Square
Pay-as-you-go EFTPOS and online payments with no monthly fees or contracts.
Est. cost
$304/mo
Best for
Small retail, hospitality, and pop-up businesses
- Entry plan
- $0 (Free)
- Tx fee
- 0%
- Free themes
- ~3
- Apps
- Square Marketplace
11 providersAll prices in AUD
Compare E-commerce Platforms in Australia
Compare e-commerce platforms for Australian businesses. See subscription costs, transaction fees, features, and integrations side by side.
Browse all E-commerce Platforms in our directoryUpdated
 Shopify |  Squarespace | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Est. platform cost | $0/mo | $4/mo | $5/mo | $18/mo | $25/mo | $42/mo | $40/mo | $42/mo | $50/mo | $56/mo | $40/mo |
| Est. processing fees | $304/mo | $319/mo | $341/mo | ||||||||
| Est. total cost | $304/moCheapest | $325/mo | $326/mo | $339/mo | $346/mo | $361/mo | $362/mo | $363/mo | $371/mo | $377/mo | $382/mo |
| Reviews & Ratings | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.7G2 (780+) | 4.4G2 (1,180+) | 4.3G2 (220+) | 3.8G2 (280+) | 4.7G2 (410+) | 4.4G2 (5,400+) | 4.4G2 (660+) | 4.2G2 (530+) | 4.0G2 (590+) | 4.4G2 (2,100+) | 4.2G2 (1,860+) | |
| Plans & Pricing | |||||||||||
| $0 (Free) | $0 (free plugin) | $0 (open source) | $18/mo | $0 (5 products) | $42/mo (annual) | $40/mo (Standard, annual) | $42/mo | $0 (Open Source) | $56/mo (Commerce Basic) | $40/mo (Core) | |
| 0% | 0% | Varies | 0% | 0% | 2% (Basic) | 2% (Standard), 0% (Plus+) | 0% | Varies | 3% (Personal) / 0% (Commerce) | 0% | |
| 1.9% + $0.10 (AU) | 1.75% + $0.30 (WooPayments) | Via Stripe | Via GoDaddy Payments | Via Lightspeed Payments | 1.75% + $0.30 (Basic) | Via Stripe | Via BigCommerce Payments | Via Braintree | Via Squarespace Payments | 1.9% + $0.30 (Wix Payments) | |
| $0 | $0 to $50/mo | $10 to $100/mo | $0 to $20/mo | $0 to $30/mo | $50 to $200/mo | $0 to $50/mo | $20 to $100/mo | $100 to $500/mo | $0 to $30/mo | $0 to $50/mo | |
| Yes | Yes (open source) | Yes (open source) | No | Yes (5 products) | No | No | No | Yes (Open Source) | No | Yes (no e-com) | |
| Included | $4 to $45/mo | $5 to $30/mo | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included | $50 to $200+/mo (self-hosted) | Included | Included | |
| No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No (open source) | No | No | |
| Platform & Store | |||||||||||
| Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | 5 (free) to Unlimited | Unlimited | 500 (Standard) to 15,000 (Advanced) | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited (Commerce) | Unlimited (Business+) | |
| Square Marketplace | Thousands | 5,000+ | Limited | 100+ | 10,000+ apps | Webflow Marketplace (apps + integrations) | 1,000+ apps | 4,000+ | 40+ extensions | 500+ apps | |
| ~3 | Thousands | Hundreds | ~50 | 70+ | ~13 free | Hundreds (community + Marketplace) | ~14 free | Hundreds | 100+ | 900+ | |
| Limited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | 1 | 2 (Basic) | 3 (Standard) to 15 (Advanced) | Unlimited | Unlimited | 1 to 2 | Unlimited | |
| Yes | Yes (WooCommerce app) | No (third-party) | Yes | Yes | Yes (excellent) | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes (Wix Owner) | |
| No | Yes (WordPress) | Via plugins | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Via extensions | Yes | Yes | |
| No | Via plugins | Via modules | Limited | Via apps | Native (DSers, Oberlo legacy) | No | Via apps | Via extensions | Via extensions | Via apps | |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (via Memberstack) | Yes | Yes | Yes (Commerce plans) | Yes | |
| Limited | Via plugins (Google, Amazon, Facebook) | Via modules | Facebook, Instagram, Google | Facebook, Instagram, Google, Amazon, eBay, TikTok | Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Instagram, Google, TikTok, Pinterest | No native | Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Instagram, Google, Walmart | Via extensions | Limited (social sharing) | Facebook, Instagram, Google, Amazon (via apps) | |
| Built-in (Square POS) | Via plugins | Via modules | Yes (GoDaddy POS) | Yes (Lightspeed POS) | Built-in (Shopify POS) | No | Via apps | Via extensions | No | Via Wix POS | |
| None | Basic to Developer | Developer | None | None | None | Basic (design skill) | Basic | Developer | None | None | |
| AI | |||||||||||
| Native (AI site builder, AI copy, Photo Studio) | Via plugins (WordPress AI) | Via modules | Native (Airo AI builder) | Native (AI store builder, AI descriptions) | Native (Sidekick assistant, Magic copy/images) | Native (AI site builder, Assistant, AI SEO) | Native (BigAI Copywriter) + apps | Native (Adobe Sensei + GenAI) | Native (Blueprint AI builder) | Native (AI Site Builder, Astro assistant) | |
| Native MCP (dev/ops, beta) | Native MCP (developer preview) | Via 3rd-party (community MCP) | Via 3rd-party (official MCP is domains only) | Via 3rd-party (Zapier MCP) | Native MCP (Storefront) | Native MCP (site/CMS, Claude connector) | Native MCP (Storefront) | Native MCP server | Via 3rd-party (+ ChatGPT checkout) | Native MCP (site/dev) | |
