Artists who want to sell their work need a sales platform that’s easy to use, visually appealing, and allows you to sell on your own terms—without costing a fortune. Squarespace is a popular choice for creating an artist website, while Shopify stands out as one of the best eCommerce platforms. So, does Shopify also work for artists? In this Squarespace vs Shopify review, I’ll walk you through the pros and cons of each, comparing pricing, performance, and key features. By the end, you’ll know exactly which platform best fits your artistic goals.
Shopify
Great for artist portfolios with basic eCommerce features to sell your work.
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Squarespace
Larger art stores with advanced eCommerce and analytics; no transaction fees.
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When you’ve been in the creative game for a while, you’ll likely want to start selling your artwork at some point. Maybe you’ve already received some inquiries from people interested in buying your creations.
Or perhaps you’re already using a platform like Etsy or Saatchi Art to sell your pieces. While both are excellent platforms for reaching buyers, they come with certain limitations. After all, you’re selling on their platform, not on your own website.
Ultimately, building your own artist website is a must if you want to take things in your own hands and stop relying on third-party platforms that can change their rules at any time.
The good news is that you don’t need to be a tech expert to get started — Squarespace and Shopify are two popular website builders for artists that make it easy to showcase and sell your work. No coding skills needed.
Shopify and Squarespace have become top choices for creatives because they offer all-in-one solutions that include hosting, domain registration, customizable templates, and built-in eCommerce tools.
For most artists, platforms like these are much faster and more convenient options than building a website from scratch with WordPress.
→ Is WordPress Good For Artists? – An Artist’s Honest Opinion…
In this review of Squarespace vs. Shopify for artists, I’ll walk you through the pros and cons of both platforms and give you a clear overview to help you decide which one is the best fit for you!
I’ve tested both platforms, and I’ll share my insights, experiences, and opinions based on a range of key factors that matter most to artists:
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Our Newsletter is packed with creative tips, free tutorials, art tool reviews, and looaads of inspiration!
Squarespace vs Shopify for Artists: Quick Verdict
Shopify is a top choice for building a website for your art business. It’s a leading eCommerce platform, designed specifically for selling online. It’s extremely scalable, allowing you to easily integrate apps, analytics, and advanced tools as your business grows.
Squarespace is a great option for artists who want their website to double as a portfolio. The templates are visually appealing, making it easy to create a clean and professional-looking site. While not focused on eCommerce, Squarespace still offers solid online selling features.
Squarespace Vs Shopify For Artists: Quick Overview
Squarespace
Shopify
Onboarding
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Shopify
Website Builder
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Shopify
Templates
Squarespace
Shopify
Integrations
Squarespace
Shopify
eCommerce
Squarespace
Shopify
Blogging
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Shopify
SEO & Analytics
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Pricing
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Overall Rating
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Squarespace Vs Shopify For Artists: Which Is Better?
To kick off this Squarespace vs. Shopify review for artists, let’s start with what both platforms have in common.
Both Squarespace and Shopify are all-in-one website builders that include cloud-based hosting and domain registration. Both come with drag-and-drop editors that make it easy to create a professional-looking site without coding.
The customizable templates that are visually appealing and mobile-responsive out of the box—all you need to do is fill them with your own content. ʕᴖᴥᴖʔ
When it comes to eCommerce and marketing, you can sell online on both platforms, manage inventory, accept payments, and handle orders. You also get built-in marketing and sales tools, such as coupons, analytics, SEO settings, and email marketing features.
→ Email Marketing For Artists: How To Start & Build An Email List
Does this mean that Squarespace and Shopify are equally good for artists wanting to sell?
Well, there are some significant differences between the two platforms, and in this review, I tell you what you need to know to decide which one’s the better fit for you.
That said, let’s dive in!
Squarespace Vs Shopify Review For Artists
For this review, I’ve evaluated Squarespace and Shopify across a number of different aspects that particularly matter to artists. These include ease of use of the website builder and backend, visual appeal of the templates, integrations for functionality, e-commerce capabilities to sell your artwork, and more.
By the end of the review, you’ll know about the pros and cons of both platforms, and you can make an informed decision about which platform is the best fit for your creative needs.
Here’s what I got for you:
Onboarding
Squarespace
Shopify
SQUARESPACE VS SHOPIFY REVIEW: GETTING STARTED
Which Makes It Easier To Build A Website For Selling Your Art?
