The most beautiful templates in ecommerce.

Starts at $16/month (Basic) · Best for creatives, portfolio + shop hybrids, brand-first small businesses.

Lean · Under $500Growth · $500 – $5,000

Last reviewed April 24, 2026

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Overview

Quick facts about Squarespace.

At a glanceVisit site

Launched: 2004 (ecommerce added 2013)
Headquarters: New York City, USA
Ownership: Squarespace Inc. (NYSE: SQSP)
Scale: ~4M+ total Squarespace sites, ~800k+ running ecommerce
Known for: The most beautiful templates in ecommerce

Pros & cons

The honest breakdown.

What's great

Gorgeous templates — the design bar is the highest in the industry
All-in-one: hosting, domain, email, scheduling, and store
Great for creatives who want a portfolio + shop combo
Built-in scheduling + memberships are strong
Rock-solid hosting + uptime

What to watch for

Smaller app ecosystem than Shopify
Checkout conversion lags behind Shopify
Locked template structure — less flexible than Wix or Webflow
Transaction fees on Business plan (only removed on Commerce plans)

Our honest verdict

Squarespace is the right call for design-led brands: photographers, artists, architects, coaches, boutique stores. The templates give you an aesthetic head start that's hard to beat. For pure ecommerce volume, Shopify still wins on tooling.

Ideal for

Designers, photographers, artists, coaches, boutique retailers where brand aesthetic is the product.

Skip it if

You sell 100+ SKUs, need advanced merchandising, or rely on a specific app ecosystem only Shopify has.

Pricing plans

What each plan gives you (and what it costs).

Personal

$16/mo (annual)

Transaction fee: Not available for ecommerce

Best for

Blogs + portfolios — no store

Unlimited pages
Basic site
No ecommerce

Business

$23/mo (annual)

Transaction fee: 3% transaction fee from Squarespace + processor fees

Best for

Small stores, service + shop hybrids

Unlimited products
Basic ecommerce
Gift cards
Custom CSS + JS

Commerce Basic

$27/mo (annual)

Transaction fee: 0% from Squarespace · processor fees apply

Best for

Serious stores under $100k/year

No Squarespace transaction fee
Product reviews
Customer accounts
Abandoned cart recovery
Mobile sales app

Commerce Advanced

$49/mo (annual)

Transaction fee: 0% from Squarespace · processor fees apply

Best for

Brands wanting subscriptions + advanced shipping

Subscriptions
Advanced shipping + taxes
Limited availability labels
Advanced discounts
Commerce APIs

💰 Costs the pricing page doesn't show

Budget for these on top of the subscription. They're normal — just not advertised.

Extensions (limited marketplace)

$0 – $30/mo per extension

Smaller ecosystem than Shopify — you get what Squarespace builds

Email marketing (Squarespace Email Campaigns)

$5 – $60/mo

Separate add-on — not bundled

Acuity Scheduling (if you book appointments)

$20 – $61/mo

Squarespace-owned but billed separately

Payment processing

2.9% + $0.30

Stripe or PayPal — standard rates

Real-world cost

What Squarespace actually costs at your scale.

Subscription is just the floor. Here's realistic monthly total including apps, payment fees, and day-to-day tools — based on real stores we've built and maintained.

Revenue

$0 – $1k/mo

$35 – $60/mo

Commerce Basic + domain + email campaigns

Revenue

$1k – $10k/mo

$70 – $150/mo

Commerce Basic or Advanced + email + occasional extensions

Revenue

$10k – $100k/mo

$200 – $500/mo

Commerce Advanced + email tool + designer help

Revenue

$100k+/mo

Consider migrating

Squarespace's ceiling shows — most brands here move to Shopify

Features

What's built-in, what's paid, what's missing.

Built-inPaid add-on or limitedNot supported

Store building

Design-first templates (industry best)
Fluid Engine visual editor
Custom CSS + JS
Business plan+
Mobile-optimized by default
Developer mode (Git, full templates)
Power users only

Products & inventory

Unlimited products
Product variants
Digital downloads
Subscriptions
Commerce Advanced only
Multi-location inventory

Checkout

Branded checkout
Apple Pay / Google Pay
Guest checkout
Abandoned cart recovery
Commerce plans only
Limited payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, Afterpay, Square)

Shipping & fulfillment

Real-time carrier rates
Commerce Advanced only
Label printing
Local pickup
Shipping extensions (ShipStation)

Marketing

Email Campaigns (native)
Separate paid add-on
SEO (strong out of box)
Discount codes + gift cards
Google Shopping feed
Social selling

Analytics

Built-in Squarespace Analytics
Google Analytics integration
Customer analytics

Global commerce

Multi-currency
Limited — single store currency
Multi-language
No native support
Tax automation

Developer experience

Commerce APIs
Commerce Advanced only
Developer Platform (Git)
Custom code injection
Data export
Limited — migration is painful

Global readiness

Can you actually sell globally on Squarespace?

