Shopify vs Square Online
The store pricing models head-to-head: $29 a month for the best commerce platform against free-plus-fees from the payments company.
ShopifyShopify
The e-commerce platform everything else gets compared to.
Square Online
A real online store for the price of the card fees.
Our verdict
Square Online wins the start: zero subscription, a real working store, and seamless sync if you already ring up sales on Square’s registers, the natural first online store for cafés, local shops, and market sellers. Shopify wins everything after the start: a meaningfully better checkout, vastly more apps and themes, and room to grow that Square’s ceilings cut off. The math flips as volume grows: at low sales, free-plus-fees beats $29 plus fees; at serious volume, Shopify’s conversion advantage pays its own subscription. Start free on Square if risk is the concern; start on Shopify if growth is the plan.
“If the site exists to sell, this is the platform: the best checkout in the business, an app for every commerce problem, and infrastructure that survives Black Friday. You pay for it in subscription plus fees, and for pure content sites it is the wrong tool.”Editorial team, on Shopify
“The free store that means it: sell online without a subscription, paying only Square’s processing fees. For local businesses already on Square’s registers it is a no-brainer; the upgrade tiers add polish when sales justify it.”Editorial team, on Square Online