I’ve Tested and Reviewed Shopify vs Wix vs Squarespace: Which Is Best for Selling Online?

Choosing the right website builder can make or break your online presence if you have an ecommerce store. I’ve compared Shopify, Squarespace and Wix – three of the most popular options – to help you decide which is best for you.

If you want lots of customization and thousands of third party integrations, Shopify is the clear winner with over 8000 apps to choose from.

If you’re just starting out and want an all in one solution, Squarespace has a user friendly interface and award winning templates. But it has fewer payment gateways than Shopify and Wix.

Wix on the other hand excels at versatility and ease of use with 61 payment gateways and an app market that balances functionality and simplicity.

Deciding which platform is right for your business means digging into their features, pricing and customer support. My guide is here to help you through that process so you can choose the website builder that’s right for you.

Overview of Shopify, Squarespace, and Wix

Here’s a quick comparison table for Shopify, Squarespace, and Wix based on their main features:

Each has its own strengths for different needs. Shopify is for ecommerce, Squarespace is for looks and ease of use and Wix is for all types of websites.

Shopify: Ecommerce Focused Platform

My experience with Shopify shows its ecommerce focus. Key features include an app store with over 6,000 apps, inventory management and multiple payment gateways.

Shopify’s design flexibility is high with over 70 themes to choose from. Plus its support network is extensive with phone, email and live chat support in multiple languages. So businesses can get help fast.

Squarespace: Good Design and User Friendly

When I used Squarespace I noticed its best feature is design. The platform has over 60 award winning templates. Each template is customizable so you can look professional and cohesive without much effort.

Squarespace is also user friendly so great for creatives and small business owners who aren’t tech savvy. And it has extensions to add more functionality but fewer than Shopify and Wix.

Wix: Great Website Builder

Wix is very versatile. It has over 250 apps for different needs from small blogs to complex business websites. What I like most is the drag and drop interface so website creation is accessible to beginners.

Wix also supports multiple languages and has 24/7 customer support with priority care for premium plans. And with hundreds of templates to choose from you can find one for any type of website you want to create.

Best for Ease of Use and User Experience: Wix

With its intuitive drag-and-drop editor, Wix stands out for versatility, making it ideal for both beginners and advanced users. It offers a flexible and accessible interface that suits many types of websites.

When choosing a website builder ease of use and user experience is key. Shopify, Squarespace and Wix each have their own interface and usability for different types of users.

Shopify’s Usability

Shopify is known for its ecommerce functionality. I find its interface intuitive, simple without sacrificing power. The dashboard is clean with organized menus to make navigation easy.

A drag and drop editor for customization but the learning curve is steeper for beginners as the platform has many features. If you’re focused on creating an online store Shopify’s user experience is optimized for sales, from inventory management to payment gateways.

Squarespace’s Interface

Squarespace is great for its design and user experience. I like its modern and clean templates that make any website look great. The interface is minimal so it’s easy to navigate.

A drag and drop editor for customization. Fewer templates than Wix and Shopify but the quality of Squarespace’s templates makes up for it. If you prioritize looks and simplicity Squarespace is user friendly.

Wix’s Editor and Templates

Wix is great for design flexibility and ease of use. I like its editor is versatile for both beginners and advanced users. Wix has a lot of templates for different types of websites and styles.

Drag and drop is user friendly, you can customize a lot without much effort. The platform allows you to create simple and complex sites so it’s adaptable to many needs. If you want balance of flexibility and ease Wix has an accessible and powerful toolset.

Best for Design Flexibility and Templates: Shopify

While Squarespace is known for its award-winning, minimalist templates, Shopify has significantly improved its design offerings. Shopify now provides high-quality templates that rival Squarespace in aesthetics but surpass it in user experience (UX).

With over 70 customizable themes and deeper flexibility (such as HTML and CSS editing), Shopify is the better option for businesses that want both beautiful design and extensive customization options, making it the best choice for design and flexibility.

When choosing a website builder design flexibility and template options are key. I’ll go over how Shopify, Squarespace and Wix fare in this area and highlight their unique features.

