Comparison
Squarespace Commerce vs Shopify
How Squarespace Commerce and Shopify compare on price, pricing model, features and reviews, with every fact checked on October 24, 2026.
Quick verdict
Choose Squarespace Commerce if
- Brands and creators that prioritize templates and design.
- Small stores wanting site and store from one vendor.
- Sellers of digital content or memberships.
Choose Shopify if
- Small and mid-size brands that want a hosted store without managing servers.
- Merchants that will use Shopify Payments to avoid the third-party gateway fee.
- Brands that need a path from a cheap plan to Plus without replatforming.
Squarespace Commerce vs Shopify side by side
| Squarespace Commerce | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Design-led website builder whose Core, Plus and Advanced plans add commerce with lower card rates as the plan rises. | Hosted ecommerce platform sold in Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus tiers, with payment fees that drop as the plan price rises. |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Starting price | EUR 12/month (Basic, lower of the two shown figures); 14-day trial | $29/month billed yearly ($39 monthly) for Basic |
| Pricing model | tiered monthly plan | flat monthly plan plus payment fees |
| Free plan or trial | Free trial | Free trial |
| SAML SSO | Not published | Not published |
| SCIM provisioning | Not published | Not published |
| Audit logs | Not published | Not published |
| Data residency | Not published | Not published |
| Contract | Monthly or annual; 14-day trial. | Monthly or yearly on Basic to Advanced; Plus offers 1 or 3 year terms, cancel when term ends. |
| Support | Not published | Not published |
| G2 rating | 4.4 (1,135 reviews) | 4.4 (4,964 reviews) |
| Founded | 2003 | 2006 |
| Headquarters | New York, US | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Employees | Not verified | 7,600 (2025) |
| Hosted versus self-hosted | Hosted SaaS. | Hosted SaaS. |
| Payment processing and transaction fees | Basic 2% store fee + 2.0% + EUR 0.25 card; Core 0% store fee; Advanced card 1.5% + EUR 0.25. | Shopify Payments online card 2.1% + EUR 0.30 on Basic down to 1.3% + EUR 0.30 on Plus; third-party gateways add 2% / 1% / 0.6% / 0.2% by plan. |
| Themes and customization | CSS/JS and code injection from Core up. | Not verified |
| Scalability and checkout limits | Unlimited product sales on Basic per vendor page. | Staff seats rise from none (Basic) to 5, 15 and unlimited (Plus) |
| Pricing model and transparency | Four tiers, fee falls as plan rises. | Four tiers, about 25% cheaper when paid yearly; fees fall as plan rises. |
| Target company size | Small business. | Starter stores to enterprise (Plus) |
| Editor and template quality | Templates and AI credits (20 to 120/month) | Not verified |
| Ecommerce capability | Payment plans, discounts and Google Shopping from Core up. | Native checkout, POS Pro add-on at EUR 79/mo per location. |
| Customization and code access | CSS/JS customization from Core. | Not verified |
| App marketplace and integrations | API integrations from Core. | Not verified |
| Hosting, uptime and speed | Video hosting 30 min to unlimited by plan. | Vendor-hosted. |
Differences most comparisons miss
Worth knowing about Squarespace Commerce
- Basic charges a 2% store transaction fee on top of card fees; Core and up remove it.
- CSS/JS customization and code injection start at Core.
- Digital content and membership fee is 7% on Basic, 5% Core, 1% Plus, 0% Advanced.
- Automated tax adds a fee (0.15% to 0.05%, max EUR 0.99).
Worth knowing about Shopify
- Third-party payment gateway fee is 2% on Basic and 0.2% on Plus, on top of the gateway's own fees, so gateway choice changes plan economics.
- Basic includes no additional staff accounts; Grow adds 5, Advanced 15, Plus unlimited.
- Plus starts at EUR 2,100/month and the FAQ offers 1 or 3 year terms.
- Yearly billing cuts the headline price by roughly 25%.
Sources
Both columns use the same sources: vendor pricing and product pages, documentation, G2 and company records, checked on October 24, 2026. Full source lists are on the Squarespace Commerce and Shopify reviews.