Generally speaking, the onboarding process is equally simple with both Squarespace and Shopify. The main difference is that Shopify lets you make more detailed selections concerning the products you want to sell.
When you start a free trial on Squarespace, you can quickly specify your website goals. Do you want to sell products and services? Memberships and courses? Do you want a portfolio to showcase your work? A contact form for customers to reach out to you?
Just tick what you want to do with your site and Squarespace will suggest a number of suitable templates. Or, you can choose to have your site built with Squarespace Blueprint, the AI website builder.
Shopify takes a similar approach. Once you’ve entered your email address to start a free Shopify trial (no credit card needed), you’ll be directed to a quick questionnaire.
Since Shopify is first and foremost an eCommerce platform, most of the questions turn around what and how you want to sell: do you want to sell online or also in person? Do you want to connect your Shopify store to your social media, an existing website, or other online marketplaces like Etsy or Amazon?
After that, you can specify more details about the products you want to sell—and how you want to sell them. Do you want to drop-ship them and use print-on-demand services? Do you create them yourself? What exactly are those digital products?
Based on your answers, Shopify will suggest the right tools, themes, and apps that match your needs, for example print-on-demand integrations for artists.
After completing this quick onboarding process, you’ll be taken to your dashboard. From there, a step-by-step setup checklist walks you through creating your online store.
While other platforms prioritize visuals early on, Shopify starts by having you add your products first. And actually, this sales-focused approach makes perfect sense for a platform built around selling. ʕᴖᴥᴖʔ
- Bottom Line
Squarespace prioritizes design, while Shopify is tailored to selling.
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Pay only $1/month for first 3 months
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Website Builder
Squarespace
Shopify
SQUARESPACE VS SHOPIFY REVIEW: THE WEBSITE BUILDER
Which Is A Good Website Builder For Artists?
With the onboarding process completed, you can go to the backend and start creating new content, meaning pages, blog posts, products, and more—on both platforms.
That said, although Shopify is primarily sales-focused, you still have the option to start an art blog and create any type of page you want, such as About Me, Contact, and others.
→ 5 Pages An Artist Website Should Have That Nobody Tells You About
The only difference is that Squarespace lets you create dedicated portfolio pages, which, of course, is a great way for artists to display their work.
Nevertheless, on Shopify, you can still use regular pages to add images, galleries, sliders, and more to showcase your pieces. Or, you can let the storefront double as your portfolio.
When it comes to designing and editing your content, both Squarespace and Shopify come with visual drag-and-drop editors that don’t require any coding skills. They are so-called WYSIWYG (“What You See Is What You Get”) editors, meaning you can see in real time what your website will look like to visitors.
Squarespace’s editor is a structured, section-based editor, meaning you can arrange elements in specific positions within a defined grid. This is definitely not as flexible as working with WordPress, but it also ensures that everything stays aligned and visually consistent, with minimal design effort.
In comparison, Shopify’s editor doesn’t offer the same level of design flexibility. Rather than letting you drag and drop elements across your site like Squarespace, Shopify uses sections and blocks.
While you can arrange these sections and blocks, hide or duplicate them, and edit their content and style, customization options are more limited than on Squarespace.
In other words, Shopify’s editor is more functional than artistic, focusing less creative freedom and more on efficiency. However, this can also be an advantage for beginners who want an easy, more guided setup.
- Bottom Line
Squarespace offers greater design freedom than Shopify.
- ➡️ Get 10% off with code “GIMME10” at checkout
Templates
Squarespace
Shopify
SQUARESPACE VS SHOPIFY REVIEW: TEMPLATES FOR VISUAL ART
Which Platform Has The Better Templates For Artists?
Templates, or themes as Shopify also calls them, are ready-made website designs that come complete with pages, galleries, shop, blog, and so on. You can think of them as a starting point that you customize with your own content.
At the time of writing, Shopify features almost 1,000 themes for different needs—naturally all eCommerce-ready with shop and product pages.
There’s a dedicated category for the “Arts” where you can find 30+ beautifully designed themes for visual artists. You’ll find an even wider selection if you explore related categories like Beauty, Jewelry, or Services.
Shopify offers both free and paid themes. Both are equally functional. The only difference is that paid themes (ranging from $150 to $400) usually include more advanced layouts, features, and customization options.
Some good Shopify themes for artists include:
If you want an even greater choice, you can browse platforms like Etsy and Creative Fabrica for custom-made Shopify themes for your art store!
