Shopify vs Squarespace Commerce
Shopify is built to sell at volume, with a strong checkout and an app store that fills every gap, from 28 euros a month plus apps. Squarespace Commerce is built to make about fifty products look immaculate, with content and commerce in one editor, from 17 euros a month. High-volume and growing retailers take Shopify; design-led small brands take Squarespace.
Hannah ReiterSenior Analyst, Business Applications
Elena Marchetti
Niels AbrahamsenVendors can pay for visibility on this site; it never changes what we say about a product. How that works.
Choose Shopify ifyou expect volume, a growing catalogue or several sales channels, and need reporting and apps that keep up as the store becomes the business.
Choose Squarespace Commerce ifyou are a brand with around fifty products, presentation is the priority, and you want lookbooks and product pages made in the same editor with a simple setup.
Shopify and Squarespace Commerce side by side
| Shopify | Squarespace Commerce | |
|---|---|---|
| Our ecommerce platform rank | #9 of 14 | #12 of 14 |
| Established in | Canada | United States |
| Pricing | Per month by plan, published; 0.6% to 2% fee outside Shopify Payments | Per month by plan, published; 2% store fee on the Basic plan; 14-day trial only |
| List price, 30 September 2026 | Basic: €28 per month billed monthly, or €21 per month billed yearly | Basic: €17 per month billed monthly, or €12 per month billed annually |
| Free tier | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Self-hostable | — | — |
| Built for | A store that wants to sell this month rather than build all quarter | A brand selling fifty products that must look immaculate |
| Not for | A B2B seller who needs more than three price catalogues without paying for Plus | A high-volume or multi-channel retailer |
Both are reviewed in full in our ecommerce platform ranking: Shopify and Squarespace Commerce.
Where they differ
Shopify 2 · Squarespace Commerce 3 · open 0- 01
How the store looks
Squarespace has the best-looking templates in this category, and no competitor here makes a small catalogue look as good with so little effort. Shopify includes themes and templates on every plan, but its strengths are speed, checkout and apps rather than design. A brand that must look immaculate gets there sooner on Squarespace.
Edge: Squarespace Commerce
- 02
Scale and catalogue tooling
Squarespace allows unlimited products on every plan, yet past about fifty its reporting and catalogue tooling thin out: advanced analytics, merchandising features and Commerce APIs start on the Core plan. Shopify lists more than 200 reports, ten inventory locations and thousands of apps on every plan. Anything resembling a volume retailer belongs on Shopify.
Edge: Shopify
- 03
Content and commerce together
On Squarespace a lookbook and a product page are the same kind of object in one editor, and every plan can also sell courses, memberships and video, with hosted video from 30 minutes on Basic. Shopify has a built-in blog with comment moderation, but the store and its checkout stay at the centre. For editorial selling, Squarespace is the clear pick.
Edge: Squarespace Commerce
- 04
Selling beyond your own site
Shopify names Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Etsy, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Pinterest as channels, plus its own point of sale. Squarespace syncs products to Facebook and Instagram, but its help centre states that sales made on Meta's platforms do not touch Squarespace inventory, orders or analytics. It also offers point of sale on iOS.
Edge: Shopify
- 05
Plan prices and fees on sales
Squarespace lists Basic at 17 euros a month, 12 on annual billing, with a 2% fee on store sales; Core at 24 euros removes that fee. Shopify lists Basic at 28 euros a month, 21 on yearly billing, and charges 2% only on orders outside Shopify Payments. Listed card rates are close: 2.0% plus 25 cents against 1.9% plus 25 cents.
Edge: Squarespace Commerce
When neither fits
Neither fits a complex catalogue with its own B2B price lists. BigCommerce offers customer groups and, on its top plan, SKU-level price lists on a hosted service. And if the current site already looks right and only lacks a shop, Ecwid adds one without a rebuild.
Shopify or Squarespace Commerce: questions
4 answersIs Squarespace Commerce or Shopify better for a small brand?
For around fifty products where appearance matters most, Squarespace Commerce: the templates are the best-looking here and setup is simple. If the brand expects high volume or plans to sell on several channels, Shopify is the better base from the start.
When should I move from Squarespace Commerce to Shopify?
When the catalogue passes roughly fifty products, or you need fuller reporting, more apps or marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay, which Shopify lists as channels and Squarespace does not. Plan the move around URLs and redirects, not around the theme.
Does Shopify cost more than Squarespace Commerce?
On list price, yes. Shopify Basic is 28 euros a month, or 21 yearly; Squarespace Basic is 17, or 12 annually, with a 2% fee on store sales, and Core at 24 or 18 has none.
Shopify adds app subscriptions on top, which are its real cost.
Can customers pay in their own currency on both?
Yes. Squarespace has one primary currency per store but switches on multi-currency checkout by default with Squarespace Payments or Stripe, and its pricing page lists a 2% currency conversion fee. Shopify offers local-currency checkout when the store uses Shopify Payments.
Sources
Checked 30 September 2026- Shopify pricing page: Shopify plan prices, card rate, third-party fee, reports, inventory locations and apps.
- Shopify help: third-party transaction fees: Shopify third-party fee applies only without Shopify Payments.
- Shopify sales channels page: Shopify's named marketplaces, social channels and point of sale.
- Shopify help: blogs: Shopify's built-in blog.
- Shopify help: selling in multiple currencies: Shopify local-currency checkout requires Shopify Payments.
- Squarespace pricing page: Squarespace plan prices, store transaction fees, card rate, plan features and conversion fee.
- Squarespace help: syncing products with Facebook and Instagram: Meta sales do not update Squarespace inventory, orders or analytics.
- Squarespace help: choose your store's currency: Squarespace primary currency and multi-currency checkout.
- Squarespace ecommerce page: Squarespace point of sale on iOS.