Squarespace vs Shopify: which website platform is best for your business?
*Disclaimer - links marked with an asterisk are affiliate links meaning that I may earn a small commission if you use them. However, I only share tools that I think will really help you!
Ever sat down to ask Google which platform to use for your website and been bombarded with contradicting articles on which is best? It can be a bit… much.
I always recommend taking these types of articles with a pinch of salt, because they’ll always be in favour of the platform that the author specialises in.
For example, Squarespace and Shopify* are my favourite platforms that I chose to specialise in because they serve my clients perfectly (in different ways) and are both easy for clients to maintain confidentiality, without having to fork out for regular maintenance fees.
Although Squarespace and Shopify are my preferred platforms, the most important thing is to make sure that you’re picking the right platform for your unique business and goals.
That said, I’m going to give you a run-down of which is the most suitable option for your business… and a few unique examples where you may need a little more help deciding between the two.
Squarespace: perfect for you if your main focus is selling services
Squarespace is my go-to choice for service-based businesses. It’s simple to use, has lots of flexibility behind-the-scenes for custom development, and I’ve found that it’s easy for the client to manage after I’ve designed and built their website.
Squarespace is a great option if you’re looking for a site that looks good, works well and is simple to handle without having to learn intense website development skills.
Pros of Squarespace:
Squarespace's new flexible drag-and-drop editor called Fluid engine makes it incredibly easy to customise and create a unique website without any coding knowledge.
It has lots of built features such as blogging, portfolios, galleries, forms, site analytics and SEO management.
Plus it has additional features (at a fee) such as scheduling, email marketing and membership spaces meaning that it gives you a lot of ways to help you grow your business in one platform.
There’s great customer support and I’ve found them to be really helpful in the past.
Cons of Squarespace:
The flexibility of the website builder can lead to some poorly designed websites if not carefully designed.
It’s not suitable for managing a large catalogue of products as you have to go into each product manually to update them.
Payment options are limited as you can only accept payments through Paypal and Stripe currently and point of Sales options are only available in the US.
Shopify: perfect if your main focus is selling products
If you’re primarily a product-based business, you’ll love Shopify*. It’s been created with e-commerce business in mind, unlike most other website platforms, so it does everything you’d expect it to do straight out of the box.
Shopify is pretty much the industry standard, with a lot of big brands using it, making it a no-brainer for your ecommerce store. Shopify handles product listings, inventory management, shipping logistics and everything in between that you’ll need to sell and ship your products… and if it doesn’t have it, then you can almost guarantee that there’s an app that will.
Pros of Shopify:
The product management and shipping tools are unmatched, which makes selling and managing your store a breeze.
It has a wide range of apps that will help to and extras such as review apps, product recommendations, product bundles, subscription apps, product quizzes, and more, often with free and premium variations for you to choose from.
It has in-built additional features such as blogging, email marketing automation and analytics included.
The release of Shopify 2.0 means that you now have flexibility on all pages so that your supporting pages can look just as good as your homepage.
Cons of Shopify:
The designs and templates can feel a bit limited, meaning that it requires some extra creativity or a developer (like me!) for a more custom design that will set your website apart from your competitors… but as a developer, it gives you complete control over the website design if you have the coding skills.
It’s not recommended for businesses that only sell services and don’t need ecommerce capabilities.
Should I choose Shopify or Squarespace as my website platform if I offer both services and products?
Sometimes it’s not as straightforward as just being a service or a product-based business. What if you’re a multi-hyphenate business owner offering services and selling products?
One of my past clients had this very situation and on her discovery call, we discussed her long-term goals to make a decision. In this situation, we opted for Shopify because her long-term vision was to grow the product-based part of her business and she needed the advanced product management that was only available on Shopify.
We then created a beautiful Shopify website that had all of the ecommerce capabilities that she needed to sell her physical products at scale, while also developing services pages to sell her one-to-one services, and group programmes and advertise her latest podcast episodes.
On the other hand, if you’re mainly a service provider but you sell digital or a few physical products and don’t need advanced ecommerce capabilities, then Squarespace should be perfect for you. For example, many of my past clients who are social media managers also sell digital products on their Squarespace website.
Still unsure whether Squarespace or Shopify is the best option for you?
There are two things you can do:
Option 1: Open a free trial account and have a look around
The best way to check if you’re DIYing your website is to set a bit of time aside to dive into the platforms and explore the features. Most platforms have a free trial option to see which works for you without investing immediately.
At the time of writing this blog post, you can sign up for a free Shopify trial and get 3 months of Shopify for just £1/month on selected plans using my affiliate link here*.
Or you can even test out my free professional Squarespace template here, which will also give you a 20% discount for the first year and an extended 6-month free with Squarespace if you decide to purchase a subscription later on. Get the free Squarespace* template here.
Option 2: Speak to a professional
If you want to invest in a professional website and have questions about picking a platform, get in touch. I’ll be happy to answer them and help you get closer to launching your new website!
Hi I’m Danielle
I help entrepreneurs & creatives to bring their brand online through beautiful, strategic web design. Click below to learn more about how I can help you to launch your dream website on Squarespace or Shopify.
