Shopify vs Squarespace (2023): Which is Better?

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Reasons to use Shopify over Squarespace
   1. More selling options
   2. Better for international sales
   3. More payment gateways
   4. Abandoned cart saving
   5. Stronger tax calculation features
   6. More integrations available
   7. Comprehensive customer support
3. Reasons to use Squarespace over Shopify
   1. Wide range of free templates
   2. Easier to use
   3. More website building features
   4. Easy selling of online courses
   5. Better handling of product images
4. Conclusion

Shopify vs Squarespace: Which Website Building Tool is Right for You?

If you're looking to build a website and considering which platform to use, the comparison between Shopify and Squarespace is important to make an informed decision. Both platforms have their strengths and weaknesses, so it's essential to understand what each offers to determine the right fit for your needs.

Reasons to use Shopify over Squarespace

More selling options

Shopify shines when it comes to its selling capabilities. Unlike Squarespace, which started as a general website builder, Shopify is designed specifically as an ecommerce platform. This focus means that Shopify's selling tools are more flexible and sophisticated, especially for dropshipping business models.

Dropshipping is a lucrative business model where you don't handle inventory. Instead, you take orders through your online store and pass them on to a supplier who fulfills and ships the products directly to your customers. Shopify offers a wide range of dropshipping integrations, far surpassing Squarespace in this aspect. Additionally, Shopify excels in point-of-sale (POS) capabilities, providing access to a broader range of hardware and software features, along with broader international POS support.

Better for international sales

If you plan to sell internationally, Shopify has the upper hand. It allows you to sell in multiple currencies, providing a more localized shopping experience for your customers. This capability can lead to increased conversions as visitors see product prices displayed in their own currency. Furthermore, Shopify's built-in multilingual features make it easier than Squarespace to create versions of your store in different languages.

More payment gateways

Having a wide range of payment options is essential for any online store. Shopify offers integration with over 100 payment gateways, giving you more flexibility in accepting various payment methods. In contrast, Squarespace limits you to using only Stripe and PayPal, with no support for Google Pay. The availability of multiple payment gateways on Shopify ensures that you can accommodate customers' preferred payment methods seamlessly.

Abandoned cart saving

An abandoned cart saving feature can significantly impact your sales. Shopify includes this valuable tool on all its plans, allowing you to send automated reminder emails to customers who leave your store during the checkout process. Encouraging these visitors to complete their purchase is an effective way to recover potentially lost sales. On the other hand, Squarespace reserves this feature for its most expensive plan, limiting its accessibility to users on lower-tier plans.

Stronger tax calculation features

Dealing with tax rates can be a complex and tedious task for online merchants. Here, Shopify's automatic tax calculation features prove their worth. Shopify simplifies tax calculations for merchants by automatically applying the appropriate tax rates. It provides easy integration with the EU's complex VAT MOSS tax rates for digital products. In contrast, Squarespace has limited capabilities in this regard, offering automatic tax calculation features exclusively for the USA and requiring the installation of third-party apps.

More integrations available

Shopify shines through its extensive integration options, with over 8,000 apps available in its app store. This vast selection allows you to enhance and customize your online store by integrating with a wide range of third-party tools and services. In comparison, Squarespace's app store offers only around 35 apps, significantly limiting the choices available for extending your website's functionalities.

Comprehensive customer support

When it comes to customer support, Shopify surpasses Squarespace with its more comprehensive options. Shopify offers phone support on most of its plans, providing direct assistance when needed. In contrast, Squarespace only provides customer support through email or live chat. Additionally, Shopify provides customer support in multiple languages, ensuring that users from various regions can receive assistance in their preferred language.

Reasons to use Squarespace over Shopify

Wide range of free templates

One of Squarespace's standout advantages is its extensive collection of free templates. With over 150 free templates available, Squarespace offers a wider range of options compared to Shopify, which only provides access to around a dozen free templates. The Squarespace templates are visually stunning, presenting a "wow" factor that might be missing from the free themes offered by Shopify. The availability of high-quality free templates can significantly enhance the visual appeal of your website.

