WordPress, Shopify and Squarespace are the three most common platforms Australian small businesses choose for their website — and the wrong choice will cost you in either dollars, time, or frustration for years.
Here's an honest comparison from someone who builds on all three every week. No platform fanboying, no "it depends" cop-outs without a framework. We'll cover what each one actually costs in AUD, what each one's genuinely good at, and the situations where each is the wrong call.
The quick decision matrix
- Selling 1–500 physical products and want it to just work? Shopify.
- Service business, content-heavy, plan to do SEO and grow over time? WordPress.
- Solo operator, creative business, need it live in two weeks with zero technical knowledge? Squarespace.
- Selling courses, memberships, complex booking systems, or multi-vendor marketplace? WordPress.
- Mostly Instagram/social-driven, just need a digital business card? Squarespace.
If you fit cleanly into one of those, you can probably stop reading. If not, the detail below should help.
Real Australian pricing in 2026
Shopify (AUD, billed annually)
- Basic: ~$38/month
- Shopify: ~$99/month
- Advanced: ~$390/month
- Transaction fees on top of payment processing if you don't use Shopify Payments: 0.5%–2% depending on plan
- Themes: free options work; premium themes typically $300–$650 one-off
- Apps: most stores end up with 3–8 paid apps adding $30–$200/month
Realistic total: $60–$300/month for most small Australian stores.
WordPress (AUD, billed annually)
- WordPress itself: free
- Domain: $20–$40/year
- Hosting: $150–$600/year for decent shared/managed hosting; up to $2,000+ for premium managed WP hosting (Kinsta, WP Engine, etc.)
- Theme: free or $80–$150 one-off for a premium theme
- Plugins: most essentials free; premium plugins (forms, SEO, security, e-commerce extensions) typically $100–$500/year total
- Maintenance: $600–$3,000/year if outsourced (highly recommended)
Realistic total: $1,000–$4,000/year all-in.
Squarespace (AUD, billed annually)
- Personal: ~$25/month
- Business: ~$36/month
- Commerce Basic: ~$54/month
- Commerce Advanced: ~$80/month
- Domain: typically included for first year
- No plugin marketplace — what you see is what you get
Realistic total: $300–$1,000/year.
Where each one shines
Shopify: e-commerce, end of story
If you're selling physical products, especially with inventory across multiple variants, Shopify is genuinely the easiest path. The product, inventory and checkout flow are built specifically for retail — and the conversion rate of a well-set-up Shopify checkout outperforms most WooCommerce setups out of the box.
It handles GST, multi-currency, Australia Post integration, shipping rules, abandoned cart recovery, gift cards and stock notifications without needing a developer. Their app ecosystem is enormous, though the "solve one problem with one app" pattern adds up fast in monthly fees.
WordPress: flexibility and SEO
For service businesses, content-driven sites, blogs that need to rank, or anyone planning to grow their site significantly over time, WordPress wins. About 43% of all websites globally run on it for a reason — the plugin ecosystem can do almost anything, you fully own and control everything, and SEO control is unmatched.
The catch: it needs maintenance. Plugins update, security patches need applying, and old plugins get abandoned. A WordPress site you set up and forget for 18 months will eventually break or get hacked. Budget ongoing maintenance from the start.
Squarespace: speed to launch and design
If you need to be online in two weeks, are managing the site yourself, and value polished design over deep customisation, Squarespace is hard to beat. The templates are genuinely good-looking, the editor is the most approachable of the three, and the hosting/maintenance/updates are all handled for you.
Limitations show up when you want to do something specific the platform hasn't built in. There's no plugin marketplace, so if Squarespace doesn't support what you need, you usually can't add it. Their e-commerce is decent but a clear step behind Shopify.
Where each one fails
Shopify can be the wrong call when…
- You're primarily a content site that happens to sell a few things — Shopify's blog and content tools are weak
- You sell services or appointments rather than physical products
- Your monthly fees and apps will exceed what a WordPress + WooCommerce setup would cost
- You need deep custom functionality — Shopify's theming system (Liquid) is more restrictive than WordPress
WordPress can be the wrong call when…
- You won't maintain it. Without updates, you'll have a broken or compromised site within 12–24 months
- You're primarily a retail business and don't need WordPress's flexibility
- Nobody on your team is comfortable with even basic technical concepts and you can't outsource maintenance
Squarespace can be the wrong call when…
- You want to do serious SEO. It's improved but still trails WordPress on technical control
- You'll outgrow it. Migrating off Squarespace later is painful because content is locked into their structure
- You need complex e-commerce features like subscriptions, multi-vendor marketplaces, or course platforms
- You want lots of integrations with niche tools
Australian-specific considerations
A few things that catch Australian small businesses out when choosing:
- GST handling. Shopify and Squarespace both handle Australian GST cleanly out of the box. WooCommerce on WordPress can do it but needs configuration — make sure your invoices show GST correctly from launch.
- Australia Post integration. Shopify has native eParcel integration. Squarespace and WooCommerce both support it but through plugins/apps.
- Local hosting.If you care about local performance (and you should — Google measures site speed from the visitor's location), WordPress lets you choose Australian hosting (SiteGround, VentraIP, WPHostingSpot). Shopify and Squarespace use global CDNs which are usually fast enough but not optimised for Australia specifically.
- Payment gateways. All three support Stripe and PayPal. For specifically Australian gateways (eWAY, NAB Transact), Shopify and WooCommerce have better support than Squarespace.
- .com.au domains. All three platforms work fine with .com.au domains. You buy the domain separately at auDA-accredited registrars like Crazy Domains, VentraIP or Synergy Wholesale.
The honest summary
Most of the "X vs Y" articles online try to declare an overall winner. There isn't one. Each platform is genuinely best for specific use cases:
- Selling physical products?Shopify. Don't overthink it.
- Service business with a content strategy? WordPress.
- Visual portfolio, simple business, want minimal hassle? Squarespace.
The platform you pick matters less than what you build on it. A great Squarespace site beats a mediocre WordPress site every time. A well-set-up Shopify store with thoughtful product photography and clear copy outperforms a custom Next.js build with no marketing thought behind it.
If you're in Bankstown or South-West Sydney and need help deciding which platform fits your business, or building on whichever you choose, we work across all three. See our web design service for details or get in touch via the contact page.