Squarespace Ecommerce Review (2026): Plans, Fees and Who It Fits

Squarespace CommerceSquarespace CommerceStore platformsSquarespace is a website builder with built-in selling tools for products, subscriptions, digital content and services. Paid from $25/mo, 14-day trial.Click for Scout's full analysis is a good fit for creators, studios and design-led brands that want a polished website with a modest store built in, and it publishes one of the clearest fee tables of any website builder. Budget for the Core plan ($29 a month billed yearly), not Basic, and look at ShopifyShopifyStore platformsShopify is a hosted ecommerce platform for building and running an online store, with checkout, payments and an app store for add-ons. Paid from $39/mo, 3-day trial.Click for Scout's full analysis instead if the store is the whole business.

Quick comparison

From Squarespace's pricing page, November 2026 (US):

Every plan includes unlimited products, abandoned cart recovery, subscriptions, POS and a 14-day free trial with no credit card.

What Squarespace Commerce does

Squarespace is a website builder with selling built in. You can sell physical products, downloads, services, subscriptions and digital content such as courses and member sites from the same site. SquarespaceSquarespace CommerceStore platformsSquarespace is a website builder with built-in selling tools for products, subscriptions, digital content and services. Paid from $25/mo, 14-day trial.Click for Scout's full analysis lists a Printful integration for print-on-demand and Squarespace POS for in-person sales. It does not offer a free plan, but every site starts with a 14-day trial.

Every plan, explained

Basic: $25/month ($19 yearly). Unlimited products, abandoned cart recovery, subscriptions and POS, but a 2% transaction fee on store sales, 7% on digital content, and only 2 contributors. Basic lacks discounts, payment plans, Google Shopping listings, shipping labels and carrier-calculated shipping.

Core: $39/month ($29 yearly). The plan Squarespace marks "Recommended," and the right starting point for most sellers. Store sales fee drops to 0%, and you get discounts, payment plans, Google Shopping listings, advanced Facebook and Instagram ads, advanced merchandising, UPS and USPS shipping labels, carrier-calculated shipping and commerce APIs. Automated global tax calculation costs up to 0.15% per transaction, capped at $0.99.

Plus: $65/month ($49 yearly). Lower standard card rate (2.7% + $0.30), digital content fee down to 1%, and a reserved cart with a countdown timer. Tax calculation drops to 0.10% max.

Advanced: $139/month ($99 yearly). Lowest card rate (2.5% + $0.30), 0% on digital content and memberships, and tax calculation at 0.05% max. Our fact sheet notes high-traffic checkout on this plan.

Other fees to know

From Squarespace's help center article on transaction fees, last updated October 29, 2026:

• International cards add 1.5%, and currency conversion adds 1%.
• ACH payments cost 1.5% on Basic and 1% on higher plans ($10 maximum).
• Klarna costs 5.45% + $0.30 and Afterpay 6% + $0.30.
• If you use Stripe, PayPal or Square instead of Squarespace Payments, you pay their rates, which Squarespace does not list.
• Squarespace refunds its transaction fee when you refund an order, but the Squarespace Payments processing fee is not refunded.
• Instant payouts cost 1.5% of the payout, with a $0.50 minimum in the US.

What it costs at two store sizes

Yearly billing, US standard cards through Squarespace Payments, physical products only.

Small shop: $1,000 a month, 25 orders of $40. Card processing is 2.9% × $1,000 = $29, plus 25 × $0.30 = $7.50, so $36.50.

• Basic: $19 + 2% fee ($20) + $36.50 = $75.50 a month
• Core: $29 + $36.50 = $65.50 a month

Core is already cheaper. On yearly billing, the 2% fee outweighs the $10 price gap once store sales pass $500 a month ($700 a month on monthly billing).

Busier shop: $10,000 a month, 200 orders of $50. Per-order fees are 200 × $0.30 = $60.

• Core: $29 + $290 + $60 = $379
• Plus: $49 + $270 + $60 = $379
• Advanced: $99 + $250 + $60 = $409

Plus and Core cost the same at $10,000 a month; above that, Plus is cheaper. Advanced only pays off on card fees above roughly $25,000 a month, though it may pay off sooner if you sell digital content (0% vs 1%).

Strengths

Clear, published fees. Plan prices, transaction fees, card rates by card type and add-on fees are all on the pricing page and help center.

0% store fees from Core. At $29 a month billed yearly, you pay only card processing on physical product sales.

More selling types on every plan. Unlimited products, subscriptions, abandoned cart recovery and POS are not gated behind higher tiers.

Content and commerce in one place. Digital products, memberships, courses and appointments (Squarespace says Acuity Scheduling payments carry no Squarespace transaction fee) sit alongside the store.

Unlimited contributors from Core. Useful for small teams.

Limits and watch-outs

Basic is a trap for active sellers. The 2% fee and missing discounts and shipping labels mean most stores should start on Core.

Digital content fees. If you sell courses or memberships, you pay 7% on Basic and 5% on Core. Only Advanced is 0%.

Premium cards cost the same on every plan. Amex and business cards are 3.2% + $0.30 even on Advanced, so upgrading only cuts the standard card rate.

Smaller add-on ecosystem than Shopify. Squarespace lists commerce APIs from Core, but if you plan to rely on many specialized ecommerce tools, Shopify's app store is far larger.

POS details. The pricing page lists POS on all plans. The help center says Square POS works only in the iOS app and does not list in-person rates.

Who should use it

• Creators, photographers, studios and design-led brands with a small to mid-size catalog.
• Businesses selling a mix of products, services, subscriptions and digital content from one site.
• Owners who want to see every fee before they sign up.

Who should skip it

• Your store is the business and you plan to scale with ads and apps. ShopifyShopifyStore platformsShopify is a hosted ecommerce platform for building and running an online store, with checkout, payments and an app store for add-ons. Paid from $39/mo, 3-day trial.Click for Scout's full analysis has a larger app ecosystem and more built-in sales channels. Basic costs the same $29 a month billed yearly. See our Shopify review.
• You want to build for free first. Wix eCommerceWix eCommerceStore platformsWix eCommerce is the online store side of the Wix website builder. Free plan, paid from $29/mo.Click for Scout's full analysis has a Free plan for building, though selling starts on Core. See Wix vs Squarespace for ecommerce.
• You only want to pay the cheapest plan price. Squarespace Basic looks cheapest at $19 a month, but its 2% fee makes it more expensive than Core for most active stores.

Verdict

Squarespace Commerce is one of the better options for a design-first site that sells, and its fees are easy to understand. Start on Core, billed yearly. Move to Plus once you sell about $10,000 a month, or sooner if digital content is a big part of your revenue. If you are building a store-first brand that will lean on apps and paid ads, Shopify is the better long-term home.

Which one should you choose?

• Choose SquarespaceSquarespace CommerceStore platformsSquarespace is a website builder with built-in selling tools for products, subscriptions, digital content and services. Paid from $25/mo, 14-day trial.Click for Scout's full analysis Core if design matters and your catalog is modest.
• Choose Squarespace Plus above about $10,000 a month in card sales, or if you sell courses or memberships.
• Choose ShopifyShopifyStore platformsShopify is a hosted ecommerce platform for building and running an online store, with checkout, payments and an app store for add-ons. Paid from $39/mo, 3-day trial.Click for Scout's full analysis if the store is the whole business and you want the widest app choice.
• Choose Wix eCommerceWix eCommerceStore platformsWix eCommerce is the online store side of the Wix website builder. Free plan, paid from $29/mo.Click for Scout's full analysis if you want a free plan to build on before you pay.

Common questions

Does Squarespace charge transaction fees? Only on the Basic plan, which charges 2% on store sales. Core, Plus and Advanced charge 0% on store sales. Digital content and memberships have separate fees: 7%, 5%, 1% and 0% by plan. Card processing is charged on every plan.

What are Squarespace's payment processing fees? In the US, standard cards are 2.9% + $0.30 on Basic and Core, 2.7% + $0.30 on Plus and 2.5% + $0.30 on Advanced. Premium cards such as Amex are 3.2% + $0.30 on every plan.

Does Squarespace have a free trial? Yes. Every site starts with a 14-day free trial, and Squarespace says no credit card is required. There is no free plan.

Can Squarespace handle a large catalog? Every plan lists unlimited products. Whether it suits a large catalog depends on how much you need specialized apps and channels, which is where Shopify is stronger.

How we put this together

We did not test Squarespace hands-on. Prices and plan features come from Squarespace's pricing page, and fee details come from its help center article "Transaction fees and payment processing rates" (last updated October 29, 2026), both read in November 2026, plus our fact sheet checked November 2, 2026. Shopify and Wix details come from their own pricing pages. Cost examples use US rates only; confirm current prices for your country before you sign up.