Shopify vs Squarespace — which should you pick in 2025?

Deciding between Shopify and Squarespace usually comes down to one question: Is your primary goal to sell products, or to showcase content/design while selling occasionally? 

Below is a practical, merchant-friendly comparison so you can choose the platform that fits your goals — plus quick recommendations for three common seller types.

TL;DR

• Pick Shopify if your main goal is product-first e-commerce that needs multichannel selling, a huge app ecosystem, advanced checkout/fulfillment, or POS for in-person sales. Shopify

• Pick Squarespace if you want a gorgeous, low-friction website with built-in commerce for a smaller catalog, lots of content (blog/portfolio), and simpler pricing. Squarespace

Quick overview: product focus vs. design-first

• Shopify is built around commerce first — everything from inventory, orders, shipping, tax, and point-of-sale sync is designed for sellers. It’s the platform most sellers choose when they plan to grow a real store. Shopify

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• Squarespace is a designer-focused website builder with elegant templates and strong content tools; its commerce features are solid for small shops but intentionally simpler. It’s ideal for creatives who want beautiful sites and modest storefronts. Squarespace

Ease of use & design

• Squarespace wins on immediate visual polish and a unified, opinionated editor that produces beautiful pages with minimal effort. If you care deeply about on-brand aesthetics out of the box, Squarespace is faster to a beautiful site. TechRadar

• Shopify is straightforward but commerce-first: themes and the theme editor are flexible, and many themes are made specifically to maximize conversions. Expect slightly more setup work if you want a very customized look. Zapier

Commerce features & scaling

• Shopify: robust product management, variants, bundles, inventory locations, advanced shipping rules, international selling, multiple sales channels (Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Amazon), and an extensive app store for features you don’t want to build yourself. If you plan to scale (100+ SKUs, multiple warehouses, wholesale, subscriptions), Shopify is built for that. Shopify

• Squarespace: covers essential commerce — products, variants, coupons, abandoned cart recovery, and basic inventory — and it’s getting stronger each year, but it still doesn’t match Shopify’s depth for complex fulfillment or large catalogs. Recent updates continue to improve commerce workflows. Squarespace

Apps, integrations & extensibility

• Shopify App Store: huge marketplace of vetted apps (print-on-demand, subscriptions, review engines, advanced analytics, ERP connectors). This makes it easy to bolt on advanced features as you need them. Zapier

  
  

• Squarespace Extensions: curated list of integrations (payment, shipping, marketing). Great for simple stores and fewer moving parts — but if you need very specific third-party tools, you’ll more often find them on Shopify first. Squarespace

Pricing & transaction fees (practical view)

• Shopify has entry points (Starter plans and Basic storefront plans) and scales up to advanced/enterprise tiers; you’ll also factor payment processing fees and optional app subscriptions — overall, cost tends to rise with scale but gives a lot of commerce capability. Shopify

• Squarespace typically has simpler, often lower list pricing for basic sites and stores; for small catalogs this can be more economical. But compare what you actually need (apps, shipping, international features) — the cheapest plan may lack essential commerce tools. Squarespace

POS & in-person selling

• Shopify includes a mature POS system and hardware ecosystem for markets, pop-ups, and retail stores — inventory, customer profiles, and online orders sync with in-person sales. This is a real advantage for makers and brands who sell both online and offline. Shopify Help Center

• Squarespace supports in-person and appointment booking workflows via integrations/extensions but doesn’t match Shopify’s dedicated POS feature set for multi-location retail. Squarespace

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SEO, blogging & content

• Squarespace has long been praised for elegant content tools and templates that make blogging and portfolio work seamless; it also recently added AI SEO helpers and richer content controls. Great if content is central to your business. Squarespace

  
  

  

  
  
  
  

• Shopify also supports blogging and SEO features and benefits from deep commerce schema and product-focused SEO tools; if you combine Shopify with a content strategy, you can capture both commerce and organic traffic effectively. Zapier

  
  

Which to pick — by seller type

• Hobby seller / portfolio + occasional sales → Squarespace.

  Faster to a beautiful site and lower friction if your catalog is tiny and you prioritize content. TechRadar

• Serious product seller / scaling brand → Shopify.

  Superior commerce features, inventory & channel support, POS, and the app ecosystem make it the practical choice for growth. Shopify+1

• Creative business that needs both (content + commerce) → Both are possible. 

  If your brand is content-first but you plan modest commerce, Squarespace is simpler; if you aim to scale product sales later, consider Shopify and invest a bit more up front in creating beautiful product pages and content there. Easyship+1

Real-world considerations & checklist

Before you choose, ask yourself:

• How many SKUs will I sell in year 1–2? (If 50+, favor Shopify.)

• Will I sell in person at markets/pop-ups?

• (If yes, Shopify POS is a plus.)

  Shopify Help Center

• Do I need lots of third-party integrations (email, ERP, POD, subscriptions)?

• (Shopify wins.) Zapier

• Is a beautiful, curated web presence the highest priority?

• (Squarespace makes that easiest.) TechRadar

Final recommendation

If your business is primarily about selling products and you want room to grow without rebuilding, start with Shopify.

If your goal is a beautiful, content-rich site with light commerce (small catalog, bookings, portfolios), start with Squarespace and upgrade later if/when commerce complexity grows.

Both platforms offer free trials — build a quick prototype to test the admin and publishing experience before committing. Shopify

Quick resources

• Shopify pricing & plan details. Shopify

• Squarespace feature index & commerce overview. Squarespace

• Independent platform comparisons and real-world notes. Zapier

Cheers!