Squarespace vs WordPress – Which Is Better? (Pros and Cons)

Building a website is easier than ever. Having worked with both Squarespace and WordPress over the years, we’ve seen firsthand how both platforms let you create a professional website without any coding.

However, here’s the thing: both platforms may be excellent choices, but they serve different needs. Choosing the wrong one could cost you countless hours and thousands of dollars. Even worse, you may have to rebuild your entire website from scratch later.

That’s why we’ve put together this detailed comparison based on our hands-on experience with both platforms. By the end of this guide, you’ll know exactly which option is right for you, whether you’re building a simple portfolio or planning to scale up to a full-featured online store.

Note: This comparison is between Squarespace vs self-hosted WordPress (not WordPress.com). See the difference between self-hosted WordPress vs. WordPress.com.

Our Comparison and Testing Methodology

Are you trying to figure out whether Squarespace or WordPress is the right platform for your new website? You’re not alone! Many beginners struggle with this decision.

To give you a clear picture, we put both Squarespace and WordPress through their paces, building real websites for different purposes – from personal blogs to professional business sites and even online stores.

Because we want to provide the most comprehensive comparison of WordPress vs. Squarespace, we’ve broken down every aspect you need to consider.

In the following sections, we’ll dive deep into each platform, focusing on which one offers the biggest advantages for people just starting out:

Ready? Let’s get started.

Ease of Use and the Learning Curve

Most business owners and beginner-level users are not familiar with HTML, CSS, and other code-related things.

What you really want is a website builder that’s easy to use right out of the box, so you can create a professional-looking website without needing to hire a developer.

So, how do WordPress and Squarespace compare when it comes to beginner-friendliness? Let’s take a look.

WordPress

WordPress is the top choice among users who want to start a blog or small business owners building a DIY website. In fact, according to our market share report WordPress powers over 43% of all websites, making it the most popular website builder by far.

While WordPress is fairly intuitive and easy to use, there is a slight learning curve.

New users will need to get familiar with some basic WordPress terms and concepts. We’re talking about things like understanding the difference between blog posts and static pages, how categories and tags help organize your content, and what themes and plugins are for.

The good news is that the default WordPress content editor is fairly easy to use.

It comes with blocks to add common content elements to your pages to build beautiful layouts with media-rich content.

Despite the slight learning curve, in our experience, most users quickly adapt to WordPress.

Need an even more flexible way to create pages?

WordPress gives you access to drag-and-drop page builder plugins like SeedProd. This allows you to create your own custom designs from scratch without writing code.

Just so you know, we’re big believers in WordPress – it’s what we use to build all our websites. Want to learn more about why we recommend it? Check out our complete WordPress review and the reasons for using WordPress.

Squarespace

Unlike WordPress, Squarespace does not come with a lot of choices.

For many beginners, this can actually be a huge plus. We found Squarespace incredibly easy to use. Even if you’ve never built a website before, you can quickly start writing and publishing content. Much like WordPress, Squarespace also has a block-based editor, making it familiar and intuitive.

You’ll find a good selection of content blocks, and each one often comes with several layout options to choose from.

However, it’s important to note that you’re working within the confines of the options provided in the Squarespace customizer. This controlled environment means you have less freedom to go completely outside the box compared to WordPress.

Conclusion

When it comes to pure ease of use for absolute beginners, we found Squarespace to have a slight edge over WordPress. Its more curated approach can feel less overwhelming when you’re just starting out.

However, that simplicity comes with a trade-off. The limited features in Squarespace might not be the best fit for all business owners as their needs grow.

On the flip side, WordPress throws a lot of options at you right from the start. This can feel a bit confusing initially, but trust us, that flexibility is a huge advantage in the long run. While there’s a small learning curve, the sheer power and customization WordPress offers ultimately make it a much more versatile platform as your website evolves.

Winner: Tie

Costs of Using Squarespace vs. WordPress

Before making a decision, understanding the cost of each platform is crucial for any business owner. So, let’s break down the pricing and see how much you can expect to invest in Squarespace versus WordPress.

WordPress

WordPress itself is free. You are free to download, use, and build upon WordPress. It is an open-source software with a GPL license, which gives you all the freedom and control.

We often hear from beginners, “If WordPress is free, what’s the catch?” Well, the good news is there isn’t really a “catch” in the traditional sense.

While the software is free, to actually build a website with WordPress, you’ll need a domain name (your website’s address, like wpbeginner.com) and a web hosting account (where your website files live on the internet).

Depending on your needs, you can choose a shared hosting plan, VPS hosting, or even managed WordPress hosting.

In our experience, shared hosting plans work for most personal and small business websites.

For more on this topic, see our guide on choosing the best WordPress hosting.

The cost of web hosting and your domain name can vary depending on the hosting provider you choose. You have the flexibility to select a plan that matches your website’s requirements and your budget.

For instance, you can start with Bluehost. They are offering WPBeginner users a huge discount and a free domain name with an SSL certificate (which is essential for security).

