✦ Updated April 2026
If you’re a designer, photographer, illustrator, or creative agency looking to get online, this is probably the decision you’re stuck on. I’ve built client sites on both platforms. Here’s the honest answer.
The quick verdict
Squarespace is better for most creatives. The templates are more design-forward, the editor is more intuitive for visual people, and it handles portfolios, blogs, and light ecommerce beautifully. Shopify is better if selling products is your primary goal. It’s a dedicated ecommerce platform first and a website builder second. If you’re selling physical or digital products at any serious volume, Shopify wins. If you mainly need a portfolio, blog, or service-based website with occasional sales, go with Squarespace.
At a glance
| Shopify | Squarespace | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Selling products online | Portfolios, blogs, service businesses |
| Starting price | £24/month (Basic) | £13/month (Personal) |
| Free trial | 3 days, then £1/mo for 3 months | 14 days free |
| Templates | 200+ (many free) | 100+ (all free, all stunning) |
| Ecommerce | Best in class | Solid but limited |
| Blogging | Basic | Excellent |
| Design quality | Good, functional | Beautiful, editorial |
| Transaction fees | 0.5-2% unless using Shopify Payments | 0% on Business plan and above |
| Our rating | ★★★★½ | ★★★★★ |
Squarespace: the creative’s website builder
Best for CreativesSquarespace was built for people who care about how things look. Every template feels like it was designed by someone who actually understands typography, whitespace, and visual hierarchy. For creatives, that matters. Your website IS your portfolio, and Squarespace makes sure it looks the part without you needing to touch any code.
What I liked
Templates are genuinely beautiful. This isn’t marketing fluff. Squarespace’s templates look like they were designed by an actual design agency. Clean layouts, considered typography, and responsive behaviour that actually works. For photographers, illustrators, and designers, these templates showcase work properly rather than getting in the way of it.
The editor is intuitive for visual thinkers. Drag sections, resize images, adjust spacing. Everything is visual. If you’ve used Figma, Canva, or any design tool, Squarespace’s editor will feel natural. No widgets, no shortcodes, no mystery settings buried in menus.
Blogging is excellent. If content marketing is part of your strategy (and it should be), Squarespace’s blog editor is clean, fast, and supports scheduling, categories, tags, and RSS. It’s significantly better than Shopify’s blogging tools.
Built-in portfolio pages. Dedicated portfolio layouts with gallery grids, lightboxes, and project pages. This is a feature that Shopify simply doesn’t have natively. For creatives showcasing work, this alone might make the decision.
No transaction fees on Business plan. Sell products, services, or digital downloads without Squarespace taking a cut (on Business plan and above). Shopify charges 0.5-2% on transactions unless you use their own payment processor.
What I didn’t like
Ecommerce is limited compared to Shopify. If you’re selling more than a handful of products, you’ll feel the limitations. No multi-currency support on cheaper plans, limited inventory management, and fewer payment gateway options. For a photographer selling prints or a designer selling templates, it’s fine. For a full online store, it’s not enough.
No app store like Shopify’s. Squarespace has extensions, but the ecosystem is tiny compared to Shopify’s 8,000+ apps. If you need specific functionality (loyalty programmes, advanced shipping, subscription boxes), Shopify’s app store will have it. Squarespace probably won’t.
Less flexibility under the hood. Squarespace is opinionated about how things should look and work. That’s great when you agree with those opinions, but frustrating when you want something custom. You can inject custom CSS and some code, but you’ll hit walls that WordPress or Shopify wouldn’t have.
Pricing
- Personal: £13/month (annual) or £17/month (monthly). No ecommerce.
- Business: £23/month (annual). Ecommerce with 0% transaction fees, custom CSS/JS.
- Basic Commerce: £28/month (annual). Full ecommerce with analytics.
- Advanced Commerce: £42/month (annual). Subscriptions, abandoned cart recovery.
Verdict: The best website builder for creatives who want a stunning portfolio, blog, or service-based site. If ecommerce is secondary to showcasing your work, Squarespace is the clear winner.
Shopify: the ecommerce powerhouse
Best for SellingShopify exists to sell things. Every feature, every template, every integration is built around getting products in front of customers and converting them. If your creative business is product-based (selling prints, merch, digital downloads, courses, or physical goods), Shopify gives you tools that Squarespace can’t match.
What I liked
Ecommerce is best in class. Inventory management, variant handling, discount codes, abandoned cart recovery, multi-channel selling (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Amazon), and detailed sales analytics. If you’re serious about selling online, Shopify’s tools are years ahead of Squarespace’s.
The app ecosystem is massive. Over 8,000 apps covering everything from print-on-demand to subscription boxes to loyalty programmes. Whatever you need, there’s an app for it. This extensibility is Shopify’s biggest advantage over Squarespace.
Multi-channel selling. Sell on your website, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok Shop, Amazon, and in person with Shopify POS, all managed from one dashboard. For creatives selling at markets, fairs, or pop-ups alongside their online store, this is a genuine game-changer.
