Building client shops on Squarespace: where agencies hit the limits
15 Nov 2026 · Updated 15 Nov 2026 · 7 min read · Gaurav Kunal, Founder, DripFunnel
Squarespace makes beautiful sites with little effort, and its Circle programme rewards agencies that build on it. For client shops, though, agencies run into limits on ownership, currencies, variants and payments, and on earning monthly under their own name.
- Squarespace Circle is free and gives agencies discounts on new yearly plans, longer free trials and priority support. Commissions exist, but Squarespace doesn’t publish the rates on its Circle page.
- The client normally becomes the site owner and pays Squarespace. You work as a contributor, with the access the client chooses to give you.
- For shops, check the limits early: one selling currency at a time, up to 250 variant combinations per product, and Squarespace Payments only in some countries.
- A white-label ecommerce platform such as DripFunnel lets you run client stores as your own product, with your brand and your monthly price.
Squarespace is a favourite of design-minded agencies and freelancers. Its templates look polished out of the box, clients find the editor friendly, and hosting, security and updates are taken care of. Many agencies build a client’s website on Squarespace and then add a shop when the client asks for one.
That works well for a small shop. This article looks at where agencies hit the limits when the shop becomes the main job, and at how a white-label platform changes the picture. It is part of our guide to the best ecommerce platform for agencies. The Squarespace facts below were checked on Squarespace’s own pages on 21 October 2026.
Why do agencies build on Squarespace?
There are good reasons. Squarespace’s pricing page lists unlimited products on every commerce plan, abandoned cart recovery and invoicing on all of them, and a 14-day free trial with no card needed. Discounts, payment plans, shipping labels and carrier-calculated shipping are on its higher plans. For a client with a modest range who cares about looks, it is a quick route to a good-looking shop.
What does Squarespace Circle give agencies?
Squarespace Circle is “the partner program for freelancers and agencies”. It is free and open to any Squarespace customer. It has three levels, based on points from subscriptions and community activity:
| Silver | Gold | Platinum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discount on new yearly subscriptions | 10% | 20% | 25% |
| Extended free trial for client sites | 3 months | 6 months | 12 months |
| Support | Priority | Urgent priority | Dedicated |
Squarespace also says “Circle partners can earn commissions for new subscriptions”, but the Circle page gives no rates, and referral payments need a separate registration. So the main money benefit you can count on is the discount, which usually goes to your client, plus whatever you charge for your own work.
Who owns the client’s site and who pays?
With Circle, you typically start the site on your account and add the client as a contributor. Squarespace’s Circle page says the client “can become the website owner” and choose whether to keep, limit or remove your access. When ownership moves, Squarespace’s help centre says it also moves the site’s subscriptions and Squarespace domains, and the new owner should update the billing details so the previous owner isn’t charged at renewal.
In other words, the client ends up as Squarespace’s customer, paying Squarespace’s price. If you charge a monthly fee for looking after the shop, it is a separate invoice. We compare the billing models in who pays whom: client billing on Shopify, Wix and white-label platforms, and ownership in who owns a client’s store on a white-label platform.
Where do client shops hit the limits?
One selling currency at a time
Squarespace’s help centre is direct: “You can only sell in one currency at a time.” With Stripe or Squarespace Payments, shoppers abroad can still pay in their local currency at checkout, but the store itself is priced in one currency. For a client who wants set prices in rupees, dollars and dirhams, that is a real limit.
Variants per product
Each product can have up to six options and 250 variant combinations, images and SKUs. That covers most shops, but fashion or furniture clients with many sizes, colours and materials can reach it.
Payments by country
Squarespace Payments, its own processor, is listed only for some countries, mainly the US, Canada, the UK, parts of Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Elsewhere, merchants use Stripe or PayPal where those are available. India and the UAE are not on the Squarespace Payments list, and Squarespace notes that the Indian rupee is not available with PayPal. Check your client’s country before you promise anything.
Plan fees on sales
Squarespace’s entry commerce plan adds a 2% transaction fee on store sales; higher plans don’t. Automatic tax is on the higher plans and charged per order. Factor both into which plan you recommend.
