Shopsys Platform
Shopsys 20 fills in the storefront: product reviews, gift vouchers and delivery dates.
Comparison · E-comm
Miva vs Squarespace
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Miva and Squarespace — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Miva vs Squarespace: at a glance
What is Miva?
Miva 26 R1 embeds AI Insights inside the Admin, threads margin data everywhere, and starts a multi-release UI rebuild.
Miva is shipping its branded 26 R1 release alongside continuing 10.13.x patches. 26 R1 introduces AI Insights — a natural-language assistant inside the Admin that answers business questions from store data without sending data to external LLMs — Margin Awareness (product-level margin sortable and usable across merchandising, feeds, and collections), the first phase of a refreshed Admin UI, percentage-based and single-quantity charges, UPS InsureShield package protection, and standardized shipping classification fields. The 10.13.x line continues with Global API on/off toggles, dedicated Custom Fields tables for large-store performance, Apple Pay in PageBuilder, USPS API migration, and AvaTax scheduled-task lifecycle.
What is Squarespace?
Squarespace adds a business account and spending card, plus SMS campaigns for the holidays.
Squarespace's November update opens Squarespace Balance to eligible US Squarespace Payments merchants: one account for payouts with same-day access to earnings, rewards on saved money and a spending card, run through Stripe and partner banks. The same update adds SMS Campaigns with consent and opt-out built in, and price and availability product filters. It follows October's customer profiles, transactional email and new Link payment methods.
Miva vs Squarespace: editorial side-by-side
Miva
0.8E-COMM
Miva 26 R1 embeds AI Insights inside the Admin, threads margin data everywhere, and starts a multi-release UI rebuild.
◆ Current state
Miva is shipping its branded 26 R1 release alongside continuing 10.13.x patches. 26 R1 introduces AI Insights — a natural-language assistant inside the Admin that answers business questions from store data without sending data to external LLMs — Margin Awareness (product-level margin sortable and usable across merchandising, feeds, and collections), the first phase of a refreshed Admin UI, percentage-based and single-quantity charges, UPS InsureShield package protection, and standardized shipping classification fields. The 10.13.x line continues with Global API on/off toggles, dedicated Custom Fields tables for large-store performance, Apple Pay in PageBuilder, USPS API migration, and AvaTax scheduled-task lifecycle.
◆ Where it's heading
Miva is making its biggest directional move in years: AI is embedded into the Admin rather than bolted on, framed around private store data that doesn't leave Miva. The Admin UI rebuild signals a multi-release UX modernization. Margin Awareness threading profitability through merchandising and operations is a substantive merchandising posture — selling 'profit' rather than 'GMV' is unusual positioning in mid-market commerce.
◆ Prediction
Expect 26 R2/R3 to extend AI Insights from answering to taking actions (creating segments, drafting promos), and the Admin rebuild to land more views per release. Margin Awareness will likely become a default sort/filter in admin grids and propagate into ad-feed integrations and discount logic.
Squarespace
6.3E-COMM
Squarespace adds a business account and spending card, plus SMS campaigns for the holidays.
◆ Current state
Squarespace's November update opens Squarespace Balance to eligible US Squarespace Payments merchants: one account for payouts with same-day access to earnings, rewards on saved money and a spending card, run through Stripe and partner banks. The same update adds SMS Campaigns with consent and opt-out built in, and price and availability product filters. It follows October's customer profiles, transactional email and new Link payment methods.
◆ Where it's heading
Each monthly update moves Squarespace further from site builder toward the merchant's whole back office: payments, invoicing, customer records, email, now SMS and the account the money sits in. The AI site generation and AI visibility work from mid-year has given way to commerce and money features ahead of the holiday season.
◆ Prediction
Expect December's update to extend Balance or SMS Campaigns, for example automations or availability beyond the first eligible US merchants; the notes give no timeline.
Alternatives to Miva and Squarespace
Other E-comm products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Miva or Squarespace.
Spryker
Spryker lets storefronts stream AI answers as the model writes them.
Gifted
Gifted previews a storefront revamp and multi-session events with waiting lists.
Virto Commerce
Virto Commerce spends two days backporting a CVE fix and a new auth connection string.
Shopify
Shopify rebuilds its activity log to show who changed what, for 18 months.
Antavo
Antavo's feed stays on loyalty-strategy posts, now recommerce and unused perks.
See all Miva alternatives → · See all Squarespace alternatives →
Recent activity from Miva and Squarespace
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoSquarespaceSquarespace Balance, SMS Campaigns and new product filters ⚡
- 22d agoSquarespaceCustomer profiles, transactional email, PIX/UPI/USDC on Link
- 1mo agoSquarespaceSeptember 2026 Product Updates ⚡
- 2mo agoSquarespaceAugust 2026 Product Updates
- 3mo agoSquarespaceJuly 2026 Product Updates ⚡
- 4mo agoSquarespaceJune 2026 Product Updates
- 7mo agoMivaMiva homepage marketing snapshot (crawler artifact)
- 7mo agoMivaMiva product releases index (26 R1 + 10.13.x)
- 7mo agoMiva26 R1 introduces embedded AI, a modernized Admin experience, and margin-focused enhancements. ⚡
- 7mo agoMivaMiva 10.13.04 delivers targeted improvements and performance-focused enhancements.
- 8mo agoMivaMiva 10.13.03 refines and updates several features with additional bug fixes
- 8mo agoMivaThe 10.13.02 release addresses key bug fixes and minor improvements to ensure a smoother and more reliable performance for your Miva store.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Miva and Squarespace?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Squarespace is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.8), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Miva better than Squarespace?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Squarespace is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.8), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other E-comm products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Miva?
Top Miva alternatives in E-comm are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Miva alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/miva for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Squarespace?
Top Squarespace alternatives in E-comm are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Squarespace alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/squarespace for the full list with editorial commentary on each.