The quick answer
- Pick Shopify if products are the business: a real catalogue, inventory, in-person sales or plans to grow the store.
- Pick Squarespace if you are a service business or a small shop where the website matters more than the store.
- Look at [WordPress](/reviews/wordpress) if content and SEO control matter more than either.
| Shopify | Squarespace | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan, paid yearly | Basic $37/mo ($444/yr) | Basic $21/mo ($252/yr) |
| Cheapest plan with no store fee | Basic, with Shopify Payments | Core $32/mo ($384/yr) |
| Online card rate, entry selling plan | 2.8% + 30¢ (Basic) | 2.9% + 30¢ (Core) |
| Extra platform fee | 2% on Basic, only if you use another payment provider | 2% online store fee on Basic only |
| Selling in person | Yes, cards and Interac (15¢) | Not covered on this page |
| Staff accounts | None beyond the owner on Basic; 5 on Grow | Up to 2 contributors on Basic; unlimited from Core |
| Structured data | Product schema from the theme | Generated automatically; cannot be edited |
Price: the store fee decides it
Squarespace's cheapest plan is cheaper, at $21 a month against $37, but it adds a 2% fee on online store sales. Once a shop sells more than about $6,600 a year, Squarespace Core at $32 is the cheaper Squarespace plan, and that is within $5 a month of Shopify Basic. Card rates are nearly the same: 2.8% + 30¢ on Shopify Basic against 2.9% + 30¢ on Squarespace Core.
So for a small store the plans cost about the same. A store selling $24,000 a year in 200 orders comes to roughly $1,176 a year on Shopify Basic and $1,140 on Squarespace Core before tax and add-ons. Full numbers: Shopify pricing and Squarespace pricing.
Selling: depth vs simplicity
Shopify's advantage is everything around the checkout: in-person selling with cards and Interac, more staff accounts as you grow, and an app store for nearly any store feature. Squarespace's selling tools cover products, services, invoices and memberships inside one tidy site, which is often all a small business needs.
Search
Neither will hold you back on technical SEO. Squarespace builds the sitemap, clean URLs, structured data and mobile layout automatically (help). Shopify handles canonical tags, sitemap, robots.txt, SSL and product schema (help). Rankings come from your pages: what each product and collection page says.
Getting out
Shopify exports products as CSV. Squarespace exports some content in a WordPress-format file and products as CSV, and leaves store pages and design behind (moving off Squarespace). Either way, expect to rebuild the design if you leave.
Our take
If you are a product business, or plan to become one, start on Shopify. You will not have to move when the store grows. If the website is mainly there to win service work and sell a few things on the side, Squarespace is simpler and cheaper to run well. Read the full Shopify review and Squarespace review before deciding.
Questions people ask
Is Shopify or Squarespace cheaper in Canada?
Squarespace's cheapest plan is cheaper ($21 a month yearly against $37), but it charges a 2% store fee. For a store selling more than about $6,600 a year, Squarespace Core ($32) and Shopify Basic ($37) cost almost the same, with similar card rates.
Is Shopify better than Squarespace for selling products?
For a real catalogue, in-person sales or a growing store, yes. For a service business that sells a few products, Squarespace is often enough and simpler.
Which is better for SEO, Shopify or Squarespace?
Both handle the technical basics automatically. The difference in rankings comes from your content: product and collection copy, titles, and descriptions.
Sources
Each checked November 8, 2026. Platforms change prices often; their own page is the final word.