Shopify Payments removes transaction fees. Use Shopify’s built-in payment processor and you pay 0% transaction fees (just the standard card processing rate of 2% + 25p). This brings the cost closer to Squarespace’s model.
What I didn’t like
Templates are functional, not beautiful. Shopify’s templates are designed to sell, not to impress. They’re clean and professional, but they lack the editorial, design-forward quality that Squarespace templates have. If your website needs to showcase creative work, Shopify’s templates feel generic by comparison.
It’s more expensive than it looks. The Basic plan is £24/month, but you’ll quickly find yourself adding paid apps for features that Squarespace includes for free. Email marketing, SEO tools, advanced analytics, review systems. The app costs can easily add £30-50/month on top of your base plan.
Blogging is an afterthought. Shopify has a blog feature, but it’s basic. No scheduling on the cheaper plans, limited formatting options, and the blog templates are uninspiring. If content marketing is important to your strategy, you’ll be frustrated.
Transaction fees if you don’t use Shopify Payments. Use PayPal, Stripe, or any other gateway and Shopify charges 0.5-2% on every transaction on top of the gateway’s own fees. This can eat into margins significantly.
Pricing
- Basic: £24/month. Everything you need to start selling.
- Shopify: £59/month. Better reporting, more staff accounts, lower card rates.
- Advanced: £259/month. Custom reports, third-party calculated shipping.
- Shopify Plus: From £1,750/month. Enterprise-level.
Note: Shopify often runs promotions (currently £1/month for the first 3 months). Worth taking advantage of to test whether it’s right for you.
Verdict: The right choice if selling products is your primary business activity. Unmatched ecommerce features, multi-channel selling, and an app ecosystem that can handle almost any requirement.
Head-to-head comparison
Design and templates
Winner: Squarespace. Not close. Squarespace templates are designed for people who care about aesthetics. Shopify templates are designed for conversions. Both are good at what they do, but if you’re a creative, Squarespace will make your work look better.
Ecommerce
Winner: Shopify. Inventory management, multi-channel selling, abandoned cart recovery, subscription support, the app ecosystem. Shopify is built for selling. Squarespace can sell, but it’s not in the same league for serious ecommerce.
Blogging
Winner: Squarespace. Better editor, better formatting, scheduling included, and the blog integrates naturally with the rest of your site. Shopify’s blog feels bolted on.
Pricing (total cost of ownership)
Winner: Squarespace. The Business plan at £23/month includes everything most creatives need. Shopify’s Basic at £24/month looks similar, but add in paid apps and the real cost is often £50-70/month. Squarespace’s pricing is more transparent and predictable.
SEO
Roughly equal. Both handle the basics well: custom URLs, meta titles, alt text, sitemaps. Shopify has a slight edge with its app ecosystem (dedicated SEO apps), but Squarespace’s built-in SEO tools are solid. Neither will hold you back from ranking.
Ease of use
Winner: Squarespace. For visual people, Squarespace’s editor is more intuitive. Everything is drag-and-drop and WYSIWYG. Shopify’s admin dashboard is powerful but more complex, with a steeper learning curve for non-technical users.
So which should you pick?
Pick Squarespace if: You’re a photographer, designer, illustrator, or creative agency. You need a portfolio, blog, or service-based site. You might sell a few products on the side but selling isn’t your main activity. You want something beautiful without hiring a developer. Try Squarespace free for 14 days →
Pick Shopify if: You sell products (physical, digital, or print-on-demand) as your primary business. You need multi-channel selling across your website, Instagram, and markets. You plan to scale your product range and need inventory management, analytics, and automation. Try Shopify for £1/month →
What about WordPress? If you need maximum flexibility and are comfortable with a bit more technical setup, WordPress with a good theme and hosting (like Hostinger) is still the most powerful option. But it requires more work to get looking good. Squarespace and Shopify give you polished results faster.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell on Squarespace?
Yes. Squarespace supports physical products, digital downloads, services, subscriptions, and gift cards. It works well for creatives selling prints, templates, courses, or booking services. It’s not as feature-rich as Shopify for high-volume selling, but for most creative businesses it’s more than enough.
Can I use Shopify for a portfolio?
Technically yes, but it’s not ideal. Shopify doesn’t have native portfolio page types. You’d need to build custom pages or use a third-party app. If showcasing creative work is your priority, Squarespace is purpose-built for it.
Which is better for SEO?
Both are solid for SEO. Squarespace has clean URLs, automatic sitemaps, and built-in meta tag controls. Shopify offers the same plus a larger selection of SEO apps. In practice, the difference is negligible. Your content quality and backlink profile matter far more than which platform you’re on.
Can I switch from one to the other later?
You can, but it’s not seamless. Product data can be exported from both platforms via CSV. Blog content requires manual migration or a third-party tool. Design and layout won’t transfer. Start with the right platform to avoid this headache.
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