Shopify vs SquareSpace

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Our analysts compared Shopify vs SquareSpace based on data from our 400+ point analysis of eCommerce Platforms, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Product Basics

Shopify is a one-stop shop for all your eCommerce needs, helping you build, launch and grow an online business from scratch. At its core is a user-friendly interface that allows you to design stunning storefronts without any coding expertise. You can use drag-and-drop tools, unique templates and customizable layouts to curate your store’s overall appearance.

You can market your products across marketplaces, social media and personal blogs. Connect the platform to a POS system for in-store shopping and manage all your sales from a single backend. A native AI helps manage the store’s analytics and offers insights into enhancing sales strategies and marketing campaigns.

The platform is highly scalable and supports multiple business models, including B2B, D2C and dropshipping. It offers an extensive partner network to provide access to thousands of third-party apps to enhance the store's functionality. Global businesses can also manage multiple storefronts for different geographies using its headless architecture.

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Squarespace is a website builder that helps create portfolios and blogs, track web traffic and manage content on mobile applications or desktop. It offers customizable templates, product merchandising, custom CSS, inventory management and more. Other attributes include scheduling, email marketing and commenting. Users can track orders, manage taxes, handle payments, analyze sales and design logos and manage social media posts. It is helpful for small businesses, photographers, bloggers, artists, restaurants, musicians, wedding planners and students. 
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$29 Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
$16 Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
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Mobile
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Mobile

Product Assistance

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Documentation
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Videos
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Email
Phone
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FAQ
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Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Email
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Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Market Leader: Shopify is the top-rated eCommerce platform according to our research, outperforming competitors like BigCommerce and Adobe Commerce. With a 100 analyst score, it offers a comprehensive feature set that's ready to use right away.
  • Effective Multiple-Channel Selling: Shopify excels at managing sales across different channels. It simplifies selling, distribution and wishlist management by letting you customize product catalogs, discounts and placement for each channel. You can automatically sync updates to ensure consistency across all your sales outlets.
  • Easy Implementation: Getting started with Shopify is quick and simple. Its guided setup process helps you launch your store in minutes. Plus, 99% of key eCommerce requirements are available out of the box, eliminating the need for complex integrations.
  • Scalability and Flexibility: Shopify grows with your business. Whether you're a small startup or a large enterprise, there's a plan to fit your needs. Enjoy a free trial to explore its features. Upgrade to higher tiers for advanced options like global selling, custom storefronts, headless architecture and unlimited staff accounts.
  • Streamlined Inventory Management: According to our data, Shopify offers 100% of the features needed to manage inventory across multiple locations out of the box. This includes a barcode generator and scanner, stockout alerts, sourcing integration, multi-location inventory tracking, order management tools and more.
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  • Quick Setup: Purchase a domain or transfer to an existing one and launch an online store with a few clicks. 
  • Automate Backend Maintenance: The vendor manages overall performance and security updates. Update purchased plugins and add-ons automatically according to needs. 
  • No-Code Content Layout: Make new pages, layouts and content without complicated coding using the drag-and-drop editor. 
  • Centralize Management: Localize marketing, analytics, payment processing and social media workflows in a unified platform. Monitor developments and functioning from the dashboard. 
  • Enhance Customer Experience: Build a secure environment for transactions, provide multimedia descriptions for products and services, create member zones, and manage paid content. 
  • Build Brand Awareness: Design emails with website content, track responses and maintain contact information. Generate leads, streamline metadata and boost social media posts using SEO and social media tools. 
  • Create Engaging Content: Record, edit, share and track quality videos on multiple channels via a video studio mobile app. 
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  • Website Builder: Create professional online stores with over 70 customizable themes, mobile optimization and advanced HTML/CSS editing.
  • Checkout: You can offer customers a seamless shopping experience with features like one-page checkouts, multiple payment options and abandoned cart recovery.
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  • Templates and Design Tools: Access customizable templates that support all major content types, like blogs, galleries, pages, calendars and more. Use the latest HTML, Javascript and CSS transcripts to edit templates. Use customized color palettes, video and background banners, images via Unsplash, Google and TypeKit fonts, a built-in photo editor and more. 
  • Layout and Pages: Use pre-designed structures to create websites and add blocks, menus, links, maps, forms, files, buttons, charts, custom codes and social media icons. Duplicate text pages, use CSS editor and create custom redirect pages. Design websites that automatically adapt to the device it is accessed on without changing the overall style of the website. 
  • Commenting System: Incorporate a commenting system that helps with community management, flagging spam messages, disabling comments, threading comments, counting individual likes and moderating content. 
  • Multiple Contributors and Access Levels: Restrict permission to access based on role and use a single login to handle multiple sites simultaneously. Provide access levels, including content editing, reporting, store managing, administrating, billing and more. 
  • Passwords and Page Lock: Lock websites with a password while editing it, use a password to create private sections and customize page displays for visitors when locked by a password. 
  • Built-In Mobile Websites: Design websites that automatically adapt to the device it is accessed on without changing the overall style of the website. 
  • App: Use an app available on Android and iOS to manage websites, add or edit pages, add images, write and edit blogs and review traffic analytics. Manage inventory, orders and customers as well as add products and issue returns while on the go. 
  • Extensions: Use third-party tools to manage sales transactions, handle inventory and accounting, file taxes, streamline bookkeeping, promote products, ship products and more. Connect with Google Analytics and Disqus. 
  • Blogging: Publish, draft, schedule and mark posts for review. Use markdown block to add text, change layouts as per the blog content and automate the process of reformatting content for email campaigns. Manage audio blocks, blog post options and podcast support for better visibility. Save excerpts and source URLs, use accelerated mobile pages to create lightweight web pages, add subscribe buttons, access built-in RSS feeds and link titles to external URLs. 
  • Portfolios: Drag and drop images, add videos and audio files to pages or blog posts, and set videos or images as backgrounds. Access a built-in image editor, create landing pages with links to sub-pages, use lightbox to highlight images, define focal points for images and auto-fill tags, tiles and descriptions when importing images. 
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Product Ranking

