Ecwid vs Squarespace – Which Is Better?

Ecwid and Squarespace are two popular platforms that help businesses to sell products and services online.

While Ecwid is designed as an add-on to existing websites, Squarespace offers a full website building and hosting solution with integrated ecommerce features.

In this article, we will compare the key features, pricing, and other factors of Ecwid and Squarespace to help you determine which platform is the best fit for your online business needs.

Let’s begin.

Overview

Ecwid

Ecwid is an ecommerce platform that allows you to easily add an online store to your existing website, blog, or social media presence.

The key features of Ecwid include:

• Integrates with existing websites like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace
• Allows selling on social media like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok
• Supports selling physical and digital products
• Offers mobile apps for iOS and Android to manage your store on the go
• Provides over 50 payment gateways and accepts payments in multiple currencies
• Includes features like discount coupons, product filters, variations, and multilingual catalogs
• Automatically syncs inventory across all sales channels
• Offers marketing tools like email campaigns and integration with Google, Facebook, and Outvio

Ecwid is PCI DSS validated for secure transactions. It has a user-friendly interface with an onboarding checklist to get you started.

While the app library is more limited compared to competitors, Ecwid is a cost-effective way to add ecommerce to any online presence.

Check out: Ecwid vs Shopify

Squarespace

Squarespace is a comprehensive website building and hosting platform that allows users to create professional-looking websites, online stores, and portfolios without needing extensive technical knowledge.

Here are some of the features Squarespace offers:

• Customizable templates: Squarespace offers over 160 high-quality templates designed by their in-house team, covering various industries and use cases. The templates are mobile-optimized and employ modern web technologies.
• Drag-and-drop editor: The Squarespace editor makes it easy to customize pages by adding and arranging content blocks like text, images, videos, galleries, forms, and more. Pre-built page sections are also available for faster design.
• Ecommerce capabilities: Squarespace’s Commerce plans enable users to build online stores, manage inventory, process payments, offer discounts, and track sales analytics.
• SEO and marketing tools: Squarespace websites come with built-in SEO features like image optimization, sitemaps, and meta tags to improve search engine visibility. Marketing tools include email campaigns, promotional pop-ups, and social media integrations.
• Hosting and domains: Squarespace provides hosting for all sites and offers domain registration services. Sites are automatically optimized for mobile devices.

With its user-friendly interface, professional designs, and comprehensive feature set, Squarespace is a popular choice for individuals and businesses looking to establish an online presence without extensive technical skills.

Also read: Hostinger vs Shopify

Website Builder Capabilities

When comparing Ecwid and Squarespace, there are some key differences to consider.

Squarespace

Squarespace is generally viewed as the more robust and feature-rich platform, with a better website builder, the ability to sell a wider range of product types, and a more cost-effective pricing structure.

It offers a more comprehensive ecommerce solution, with a highly versatile and user-friendly website builder that allows for extensive customization of the entire site.

This includes the ability to create custom blog posts using a variety of content blocks and sections.

Ecwid

Ecwid, on the other hand, is a strong choice for those looking to add ecommerce functionality to an existing website, as it can be seamlessly integrated with platforms like WordPress and Wix.

It has a more limited website builder, known as the New-Gen Instant Site, which offers over 30 mobile-friendly templates and customization options for the homepage, but lacks the full-site customization features of Squarespace.

Ultimately, the decision between Ecwid and Squarespace will depend on your specific business needs and requirements.

Explore: Shopify vs Storyblok

Ease of Use

Ecwid

Ecwid is highly regarded for its ease of use, making it a popular choice for online store owners.

Users find Ecwid’s interface intuitive and user-friendly, with a straightforward setup process that simplifies adding products, managing orders, and customizing store designs. 

The platform offers a clear and easy-to-navigate dashboard, making it simple to access key functionalities like store management, sales channels, and configuration. 

Additionally, Ecwid provides an onboarding to-do list for first-time users, guiding them through essential steps such as adding products, setting regional settings, configuring shipping methods, and payment gateways.

Moreover, Ecwid’s mobile apps for both Android and iOS devices allow users to manage their stores on the go, enhancing convenience and accessibility.

This allows even novice users to create a professional-looking online store setup with ease, without sacrificing the platform’s robust set of ecommerce features.

Squarespace

Squarespace is widely regarded as one of the easiest website builders to use, especially for beginners. Its intuitive drag-and-drop editor and guided setup process make building a website simple and straightforward. 

The setup process is very easy to understand, allowing you to quickly choose a template, site name, and category to get started.

