Squarespace vs Shopify

Squarespace and Shopify are technically similar platforms on which you can build an online store and content-driven website. However, the creation process of these two platforms differs from each other. Hence, while deciding which platform is more proper for your business, you may want to consider these differences. So, let’s take a look at Squarespace vs Shopify.

Squarespace was built for content-based websites. The aim was to build and maintain these kinds of websites, such as informative or entertaining. On the other hand, Shopify’s goal was to create and design online stores. Then, these platforms improved with additional features and became similar websites. Users can both create and maintain an online store and content-based websites on both platforms.

Content-Based Website or Online Store

If your purpose is to build an informative website or blog, your choice should be Squarespace. Of course, Shopify also can be useful for this aim; however, in terms of functionality, it may not be enough all the time. Thus, when it comes to Squarespace’s advantages:

• There are various and high-quality templates on Squarespace, which you can create well-designed websites.
• It does not require prior information about designing a website because it is highly easy to use.
• The platform has the perfect tools for photo editing and displaying images. It means that it has excellent features for blogs.
• Besides, Squarespace has various features for content displaying. Hence, it is also easy and quick to create a professional look for your website.
• The platform is highly reliable and ready to help in case of any issues.

When it comes to designing and maintaining an online store, Shopify would be a better choice than Squarespace. It is because most of its features for online shopping are not available on Squarespace. These are:

• Shopify allows shoppers to make their payments in multiple currencies. Thus, it is possible for online store owners to reach customers from different countries.
• When it comes to buying and selling, tax calculations are necessary and significant on these platforms. Shopify’s tax calculation functionality seems better than other platforms like Squarespace.
• Third-party apps like Zoho and Quickbox increase the functionality of online stores. Shopify has efficient integration with these kinds of third-party apps.
• Inventory management of Shopify seems better than Squarespace due to being more sophisticated and varied.

Pricing of Squarespace and Shopify

When it comes to preparing a budget for your business, pricing matters a lot since your payment should be worth spending. Besides, your budget may change according to your company’s size or your purpose. Hence, examining pricing and deciding whether it is worth it is crucial before choosing the right platform. Thus, here are pricing details of Squarespace and Shopify:

Squarespace

• Personal Plan: Personal plan is $16 per month, and it allows you to create your content-driven website. In this plan, the platform does not allow you to customize your website. Besides, users cannot sell their products via this plan. 
• Business Plan: The business plan is $26 per month. You can sell products with an additional 3% transaction fee per sale. Besides, this plan has more sophisticated features in case of announcement bars and pop-up messages.
• Basic Commerce: Basic commerce plan requires $30 per month. If your company is based in the United States, the plan allows you to use point-of-sale functionality. Besides, users can utilize business and personal plans’ features as well.
• Advanced Commerce: Advanced Commerce plan requires $46 per month. It has advanced features as well as other plans’ features, such as real-time carrier shipping, advanced e-commerce features, abandoned cart recovery, and etc. 
• Squarespace Select: This plan was announced recently and did not have a particular fee. The fee differs according to the needs of customers. You can access SEO consultation and support for your website. According to your needs, experts offer a negotiable price.

All plans of Squarespace have discounts if you purchase the plan that you want on an annual basis. Moreover, the platform offers a two-week free trial for paid plans except for the Squarespace Select plan.

Shopify

• Shopify Lite: This plan costs $9 per month. It is the cheapest plan; thus, you do not have access to all features of the platform. With this plan, the platform only allows you to sell on your existing website. It means that you cannot design your online store on Shopify.
• Basic Shopify: Basic Shopify plan costs $29 per month. This plan allows you to add two more users to your account with some additional features.
• Shopify: Shopify plan costs $79 per month. From this plan and up, professional reporting features are available on the platform. 
• Advanced Shopify: Advanced Shopify plan costs $229 per month, and it includes nearly all features. Besides, you can add fifteen users to your account. It is an effective feature, especially for big businesses.

Like Squarespace, Shopify also offers a discount if you decide to purchase a plan on an annual basis as well as a two-week free trial. Moreover, the abandoned cart saving feature is available on all plans of Shopify. If it is necessary for your business, you definitely should consider this advantage. Lastly, you can have point-of-sale functionality with all plans. However, you should pay an additional fee, which is $89.

Pricing Comparison

Since both platforms have different plans, it may be hard to distinguish and compare all plans with each other. Therefore, a comparison may be helpful for you.

Firstly, if you do not want to sell products and want to design an informative website for your company, the Personal Plan of Squarespace can be the right choice for you. It costs $16 per month and allows you to utilize all photo editing and content displaying features with easy and strong templates.

If you want to create and maintain an online store, you should purchase either the Business Plan of Squarespace or the Basic Shopify plan of Shopify at least. When prices are compared, Business Plan seems $3 cheaper than Basic Shopify. However, Squarespace requires a 3% transaction fee. Besides, when limited payment gateway options of Squarespace are considered, Shopify seems more advantageous in pricing.