Squarespace, in contrast, offers a more curated collection of “only” around 200 templates in total. While this might sound limiting compared to Shopify’s 5 times greater selection, you must keep in mind that all Squarespace templates focus on aesthetics, ensuring your site looks modern and professional out of the box.
There are categories for Art & Design, Fashion, Photography, and Portfolio sites that feature several dozens of carefully crafted templates, from minimalist grid galleries to full-bleed layouts.
The big advantage is that all official Squarespace templates are free. There are no additional fees, no premium tiers, and no locked features.
Some Squarespace templates I can recommend for art sites are:
- Bottom Line
Shopify has the greater choice, but Squarespace's templates focus on visual appeal.
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Get 10% off with code “GIMME10” at checkout
Integrations
Squarespace
Shopify
SQUARESPACE VS SHOPIFY REVIEW: INTEGRATIONS & EXTENSIONS
Which Platform Offers More Functionality For Artists?
Both Squarespace and Shopify provide add-ons for more functionality. Shopify, however, has a much larger selection than Squarespace and shines with shines eCommerce-focused apps to enhance sales, marketing, and store management.
At the time of writing, Squarespace features around 40+ official extensions on its website. There are extensions for all essential needs, including marketing, eCommerce, SEO, and analytics.
Artists can add extensions for drop-shipping and print-on-demand, such as Printify, to deliver art prints globally.
Shopify’s App Store, on the other hand, currently offers well over 10,000 integrations. There are integrations for virtually everything, from selling products, to store design, management, orders, shipping, marketing, and conversions.
For example, the App Store includes integrations for selling on different marketplaces, including Etsy, Amazon, Google Shopping, Pinterest, and Instagram—to just name a few.
Likewise, you can integrate the most popular print-on-demand providers for artists, such as Printify, Printful, Gelato, and others to drop-ship your art prints globally from your home.
→ How To Sell Art Prints From Home In 4 Easy Steps
You’ll also find all best-known email marketing services like ConvertKit, MailerLite, and Constant Contact, and a whole range SEO tools to boost your rankings.
Furthermore, Shopify also supports third-party integrations through custom code and APIs.
- Bottom Line
Squarespace features essential integrations, but Shopify offers a much wider range for advanced functionality.
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Pay only $1/month for first 3 months
eCommerce
Squarespace
Shopify
SQUARESPACE VS SHOPIFY REVIEW: ECOMMERCE FUNCTIONALITY
Is Squarespace Or Shopify Better To Sell Art Online?
Both Squarespace and Shopify are eCommerce-ready platforms, allowing you to sell your art and related products. But since Shopify is a dedicated sales platform, there are significant differences in feature range and performance.
It’s for a reason that Shopify powers 5.2 million live websites, including famous brands like Kylie Cosmetics, Gymshark, and allbirds.
Squarespace lets you sell a variety of physical and digital products, as well as memberships, on all four plans. Since all plans include unlimited storage, you can also sell high-resolution art files, e-books, and other large digital downloads without worrying about space limits.
To get access to Squarespace’s fully integrated eCommerce and advanced shipping options, including a robust backend for managing your store and inventory, you’ll need to be on at least the Business plan at $23 per month. The Personal plan also lets you sell, but it lacks the full suite of eCommerce features.
In contrast, Shopify’s Basic plan starts at $19 per month (billed annually) and gives you a fully featured online store with everything you could possibly need.
That said, with both Shopify’s Basic plan and Squarespace’s Business plan, you get SSL-secured eCommerce hosting with unlimited bandwidth and the ability to sell an unlimited number of products.
However, Squarespace’s Business plan lacks advanced merchandising features, point of sale (POS), product reviews, limited availability labels, abandoned cart recovery, and the option to sell on Facebook, Instagram, and offer subscriptions.
If you want those features, you’ll have to upgrade to one of Squarespace’s Commerce plans, priced at $28 or $52 per month, depending on the features.
With Shopify, however, all of these features are already included in the Basic plan.
Both platforms have their native payment gateways, Shopify Payments and Squarespace Payments. Shopify Payments supports around 40 countries, while Squarespace’s native payment gateway is currently available in only 10 countries. In addition, Squarespace accepts Klarna, Afterpay, Apple Pay, ACH, and all major credit cards.
Shopify accepts a much wider range of payment methods. You can choose from 100+ external gateways worldwide, including PayPal, Stripe, 2Checkout (Verifone), Authorize.Net, WorldPay, Klarna, Adyen, Payoneer Checkout, and Coinbase Commerce.