Squarespace’s editing interface is incredibly streamlined and user-friendly, with most of the tools and options you need in one place. 

While your freedom to customize is somewhat limited by Squarespace’s grid system, there are still plenty of options to personalize your site to your liking.

Managing your website is made easy by Squarespace’s excellent dashboard, where you can edit content and access almost everything you need.

Overall, Squarespace provides a very Apple-like website building experience that trades some flexibility for excellent simplicity and ease of use, especially for beginners. 

The guided setup and streamlined editing tools make building a professional-looking website quick and painless.

Read this too: Shopify vs Dukaan

Pricing

Ecwid

Ecwid offers the following pricing plans:

• Free Plan: The free plan is a great way to check out the features available from Ecwid. It allows you to add up to 5 products to your catalog and includes basic tools to get started with selling online. The plan is recommended only for merchants with a very small number of products or those looking to test the platform before upgrading.
• Venture Plan: Priced at $25 per month (or $21 per month if paid annually), this plan is suitable for stores with up to 100 products. It allows you to sell digital products like e-books, audio, and video on Facebook and Instagram. It also provides mobile app access to manage your store on the go.
• Business Plan: This plan is priced at $45 per month (or $39 per month if paid yearly). It includes all features of the Venture plan, enables 2500 products, multi-lingual store and up to 2 staff accounts. It also provides priority support.
• Unlimited Plan: Priced at $105 per month (or $89 per month if billed annually), this plan offers unlimited number of products in your catalog. It includes all features of the Business plan, allows an unlimited number of staff accounts and provides a mobile app called ShopApp® for customers to place orders directly from their devices.

It’s important to note that while Ecwid does not charge any transaction fees, you may incur additional costs for payment processing, themes, and plugins depending on your specific needs.

Squarespace

The range of pricing plans from Squarespace are as follows:

• Personal Plan: Priced at $25 per month (or $16 per month if billed annually), this plan is ideal for online portfolios. It offers a fully featured website with unlimited storage and bandwidth, mobile-optimized templates, SSL security, website metrics, 24/7 support, free custom domain, and up to two contributors.
• Business Plan: This plan is priced at $36 per month (or $23 of paid yearly). It includes all features of the Personal plan, plus ecommerce capabilities, 3% transaction fee, 3rd party integrations like Gmail and Mailchimp, advanced metrics for tracking conversions, and marketing tools like pop-ups and mobile bars.
• Commerce Basic Plan: Priced at $40 per month (or $28 if billed annually), this plan has been designed for growing small businesses. It includes all Business plan features, unlimited bandwidth and storage, SEO tools, up to 30 minutes of video storage, and the ability to sell more than 10 products.
• Commerce Advanced Plan: Priced at $72 per month (or $52 if billed annually), this plan has been tailored for larger online stores. It offers advanced ecommerce functionality, unlimited bandwidth and storage, SEO tools, video storage, and additional features like abandoned cart recovery and automatic discounts.

These plans cater to different needs, from personal websites to small businesses and large online stores, providing a range of features and pricing options to suit various website requirements.

Customer Support 

When it comes to customer support, both Ecwid and Squarespace offer assistance to their users, though the availability and channels vary.

Ecwid

Ecwid’s focus on user experience extends to its support services, offering comprehensive help resources, including FAQs, guides, articles, and video tutorials, to assist users at different stages.

However, the availability of support channels varies based on subscription plans, with free users having access to email support and higher-tier subscribers enjoying live chat, hotline, and priority support options.

This gives you the flexibility to choose the support method that best suits your needs, whether it’s a quick chat or a more in-depth phone conversation.

Squarespace

Squarespace offers 24/7 email support for all users, as well as limited live chat support during business hours.

This comprehensive ecommerce platform customer service ensures that you can get the help you need, whenever you need it.

While neither platform offers phone support for all customers, this may be a consideration for online store owners who prefer that personal touch.

In addition to support, both Ecwid and Squarespace provide a wealth of online store resources to help you navigate the ecommerce landscape.

From tutorial videos to community forums and blog posts, you’ll find a wealth of information to guide you through the process of setting up and managing your online store.

Also read: Sellfy vs Printful

Conclusion

We found Squarespace more robust and feature-rich platform for building an online store.

With its superior website builder capabilities, wider range of product types, and more cost-effective pricing, Squarespace offers a compelling all-in-one solution for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

However, Ecwid remains a strong choice for those looking to add ecommerce functionality to an existing website, leveraging its seamless integration with platforms like WordPress and Wix.

Regardless of your decision, both Ecwid and Squarespace offer solid ecommerce solutions that can help you establish and grow your online presence.