Choosing your website platform: compare WordPress vs Squarespace vs Shopify

What’s the difference between them, and which one is right for you?

How to choose the right website platform for you

You’re ready to build your website but not sure where and with what?

As a business-owner it can be tough (and time-consuming!) to sift through all the information, misinformation and many, many opinions to get a straight answer on what’s right for your business.

There’re so many articles out there comparing platforms, and even as a developer it’s sometimes hard to tell what is unbiased versus factual, and to find information that applies to your specific needs.

I’ll be upfront here, I do prefer WordPress. As a developer I find it offers more freedom and less frustration than other platforms, plus I have more experience with it than the others. However, I’m also a Shopify Partner and am happy to work with whatever platform my clients prefer. Whether that’s Squarespace or Shopify (or Wix, Cargo, Vimeo OTT or others), I aim to recommend based on whichever one fulfils the specific needs of each client or their business.

So, acknowledging that all website builders and SaaS (Software as a Service) platforms have their own pros and cons, below I give a run-down on a few things I recommend everyone consider before choosing or moving to a new service.

Compare platforms at a glance

Squarespace

Easy designs

Stylish, modern designs that are easy to update, ideal for people who want to DIY

People using Squarespace:

See details

Shopify

Easy ecommerce

Dedicated to making ecommerce simple for everyone, ideal for basic online stores

Big Shopify stores:

Find out more

WordPress

Ultimate flexibility

An open-source platform that has grown to power over 30% of the web

Squarespace

Stylish, modern designs that are easy to setup and update, ideal for portfolio sites and people who want to DIY without the learning curve

Overview

Squarespace Pros

stylish, modern themes

user-friendly to make simple changes

security and updates are managed for you

low upfront cost for most

Squarespace Cons

no built-in customisation for responsive mobile design

no site backups or rollbacks

reliant on integrated functionality

you’re renting the service and don’t own it

Breakdown

Features	Squarespace
Ease-of-use	Simple & straightforward
Themes & Templates	Free & Paid
Design options	Limited by the theme Requires HTML/CSS knowledge or a developer for customisation
Mobile responsive design	Dependent on theme Requires HTML/CSS knowledge or a developer for customisation
Ecommerce enabled	Yes, as an extra cost
Allows custom development	Not really
Updates & Security	Auto-updates
Store backups	Export data only
App/Plugin options	Extensions store, limited options
SEO customisation	Limited
Dedicated support	Yes
Upfront DIY cost	Free until site published
Upfront done for you cost	Custom design &/or website setup – from $1k to $10k ¹
Ongoing costs	Monthly plans – from $16 to $52 Transaction fees – Card fee + Squarespace 3% for non-commerce plans Extensions – $0 to ?? Domain name purchase – first year free with plan Email hosting – included on some plans

Costs depend on: your choice of developer/designer, custom or customised design, required functionality and number of products setup

Shopify

Dedicated to making ecommerce simple for everyone, ideal for basic online stores

Overview

Shopify Pros

easy to manage and update products

user-friendly for making simple changes

automatic security and updates (kind of)

low upfront cost for most stores

Shopify Cons

needs a paid app for just about everything

subpage default layouts are very basic

you’re renting the service and don’t own it (Shopify can cut you off at anytime – rare, but it happens)

Breakdown

Features	Shopify
Ease-of-use	Simple & straightforward
Themes & Templates	Free & Paid
Design options	Limited by the theme Only the homepage has the visual builder Requires developer for customisation
Mobile responsive design	Dependent on theme Requires developer for customisations
Ecommerce enabled	Yes
Allows custom development	Requires a developer with knowledge of liquid
Updates & Security	Core Shopify auto-updates Apps & themes must be manually updated (Settings and custom development lost when updated)
Store backups	Manual or requires paid app
App/Plugin options	App store Majority have a monthly cost
SEO customisation	Limited without an app or developer
Dedicated support	Free from Shopify Custom changes are limited to simple requests and 1 hr/mth
Upfront DIY cost	2 week free trial for setup
Upfront done for you cost	Unlimited development time (through a Shopify Partner site) Custom design &/or store setup – from $200 to $10k ¹
Ongoing costs	Monthly plans – from $29 to $299+ Transaction fees – Card fee + Shopify fee for non Shopify Payments Apps – $0 to $1000 per month ² Domain name purchase – from $10/yr ³ Email hosting – from $6/mth per email ⁴

Costs depend on: your choice of developer/designer, custom or customised design, required functionality and number of products setup
Up to $200/month is average for most stores and includes things like: advanced shipping options, gift options, product bundles, accounting sync, inventory sync, etc
Domain costs change depending on what extension you use, a .com is usually the cheapest, .com.au is a little bit more, something like .store or .studio is more again
Email is sometimes included with domain purchase, but for reliability a dedicated email host is recommended

WordPress

A blogging platform that has grown to include advanced functionality and power around 30-40% of the web

Overview

WordPress Pros

scalable when your business grows and needs change

can handle nearly any function or design

free options for most plugins

you own the site

WordPress Cons

not so user-friendly – can be a learning curve

requires regular maintenance, updates, security checks

often a relatively high upfront cost

Note that WordPress.com and WordPress.org are two different things, just to make it more confusing! WordPress .com is managed SaaS just like Squarespace or Shopify, whereas .org is the self-hosted solution that most people refer to when discussing WordPress.

Breakdown

Features	WordPress
Ease-of-use	Learning curve
Themes & Templates	Free & Paid
Design options	Unlimited (depending on theme/page-builder)
Mobile responsive design	Yes(depending on theme/page-builder)
Ecommerce enabled	Free with Woocommerce plugin
Allows custom development	Yes
Updates & Security	DIY manual Automatic with paid maintenance plan
Website backups	Automatic with plugin or hosting
App/Plugin options	Thousands of options, free and paid
SEO customisation	DIY with plugin Unlimited with developer
Dedicated support	None, unless Included with Managed WordPress hosting Included with Maintenance Plan from a developer
Upfront DIY cost	WordPress is free Hosting – $5 to $200 per month
Upfront done for you cost	Custom design &/or store setup – from $500 to $25k ¹
Ongoing costs	Hosting – $5 to $200 per month ² Ecommerce transaction fees – Card/Payment Processor fee Maintenance Plan – DIY free, $50 to $200/mth Plugins – $0 to $500 per year ³ Domain name purchase – from $10/yr ⁴ Email hosting – from $6/mth per email ⁵

Costs depend on: your choice of developer/designer, custom or customised design, required functionality and number of products setup
Many sites can get away with cheap hosting, for those with a lot of visitors or extra security requirements premium is recommended
For most functions there’s a free plugin available, ecommerce usually requires paid options
Domain costs change depending on what extension (TLD) you use, a .com is usually the cheapest, .com.au is a little bit more, something like .store or .studio is more again
Email is sometimes included with hosting or domain purchase, but for reliability a dedicated email host is recommended

Got questions?

Did I miss something you want to know about for your website?

Shoot me a message through my contact form and we can go over your website needs.