#3

among all
eCommerce Platforms

#5

among all
eCommerce Platforms

Find out who the leaders are

Analyst Rating Summary

100
88
100
94
100
100
100
87
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Catalog and Product Management
Checkout
Integrations
Inventory Management
Marketing and Search Engine Optimization
Checkout
Marketing and Search Engine Optimization
Platform Capability
Shipping
Storefront

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Shopify
SquareSpace
+ Add Product + Add Product
Catalog And Product Management Checkout Inventory Management Marketing And Search Engine Optimization Order Management Payments Platform Capability Reporting And Analytics Sales Channel Shipping Storefront 100 100 100 100 100 99 100 100 100 100 100 94 100 87 100 84 66 100 80 65 100 100 0 25 50 75 100
100%
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90%
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10%
100%
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100%
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100%
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80%
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20%
100%
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100%
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100%
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80%
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20%
100%
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64%
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36%
100%
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100%
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100%
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80%
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20%
100%
0%
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71%
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29%
100%
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100%
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100%
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100%
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Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

100%
0%
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70%
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30%

User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 11539 reviews
Excellent User Sentiment 5450 reviews
89%
of users recommend this product

Shopify has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 89% when considering 11539 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

91%
of users recommend this product

SquareSpace has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 91% when considering 5450 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

5.0 (20)
n/a
4.4 (4558)
4.4 (870)
n/a
4.57 (2539)
4.5 (6372)
4.6 (1944)
4.4 (454)
n/a
4.4 (135)
4.2 (97)

Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Shopify and concluded it deserves the award for the Best Overall eCommerce Platforms available today and earns best-in-class honors for Catalog and Product Management, Inventory Management, Order Management, Sales Channel and Integrations.

Analysts' Pick Award
Catalog and Product Management Award
Inventory Management Award
Order Management Award
Sales Channel Award
Integrations Award

