Squarespace vs Shopify for Estheticians: Which Platform Actually Grows Your Business?
If you're an esthetician trying to sell skincare online, you've probably asked yourself this question at least once: Should I use Squarespace or Shopify?
It sounds like a simple tech decision. But the platform you choose will directly affect how much revenue your website generates, how easy it is to manage your store, and whether your site can actually grow with your business or hold it back.
We've built and migrated several esthetician websites, and we have a very clear opinion on this. Here's the honest breakdown.
First: Why This Decision Matters More Than You Think
Most estheticians build their first website on whatever platform feels easiest in the moment. And that's completely understandable! You're running a business, seeing clients, and figuring out everything else at the same time.
But here's what we see over and over again: estheticians outgrow their platform, realize it's limiting their growth, and then have to start from scratch anyway. The migration costs time, money, and momentum.
Getting this right from the start (or knowing when it's time to make the switch) is one of the most impactful decisions you can make for your business online.
Squarespace: Simple, Beautiful, and Limited
Let's give Squarespace its credit. It's genuinely easy to use. The templates are clean and beautiful out of the box. If you're just starting out, need something up quickly, and aren't focused on building a serious online store yet, Squarespace will absolutely get the job done.
Where Squarespace works well:
- Solo estheticians who just need a booking page and basic service information
- Businesses that aren't selling lots of products online yet
- Anyone who wants to manage their own site without any technical help
Where Squarespace falls short for estheticians:
- eCommerce features are limited and not built with retail in mind
- No ability to have password protected products in the same store as the rest of your products. You can create a separate password protected collection/store but they won't be mixed in with your whole store
- Fewer app integrations, meaning fewer tools to grow your sales
- Analytics and reporting are basic compared to what you need to actually understand your store's performance and use that data to grow
- Subscriptions, loyalty programs, and upsells are either unavailable or clunky to set up
The bottom line on Squarespace: it's a website builder that happens to have a store.
That's a very different thing from a platform built to sell.
Shopify: Built for Businesses That Are Serious About Selling
Shopify is where brands like Sephora, Clean Skin Club, and Colorescience live. There's a reason for that! It's the most powerful eCommerce platform available, and it scales with you whether you're a solo esthetician just launching your store or an established medspa managing hundreds of products.
What Shopify gives you that Squarespace doesn't
Password protected PRODUCTS
If you carry professional skincare lines like Face Reality, Lira Clinical, or Skinbetter, you know that many brands require you to restrict product access to verified clients only. Shopify makes this possible. Squarespace allows you to have password protected collections but they don't intermingle with your non-password protected products, leading to a more confusing shopping experience for your clients. Confusion = less sales.
Advanced analytics and reporting
Shopify gives you deep insight into your store. What's selling, where customers are dropping off, what your conversion rate is, and where your traffic is coming from. For a business making real decisions about inventory and marketing, this data is invaluable.
Extensive app integrations
Want to add a loyalty rewards program? Subscription products? Automatic reorder reminders? Upsells at checkout? Abandoned cart recovery? All of this is available through Shopify's app ecosystem and integrates seamlessly with your store. The options are limitless.
Multiple payment options
Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Afterpay, PayPal.. Shopify supports them all. Fewer steps at checkout means fewer abandoned carts and more completed sales!
Meta and Instagram shopping integration
Through this integration, your clients can shop directly from your Instagram stories and posts. For beauty businesses with engaged social audiences, this is a significant revenue channel. This feature alone makes Shopify 10000% more attractive than Squarespace in our opinion!
The Pricing Comparison
| Squarespace | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Plan | $25/mo | $39/mo |
| Mid Tier Plan | $36/mo | $105/mo |
| Transaction Fees | 2.9% + $0.30 | Basic: 2.9% + $0.30 Mid Tier: 2.6% + $0.30 |
| Processing Fees | Basic: 2% Mid Tier: 0% | 0% |
Shopify costs more monthly. But the question isn't which platform is cheaper, it's which platform makes you more money. Every client we've migrated from Squarespace to Shopify has seen significant revenue growth after the switch. The platform pays for itself.
Real Results: What Happens When Estheticians Switch to Shopify
We've helped several estheticians make this exact migration. Here's what actually happened.
Skinspired Acne Clinic: From Squarespace Plateau to 390% Revenue Growth
Carly, founder of
Skinspired Acne Clinic, came to us after years on Squarespace. Her site was maxed out, not designed for eCommerce, and she didn't know how to bring her ideas to life on it. She had an engaged audience and strong sales potential. She just needed a platform that could match her momentum.
We migrated her to Shopify and built a fully custom site with collections, bundles, subscriptions, an ingredient checker, virtual consultation page, and post-purchase email automations. When it came to working with us, Carly said "her expertise in working with estheticians makes it such a smooth process".
Her launch month results:
- 414% increase in site traffic compared to Squarespace
- 2,300+ site visits
- Five-figure launch month
11 months later:
- 1,100% increase in total sessions
- 390% revenue growth
- Consistent, sustained order growth month over month
This wasn't a launch spike. It was what happens when your platform is actually built for selling.
We Love Acne: 1,200% More Orders After Switching from Squarespace
Cara, founder of
We Love Acne, was approaching her five year biz anniversary and going almost completely virtual. Her Squarespace site couldn't support the next phase of her growth with limited functionality, slow load times, and no real conversion strategy.
We rebuilt her entire site on Shopify with a skincare quiz, rewards program, password protected collections, product reviews integration, and custom "Why We Love This Product" sections on every product page. We also optimized her site speed and mobile performance jumped from 62 to 98.
Before vs. after (comparing the 6 months pre- and post-launch):
- 1,241% increase in site traffic from 1,015 sessions to over 13,600
- 1,200% increase in order volume
- Conversion rate jumped from 1.13% to 3.4%
- Average order value increased by 77.5%
So Which One Should You Choose?
Choose Squarespace if you're in your first year of business, you're not selling a lot of products online yet, and you just need a clean, simple site to establish your presence. It's a fine starting point.
Choose Shopify if you're ready to build a real online store, you're carrying retail products, you want your website to generate revenue while you're in the treatment room, and you're thinking about where your business will be in two or three years not just right now.
And if you're currently on Squarespace and feeling like you've hit a ceiling? That ceiling is real. It's not you, it's your platform.
Not Sure Where to Start?
We've helped estheticians and medspas all over the country make this decision and build websites that actually sell. If you're weighing your options and want a straight answer from someone who does this every day, we'd love to talk.
👉 Book A Free Consultation Call
No pressure, no pitch. Just a real conversation about what your business needs online.
Dope Magic Co is a boutique Shopify web design agency specializing in custom websites for estheticians and medspas. We've helped beauty businesses in 80+ cities build online stores that convert.
