Is Cardel an alternative to Shopify or Squarespace?

Cardel is a home for your craft: a site of your own with a blog, newsletter, shop, community, and one inbox. It can replace Shopify or Squarespace when you want your work, audience, and sales in one place. The feature list on this page shows where Shopify and Squarespace are marked.

Can I use Cardel with Shopify or Squarespace?

Yes. Cardel pages can link out to other products, so you can keep Shopify or Squarespace for what it does best and bring the rest of your work to Cardel.

How much does Cardel cost compared with Shopify and Squarespace?

You don't pay for Cardel until you publish. Choose Starter, Pro, or Studio when your site goes live. Shopify and Squarespace set their own prices, so check their pricing pages on this page for current plans.

How do I switch from Shopify or Squarespace to Cardel?

Start with Build Your Site, set up your home, and bring your work over at your own pace. You do not have to move everything on day one.

Compare

ShopifyvsSquarespace

Shopify is the commerce platform: storefront, checkout, inventory, POS, email, and inbox. Squarespace builds sites with commerce, scheduling, and email as add-ons.

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How Shopify and Squarespace compare

Shopify is what you use when the store is the business. World-class checkout, inventory and shipping, taxes, POS, thousands of apps, Shopify Email, Shopify Inbox, and a theme store make it the standard for merchants of every size. It scales from one product to a warehouse without changing platforms.

Squarespace makes sites that look finished. Award-winning templates, a fluid editor, commerce, scheduling through Acuity, email campaigns, and member areas mean a designer or small business can build almost anything in one account. It is polished, dependable, and deservedly popular with people who care how things look.

Where they are different

Shopify

Shopify's blog and pages serve the store.
Shopify Inbox handles chat.
Shopify doesn't manage scheduling natively.

Squarespace

Squarespace sells pieces separately: commerce tiers, scheduling seats, email campaign plans.
Squarespace email is outbound.
Squarespace has comments on the blog.

Choose Shopify when you sell products at volume and need inventory, shipping, tax, and apps.

Choose Squarespace when design flexibility and a huge template library matter most and you are happy adding modules as you grow.

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What's on Shopify and Squarespace

A check means that capability is available. Shopify and Squarespace are marked only when the offer is comparable, not the same product.

Site and brand

Workspace site
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Included
Custom domain
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Included
Editor Mode
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Included
Theme and fonts
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Included
Brand kit
Shopify: Not included
Squarespace: Included

Public content

Blog
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Included
Reader engagement
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Included
Showcase pages
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Included
Shop pages
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Included

Reach and quality

SEO
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Included

Audience and email

Audience
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Included
Email templates and From addresses
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Included
Marketing emails
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Included
Campaign workflows
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Included

Messaging

Built-in chat
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Not included
Messaging Center
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Not included

Commerce

Shop payments
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Included
Orders and fulfillment
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Included
Scheduling and bookingsLink to external scheduling available on Starter.
Shopify: Not included
Squarespace: Included

Team

Admin users
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Included
Per-admin permissions
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Included
AI Assistant
Shopify: Included
Squarespace: Included

Feature comparison for Shopify and Squarespace
Feature	Shopify	Squarespace
Site and brand
Workspace site	Included	Included
Custom domain	Included	Included
Editor Mode	Included	Included
Theme and fonts	Included	Included
Brand kit	Not included	Included
Public content
Blog	Included	Included
Reader engagement	Included	Included
Showcase pages	Included	Included
Shop pages	Included	Included
Reach and quality
SEO	Included	Included
Audience and email
Audience	Included	Included
Email templates and From addresses	Included	Included
Marketing emails	Included	Included
Campaign workflows	Included	Included
Messaging
Built-in chat	Included	Not included
Messaging Center	Included	Not included
Commerce
Shop payments	Included	Included
Orders and fulfillment	Included	Included
Scheduling and bookingsLink to external scheduling available on Starter.	Not included	Included
Team
Admin users	Included	Included
Per-admin permissions	Included	Included
AI Assistant	Included	Included

* Note: This table does not capture every feature of Shopify or Squarespace, and is not intended as a comprehensive list. We keep this page current, but Shopify or Squarespace may add or remove features that are not shown here.