Shopify Plus vs. Squarespace

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Shopify Plus
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Shopify Plus is an eCommerce solution built for enterprise-level companies that enables them to sell online and offline across social channels like Facebook , Pinterest, and marketplaces like Amazon and eBay.
$2,300
per month
Squarespace
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Squarespace is a CMS platform that allows users to create a DIY blog, eCommerce store, and/or portfolio (visual art or music). Some Squarespace website and shop templates are industry or use case-specific, such as menu builders for restaurant sites.
$25
per month
Pricing
Shopify PlusSquarespace
Editions & Modules
3-year term
$2300
per month
1-year term
$2500
per month
Basic
$25
per month
Core
$36
per month
Plus
$56
per month
Advanced
$139
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Shopify PlusSquarespace
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details28% to 36% discount available for annual pricing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Shopify PlusSquarespace
Considered Both Products
Shopify Plus
Chose Shopify Plus
There are all good for business who are just starting but as the business grows the platform has to be able to scale with it
Chose Shopify Plus
Shopify is more robust and has more functionalities than its competitors like BigCommerce and Kibo. It offers the best UI in the business and the most exhaustive app marketplace ecosystem. It is more cost effective than big system and doe snot require large teams of developers …
Chose Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus is far more scalable and stable. It is much easier to implement, and the time to value is much shorter. Development resources are plentiful and skilled, and the product's user base is so massive that significant testing has been done prior to releasing any updates …
Chose Shopify Plus
Significant improvement. Magento did not have a B2B setting, so you needed to remember and alter the prices manually, and you could not create draft orders, so if you sent a customer a quote and they called up to pay, you then had to quickly create the order whilst the customer …
Chose Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus, once existing data imported awkwardly, handles so much of the basics of running an online shop in way that you know you can rely upon. It still requires many more third party tools to be able to use best-in-class analytics and AB testing.
Chose Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus is the best choice for DTC-oriented brands, especially if you are a leaner team and want more hands-on customization vs relying on an agency to manage your website backend.
Chose Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus is the most advanced and most widely accepted "DIY" website tool. While WordPress has some capabilities and is certainly cheaper, it is still a blogging platform with e-commerce capabilities added later, and you can tell that's what it is when you use it. …
Chose Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus's ease of use compared to Sticky.io was the biggest reason we had switched, and just the sheer customization and available apps allow you to adjust your store without needing to spend weeks custom developing tools.
Chose Shopify Plus
A far more professional approach to e-commerce in general. Servers and the core SSL are taken care of and you're left with a whole host of tools to sell, sell and sell.
Chose Shopify Plus
Shopify is a much easier and more intuitive platform to use.

The mobile focus is outstanding from the other competitors and the capability to modify the store without previous code or experience makes them the best e-commerce platform.
Chose Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus is better supported, more powerful, and has much more ability for customization. Shopify as a platform is also much more stable than others and offers excellent customer support. New features are constantly being rolled out and it has a very large community.
Chose Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus is an all in one service. You are able to keep track of invoices and payments. Shopify Plus also offers options for shipping and connects your tracking number to you order which allows for easy tracking. Your tracking number is also a link which makes it even easier.
Chose Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus has the most robust capabilities of the pure cloud plays and the app store ecosystem is the largest and best.
Chose Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus is the least expensive option.
Apps/plug ins are vast, inexpensive, and relatively easiest to integrate
Least amount of customization, but good for teams with small dev support
Chose Shopify Plus
Shopify had the quickest go-to-market and most robust API among the products we compared. CommerceCloud required a VERY LONG integration phase that we just didn't have time for. BigCommerce fell short on the number of features and API coverage that we needed. Overall Shopify …
Chose Shopify Plus
Netsuite SuiteCommerce, which has a very high cost of ownership, and Magento, which although powerful can be expensive and is too complex for the average eComm requirements. Too flexible can be bad in some cases.
Chose Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus offers a more robust solution than Woo commerce and is easier to train on than Big Commerce. Woo commerce is freeware with no support. Big Commerce offers more SEO features and is a more powerful solution, but harder to remote train users on - lots more …
Chose Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus is WAYYYYYY better than anything else that we have used, and it's not even close. The websites are faster and more reliable, both of which are critical to running an online business. The cost to run is way less. We are running five websites on Shopify Plus for less …
Chose Shopify Plus
I selected Shopify Plus because the clients found it easy to use to manage their website, whenever they needed an update of their website. Shopify Plus is great when it comes to e-commerce websites and should only be used for e-commerce.
Chose Shopify Plus
Our experience with SFCC was fairly poor. SFCC was very expensive, and the ecosystem of partners is very expensive. SFCC is a bit more mature but the time to execute is significantly slower.