Your brand and your income
The client works in Squarespace’s dashboard, under Squarespace’s name. Circle offers discounts, a Circle badge for your own site and support, but nothing on the Circle page turns the store into your agency’s own product, and your income from the platform is limited to what Circle offers. That is the limit agencies feel most once they look after several shops.
When is Squarespace still the right choice?
Squarespace is a good fit when the client mainly needs a beautiful website with a small shop, sells in one currency, is in a country Squarespace serves well, and wants to own and pay for the site directly. If that describes most of your clients, Circle is worth joining. Similar trade-offs apply to other design-first builders: see Webflow ecommerce for agencies and Wix for client online stores.
How DripFunnel handles this
DripFunnel’s partner programme is for agencies that want client stores to be their own product. More than 75 partners across the globe run client stores on it.
- Your product, under your name. Clients sign in to a merchant portal with your product name, logos, colours and font, on your own address, with your support contact and legal pages. See what your clients see and what you control.
- You set the monthly price. You build your own plans and price them monthly and yearly in each currency your contract allows. You pay DripFunnel a wholesale fee per store, and the plan editor shows what you keep on every price. See agency margin maths.
- You create the stores. You open a store for a client, choose the plan and trial, and the owner gets an invitation. Each shop gets a free my-store.one address, and the client can connect their own domain.
- No fee on orders, on any plan you build. DripFunnel takes nothing from your clients’ sales.
- Shops built from a description. The AI builds the storefront from what the client says about the shop; they preview it on desktop, tablet and phone, publish, and can go back to an earlier version.
Be clear with clients about what DripFunnel covers today. Card and online payments and couriers are available for shops in India (Razorpay, Cashfree, PhonePe, cash on delivery, bank transfer; Shiprocket) and the United States (Stripe, PayPal, bank transfer; USPS, UPS, FedEx). Payments for UAE shops are not available yet, and the portal is in English only.
If a client’s products are already in a spreadsheet, the spreadsheet import brings them across using our template. To see how agencies price stores as a service, read how to charge clients monthly for an online store.
Squarespace and a white-label platform side by side
| Squarespace with Circle | White-label platform (DripFunnel) | |
|---|---|---|
| Whose name the client sees | Squarespace | Yours |
| Who the client pays for the plan | Squarespace | You |
| Who sets the plan price | Squarespace (Circle discount on new yearly plans) | You |
| How you earn from the platform | Commissions (rates not published on the Circle page) | Your price minus the wholesale fee, every month |
| Selling currencies | One at a time | Prices per currency your contract allows |
| Best for | Design-led sites with a small shop | Client stores run as your own monthly product |
Many agencies end up with clients on several builders. If that is you, read why agencies standardise on one platform. Then see the DripFunnel partner programme, or tell us about the shops you build.
Questions
Is Squarespace good for agencies?
For design-led websites with a small shop, yes. Its templates are polished and Squarespace Circle gives agencies discounts on new yearly plans, longer trials and priority support. Agencies hit limits when they want to run many client shops as their own monthly product.
What does Squarespace Circle offer?
Circle is free. Its Silver, Gold and Platinum levels give 10%, 20% or 25% off new yearly subscriptions, free trials of 3, 6 or 12 months for client sites, and priority, urgent or dedicated support. Squarespace says partners can earn commissions but doesn’t publish the rates on its Circle page.
Can a Squarespace store sell in more than one currency?
Not at the same time. Squarespace’s help centre says a store can only sell in one currency at a time, although shoppers paying through Stripe or Squarespace Payments may pay in their local currency at checkout.
How many variants can a Squarespace product have?
Squarespace’s help centre says each product can have up to six options and 250 variant combinations, images and SKUs.
How is a white-label platform different from Squarespace for an agency?
On Squarespace the client usually owns the site and pays Squarespace. On a white-label platform such as DripFunnel, the client signs in to your branded portal and pays you a price you set, and you pay the platform a wholesale fee per store.