When it comes to transaction fees, Squarespace charges a 3% fee on each sale under the Business plan. Transaction fees are dropped on its Commerce plans. In contrast, Shopify’s transaction fee on the Basic plan is just 2%.
- Bottom Line
Shopify wins with more eCommerce features, payment options, and better value for sellers.
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Pay only $1/month for first 3 months
Blogging
Squarespace
Shopify
SQUARESPACE VS SHOPIFY REVIEW: BLOGGING FEATURES
Which Platform Is Better For Art Bloggers?
If you’ve read my post on why every artist should have a blog, you know I cannot emphasize enough how helpful a blog is get the word out about your art and attract traffic.
The good news is that both Squarespace and Shopify offer solid blogging features. Both platform allow you to create an unlimited number of posts, organize them into categories and tags, schedule them, and engage with readers in the comment sections.
Basically speaking, the only difference is that Squarespace gives a more visually oriented blogging experience. It’s more flexible when it comes to layout and design.
Shopify’s default blog features are more basic compared to Squarespace. Customization options are more limited, but you can install additional apps for better aesthetics and more design flexibility.
Nevertheless, your Shopify blog integrates seamlessly with your e‑commerce store, meaning your blog posts can directly support your sales.
- Bottom Line
Both Squarespace and Shopify offer robust blogging features.
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Pay only $1/month for first 3 months
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Get 10% off with code “GIMME10”
SEO & Analytics
Squarespace
Shopify
SQUARESPACE VS SHOPIFY REVIEW: SEO & ANALYTICS
Which is better to rank your site and artwork in the search?
Search engine optimization (SEO) and analytics tools are vital—not only for every website owner but also for every artist. Why?
Because without optimizing your content for search (blog posts, bio, art descriptions, etc.), no one will be able to find you and your work. You can create exactly the type of artwork someone is looking for on the web, but if you don’t use the relevant keywords they’d type into a search engine, you’ll go unnoticed. ´\_(ツ)_/`
SEO ensures that your website, portfolio, or online store appears in search results when people look for art like yours.
→ How To Find The Best Keywords For Artists To Boost Your SEO
Similarly, analytics tools track how people find your site, which pages they visit, and how they interact with your content. These insights show you what resonates with your audience and what doesn’t, revealing where your content needs improvement.
Both Squarespace and Shopify come with built-in SEO features and analytics. The SEO tools of both platforms support editable meta titles, meta descriptions, alt text for images, clean URLs, and automatic XML sitemaps for search engines, among others.
The difference is that Squarespace provides one SEO integration (SEOSpace), while Shopify offers a whole myriad of SEO tools. Nevertheless, Squarespace’s SEOSpace is fully functional, helping you optimize your site for both search engines and AI platforms like ChatGPT.
Shopify, on the other hand, offers SEO tools for every aspect of your site: image optimization, site loading speed, AI product descriptions, store optimization, schema markup, and so on. Many of those apps specifically built for Shopify are free to install or offer a free trial.
Moreover, Shopify provides many free tutorials on how to optimize your site for SEO.
Likewise, Shopify’s analytics reports are much more extensive than Squarespace’s. The built-in dashboard provides insights into sales, traffic, conversion rates, top-selling products, customer behavior, and abandoned cart recovery analytics (even on the Basic plan).
Besides that, there are more eCommerce focused analytics to track product performance and revenue, and you can also integrate Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel.
Similarly, Squarespace gives you insights into traffic sources, site visits, page views, and so on. Plus, you can also view engagement metrics such as how much time visitors spend on page, exit rate, and popular pages.
Squarespace’s “Commerce analytics” help you track things like revenue, units sold, orders, conversion rate, average order volume, and revenue per visit. You can monitor “Sales by product” to see which items perform best, and there’s a “Purchase funnel” visualization to show where customers drop off.
Wrapping up, while Squarespace’s analytics are comprehensive for many users. They are less in-depth than Shopify’s dedicated store analytics but provide enough data to understand who’s visiting your site, which artwork or blog posts are most engaging, and which sales items perform best.
However, if your goal is to build a large‑scale store with highly optimized conversion funnels, Shopify offers more detailed insights.
Likewise, Squarespace provides a strong SEO base out of the box that doesn’t require much setup. This is very practical if you want to focus on content and visuals, rather than technical SEO work.
Shopify is stronger for eCommerce SEO, with tools tailored to product sales, conversion tracking, and multi-channel selling.