Multi-currency, multi-language, local payment methods, regional tax compliance — the four pillars of international commerce. Here's where Squarespace lands on each.

Countries

190+ countries supported

Currencies

Limited — single store currency only

Languages

No native multi-language support

Tax compliance

US-focused tax automation · EU VAT basics · Avalara integration

Local payment methods supported

StripePayPalSquareApple PayAfterpay / Clearpay / Klarna

Strongest in

North AmericaUKAustralia

Weak in

Non-English markets (no multi-language)India + Asia (limited payments)Latin America

How it compares

Squarespace vs the main alternatives.

The head-to-head that actually matters — what each platform wins on, based on 19 years of delivering both.

Squarespace

Wix eCommerce

The classic 'easy builder' showdown. Wix wins on ecommerce features and flexibility; Squarespace wins on template quality and brand polish.

Squarespace wins on

More cohesive, premium-feeling templates
Better for design-led brands
Integrated scheduling via Acuity
Stronger content + SEO defaults

Wix eCommerce wins on

Deeper ecommerce features
Better multi-language (Wix Multilingual)
Cheaper entry plans
Bigger app marketplace

Read the full Wix eCommerce review

Squarespace

Shopify

Squarespace is a design-first site with a store; Shopify is commerce-first. Squarespace suits portfolios + brand sites; Shopify is built for serious ecommerce scale.

Squarespace wins on

Much more beautiful templates out of box
Better for portfolio + store hybrids
Simpler to launch (all-in-one)
Superior blog experience

Shopify wins on

Scales past $1M/year comfortably
Much bigger app ecosystem
Better checkout conversion
Native multi-language + multi-currency
Headless option (Hydrogen)

Read the full Shopify review

Squarespace

Weebly by Square

Both are all-in-one builders. Squarespace is design-first; Weebly is Square POS-first. Different primary buyers.

Squarespace wins on

Much better templates + design system
Stronger product development pace
Better for online-first brands

Weebly by Square wins on

Tighter Square POS integration
Simpler for offline-first retailers
Free plan (Squarespace has none)

Read the full Weebly by Square review

Migration

Moving in, and moving out.

What it actually takes to get onto Squarespace — and how painful it is if you outgrow it later. No vendor lock-in surprises.

Moving to Squarespace

Here's what it typically takes to migrate from common starting points.

Wix eCommerceSquarespace

Medium

Typical time

1-3 weeks

Typical cost

$500 – $2,500

Products migrate via CSV. Content rebuild required (block systems differ). Usually driven by design quality preference.

ShopifySquarespace

Medium

Typical time

2-4 weeks

Typical cost

$1,000 – $4,000

Rare direction — usually a downsize move. Products via CSV, theme is full rebuild, apps don't translate.

Weebly by SquareSquarespace

Medium

Typical time

1-3 weeks

Typical cost

$500 – $2,000

Common upgrade path for design-conscious retailers. Products via CSV. Content mostly rebuilt.

Leaving Squarespace later

How hard is it if this isn't the right platform for you in 2-3 years? (Honest vendor lock-in reality.)

Migration: HardHigh lock-in

Squarespace data export is limited — XML for content, CSV for products. Visual design doesn't port. Most migrations rebuild the front-end completely on the new platform. If you expect to migrate within 2-3 years, consider Shopify from the start.

Social proof

Brands that run on Squarespace.

Kwame Onwuachi (chef)

Hospitality + cookbook

SMB

Keanu Reeves (official)

Personal brand

Mid-market

Lizzy Caplan (portfolio)

Creative

SMB

Small-batch photographers + artists

Creative goods

SMB

Independent restaurants

F&B

SMB

FAQ

People ask us this a lot.

Squarespace vs Wix?+

Squarespace wins on design — the templates are more cohesive. Wix wins on flexibility — you can move things around more freely. For commerce specifically, they're close; for portfolios + stores, Squarespace edges ahead.

Can Squarespace handle serious ecommerce?+

Up to a few hundred SKUs, yes. Past that, the admin slows down and you'll feel the lack of advanced merchandising. $1M+ brands typically outgrow it.

Does Squarespace have apps?+

Not really — it's a closed ecosystem. You get what Squarespace builds, plus a limited set of extensions. If you rely on app marketplaces, pick Shopify instead.

Still unsure if Squarespace is right for you?

Book a 30-minute call. I'll tell you honestly — even if the answer is "pick something else."

Book a call · $29