarespace | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Websites | Selling |
| Design quality out of the box | Excellent | Good |
| Blogging and content | Strong | Functional |
| Inventory management | Basic | Extensive |
| Checkout optimisation | Standard | Best in class |
| Multi-currency | Limited | Yes |
| Point of sale | Basic | Strong |
| App ecosystem | Small | Very large |
| Bookings and memberships | Native | Via apps |
| Transaction fees | None on commerce plans | Unless using Shopify Payments |
| Best fit | Under ~100 products, services | Product-led businesses |
Both change pricing regularly and both discount introductory periods heavily. Verify current pricing and check renewal rates specifically.
The Cost Comparison People Get Wrong
Comparing plan prices alone is misleading in both directions.
Shopify’s real cost includes apps. A typical store adds reviews, email, subscriptions, shipping rules or upsells — each a monthly subscription. The plan price is frequently a minority of the bill.
Shopify charges an additional transaction fee if you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments. Where Shopify Payments is unavailable in your country, that fee applies to whatever you use instead — a genuine consideration for some markets.
Squarespace’s commerce plans have no additional transaction fee, but its lower non-commerce plans do. Make sure you are pricing the right tier.
Model both including apps and payment processing on your actual order volume.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Squarespace if: you sell under roughly 100 products, your site is as important as your store, you sell services, bookings or memberships alongside products, design quality matters and you have no designer, or you want one subscription and no app management.
Choose Shopify if: selling products is the business, you have meaningful inventory complexity, you sell in person as well as online, you need multi-currency or international shipping, or you expect real growth in order volume.
Tiebreaker: if the store disappeared tomorrow, would you still have a business? If yes, Squarespace. If no, Shopify.
Migration Between Them
Both directions are done regularly. What matters is protecting your search traffic, and this is where most damage occurs.
- Export your URL list first — from your sitemap and from Google Search Console, sorted by clicks. This is your redirect map and you cannot reconstruct it after cancelling.
- Export products to CSV. Both support this and both have import tools.
- Export customer and order data. Order history often does not migrate; keep it as a record.
- Note the URL structure change. Shopify uses
/products/and/collections/paths; Squarespace differs. Almost every product URL will change, so every one needs a 301 redirect. - Build redirects before launch, pointing each old URL to its genuine equivalent — never bulk-redirect to the homepage, which Google treats as a soft 404.
- Carry your meta titles and descriptions across. Do not let the new platform generate them.
- Submit the new sitemap in Search Console immediately after switching.
- Keep the old platform live for a week after DNS changes.
Expect a temporary ranking wobble. With correct 301s it typically recovers within weeks; without them it does not recover at all.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Comparing plan prices without apps. Shopify’s app subscriptions frequently exceed the plan cost.
- Not checking Shopify Payments availability in your country. If unavailable, the additional transaction fee applies to your alternative processor.
- Choosing Shopify for a five-product store. Squarespace is simpler and cheaper for a small catalogue attached to a real website.
- Choosing Squarespace when inventory is complex. Variants, locations and bundles are where it strains.
- Migrating without a redirect map. The single most damaging omission, and irreversible once the old site is gone.
- Redirecting everything to the homepage. Treated as soft 404s; you lose the rankings entirely.
- Ignoring renewal pricing. Both discount heavily up front.
- Forgetting sales tax and VAT setup. Both handle it; neither configures it for you, and getting it wrong is a real liability.
FAQs
Can Squarespace handle ecommerce properly?
For a modest catalogue, yes — products, variants, inventory, discounts and checkout all work. It strains with large catalogues, complex variants, multiple locations or international selling.
Is Shopify better than Squarespace?
For selling products, decisively. For a website that happens to sell some things, Squarespace is better — better design, better content, simpler and often cheaper overall.
Which is cheaper?
Squarespace usually, once Shopify apps are counted. Compare total cost including apps and payment processing at your real order volume, not plan prices.
Does Shopify charge transaction fees?
It charges an additional fee if you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments, on top of that provider’s own processing fees. Where Shopify Payments is unavailable in your country, this applies by default.
Can I move from Squarespace to Shopify?
Yes. Products and customers export to CSV. The critical work is mapping every old URL to its new equivalent and setting 301 redirects, because URL structures differ and almost every product URL changes.
Which is better for SEO?
Both are competent. Squarespace has the edge for content-led SEO because blogging is better. Shopify is fine for product SEO. Your content and site structure matter far more than the platform.
Key Takeaways
- Ask whether you would still have a business without the store. That answers it.
- Shopify’s real cost includes apps, which frequently exceed the plan price.
- Check Shopify Payments availability in your country before pricing.
- Squarespace is better for content, design and service-led businesses.
- Migrating either way requires a full URL redirect map, exported before you cancel anything.
Making the Call
Count your products and ask whether selling is the business. Under about 100 products with a site that matters independently, start on Squarespace. If products are the business, Shopify — and budget for apps from the beginning.
For related decisions, see our comparisons of Squarespace vs WordPress and Wix vs Squarespace, plus our guide to the best website builders.