SquareSpace stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Ease of Use: Many users praise Shopify for its user-friendly interface, especially for those with little to no coding or web design experience. It allows users to set up a store quickly and easily.
Extensive Customizability: Shopify offers various free and paid customizable themes. It also has a large app store with numerous plugins for additional functionality.
Enhanced Security: Users appreciate Shopify’s integrated CDN hosting, SSL certification and multi-factor authentication, ensuring high security for businesses.
Support and Community: 24/7 customer support is available, and a large community of users and developers offers advice and solutions.
Scalability: Scaling your business with Shopify simply involves shifting to a higher-tier plan to access enterprise features like headless architecture, built-in AI and support for multiple business models.
All-In-One Solution: It provides a comprehensive package for managing eCommerce businesses, including marketing, inventory management, order processing, shipping, payments and analytics.
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Website Builder: It’s simple to create a professional website without any coding using the drag-and-drop editor, according to 70% of users mentioning this feature.
Ease of Use: The platform is intuitive and straightforward, according to 100% of users mentioning this aspect.
Domain: Squarespace helps transfer existing domains without any hassle, according to 90% of reviews mentioning domains.
Customer Support: Vendor’s support team offers quick and quality responses, as noted by 92% of reviews on customer support.
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Cost: Some users find Shopify expensive, especially since costs can escalate with paid apps and transaction fees.
Technical Expertise: In-depth customization requires accessing Shopify’s proprietary coding language, Liquid, which can be challenging for users with low technical expertise.
App Dependencies: The reliance on third-party apps for additional features can lead to slower website performance and increased costs.
Free Trial Duration: The free trial period is relatively short (3 days), which some users find insufficient for making a fully informed decision.
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Rigidity: The drag-and-drop website editor lacks customization features, according to all users discussing personal customizations.
Cost: According to 92% of users reviewing the pricing structure, the solution is costlier than its competitors based on the features provided.
Performance Speed: 82% of users who mentioned this element said that the platform uses a lot of RAM while running and is prone to crashes.
Data Analytics: In-depth analytics is only available with the enterprise pricing plan, according to 67% of reviews discussing this aspect.
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Shopify is a robust platform for every type of eCommerce business. During testing, I loved its “Markets” feature that consolidates wholesale, retail, B2B and D2C operations into a single view. You can tailor experiences for each market without creating multiple stores and get a bird's eye view of it all from a unified screen.Its analytics module is a strong suit. Unlike other platforms that typically involve a 24-hour waiting period to access current data, Shopify lets you stream your business’s data in real time. The drag-and-drop interface is intuitive, and pre-built reports provide a solid foundation. However, the platform truly shines in its ability to access and customize ShopifyQL code for advanced analytics.Shopify's scalability is also impressive. The platform grows with your business. Starting with a basic store and transitioning to a complex, multi-channel operation is seamless. The headless architecture offers flexibility for customization, allowing you to create unique shopping experiences using its native Hydrogen visual editor or other third-party solutions.The mobile app has offline image editing, AI image generation and website editing capabilities. Also, Shopify's native AI, Magic, automates routine tasks and provides data-driven recommendations.Shopify’s AI-powered virtual assistant, Sidekick, trains itself on your store’s data, customers and transactions. You can ask anything, from using a feature to understanding your business data, and it always provides helpful, contextual answers. It lets you generate customer segments, design marketing campaigns and optimize your sales funnel. Sidekick also identifies customer segments and offers tips to boost conversion rates, like targeted emails, discount coupons and cart recovery strategies.However, Shopify's cost structure can be prohibitive for some. As the business grows, so do the expenses. And reliance on third-party apps for essential functionalities can lead to increased costs and potential performance issues down the line.While the platform offers a high degree of customization, mastering Shopify's Liquid coding language is necessary for complex changes, creating a barrier for non-technical users. Lastly, the short duration of the free trial might hinder the evaluation process for potential customers.Overall, Shopify is one of the best eCommerce solutions that can adapt to evolving business needs. However, you should carefully consider the platform's limitations in terms of cost, technical complexity and app dependency before jumping into a contract.

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Squarespace helps businesses and individuals promote their brands digitally by launching professional websites and integrating every social account in a unified platform. According to reviews, the drag-and-drop website builder and intuitive user interface are the primary pros of the software.But, users have noted that the drag-and-drop editor lacks intricate customizations like moving image blocks, using multiple fonts, changing website structures and more. If you’re looking to deploy the software, we advise having technical expertise in WordPress coding or CSS editing for in-depth personalization. In conclusion, Squarespace is ideal for creating fashionable landing pages for individuals and smaller businesses, especially those looking for a simple option. It’s less effective for larger organizations with big inventory and that need hyper-detailed websites.

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