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Short answer: In Shopify vs Squarespace vs Wix, Shopify is the best pick for a serious product store, Squarespace is best for design-led brands and creators with a small catalog, and Wix is best for service businesses that also sell a few products. All three cost about the same at small volumes once card fees are included.
Last updated: October 2026 · How we researched this: we checked the official pricing pages of Shopify, Squarespace and Wix, read Shopify’s help center on third-party transaction fees, and compared them with recent independent pricing reviews.
Key takeaways
- Entry prices to sell online (billed yearly, US): Shopify Basic $29/month, Squarespace Basic $19/month, Wix Core $29/month.
- Squarespace Basic adds a 2% transaction fee on store sales; Core and higher plans do not.
- Shopify adds 2% on Basic only if you use a third-party payment provider instead of Shopify Payments.
- Shopify has the deepest inventory, multichannel and app options; Squarespace has the strongest templates; Wix has the most freedom in its editor.
- Once you sell more than about $500 a month, Squarespace Core is cheaper than Squarespace Basic.
Shopify vs Squarespace vs Wix: quick comparison
| Shopify | Squarespace | Wix | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built for | Selling products | Design-led websites | Flexible small-business sites |
| Cheapest plan that can sell (yearly) | Basic $29/mo | Basic $19/mo | Core $29/mo |
| Same plan billed monthly | $39/mo | $25/mo | about $36/mo |
| Platform transaction fee | 0% with Shopify Payments; 2% on Basic with a third-party gateway | 2% on Basic, 0% on Core and up | None |
| Card rate (US, entry plan) | 2.9% + 30¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ | about 2.9% + 30¢ |
| App or extension store | Largest | Small | Medium |
| Best feature | Inventory, POS, multichannel | Templates and typography | Drag-anywhere editor |
Prices checked October 2026 on the official pages for Shopify, Squarespace and Wix. Wix prices vary by country.
Pricing in 2026: what each plan really costs
Shopify
Basic is $39/month or $29/month billed yearly. Grow is $105/month ($89 yearly) and Advanced is $399/month ($359 yearly). New stores currently get a 3-day free trial, then $1/month for 3 months.
Squarespace
Squarespace renamed its plans to Basic, Core, Plus and Advanced. Billed yearly, they cost $19, $29, $49 and $99 per month. Basic charges a 2% fee on online store sales, while Core and above charge 0%.
Wix
Wix plans that can take payments are Core ($29/month), Business ($39/month) and Business Elite ($159/month) on yearly billing in the US. The Light plan ($17/month) cannot sell.
Break-even example: which is cheapest at your sales level?
Here is an estimate for a store selling $3,000 a month (60 orders of $50) with standard US card rates. It uses yearly plan prices and leaves out apps, domains and taxes.
| Monthly cost | Shopify Basic | Squarespace Basic | Squarespace Core | Wix Core |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan | $29 | $19 | $29 | $29 |
| Card fees (2.9% + 30¢) | $105 | $105 | $105 | $105 |
| Platform fee | $0 | $60 (2%) | $0 | $0 |
| Total | about $134 | about $184 | about $134 | about $134 |
The takeaway: Squarespace Basic only saves money if you sell less than about $500 a month. Above that, the 2% fee costs more than the $10 you save on the plan.
Design and templates
Squarespace is the strongest for looks. Its templates are polished, typography is excellent, and it is hard to make a page look bad.
Wix gives the most freedom. You can drag any element anywhere, which is great for creative layouts but makes it easier to create a messy mobile view.
Shopify themes are built around products. The free themes (such as Dawn and the newer Horizon family) are clean and fast, and paid themes add features like mega menus and lookbooks.
Ecommerce features and sales tools
Shopify leads clearly. It offers multi-location inventory, Shop Pay checkout, a free POS app for in-person sales, selling on marketplaces and social channels, and thousands of apps.
Squarespace handles physical products, digital downloads, memberships and subscriptions well. It is a good fit for creators who sell courses or a small product line.
Wix covers products, bookings, events and restaurant orders in one dashboard. That mix makes it popular with service businesses.
- Large or growing catalog: Shopify.
- Creator selling digital goods or memberships: Squarespace.
- Service business adding a shop: Wix.
Marketing and SEO
All three give you editable page titles, meta descriptions, alt text, sitemaps and SSL. Any of them can rank on Google if your content is good.
Squarespace and Wix include built-in email campaign tools on paid tiers. Shopify includes Shopify Messaging, with 10,000 free emails a month, and connects to tools like Klaviyo and Omnisend. See our list of best free Shopify apps for more.
Who should NOT choose each one
- Not Shopify if you only need a portfolio with one or two products. You will pay for store tools you never use.
- Not Squarespace if you need complex variants, multi-warehouse stock or lots of third-party integrations.
- Not Wix if you plan to scale to thousands of products or need to move platforms later; exporting a Wix design is not possible.
Support and reliability
Shopify offers 24/7 support through chat and email, plus a large help center and community. Squarespace and Wix both offer help centers, email and chat support.
All three are hosted platforms, so you do not manage servers, updates or security patches. That is a big advantage over self-hosted options. If you are also weighing WordPress, read Shopify vs Wix vs WordPress.
FAQ about Shopify vs Squarespace vs Wix
Is Squarespace cheaper than Shopify?
On paper, yes: Squarespace Basic is $19/month versus $29/month for Shopify Basic on yearly billing. But Squarespace Basic charges a 2% fee on store sales, so once you sell more than about $500 a month it ends up more expensive than Squarespace Core or Shopify Basic.
Which is easier to use: Wix, Squarespace or Shopify?
Wix and Squarespace are the easiest for building pages. Shopify is easiest for managing products, orders and inventory. Most beginners can launch a basic store on any of the three in a weekend.
Can Wix or Squarespace handle a big store?
They can run a store with hundreds of products, but Shopify is built for larger catalogs, many variants and multiple sales channels. If you expect fast growth, starting on Shopify avoids a painful migration later.
Does Shopify charge transaction fees?
Not if you use Shopify Payments, where you only pay card processing. If you use a third-party payment provider, Shopify adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced.
Which is best for SEO?
None has a big built-in edge. All three handle sitemaps, SSL and meta tags, so your rankings depend mainly on content, speed and links.
Verdict
For selling physical products and growing, Shopify is the best of the three. Squarespace wins for creators who care most about design, and Wix wins for service businesses that need bookings plus a small shop.
Compare total costs, not just plan prices, and test before you commit. Shopify’s 3-day trial plus $1/month for 3 months makes it cheap to try. Our Shopify setup guide walks you through the first steps.
