Squarespace and Shopify are two of the biggest website-building platforms out there. And if you’re trying to decide between them, you’re not alone! I faced the same dilemma when I needed to revamp my main website last year and then again when we were launching a brand-new one this year.

I ended up choosing Squarespace for when we redesigned www.gillianperkins.com and Shopify for my new business site, www.startupsociety.shop.

These two website platforms had sounded similar from the research I’d done before making my choices, but, after working with both platforms, I was surprised to discover just how different they are behind the scenes.

So today, I’m breaking down Squarespace vs. Shopify across eight different categories so that you can really understand all those differences between the two of them and make an informed decision about which one is best for you.

1. Page Builder: Ease of Customization

Squarespace: If you love drag-and-drop editing and visual customization, Squarespace is the winner here. The page builder is intuitive, allowing you to move elements around freely. However, there are some limitations—you can’t always place elements exactly where you want without tweaking settings. Also, mobile responsiveness can be tricky, requiring extra adjustments.

Shopify: Shopify’s page builder is more structured. Instead of freeform drag-and-drop, you select pre-built sections and customize them. While this approach keeps your site cleaner and faster, it limits design flexibility. That said, Shopify themes allow for deep customization—especially with the help of a designer.

🏆 Winner: Squarespace (if ease of customization is your top priority)

2. Visual Appearance: Design Flexibility

You can build a beautiful website with both platforms, but Squarespace makes it a bit easier to achieve the exact look you want -- and this website is a perfect example of that, since we built it with Squarespace!

Squarespace’s built-in design tools allow for fine-tuned adjustments, while Shopify is more template-driven and requires a bit more coding to break out of those template molds.

🏆 Winner: Squarespace (best for creatives who want full design control)

3. Functionality: What Can Your Website Do?

Squarespace offers built-in features for blogs, portfolios, and eCommerce, but it’s a closed system—you’re mostly limited to what Squarespace provides.

Shopify, on the other hand, has a robust app store, allowing you to extend your site’s capabilities with thousands of apps. Whether you need advanced inventory management, subscription billing, or SMS marketing, Shopify has an app for it.

🏆 Winner: Shopify (best for businesses needing advanced features)

4. Backend Organization: Ease of Use

Squarespace’s backend is sleek but lacks a search function for managing pages or finding specific settings. If your site has a lot of pages, navigating them can be cumbersome.

Shopify’s backend is well-organized, with a powerful search function that makes finding and managing settings, products, orders, and pages much easier.

🏆 Winner: Shopify (better backend organization and navigation)

5. Product Management: Selling Made Simple

Squarespace supports selling digital and physical products, but Shopify was built for eCommerce. Shopify offers better tools for managing products, inventory, and orders. Plus, Shopify apps like FileMonk make digital product delivery seamless.

🏆 Winner: Shopify (best for selling products)

6. Analytics: Tracking Performance

Both platforms offer analytics, but Shopify goes much deeper. It provides detailed reports on sales, traffic, customer behavior, and even conversion rates, giving you insights into how visitors interact with your site.

Shopify also offers more customizable reporting tools, allowing you to filter data by date range, product performance, and customer segments.

Additionally, Shopify integrates seamlessly with Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and other third-party tracking tools, making it easier to optimize marketing campaigns. Squarespace, on the other hand, provides a more simplified dashboard with basic metrics such as visitor counts, traffic sources, and sales data, which may be sufficient for smaller/simpler businesses but lacks the depth and flexibility that Shopify provides.

🏆 Winner: Shopify (best for data-driven businesses)

7. Site Speed: Performance Matters

We tested the loading speeds of our websites built on both platforms using Google's PageSpeed Insights. Our Squarespace websites, including gillianperkins.com and creatorfasttrack.com, showed slower performance scores, with load times averaging around 10-12 seconds. This is largely due to Squarespace's visually-heavy design tools, which can lead to bloated code and slower rendering times.

On the other hand, our Shopify website, startupsociety.shop, performed significantly better, with a speed index nearly half that of the Squarespace sites. Shopify’s structured approach leads to cleaner code, more optimized resource loading, and overall faster site speeds. This can have a direct impact on user experience, SEO rankings, and conversion rates, making Shopify the better choice for performance-conscious businesses.

🏆 Winner: Shopify (faster load times mean a better user experience)

8. Pricing: Affordability

Squarespace’s plans start at $16/month, making it a budget-friendly option for simple websites, compared to Shopify’s plans, which start at $29/month. However, if you need full eCommerce functionality, Shopify’s “basic” plan ($29/month) is similarly priced to Squarespace’s “commerce” plan ($28/month).

Click HERE for Squarespace plans and pricing, or click HERE for Shopify’s plans and pricing.

🏆 Winner: Squarespace (best for budget-conscious users who don’t need advanced eCommerce)

The Verdict: Which Website Platform Should YOU Choose?

Choose Squarespace if...

You’re highest priority is your website’s visual appearance.
You’re a blogger, service provider, or creative.
You need an easy-to-use, affordable platform.
You don’t need any advanced functionality.

Choose Shopify if...

You’re selling products (either physical or digital goods) at scale.
You need robust eCommerce tools and analytics.
You want access to third-party apps for added functionality.

My Personal Take

I use Squarespace for my content-driven sites (like my blog) and Shopify for product-based businesses (like The Startup Shop). Each has strengths, so the right choice depends on your needs!

Still deciding? Both platforms offer great trials so you can take them for a test run and see which feels right for you! Here’s the link for a free 14-day trial of Squarespace, and here’s a link to get three months of Shopify for just $1.

I hope this breakdown helps you choose the best platform for your business. Let me know what you decide! 🚀

SQUARESPACE vs SHOPIFY - Which Is Better?