Chose Shopify Plus
Shopify Olus is more of a SAAS than the self-managed Magento solution. With this comes a host of benefits such as hosting, security, updates, and new technology that you no longer have to worry about. Specifically, with Shopify Plus, scripts can be very powerful and when …
Chose Shopify Plus
Big Cartel, Magento, Squarespace, Wordpress, Wix, etc are all decent solutions for eCommerce, but none of them features the easy setup, ease of use, simple streamlined dashboard/interface, and customer website experience that Shopify Plus has. Shopify (non plus) alone is a …
Chose Shopify Plus
It doesn't. Shopify has some great features and add-ons. I particularly like the ability for customers to check out quickly with a text authenticator, the theme options, ability to customize the look and feel, and video integration but this is all surface matter. At its core, …
Chose Shopify Plus
While Squarespace has a more sophisticated site theme and template offering, the inventory management, and drop shipping options (while still not perfect, or ideal) makes Shopify Plus the right choice for powering e-commerce businesses.
Squarespace
Chose Squarespace
Squarespace is more user-friendly and sleek. I'd recommend it over Freenom for beginners and those who are more interested in running a website (instead of caring about their DNS).
Chose Squarespace
I like Squarespace better if you are starting from scratch. I was able to use Wordpress when it was an existing site and I just had to make updates, but would have a difficult time starting from the beginning and building a Wordpress site.
Chose Squarespace
Blackbaud DonorCentral, Donorbox, Alaya by Benevity, Intuit Mailchimp, monday CRM and monday.com
Chose Squarespace
In my opinion, Squarespace beats Wix all day. We have used both for microsite development. We use Wordpress for our main site as the featureset is open source and is considered the industry best practice. You can do a lot more specific features with WordPress that are sometimes …
Chose Squarespace
Squarespace if much less work than WordPress, plus hosting and security are not an issue. GoDaddy and Wix are okay, but nowhere near the flexibility or advanced feature set that you can get with Squarespace. Compared to the other products that I have used, Squarespace …
Chose Squarespace
We picked Squarespace for a specific use case because it was easy to spin up the promotional content we needed.
Chose Squarespace
Squarespace is easy to use, webflow can feel clunky (though I haven’t tried it recently), and Wix is very similar, but I preferred the Squarespace aesthetic. Also, Squarespace has clear, transparent pricing - you know what you get, and I like the design styles. I’m not in a …
Chose Squarespace
Squarespace was the quickest to get up and running for a basic website, and with the GoDaddy integration it simplified rapid setup. A plugin for basic language translation allowed us to be compliant from day one.
Chose Squarespace
Squarespace was quicker to set up and more accessible to manipulate the theme, pictures, and content. The page layouts are more versatile and fluid. With Wordpress, more time-consuming efforts go into making a template work the way you want it to (because of the lack of the …
Chose Squarespace
Submittable and Squarespace serve different functions but Squarespace is by far the easier and more user friendly platform.
Chose Squarespace
Wordpress is for more advanced users and allows more functionality to be built into the website. However, Squarespace is easy to use and you will be able to get a functioning website up and running on your own. That is their main point and purpose for their mission. However, …
Chose Squarespace
I would choose Squarespace over all the competition unless I wanted a website builder/host that had an online course portal. Squarespace has the easiest website builder. It's relatively cheap. It automatically updates. It is easy to integrate with third-party services such as …
Chose Squarespace
Both of my fields are visual, so design is as important as functionality. Unbounce looks great, but it's not set up for the same full functionality. I've also been quite familiar with Squarespace and felt comfortable with them.
Chose Squarespace
Not even comparable. I was hacked within 2 years with WordPress in a brute force attack. Since going to Squarespace, I have had zero security issues. I feel the two platforms, though similar, are incomparable.
Chose Squarespace
I found it easier for me to use square space myself rather than have a middle person between me and my website. It was a lot easier for me to access and change something and when I wanted to change something on my site. It gave me flexibility and more options to utilize my …
Chose Squarespace
Squarespace's most attractive feature in comparison to WordPress and Wix is its library of themes available to use. WordPress has a neverending supply of options but that's WordPress, the industry-standard however the limited options for Squarespace is nice so you aren't …
Chose Squarespace
Squarespace offers better SEO options and ease of use than Wix/Weebly site builders. Squarespace is easy to manage and easy to track inventory and sales. For companies with lower skill sets in-house, it is also very easy to train staff to manage the platform.