- Bottom Line
Shopify excels for eCommerce SEO and analytics, while Squarespace suits visually-focused sites with simpler needs for insights.
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Pay only $1/month for first 3 months
Pricing
Squarespace
Shopify
SQUARESPACE VS SHOPIFY REVIEW: THE COSTS
Where Do You Get The Better Value For Your Money?
Both Squarespace and Shopify have four pricing plans.
As of 2025, Squarespace’s entry-level plan starts $16/month when billed annually ($23/month if billed monthly). It includes unlimited bandwidth, storage, mobile optimization, free templates, and a free custom domain for the first year. This Personal plan is great for portfolio sites where you occasionally want to sell some of your artwork.
If you want to sell on a more professional level, you need at least the Business plan at $23 monthly (billed annually) or at $36 when billed monthly. This plan allows you to sell products and services directly on your site with a 3% transaction fee per sale, and provides features such as a built-in checkout and a shipping rate calculator.
To remove the transaction fee, you can upgrade to one of Squarespace’s Commerce plans at any time. The Basic Commerce plan at $28 per month comes with more advanced sales and marketing tools, while the Advanced Commerce plan also lets you sell subscriptions and use promotions such as discount codes.
Shopify’s Basic plan starts at US $19 per month when billed annually or US $27 per month with monthly billing. It provides a solid, full-featured store with advanced eCommerce capabilities, including unlimited product listings, on-site checkout, analytics and reporting for store performances, and the ability to sell across multiple channels such as your online store, social media, and marketplaces.
Compared to Squarespace’s Business plan, Shopify offers much more robust eCommerce functionality, with advanced tools like abandoned cart recovery, point of sale, and full product management.
Squarespace’s Business plan is more design-centric but lacks many of these advanced sales features.
- Bottom Line
Squarespace emphasizes design, while Shopify lets you create a full-featured online store at a more affordable price.
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Pay only $1/month for first 3 months
Overall Rating
Squarespace
Shopify
SQUARESPACE VS SHOPIFY REVIEW: THE VERDICT
What is the overall best website platform for artists?
Overall, both Shopify and Squarespace are great platform for artists. They are easy to use, with intuitive setup and editing tools.
Shopify clearly stands out if your primary goal is selling your art through a fully-featured online store. Since the platform is built specifically for eCommerce, it provides advanced selling tools that surpass Squarespace’s features.
Choose Shopify if you want:
- A full-fleged online store with advanced eCommerce features
- A huge selection apps for marketing, sales, print-on-demand, and more
- A large number of global payment gateways in 100+ countries
- In-depth SEO and analytics to track traffic, sales, and conversions
Squarespace can be an excellent option for simpler eCommerce needs, especially when aesthetics are your major focus. Its visually appealing templates, easy-to-use design tools, and robust image-handling features make it ideal for creative professionals and small businesses who want a straightforward site and sell on a smaller scale.
Choose Squarespace if you want:
- Design-focused templates tailored for art portfolios
- Creative editing freedom with a structured, easy-to-use editor
- A small but vetted selection of free extensions for added functionality
- Basic sales features to sell physical and digital products
Squarespace vs Shopify for Artists: Key Takeaways
1. Onboarding & Ease of Use — Squarespace guides you with template suggestions based on website goals, while Shopify’s sales-focused onboarding starts with product setup and recommends apps for selling.
2. The Editor — Squarespace’s section-based editor offers more creative freedom, while Shopify’s editor is more functional, but also easier for beginners who prefer a more guided approach.
3. eCommerce & Sales Features — Shopify provides stronger eCommerce features, even on its Basic plan. Squarespace is better suited for small-scale sales; advanced eCommerce features require higher-tier plans.
4. Functionality — Squarespace curates about 40 vetted extensions for essential functions, while Shopify’s App Market includes 10,000+ apps (free + paid) for the most different needs.
5. Blogging — Squarespace comes with a more flexible and visually-oriented blog layout. Shopify’s basic blogging features integrate better with sales and product promotion.
6. SEO & Analytics — Shopify offers more comprehensive analytics and eCommerce-focused SEO, ideal for large-scale selling. Squarespace’s SEO tool is better suited for smaller and content-focused sites.
7. Value for Money — Shopify offers better eCommerce value with advanced features at a more competitive price, while Squarespace requires a slightly higher cost for eCommerce functionality.
In the end, the right platform depends on your specific needs and goals. I recommend taking advantage of the free trials both platforms offer. Testing out each one will help you decide which one is the best for you:
