Squarespace vs BigCommerce? Find out which suits your online store needs. Let us take you through our comparison guide. Read our blog and clear your confusion!
Introduction
Squarespace and BigCommerce seem to be identical. They help us create websites and sell products without coding or web development expertise. They have similar features, such as paying a monthly charge to access the browser-based program. You can create and maintain your website from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection, because there is nothing to install locally.
Originally, both of them had different goals. BigCommerce was designed as an online retail platform, whereas Squarespace was meant to be a solution for generating and managing content-based websites. However, in recent years, Squarespace’s feature set has expanded to include e-commerce functions. This has made the two solutions more similar. You can now use it to host an online store or develop a website.
You might ask yourself, which one is better for your online store? In this comprehensive blog, you will learn:
- What is Squarespace?
- What is BigCommerce?
- Squarespace vs BigCommerce: A Quick Comparison
- Squarespace vs BigCommerce: Which is Best for Your Online Store?
So, let’s begin!
What is Squarespace?
Squarespace is a website builder that helps online retailers create their own websites. It is a full-hosted platform, which means there are no hosting fees or software installation requirements. You can create a website and select from a wide range of top-notch website templates, designer fonts, and color schemes. You can launch an online store, organize your schedule, and sell your expertise – all on a single platform that is created only for you. Customer retention and customer base growth are made simple with on-brand email marketing and social media tools. Turn your dreams into reality with Squarespace website builder.
All you have to do is register and create an account, select a website template, and begin customizing it to your specifications. It offers attractive design opportunities, which makes Squarespace the most prevalent website builder in e-commerce and selling businesses.
Features:
- It has award-winning website layouts.
- It also has reporting and analytics feature for websites.
- It offers attractive templates for e-commerce.
- It provides tools for taxes and checkout payments.
- It also provides tools for email marketing.
- Google search engine and SEO solutions are available.
- It has integrations with social media.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| User-friendly and intuitive interface. | Limited flexibility compared to more complex builders. |
| Stunning and professionally designed themes. | Limited customization options for advanced users. |
| Integrated hosting, domain, and design tools. | Limited third-party app ecosystem. |
| Robust build-in features like blogging and e-commerce. | Advanced features may require third-party integrations. |
| Responsive customer support. | No live chat support, primarily relies on email. |
| Ensures mobile-friendly websites. | Limited control over mobile design and customization. |
| Automatic updates and SSL certificates. | Limited control over security settings. |
| Clear and straightforward pricing. | Can be costlier compared to some competitors. |
What is BigCommerce?
BigCommerce is a well-known hosted e-commerce platform that offers retailers and merchants software-as-a-service (SaaS). When a platform is fully-hosted, it implies that it operates on its own servers and that using it doesn’t require you to buy web hosting or install any software on your PC. BigCommerce provides all the features and resources required to launch an online business, such as website design, payment methods, marketing tools, hosting, and search engine optimization skills. You just need a strong internet connection.
There are several customizable models available in BigCommerce that might assist you in designing the design of your online store. It may be used to promote your store’s digital and tangible products. Additionally, you will find it simpler to advertise your business with the help of the variety of options available.
Features:
- More POS systems
- BigCommerce offers its customers many delivery options.
- Quick abandoned cart recovery
- The app store offers you a selection of over 600 apps in case you need to expand your website using the technologies described.
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Robust e-commerce features and functionality. | Steeper learning curve for beginners. |
| Scalability to accommodate growing businesses. | Monthly pricing may be higher compared to some competitors. |
| Built-in tools for managing products and inventory. | Customization options might be overwhelming for novices. |
| Wide range of payment gateways and shipping options. | Themes may require more design skills for extensive changes. |
| Responsive customer support. | Limited built-in blogging features. |
| Seamless integration with popular third-party apps. | Limited flexibility in terms of design and layout. |
| Multi-channel selling options for broader reach. | Additional costs for higher-tier plans. |
| Strong security features including SSL certificates. | Advanced customization may require technical expertise. |
Also read: Wix vs WordPress – Which One is Better? (Pros and Cons)
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Squarespace vs BigCommerce: A Quick Comparison
Choosing the right platform for your website is an important decision. It defines your online presence. Squarespace and BigCommerce are popular website builders and offer unique features. Let us understand the difference between the two:
| Aspect | Squarespace | BigCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | User-friendly, intuitive interface. | Learning curve for beginners, especially in e-commerce settings. |
| Design Templates | Visually stunning themes with limited customization options. | Customizable templates with more flexibility for design changes. |
| Scalability | Suitable for small to medium-sized businesses. | Scales well to accommodate growing business. |
| Third-Party Integrations | Limited third-party app ecosystem. | Seamless integration with popular third-party apps. |
| E-commerce Features | Limited built-in e-commerce features. | Robust e-commerce features and functionality. |
| Customer Support | Responsive customer support. | Responsive customer support. |
| Pricing Transparency | Clear and straightforward pricing. | Monthly pricing may be higher compared to some competitors. |
| Customization Options | Limited customization options, especially for advanced users. | Extensive customization options, may be overwhelming for novices. |
| Mobile Responsiveness | Ensures mobile-friendly websites. | Limited control over mobile design and customization. |
| Security | Limited control over security settings. | Strong security features including SSL certificates. |
Squarespace vs BigCommerce: Which One is Best for Your Online Store?
As we dig deeper, you need to understand a few important aspects, such as pricing, design, apps, and more, to make an informed decision. Continue reading the detailed comparison of Squarespace and BigCommerce:
Squarespace vs BigCommerce : Pricing
Since Squarespace and BigCommerce are hosted systems, their cost varies based on the needs of users. Let’s explore all of the price options:
Squarespace
Squarespace offers different price options in addition to a free trial. It has 4 unique price options, namely Personal, Business, Basic Commerce, and Advanced Commerce, each with a different set of features.