Chose Squarespace
I liked the usability of Squarespace better than Network Solutions for the type of website we were looking for. I found it was easier to create and customize and I liked the overall look of the website in Squarespace better than what the end result of the Network Solutions site …
Chose Squarespace
Myself and my team have used more robust web development platforms for bigger organization presence on the web. However that has always required more time, effort and talent by using web developers to setup and add content to the sites. With squarespace, a site can be setup in …
Chose Squarespace
Squarespace is the best option relative to other web hosting and design platforms we initially reviewed. It was a bit more expensive than some of the free models we looked at but those sites often came with hidden fees if we wanted to customize anything and Squarespace has …
Chose Squarespace
I actually ended up going with Wordpress's OShine theme. Squarespace just missed some of the SEO and API tracking that I wanted and Elementor was too slow and WP Rocket isn't compatible with it. OShine ended up fitting the bill so everything I wanted could work together, but …
Chose Squarespace
I really like Squarespace's all-in-one concept vs. WordPress, where you add each piece individually. However, if you are building a much larger site, WordPress may be better. For our needs in terms of sales, Squarespace was great.
Features
Shopify PlusSquarespace
Online Storefront
Comparison of Online Storefront features of Product A and Product B
Shopify Plus
8.6
Ratings
9% above category average
Squarespace
-
Ratings
Product catalog & listings9.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Product management8.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Bulk product upload6.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Branding8.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile storefront9.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Product variations9.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Website integration9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Visual customization9.20 Ratings00 Ratings
CMS8.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Online Shopping Cart
Comparison of Online Shopping Cart features of Product A and Product B
Shopify Plus
8.4
Ratings
9% above category average
Squarespace
-
Ratings
Abandoned cart recovery7.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Checkout user experience9.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Online Payment System
Comparison of Online Payment System features of Product A and Product B
Shopify Plus
9.6
Ratings
15% above category average
Squarespace
-
Ratings
eCommerce security9.60 Ratings00 Ratings
eCommerce Marketing
Comparison of eCommerce Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Shopify Plus
8.3
Ratings
7% above category average
Squarespace
-
Ratings
Promotions & discounts8.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Personalized recommendations8.30 Ratings00 Ratings
SEO7.80 Ratings00 Ratings
eCommerce Business Management
Comparison of eCommerce Business Management features of Product A and Product B
Shopify Plus
8.5
Ratings
6% above category average
Squarespace
-
Ratings
Order processing9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Inventory management7.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Shipping8.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom functionality9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Shopify Plus
-
Ratings
Squarespace
8.5
Ratings
5% above category average
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
Shopify Plus
-
Ratings
Squarespace
4.2
Ratings
57% below category average
API00 Ratings5.00 Ratings
Internationalization / multi-language00 Ratings3.50 Ratings
Web Content Creation
Comparison of Web Content Creation features of Product A and Product B
Shopify Plus
-
Ratings
Squarespace
7.1
Ratings
8% below category average
WYSIWYG editor00 Ratings8.10 Ratings
Code quality / cleanliness00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Admin section00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Page templates00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Library of website themes00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Mobile optimization / responsive design00 Ratings7.30 Ratings
Publishing workflow00 Ratings6.20 Ratings
Form generator00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Web Content Management
Comparison of Web Content Management features of Product A and Product B
Shopify Plus
-
Ratings
Squarespace
7.0
Ratings
5% below category average
Content taxonomy00 Ratings6.70 Ratings
SEO support00 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Bulk management00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Availability / breadth of extensions00 Ratings5.70 Ratings
Community / comment management00 Ratings6.70 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Shopify PlusSquarespace
Small Businesses
Ecwid by Lightspeed
Ecwid by Lightspeed
Score 10.0 out of 10
ManageWP
ManageWP
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
IBM Digital Commerce
IBM Digital Commerce
Score 9.0 out of 10
RWS Tridion Sites
RWS Tridion Sites
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
IBM Digital Commerce
IBM Digital Commerce
Score 9.0 out of 10
RWS Tridion Sites
RWS Tridion Sites
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Shopify PlusSquarespace
Likelihood to Recommend
9.5
(0 ratings)
9.3
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.6
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Shopify PlusSquarespace
Likelihood to Recommend
Shopify Plus makes order management simple and less error prone. Connecting our ERP allows us to seamlessly manage our product listings, fulfill orders, and sync customer data. Limitations to the number of product variants requires attention from our staff to make sure our products sync without issue. Other than being arbitrary, there's really no need to limit the number of product variants.
Read full review
We've found Squarespace perfect for quick, well-designed websites that you can literally design and launch in a day. However, if you want to get more complex with your website, including custom backend integrations or code, Squarespace presents a bit more of a challenge when it comes to what they will allow you to modify on their platform (especially using third-party integration apps).