| Integrations & Support | |||||||||||
| Square only | 100+ | 100+ | 3 gateways | 70+ | 100+ | Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay | 65+ | 100+ | Stripe, PayPal | 70+ | |
| Yes | Yes (via plugins) | Yes | Yes | Yes (Business+) | Yes (all plans) | Yes | Yes (Plus+) | Yes | Yes (Commerce) | Yes | |
| No | Yes (via plugins) | Yes | Limited | Yes (Unlimited) | Yes | Yes (Plus+) | Yes | Yes | No | Limited | |
| Business hours AU | Community + paid | Community + paid | 24/7 phone, chat | Business hours | 24/7 chat, email, phone | Help center, support portal, Webflow University | 24/7 chat, phone, email | 24/7 (Enterprise) | 24/7 email; phone (business hrs) | 24/7 online | |
| REST API | REST API | REST API | Limited | REST API | REST + GraphQL (excellent) | REST + Data API | REST + GraphQL | REST + GraphQL + SOAP | Limited | REST API (Velo) | |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
| No | Yes (fully customisable) | Yes | No | Limited | Limited (Plus only for full) | No (uses Stripe Checkout) | Yes (Checkout SDK) | Yes | No | Limited |
Estimates based on $15,000/mo revenue and 10 products. Rates can change without notice, confirm current pricing with the provider before signing on.
How we calculate this
- Estimated cost: each provider’s published prices and rates applied to the inputs you set above (such as volume, team size, or invoices), plus any fixed monthly fees.
- Providers with an incomplete cost (shown as “+ processing” or “+ payroll”) and quote-only providers are never ranked as the cheapest while a complete-cost option exists.
- These are estimates. Published rates can change and your final pricing depends on your business, so confirm current pricing with the provider before switching.
Self-hosted platforms require separate hosting. Estimates use entry-level managed hosting. Actual costs vary by hosting provider, traffic, and extensions.
Frequently asked
How the comparison works.
A few things to know before you switch.
An e-commerce platform is software that lets you create and manage an online store. It handles product listings, shopping cart, checkout, payments, and order management. Some platforms include hosting (like Shopify and BigCommerce), while others are self-hosted and require you to arrange your own web hosting (like WooCommerce and PrestaShop).
Costs range from $0 for open-source platforms like WooCommerce (plus hosting from $4/mo) to $56/mo AUD for Shopify Basic, up to $575/mo for advanced plans. Most hosted platforms charge roughly $35 to $110/mo for their standard plans. Some platforms also charge a transaction fee (1 to 3%) on each sale if you don't use their built-in payment processor.
We show every platform's pricing in AUD. Shopify and Square Online bill natively in AUD; others (BigCommerce, Squarespace, Wix, Ecwid) bill in USD, so their AUD figures are converted at a recent rate and your actual cost will move with the exchange rate.
A transaction fee is a percentage the platform charges on each sale, on top of your payment processing fees. Shopify charges 0.6 to 2% if you don't use Shopify Payments, and Squarespace charges 3% on non-Commerce plans. BigCommerce, Wix, and Ecwid charge 0% transaction fees on all plans. Self-hosted platforms like WooCommerce don't charge transaction fees either.
Hosted (SaaS) platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and Squarespace include hosting, security updates, and technical maintenance in your subscription. Self-hosted platforms like WooCommerce and PrestaShop are free to install but you need to arrange hosting, security, and updates yourself. Choose hosted if you want simplicity. Choose self-hosted if you want full control and have developer resources.
Yes, but switching involves migrating products, customers, orders, and design. Most platforms offer import tools, and migration services exist to help. The more customised your store, the more complex the migration. Consider your long-term needs before committing, as switching costs increase over time.
Most SaaS platforms offer a built-in payment processor (Shopify Payments, BigCommerce Payments, Wix Payments) so you can accept card payments without a separate provider. Self-hosted platforms like WooCommerce require you to connect a payment gateway such as Stripe, PayPal, or Square. Using the platform's native processor usually avoids additional transaction fees.
It depends on your needs. Shopify is the market leader with AUD pricing and the largest app ecosystem. BigCommerce offers zero transaction fees. WooCommerce gives maximum flexibility at the lowest cost (if you have developer support). Squarespace is ideal for design-focused stores. Square Online works well if you already use Square for in-person payments. Use our comparison tool to see which platform fits your budget and feature requirements.
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