Easier to use

Squarespace excels in simplicity and ease-of-use. Its user-friendly interface and intuitive drag-and-drop editor make it a favorite among beginners. Squarespace presents a gentler learning curve compared to Shopify, allowing users to create and design pages that align exactly with their vision. This ease of use makes Squarespace an excellent choice for those who are not tech-savvy or have limited experience with website building.

More website building features

As a website building platform first and foremost, Squarespace provides users with more tools for creating and laying out content. With its robust features, Squarespace allows for greater customization and offers a plethora of options for designing attractive page layouts, galleries, and forms. Its blogging features are also stronger compared to Shopify, making it an ideal choice for content creators.

Easy selling of online courses

If you're interested in monetizing your skills through online courses, Squarespace provides a better solution. Squarespace simplifies the process of selling online courses, offering a fully integrated course-selling feature. Unlike Shopify, where you would need to purchase and configure third-party apps to sell courses, Squarespace streamlines the entire process within the platform itself. Though this feature comes at an additional cost, it eliminates potential complications and provides a seamless experience for both course creators and learners.

Better handling of product images

Product images play a crucial role in driving sales for online stores. Squarespace has an advantage in this area, particularly when it comes to maintaining image consistency. Unlike Shopify, where images with varying aspect ratios may appear different sizes, Squarespace allows you to select a specific aspect ratio for your product images. The system then automatically crops all your pictures to that ratio, ensuring a neat and professional appearance across your product catalogs.

Conclusion

Both Shopify and Squarespace offer unique features and benefits, making them suitable for different website building needs. Shopify excels in ecommerce functionality, providing a wealth of options for selling products internationally, managing tax calculations, integrating payment gateways, and offering comprehensive customer support. On the other hand, Squarespace shines in design aesthetics, ease of use, versatile website building features, selling online courses, and handling product images.

Ultimately, the best platform for you depends on your specific requirements, priorities, and preferences.

Highlights

• Shopify offers more selling options, making it ideal for dropshipping and point-of-sale needs.
• Squarespace provides a wider range of visually stunning free templates.
• Shopify supports international sales and multiple currencies, while Squarespace offers multilingual options.
• Shopify integrates with over 100 payment gateways, while Squarespace is limited to Stripe and PayPal.
• Shopify includes abandoned cart saving on all plans, while Squarespace reserves it for the most expensive plan.
• Shopify simplifies tax calculations and VAT MOSS for digital products, while Squarespace has limited capabilities.
• Shopify offers more integration options through its extensive app store.
• Shopify provides comprehensive customer support with phone assistance and multilingual support.
• Squarespace has an intuitive interface, making it easier to use.
• Squarespace offers more website building features and better handling of product images.
• Squarespace provides an integrated solution for selling online courses.

FAQ

Q: Can I sell internationally with Squarespace? A: Yes, Squarespace supports international sales, allowing you to create localized shopping experiences and offer multiple currencies to your customers.

Q: Does Shopify have customer support in multiple languages? A: Yes, Shopify provides customer support in multiple languages, ensuring assistance is available to users across different regions.

Q: Can Shopify automatically calculate taxes for me? A: Yes, Shopify's automatic tax calculation features simplify the process of dealing with different tax rates and pricing products accordingly.

Q: Can I sell online courses on Shopify? A: While Shopify supports selling online courses through third-party apps, Squarespace offers a fully integrated course-selling feature within the platform itself.

Q: Does Squarespace have a wide range of free templates? A: Yes, Squarespace offers over 150 visually stunning free templates, providing a wide range of options for website design.

Q: Can Shopify handle different payment gateways? A: Yes, Shopify integrates with over 100 payment gateways, giving you flexibility in accepting various payment methods.

Q: Is Squarespace easy to use? A: Yes, Squarespace is known for its user-friendly interface and intuitive drag-and-drop editor, making it easy to create and design pages.

Q: How does Squarespace handle product images? A: Squarespace allows you to select a specific aspect ratio for product images, automatically cropping them to ensure consistency in appearance across your website.

Q: What are the strengths of Shopify's customer support? A: Shopify offers phone support on most plans and provides customer support in multiple languages, ensuring comprehensive assistance for users.

Q: Can Squarespace automate abandoned cart reminders? A: Yes, Squarespace offers an abandoned cart saving feature, sending automated reminder emails to customers who leave your store during the checkout process.