You will have access to some amazing features such as a wide range of contemporary templates, SSL security encryption by default, SEO assistance, mobile-friendly websites, and core website analytics. Remember that Squarespace does not provide a free plan. While store owners are limited to selecting the Business plan at the beginning of their company, it remains reasonably priced and equipped with several useful functions.
BigCommerce
Launch your BigCommerce journey with a free 15-day trial, following which you can select the package that best suits your needs. BigCommerce has an enterprise package with flexible pricing in addition to three distinct price levels.
Your business will have a fully responsive website, a one-page checkout, digital wallets, basic SEO tools, and comprehensive analytics, depending on the plan you select. Even better, if you opt to pay annually instead of monthly, you will earn a 10% discount.
| Conclusion: When it comes to pricing, BigCommerce outshines Squarespace. This platform offers a variety of programs, making it simple for consumers to select the one that best suits their requirements. Even though Squarespace lacks the functionality of BigCommerce, it nonetheless provides unique price options for every customer. |
Squarespace vs BigCommerce: Designing
It is a widely accepted truth that an e-commerce site’s design grabs their attention right away. Let us examine the design features and options that Squarespace and BigCommerce provide.
Squarespace
Squarespace offers incredibly clean and visually appealing templates. They also provide a selection of excellent stock images for you to pick from. A large number of Squarespace themes were designed with users who wanted to blog or showcase their portfolios of artwork, photography, or music in mind. The 200+ exquisitely designed themes available on the marketplace are priced according to your membership plan.
Squarespace is a great fit for photographers due to its unique design. Therefore, before you begin building your business, if you are considering utilizing Squarespace, you might want to give it some thought and strive to get some amazing photographs for your website.
BigCommerce
About 300 different theme variations and 15 free themes are available in the BigCommerce theme shop. The themes are broken down into several groups based on the products you are selling. Additionally, Themeforest offers the best BigCommerce themes for sale. You can also quickly modify the design to create the storefront you want if you know how to code in HTML or CSS.
BigCommerce recently released DesignO, a brand-new software for visual merchandising. This program lets you customize a lot of things about your website, such as background colors and the location and size of your logo.
| Conclusion: BigCommerce has more design advantages than Squarespace. Users of BigCommerce may access a variety of themes in the BigCommerce Themes Store and modify their designs through code. Squarespace will work better for storeowners who want a more stylish appearance. |
Squarespace vs BigCommerce: SEO
You need to spend money on marketing and SEO to grow your business online. Thankfully, you will have access to strong SEO to support the success of your business, regardless of whether you select Squarespace or BigCommerce.
Squarespace
Squarespace users have access to useful SEO tools for appropriately search engine optimizing their websites. This helps simplify the SEO optimization procedure. This technology generates sitemaps, meta tags, and title tags automatically. Squarespace does, however, have several SEO flaws. These include the absence of rich snippet functionality, automated 301 and 302 redirects, an SEO testing tool, and challenging alt-tag adding.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce performs well in search engines. Important SEO activities like changing the meta title and description, modifying URL slugs, adding alt text, and getting keyword support can all be completed using BigCommerce. Furthermore, BigCommerce comes with an SSL certificate, which lets search engines verify that your website is secure.
| Conclusion: Basic SEO tools are provided by both Squarespace and BigCommerce to help your online business rank higher in search engine results. But because its SEO activities are more customizable, BigCommerce appears to offer better SEO features. |
Squarespace vs BigCommerce: Apps and Plugins
It is essential to add applications and plugins to your e-commerce platform in order to improve its efficiency. Let’s compare the applications and plugins that Squarespace and BigCommerce have to offer in this section.
Squarespace
Squarespace has a small selection of pre-installed applications. There are 31 extensions available. But owing to national limits, this number may drop. Squarespace extensions cover all of the fundamental needs for e-commerce tasks, even if there aren’t as many as other platforms: shipping and fulfillment (7), finance (5), inventory and items (10), and sales and marketing (9).
BigCommerce
Installing more than a thousand applications as a BigCommerce user can help with many areas of managing an online business, such as accounting and tax, checkout, payment and security, etc. It is therefore among the most flexible e-commerce systems out there.
| Conclusion: It is easy to see that BigCommerce beats Squarespace in the aspect. Numerous apps that give a great deal of customer support are available on this platform. Squarespace satisfies the fundamental requirements of e-commerce tasks while having fewer extensions. |
Squarespace vs BigCommerce: Conclusion
Squarespace has 3.79 million subscribers. It offers every tool you require, regardless of whether you are starting an e-commerce site or blog. It is best suited for bloggers and small online businesses. It provides various site-building options. Squarespace is a fantastic option for creative businesses or photographers because of its emphasis on design.
Home and garden product retailers account for 15.7% of BigCommerce stores. It is the go-to platform for businesses of all sizes due to its adaptability and abundance of powerful e-commerce features that may accelerate your company’s growth. Their robust service and support team will help you effectively run your digital business. They will help you overcome challenges by providing you with a range of e-commerce features and marketing resources.
FAQs
Is BigCommerce good for small businesses?
BigCommerce is adaptable. It is suitable for small and big businesses, as well as B2B and B2C merchants. It has reasonable subscription plans, flexible APIs, powerful SEO tools, and much more.
Do professionals use Squarespace?
Squarespace is excellent for creating professional, artistic websites. It has the best designs and functionality available and is perfect for resumes, blogging, and photography. It also provides excellent sales tools for your online business.
What is Squarespace used for?
An all-in-one content management system, or CMS, is Squarespace. You can create a website, host content, sell goods, register your own unique domain name, monitor site metrics, and much more with just one subscription.