Alternatives: We also recommend using Hostinger as your starter hosting plan. If you can spend a little more, then you can upgrade to SiteGround.

One reason WordPress is so popular is that the overall cost of building a website with it is very low.

In addition, you can change your hosting plan as your site grows. This means you will only pay for the resources you use, making it easier to control the cost of your website.

We have a detailed article on the cost of building a WordPress website and how to keep it under budget.

Squarespace

Now, let’s look at the cost of Squarespace. The personal Squarespace plan starts at $16 per month, and the business plan costs $23 per month. That’s a little more than a shared hosting plan for WordPress.

However, unlike a shared WordPress hosting service, this Squarespace plan has limited features. You can only add only two contributors to your site, and you cannot sell products.

By comparison, Squarespace’s business plan starts at $23 per month (billed annually) or $36 per month.

It includes eCommerce support, but they charge a 3% fee on each transaction. This is separate from the fee charged by your payment processor. The business plan has unlimited contributors, pages, and advanced features.

They also have separate plans for online stores starting from $28 per month with no additional transaction fee.

As you can see, WordPress lets you start an online marketplace or store for potentially less than that initial Squarespace cost.

Conclusion

When it comes to cost, the open-source nature of WordPress gives it a clear advantage over Squarespace. You have a wide range of web hosting providers offering various plans to suit different budgets and needs. Squarespace’s pricing, on the other hand, is generally higher and less adaptable to individual requirements.

With WordPress, the overall cost is largely determined by the hosting resources you choose, giving you greater control over your spending. Plus, you get access to the full power of WordPress and its core features right from the start, without needing to upgrade to unlock essential functionalities.

Winner: WordPress

Design and Templates

Both WordPress and Squarespace provide you with pre-designed templates and user-friendly design tools, making it straightforward to build a website that reflects your brand.

So, let’s take a closer look at which platform gives you a wider selection of designs and more powerful tools to create a visually appealing and professional website.

WordPress

WordPress gives you access to thousands of free and premium themes (website templates). These templates are highly customizable, so you can use your website logo and colors, upload your own images, and much more.

Many WordPress themes offer multiple layout choices, a drag-and-drop editor, sliders, photo galleries, and many other features.

No matter what kind of web design you need, you will find hundreds of professionally designed templates for the job.

Now, we know that having so many choices can feel a little overwhelming for beginners. That’s why our WPBeginner experts have put together some helpful guides to point you in the right direction:

• Best free WordPress blog themes
• Best WordPress themes for business websites
• Best WordPress magazine themes
• Best simple WordPress themes

For more on this topic, see our article on how to choose the best WordPress theme for your website.

Alternatively, you can start with SeedProd. This fantastic tool allows you to design a custom WordPress theme from scratch, without needing to write a single line of code.

We’ve even used SeedProd ourselves to build landing pages and entire websites – you can read all about our experience in our SeedProd review.

Squarespace

Squarespace also offers a selection of ready-made website templates that are nicely organized into various categories, making it easy to find a starting point for your site.

You’ll find templates for all sorts of popular website types, and they all boast professional designs that look great on any device – whether it’s a desktop computer, a tablet, or a mobile phone. We particularly appreciate how well Squarespace has organized these templates.

You can easily select and modify a template for your Squarespace website using the built-in customizer.

However, this is one area where Squarespace significantly lags behind WordPress in terms of flexibility.

The number of pre-designed templates available on Squarespace is quite limited compared to WordPress. Additionally, your design options are largely confined to the features and settings available within the Squarespace customizer.

While the templates do offer a few layout choices, and you can certainly adjust things like colours, fonts, and your website logo, these templates simply aren’t as customizable as the themes you’ll find for WordPress. You have less freedom to truly create a unique and bespoke design.

Conclusion

When it comes to design choices, customization possibilities, website-building features, and overall flexibility, we can confidently say that WordPress is the clear winner.

We like the great-looking templates offered by Squarespace, but they are limited in numbers and are not very flexible.

Winner: WordPress

Extensions and Integrations

Every website builder comes with a set of built-in features right out of the box. However, as your website grows and evolves, you’ll likely want to add more advanced functionalities and connect your site with other useful tools and services.

So, let’s explore how WordPress and Squarespace stack up when it comes to extending your website’s capabilities.

WordPress

We believe that plugins are the most powerful feature of the WordPress ecosystem. Think of these plugins like apps for your WordPress blog or website. You can easily install them to add all sorts of new features or even change the way your website works by default.

You’ll find more than 59,000 free WordPress plugins in the official directory alone. There are also thousands of premium third-party plugins available.

Seriously, if you can imagine a feature you’d like on your website, there’s a very high chance you’ll find a WordPress plugin that can do it for you.

WordPress plugins are so versatile that many are practically platforms in themselves, with their own sets of add-on plugins and a vibrant community of users and developers built around them.

