Squarespace vs. Shopify – What’s the Difference?
Image and words by Emily Pritchett, Creative Assistant
Deciding whether to build your website on Squarespace or Shopify can feel like choosing between Diet Coke or Coke Zero. Fundamentally they are different, but no ones entirely sure why or how… (it’s the taste, apparently). Crucially, they are both fantastic tools for building websites, both offer: easy-to-use templates, different plans tailored to your needs, and a platform to share content and sell your products.
So, why Shopify?
Shopify is a paid platform where businesses can build websites from templates for the primary use of selling products.
Tools of the trade
Its e-commerce features are much stronger than Squarespace, the site gives you a lot of different options and tools, as well as access to third-party management systems that can aid the selling/buying process.
Seamless selling
With Shopify, you can get a bunch of extra gear so you can sell from a physical location, and there’s better drop shipping options so there’s less hassle when you sell.
Ease of payment
Shopify can take payments in multiple currencies, it can help you manage your inventory, they do all the boring bits and bobs, like tax, and there are numerous ways the customer can pay (Squarespace can only do paypal or stripe).
Coding capabilities
Shopify will give you all the code - all the numbers and letters that have made your site what it is. This can really help when editing or rebuilding your site in the future.
So, why Squarespace?
Squarespace is a paid platform where users can build websites from hundreds of templates. We find it’s best for a content-driven site. Think: blogging, articles and portfolios. If your main aim is to show or display, Squarespace offers stunning, beautifully designed templates that will highlight what you’ve produced.
Design with ease
Editing the layout, text, and other small tweaks is a lot easier to do on Squarespace. It’s reliable, well designed, and won’t require much maintenance.
Better layouts
There’s more access - a lot more access - to free templates on Squarespace, and generally these are much more elegant than Shopify’s.
Visually stunning
Squarespace can handle imagery a lot better, and has connections with Unsplash to really bring your site to life with stunning pictures.
Freebies
You get a free domain and access to Google Workspace with Squarespace annual plans. Bonus!
What’s the verdict?
Overall, both Squarespace and Shopify have sleek, easy to use website-building capabilities that will boost your business. An online presence is becoming exceedingly important and people won’t waste time with a poorly designed or difficult to navigate website.
You need to have a think about your business’ priorities, and exactly what it is you want the site to achieve.
If aim #1 is to sell your product, Shopify should be the go-to. Its e-commerce capabilities are strong even on the most basic plans, but there is so much breadth in how you can sell, to make it the most efficient process possible. If you want a website that’s about you, a portfolio or a blogging site, Squarespace takes the win here. The templates are impressive, flexible, and do a wonderful job of highlighting visually what you want to show. Both platforms are responsive (so they’ll work well on phones or laptops), both offer plenty of options when it comes to paid plans, both do well on SEO (that’s when search engines bring up your site), and both are easy to use when it comes to making changes or edits.
It’s not just about picking which platform is the best. Because they’re both great. It’s about picking which one is going to make you and your business look great. If you’re in need of a sounding board, please do reach out to us at Buttercrumble – we’re eager to support you with your website design and management needs.