Read full review
Pros
  • Scales incredibly well. Forget about hardware concerns, load balancing, downtime, etc. and focus on eCommerce. We've seen merchants go from a few thousand dollars per month to having million dollar days, all on Shopify without having to worry about performance or scaling systems.
  • Great new features consistently being added, ahead of the curve on almost everything
  • Solid API to build on and work with, a few annoying quirks here and there for super complex use cases but overall very well documented and works well
  • Most Merchant Success Managers are good and genuinely want to be helpful
  • A fantastic user interface, very logical and easy to use
  • Tons and tons and tons of out of the box integrations. Easily the best integration marketplace of the e-commerce platforms. There's an app for that.
Read full review
  • Squarespace is very easy to use, this is a super helpful thing as small business owners we have to wear many hats and being a full blown website developer doesn't need to be one of them.
  • Squarespace has quick and simple plugins.
  • Squarespace allows you to easily expand as you need to.
Read full review
Cons
  • The Account Managers/Reps have become more scripted and seem like they are busier and handling more clients than before. It doesn't seem as personal and special anymore like when we first upgraded to Plus.
  • Shopify still has missing features in their software that might not have an app in their app marketplace available that fills this void.
  • The 24/7 support doesn't seem as dedicated as they once were.
Read full review
  • Customizing the sites can be highly UN intuitive
  • Navigation for editing the sites can be difficult and frustrating
  • Squarespace has different versions and it's hard to know which version you're on. You can't switch after you start making a site with one version.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
It's a great CMS tool. Easy to use and maintain. It looks great and the support is excellent.
Read full review
Usability
Shopify Plus is intutive as stated previously. It's easy to find what we want and edit (reports, products, online store theme, etc...) You dont need to have a ton of coding experience to be able to get a website up and running on Shopify Plus. The reason I wont give a 10/10 and gave an 8 is because I do think it is heavily realiant on app and it can open up a can of worms with the amout of apps that are out there, their costs, and which one to chose. There are also some internal limitations as stated previously with discounts and personalized message for different customer groups. But overall, it is a good platform that I recommend.
Read full review
It's dead simple to use. There are no over complicated controls or tons of menus to screw things up. People with bad taste couldn't make an ugly website. While it may be frustrating for the pro designer to get exactly what they want, it prevents the uninitiated from making something ugly
Read full review
Support Rating
Always are quick to answer our questions and help us find a solution
Read full review
Help is available directly from the back end and uses full sentence searching to find answers to questions others may have asked before. With a ton of articles and support questions documents, it is very likely that your question has been answered. If not each page has the ability to open a direct email to support. Each case has a number and can be followed. Responses are often quick and have links and directions clearly stated
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Alternatives Considered
Shopify Plus is an all in one service. You are able to keep track of invoices and payments. Shopify Plus also offers options for shipping and connects your tracking number to you order which allows for easy tracking. Your tracking number is also a link which makes it even easier.
Read full review
Squarespace if much less work than WordPress, plus hosting and security are not an issue. GoDaddy and Wix are okay, but nowhere near the flexibility or advanced feature set that you can get with Squarespace. Compared to the other products that I have used, Squarespace definitely offers more options, customization, advanced features and design options than others, for a great price.
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Return on Investment
  • Definitely makes selling on multiple platforms easy, saving us time and effort.
  • Keeps all of our business in one place, saving us money on other apps to manage each aspect.
  • Automatically flags potential fraudulent orders, preventing us from accidentally shipping to a scam.
  • During our busiest months, we don't see any slowdowns, which allows us to go full throttle with all ads and marketing without worrying about whether or not the software can handle it.
Read full review
  • I can see how squarespace can improve efficiency since it's so quick to build a site on there.
  • For those who don't want to hook up a bunch of different stuff to their website and make it work...they most likely have whatever plug in you need and you can add it. Worst case scenario, they have developers you can hire who can make what you need.
  • As your business grows you can add an online storefront to your site and make more money that way! Easy peasy!
  • They have an easy system for adding special SEO words/phrases so you don't have to learn SEO at all!
Read full review
ScreenShots

Shopify Plus Screenshots

Screenshot of The home screen of your Shopify admin, including proactive home cards and reporting and live view insights.Screenshot of Your Shopify Plus store is ready for mobile commerce. Customers can browse and buy from your store with an optimized experience on device.Screenshot of Editing products across sales channels.Screenshot of Easily edit colours, typography, settings, and drag and drop sections for each of your store's templates with the theme editor.