Customization with Shopify Themes

Shopify has themes for ecommerce. The Shopify Theme Store has free and premium options with over 70 themes.

Customization is deep, you can edit the HTML and CSS if you know how.

If you don’t have coding skills Shopify has the Theme Editor where you can change layout, colors and fonts through a user friendly interface.

Squarespace’s Award Winning Designs

Squarespace is known for its beautiful templates that are minimalist and clean. With 60+ templates it seems limited compared to competitors.

But these templates are designed by professionals and have won awards for design.

Squarespace makes sure each template is fully customizable so you can change layout, color schemes and typography.

Wix’s Template Selection and Flexibility

Wix has an impressive 800+ templates for different industries and purposes. The Wix Editor has a drag and drop interface so customization is easy even for beginners.

There’s also the Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) feature that creates a template based on user input.

For advanced users the Corvid by Wix platform has web application development capabilities so you can customize more.

Best for Selling Online: Shopify

Shopify is the clear leader for ecommerce functionality with advanced inventory management, support for over 100 payment gateways, and a highly customizable app store that caters specifically to online stores.

When comparing Shopify, Squarespace and Wix you need to evaluate their ecommerce features. Each platform has different features for different business needs including inventory management, payment processing and customization options.

Shopify for Online Stores

Shopify is an ecommerce platform for online stores. It has tools for inventory management including bulk product import/export and automatic stock level updates.

One of the features is the wide range of payment gateways, over 100+ processors. Users can also use Shopify Payments which eliminates transaction fees.

With customizable themes and a large app store with over 6,000 ecommerce apps Shopify allows for a highly personalized shopping experience. Shopify’s analytics tools gives you deep insights into sales performance so you can make data driven decisions.

Squarespace Ecommerce Features

Squarespace is known for its beautiful design templates but also has ecommerce capabilities. It supports different product types including digital products, physical goods and services.

Squarespace integrates with Stripe and PayPal. For inventory management it has basic tools that are easy to use but not as extensive as Shopify.

One of the advantages is its built in email marketing tools so store owners can launch and manage email campaigns directly from the platform. Squarespace Extensions also has extra features but the selection is limited compared to Shopify and Wix.

Wix Ecommerce Solutions

Wix has a balance of easy to use ecommerce features with high customization. It supports multiple product types and has a drag and drop editor for site building.

Wix has over 250 apps that can add extra features to the store. Not as extensive as Shopify but the app store covers the essential ecommerce features like payment processing, shipping and analytics.

Wix has scalable pricing for small businesses and growing companies. The platform has inventory management tools for small to medium sized stores. 24/7 customer support is also a big plus so businesses can run smoothly.

Best for Pricing and Value for Money: Wix

Wix offers affordable options across both non-ecommerce and ecommerce plans, making it accessible to small businesses and individuals. Its balance of features and price make it a great value-for-money option.

When comparing Shopify, Squarespace and Wix you need to understand their pricing plans and what you get for your money. Each platform has different pricing tiers, features and value proposition for different needs and budgets.

Shopify Pricing Plans

Shopify has three main pricing plans: Basic Shopify at $39/month, Shopify at $105/month and Advanced Shopify at $399/month. Basic plan includes online store, unlimited products, 24/7 support and fraud analysis. Shopify plan includes professional reports and lower credit card fees. Advanced plan includes advanced report building and lowest transaction fees.

Shopify also has a Shopify Lite plan at $9/month which allows you to add ecommerce to an existing website. And Shopify Plus a custom enterprise solution with pricing starting at around $2,000/month.

Squarespace Pricing Structure

Squarespace has four main pricing tiers: Personal at $23/month, Business at $33/month, Basic Commerce at $38/month and Advanced Commerce at $65/month. The Personal plan includes website with templates, basic metrics and SSL security. Business plan includes ecommerce, advanced website metrics and promotional pop-ups.

Basic Commerce includes features like customer accounts and checkout on your domain. Advanced Commerce includes more advanced features like abandoned cart recovery and advanced shipping.

Wix Pricing Options

Wix has website plans and business & ecommerce plans. Website plans are: Combo at $16/month, Unlimited at $22/month, Pro at $27/month and VIP at $45/month. These plans are for non-ecommerce websites with increased storage, ad removal and custom domains.

