Squarespace vs Shopify? Which platform is best for your business?

Choosing the right platform to build your online presence is a lot like planning a major home remodel.

You’re laying the foundation, picking out the right tools, and making decisions that will affect how you live—or in this case, run your business—for years to come.

Both Squarespace and Shopify offer strong frameworks, but depending on your needs, one might suit your business better than the other.

The Look and Feel: Design and Customization

Let’s start with aesthetics because first impressions matter. Squarespace is like hiring a top-notch interior designer who delivers a beautifully polished finish right from the start. With its stunning, modern templates, your site will look professionally designed with minimal effort.

Squarespace’s drag-and-drop interface makes it easy for anyone to use, even if you’ve never built a website before. However, if you want to break down walls and really customize beyond the basics, you might find some limitations.

Shopify is more like hiring a general contractor who gives you the freedom to choose every detail. With over 140 themes to choose from and full customization available through Liquid, Shopify’s templating language, you can create a site that’s truly unique.

If you’re comfortable with a bit of coding—or have a designer who is—Shopify lets you design a store that’s exactly how you imagined it.

E-commerce Power: Selling Online

When it comes to e-commerce, Shopify is the heavyweight champion. It’s built for selling, with powerful tools like abandoned cart recovery, advanced analytics, and over 100 payment gateways.

Whether you’re selling physical products, digital downloads, or even managing a dropshipping business, Shopify has you covered. Plus, it has a built-in Point of Sale (POS) system if you also sell in physical stores.

Squarespace, while not as robust in the e-commerce department, has been stepping up its game. It offers essential features like product management, customizable checkout options, and local delivery and pickup right out of the box.

For small to medium-sized businesses, especially those with a strong emphasis on design and content, Squarespace might just hit the sweet spot.

Cost: What Will It Set You Back?

Just like a home renovation, the cost is an important factor. The pricing plans for these platforms vary, depending on the features you need.

• Squarespace: Plans start at $16 per month for a Personal site and go up to $49 per month for the Commerce Advanced plan. Over a year, you’re looking at anywhere from $192 to $588.

• Shopify: Plans range from $39 per month for the Basic plan to $399 per month for the Advanced plan. That’s an annual cost ranging from $468 to $4,788, depending on your needs.

Keep in mind, these costs don’t include domain registration, premium themes, or any third-party apps you might need, especially for Shopify.

Hiring Someone To Help You

If you’re considering hiring a designer to help you build or customize your site, the costs can vary widely.

On average, you might pay anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 for a simple site design, while a fully customized e-commerce site could run you thousands more.

It all depends on the complexity of your project and the experience of the designer. In the case of Shopify customization, oftentimes a developer needs to get involved as well.

Extra Features: Beyond the Basics

Let’s talk about some of the extras because who doesn’t love a good bonus?

Squarespace shines when it comes to offering a wide range of built-in features. Want to start a blog? Done. Need a simple booking system for appointments? Check.

Looking to sell digital products or services? It’s all there. Squarespace even has a built-in email marketing tool to keep in touch with your customers without needing extra apps or plugins.

Shopify, however, often requires third-party apps to achieve similar functionality. Want to offer appointments or build an online course? You’ll need to browse the Shopify App Store for the right tools. This can be a blessing and a curse: you get more specialized tools, but it can also mean additional costs and a steeper learning curve.

Course Building Capabilities

If you’re planning to sell online courses, Shopify gives you flexibility through third-party apps like Thinkific, Teachable, or LearnDash. These platforms offer comprehensive features for course delivery, including drip content, quizzes, and certificates, making Shopify a solid choice for edupreneurs.

Squarespace doesn’t have a native course builder, but you can integrate with external services like MemberSpace to create gated content or membership sites. While this setup works well for simple course offerings, you might find it lacking if you need advanced features.

Customer Logins and Gated Content

Both platforms allow you to create customer accounts, but they approach it differently. Shopify requires third-party apps for advanced customer login features or gated content. Meanwhile, Squarespace has a built-in Members Area feature, perfect for offering gated or monetized content without additional apps.

AI-Powered Tools: The Future is Here

AI is the buzzword, er abbreviation, of the year, and both platforms are getting in on the action. Shopify has recently launched "Shopify Magic," and which uses AI to generate product descriptions, craft personalized emails, and provide insightful analytics, swap out product image backgrounds and more. This AI-powered approach helps automate tasks, freeing up your time to focus on growing your business.

Additionally, Shopify recently introduced Shopify Flow, which is an automation tool. Think similar to a Zapier, but for Shopify specifically.

Squarespace also integrates AI, primarily to enhance design, content creation, and SEO. Whether you need help picking the right template, editing images, or optimizing your website for search engines, Squarespace’s AI tools are there to lend a hand.

While Shopify’s AI is more geared towards boosting sales and automating processes, Squarespace’s AI tools focus on the creative side of things.

Final Thoughts: Which One is Right for You?

So, which platform is the right fit for your business? If you’re all about design, content, and having everything you need built into one sleek package, Squarespace is your best bet.

It’s especially great for creatives, service-based businesses, and those who want a beautiful online presence with minimal fuss.

But if you’re planning to scale, need advanced e-commerce features, or want to fully customize your online store with endless integrations, Shopify is the way to go. It’s the platform of choice for serious sellers who want to maximize their online business potential.

An Exhaustive List of Squarespace vs Shopify Features and Capabilities

In the end, it’s all about what fits your business needs, style, and goals. Whether you choose Squarespace or Shopify, you’re well on your way to creating something amazing. And isn’t that what it’s all about?