Lastly, the Shopify Lite plan allows users to sell if they have a website or a Facebook page. Besides, it only costs $9. It means that if you have an option like that, you do not have to pay high monthly fees for two platforms.

Payment Gateways

Two platforms have a big difference in terms of payment gateways. Firstly, Squarespace only allows payments from four gateways. They are PayPal, Stripe, Afterpay, and Apple Pay.

On the other hand, Shopify allows shoppers to make their payments from more than 100 gateways. Since they also accept payments in various currencies, choosing Shopify seems like a more professional choice. If you have a local company, you may not need to accept payments in different currencies. However, if you have a big business or if you are aiming to widen your business to the world, it would be best to choose Shopify. Even though Squarespace accepts payments from four gateways, these platforms are not available in some countries.

Search Engine Optimization

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is one of the most important aspects that should be considered while choosing a platform to sell. Google published a new requirements list named “Core Web Vitals” for 2021. It shows the basic and detailed requirements for search engine optimization. More specifically, it shows the necessities for improving your websites’ rankings on Google.

While Shopify meets Core Web Vitals, Squarespace has some issues on that. The company states that they are aware of the problem; nevertheless, they cannot intervene till June 2021. Of course, it should not prevent you from using Squarespace since they still meet most of the SEO requirements. However, if you want to get the best rankings in your ultra-competitive industry, it would be right to pick Shopify.

One other important SEO requirement for websites is the 301 redirect. When you change your website’s URL, a 301 redirect lets search engines know that. On Shopify, 301 redirects are done automatically by the platform if you change your URL. However, on Squarespace, you should do it manually. It is a significant disadvantage because URL changes may be necessary sometimes for SEO, and forgetting to create a 301 redirect is possible most of the time.

Lastly, while creating a URL, both platforms place prefixes between words. It is not preferable because Google prefers clearer URLs for SEO. While Squarespace is easier on this issue, Shopify is not flexible at all. From this aspect, Squarespace may be preferable for SEO.

Dropshipping

Dropshipping is an efficient strategy for online stores. Companies take orders and convey them to supplier companies. Then, suppliers send products to customers. It is an advantageous method in many ways. Firstly, you do not need to invest much money at the beginning of your business. Besides, you will get paid without spending effort for shipping. On the other hand, since you do not reach products that you sell, you cannot be sure about their quality. It may be risky for you and your reliability.

Squarespace allows you to use just two dropshipping agencies, which are Spocket and Printful. However, in Shopify, there is a large scale of dropshipping services, which makes Shopify more preferable in that area. Even though there are popular dropshipping services that are chosen more, it is nice to have various options and choose the best one for you.

Squarespace vs Shopify

When it comes to Squarespace vs Shopify question overall, it is possible to say that Shopify runs the competition. As we examined in different aspects such as the purpose of website, pricing, SEO, payment methods, and dropshipping, it seems like Shopify has more profits in all given aspects except content-driven websites. If you do not want to sell products, Squarespace should be the obvious choice with the quality and pricing.

On the other hand, if you want to have an online store, Shopify is the better option. It has a bit better pricing and payment options. Since payment constitutes a big part of your business, it is crucial to pick the best payment opportunities. Besides, it offers wider options when it comes to dropshipping.

Therefore, when we look the overall comparison of opportunities of both platforms, Shopify wins the competition till Squarespace develop their options.

FAQs on Squarespace vs Shopify

Is Shopify better than Squarespace?

Shopify is clearly better than Squarespace because it is a more comprehensive platform. It offers better pricing, payment, SEO, and dropshipping options despite Squarespace’s some advantages in some aspects.

Why shouldn’t I use Squarespace?

Squarespace has fewer options than its alternatives. Besides, it has poor options for customization. Therefore, you should be completely okay with its options and templates to choose it. Otherwise, Shopify seems like a better option.

Is Shopify worth its price?

If you want to create an online store, Shopify is one of the best options for you. It has a wide range of payment options and customization features. Besides, it gives SEO services to improve your rankings. Thus, it really worth its price.

What is the downside of Shopify?

In Shopify, customers may struggle to distinguish your store from others due to a lack of templates. They offer 71 themes for your store. Hence, there are a lot of online stores that look the same. It may make it harder for you to make your store distinguishable.

Which is better? Shopify or Amazon?

Although Amazon seems a bit more popular around the world, Shopify has better opportunities and pricing. It is better for medium and big-sized businesses and better in pricing.

Shortly Squarespace vs Shopify

We have compared Squarespace vs Shopify. Both Squarespace and Shopify can be used for content-driven websites and online stores. However, they have advantageous features on their own. Squarespace seems better if you want to run a blog or informative website without selling products. Its display and editing options carry it on a better sort. However, when it comes to running an online store, Shopify obviously wins the competition. It is because its options are wider and more beneficial for companies’ budgets. Therefore, when you are sure about your purpose, it is easy to make a choice between these two platforms.

The post Squarespace vs Shopify is republished from Dopinger Blog