For ecommerce Wix has: Business Basic at $27/month, Business Unlimited at $32/month, Business VIP at $59/month and Enterprise which starts at $500/month. Business Basic supports unlimited products and secure payments. Business Unlimited includes subscriptions and automated sales tax. Business VIP has priority support and higher transaction limits. Enterprise has custom solutions.

Best for AI Features: Shopify

Shopify has AI through various third-party apps and tools in its app store. From AI driven product recommendations to personalized customer interactions, Shopify Magic allows businesses to improve user experience and sales conversions with AI.

Shopify’s AI powered analytics tools also give store owners insights into customer behavior and sales performance so they can make more informed data driven decisions.

Wix has incorporated AI into its platform with the Wix AI Website Builder feature, to give you an automated website building experience.

The AI tool creates a website for you based on your preferences and inputs, so you can build a professional site faster. Answer a few questions about the type of website and features you want and Wix’s AI builder will create a fully functional, beautiful site for you.

Once the AI has created the website, you can customize it with Wix’s drag and drop editor, where you combine the power of AI with design freedom. So if you want a quick setup without sacrificing personalization, Wix is the way to go, as it balances automation and creative control perfectly.

Squarespace has AI in areas like image optimization and SEO suggestions. It doesn’t have a dedicated AI design tool like Wix, but it enhances the design process with intelligent features that optimize content for search engines and site speed. AI in Squarespace is more behind the scenes optimization rather than user driven design choices.

Best for Marketing Tools and SEO: Shopify

Shopify offers robust marketing and SEO tools with advanced integrations for email marketing, social media, and analytics, making it the best choice for businesses focused on driving traffic and sales.

Each website builder has its own marketing tools and SEO features to help businesses succeed online. Understanding these features is key to choosing the right platform for you. Below I break down what you can expect from Shopify, Squarespace and Wix.

Shopify Marketing Features

Shopify has robust marketing and SEO options for businesses. It has built in SEO tools like custom meta tags, meta titles and descriptions. Integration with Google Search Console to monitor site performance. And extensive apps for email marketing, social media integration and abandoned cart recovery.

Shopify’s blogging CMS is another important feature to create content that drives organic traffic. The platform has marketing apps like Mailchimp and Klaviyo for advanced marketing automation for personalized campaigns.

Squarespace SEO and Marketing

Squarespace focuses on design templates and simple SEO tools. It has the ability to edit meta titles, descriptions and alt text for images. Clean URLs and built in analytics to understand site performance.

One of the best features is Squarespace’s social media integration, users can share and promote their content with ease. Squarespace Email Campaigns has a built in solution for email marketing and allows you to reach customers directly from the platform.

Wix SEO Wizard and Marketing Tools

Wix is all about ease of use with its SEO Wiz, it will guide you through the process of optimizing your website. It will help you customize meta tags, titles and descriptions and integrates with Google Search Console. Wix also has URL customization and image optimization which is important for SEO.

On the marketing side Wix has tools from automated email marketing to social media integrations. The marketing dashboard centralizes campaign management so you can monitor and adjust as needed. Wix also has extensive third party apps for advanced marketing features.

Each platform has its strengths so it’s important to consider your needs when choosing between Shopify, Squarespace and Wix.

Best for Third Party Integration and Extensions: Shopify

Shopify leads with over 8,000 apps in its app store, offering unmatched flexibility and customization for ecommerce businesses with integrations that suit virtually any business need.

Shopify, Squarespace and Wix have different levels of third party integrations and extensions to extend your website’s functionality. Shopify has a huge amount of apps for ecommerce, Squarespace and Wix have more curated options for different types of sites.

Shopify Apps

Shopify has an app store with over 6,000 apps to cater to every business need. From advanced marketing tools and analytics to inventory management and customer service.

I like the ability to integrate with third party payment gateways and advanced marketing platforms. Shopify’s app ecosystem is strong so it’s a great choice for scaling businesses. Popular apps are: Oberlo for dropshipping, Yotpo for reviews and Klaviyo for email marketing.

