Squarespace makes beautiful sites and sells from them. Shopify makes a store and gives it a site. The deciding detail is one most comparisons skip: on Squarespace’s cheapest plan, every physical sale pays a 2% platform fee on top of the card rate.
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The short answer
Choose Squarespace if design and content lead and the shop is a supporting act — and budget for Core or above rather than Basic. Choose Shopify when the store becomes the business.
| Shopify | Squarespace | |
|---|---|---|
| Plans | Basic, Grow, Advanced, Plus | Basic, Core, Plus, Advanced — priced by region — check their pricing page |
| Platform fee on physical products | None with Shopify Payments; 2% on Basic with other providers | 2% on Basic; none on Core and above |
| Card rate, US cards | 2.9% + 30¢ / 2.7% + 30¢ / 2.5% + 30¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic and Core, 2.7% + 30¢ on Plus, 2.5% + 30¢ on Advanced |
| Fee on digital products and memberships | None beyond the card rate | 7% Basic, 5% Core, 1% Plus, none on Advanced |
| Carrier-calculated shipping | Real-time third-party rates on Advanced | Core and above |
| Built around | The store and its checkout | Design and content, with commerce added |
Squarespace figures from Squarespace's help centre (Selling on the Basic, Core, Plus and Advanced plans), checked 24 September 2026. Shopify figures from its published US pricing, checked 24 September 2026.
We have not quoted Squarespace’s plan prices: they vary by region and we could not read its US prices first-hand.
The 2% that decides the plan
On Squarespace Basic, a $50 order pays the card rate plus a 2% commerce fee — $1.00 more than the same order on Core. On Shopify Basic with Shopify Payments that order costs $1.75 in card fees and nothing else. At $3,000 a month in sales, Squarespace Basic’s platform fee alone is $60 a month — reason enough to price Core against it before choosing.
Digital products are steeper still: 7% on Basic, 5% on Core, 1% on Plus. If you sell downloads, courses or memberships, that line matters more than the plan price.
Where Squarespace wins
- Design out of the box. Its templates are the standard other builders are measured against.
- Content. Blogging, portfolios and landing pages are first-class, not afterthoughts.
Where Shopify wins
- No platform fee on sales when you use Shopify Payments, on any plan.
- Scale. Inventory, channels, staff and apps are built for a store that keeps growing.
- No fee on digital products beyond the card rate, on any plan.
Questions we get asked
Does Squarespace charge transaction fees?
On the Basic plan, 2% on physical products and 7% on digital ones, plus card processing. Core and above remove the fee on physical products.
Is Squarespace cheaper than Shopify?
It can be for a small catalogue on the right plan. Compare the plan you would actually need — which, for a real store, is rarely Squarespace Basic.
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