With specialized apps you can customize your store to your business needs.

Squarespace Integrations

Squarespace has fewer third party integrations than Shopify and Wix with around 24 extensions. These extensions are designed to enhance the core features of the platform, mainly ecommerce, marketing and social media.

Although fewer in number, the quality of integrations is good. Squarespace simplifies the user experience by only offering the most important and high quality extensions so those who don’t need extensive customization won’t get overwhelmed.

Examples are ShipStation for shipping, QuickBooks for accounting and Mailchimp for email marketing. Each extension is designed to integrate with the Squarespace platform so you can manage your site easily.

Wix App Market

Wix has more options than Squarespace with over 250 apps in its App Market. These apps are for ecommerce, design and customer relationship management.

I like Wix’s flexibility to offer a wide range of apps from basic site enhancements to specialized tools. Some of the popular apps are Wix Stores for ecommerce, Wix Bookings for scheduling and Visitor Analytics for traffic insights.

The ease of integration with these apps makes Wix a good option for many types of websites whether you have a blog, a small business or an online store. Users can find apps that fit their needs and enhance their site.

Best for Customer Support and Resources: Shopify

Shopify excels in customer support with 24/7 assistance via phone, email, and live chat, as well as a comprehensive help center, making it the most reliable platform for customer support.

Choosing the right platform for your business means understanding the quality and availability of support. Here’s a breakdown of the support and resources of Shopify, Squarespace and Wix.

Shopify Support

Shopify has a comprehensive support system to support users 24/7. Users have access to 24/7 support through phone, email and live chat. Shopify also has a help center with articles and tutorials for self-service.

One of the best features of Shopify support is the phone support which many find super helpful for quick issues. Plus Shopify’s community forums and webinars are additional resources for users to learn and troubleshoot on their own.

Squarespace Support

Squarespace has reliable support options especially through 24/7 email support. Users can send detailed questions anytime and usually get quick and helpful responses. Squarespace doesn’t have phone support but makes up for it with a live chat option available during weekdays.

The Squarespace Help Center is packed with guides, tutorials and videos that cover many topics. There’s also a community forum for users to share experiences and solutions. Although no phone support, the available options make it easier for users to find what they need.

Wix Support

Wix has 24/7 customer support through phone and email to cater to its wide range of users. One of its best features is the priority support for users on higher tier plans so you get faster and more specialized support.

The help center is massive with articles, video tutorials and community forums. Users can resolve issues and learn on their own. Wix also has live chat support and call-back in multiple languages including French, Spanish and German for international users.

How We Tested the Website Builders

As an ecommerce design gallery we showcase the best designed online stores and help our clients create and manage their own ecommerce sites. Our review of Shopify, Squarespace and Wix is based on hands on experience, from our expertise in designing and building online stores on these platforms.

We looked at each platform in key areas such as design flexibility, ecommerce functionality, customisation options and overall user experience. Our insights come from working closely with real ecommerce businesses that use these platforms and building and managing online stores for our clients. By applying all this knowledge we were able to review not just the technical features but how they impact the day to day running and growth of an ecommerce business.

We have worked with many design and ecommerce requirements so we have a good understanding of how each platform performs in creating beautiful, functional and scalable online stores. This real world testing allowed us to see the good and the bad of each platform so our review is practical and based on real business results.

Summary

When comparing Shopify, Squarespace and Wix it’s clear each has its pros.

Shopify is great for its app store and ecommerce features. With over 8000 apps you have great flexibility for your online store. Plus Shopify has comprehensive support options (phone, email and live chat) so help is always available.

Squarespace is great for design. The award winning templates add a professional look to any site. Although Squarespace has fewer templates, the ones they have are highly customizable and beautiful so it’s a good choice for design focused users.

Wix is in the middle ground between ease of use and customization. The drag-and-drop interface makes website building easy with no coding knowledge. This is perfect for individuals or small business who want to have a website fast and affordable.

Ultimately it all depends on my priorities—do I need ecommerce functionality, design or ease of use. By knowing my needs and budget I can choose the right platform for me.