Then you have specialized plugins that allow you to create very specific types of websites, such as:

• eCommerce sites
• Membership communities
• Selling online courses
• And all types of websites imaginable.

Because WordPress is the most popular website builder, most third-party services and tools have their own WordPress plugins. For example, you’ll find plugins to effortlessly connect with:

• Top email marketing services
• SEO tools
• Live chat software
• Google Analytics
• Lead generation software
• Social media platforms

To learn more, see our article on how to choose the best WordPress plugin or take a look at our expert pick of essential WordPress plugins every website should have.

Squarespace

We were not surprised to find out that Squarespace is not even close to WordPress in terms of extensibility and integrations.

They do offer a very limited set of extensions and integrations. However, unlike WordPress, Squarespace lacks powerful APIs upon which developers can build.

The available integrations are often limited in functionality, and you cannot use them as freely on Squarespace as you can do on WordPress.

For eCommerce, you can use their built-in platform, but you cannot extend it in any way. We found this quite limiting and can easily see how a successful business might quickly outgrow the available options on Squarespace.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, WordPress is the resounding winner in this category. We absolutely love its incredible ecosystem of thousands upon thousands of plugins and integrations that empower businesses of all sizes worldwide.

We like that Squarespace is trying to grow its integrations. However, as of now, it has very few integrations, and many of the available integrations lack the depth and flexibility that WordPress users enjoy.

Winner: WordPress

eCommerce Comparison – Squarespace vs. WordPress

Are you building an online store? Let’s compare the eCommerce functionality of WordPress vs. Squarespace.

WordPress

When it comes to taking payments online, WordPress gives you complete freedom to integrate and use virtually any payment processor or platform available.

Many WordPress plugins allow you to easily accept online payments using credit cards via Stripe, PayPal, Google Checkout, 2Checkout, Payoneer, Skrill, and even Bitcoin.

WordPress also has plenty of eCommerce plugins that can turn your website into an online store within minutes.

In fact, WooCommerce, the world’s most popular eCommerce platform, is a WordPress plugin! We even use it ourselves on some of our partner companies’ websites – you can find out more in our comprehensive WooCommerce review.

WooCommerce comes with its own ecosystem of WooCommerce add-ons and thousands of WooCommerce-ready themes.

There is no limit on how many products you add to your website, how you display them, or how you sell them.

You also have the freedom to run your own affiliate program and use any marketing techniques to grow your sales without any restrictions.

Here are some other ways you can sell online using WordPress:

1. Easy Digital Downloads – Perfect for selling digital products like software, eBooks, and downloadable files. We use this ourselves to sell software on our partner websites – read our Easy Digital Downloads review for more details.
2. MemberPress – Ideal for selling memberships and online courses. We use it on our WordPress Video Course website – see our complete MemberPress review for more information.
3. WP Simple Pay – Don’t need a full-fledged eCommerce platform? WP Simple Pay lets you sell individual products and services by adding a payment form to your site. To learn more, check out our in-depth WP Simple Pay review.

Squarespace

Squarespace’s eCommerce features are quite limited. You can only use Stripe and PayPal for payment processing, which are only available in select countries.

No other payment system is available, so you may struggle to accept payments from a larger global audience.

Starting with such limitations is not a great idea for a growing business.

You can also only sell products in Business or Commerce plans. Even then, the transaction fees on the Business plan mean you’ll likely need to upgrade to a more expensive eCommerce plan to minimize those costs.

Let’s imagine you only want to sell only one product. You will still have to pay for the Business plan, and the yearly costs of hosting a site with just one product to sell will be way higher than a shared hosting plan or VPS for WordPress.

As for third-party services, there are very few external services that you can integrate with your Squarespace site. This affects how you promote your website and the things you can do to make more sales and grow your business.

Conclusion

When it comes to running an eCommerce website and selling to customers, WordPress is significantly ahead of Squarespace. We found Squarespace’s limitations to be a real obstacle for businesses looking to grow and expand their online operations.

What’s particularly great about WordPress is its versatility – you can even use it alongside powerful platforms like Shopify. To see how these two compare for eCommerce, be sure to check out our in-depth comparison of Shopify vs. WooCommerce.

Winner: WordPress

Data Portability

Just like when you’re signing a business agreement, it’s always good to have safety clauses – you want to be able to leave if things aren’t working out!

This concept extends to online businesses as well, and it is called data portability.

We firmly believe that if you’re not happy with a platform, you should have the right to take all your hard work and move it to another provider without any major headaches. You should have complete ownership and control over your valuable data.

So, let’s examine how WordPress and Squarespace handle this crucial aspect of data portability and the freedom to switch platforms if needed.

WordPress

One of the things we really appreciate about WordPress is that it comes with built-in tools that make it incredibly easy to export all your website data.

Beyond just your content and images, you can also back up your themes, plugins, and your entire website database. For our top recommendations, take a look at our list of the best WordPress backup solutions.

You can then easily move this content to any other Content Management System you want. You have the freedom to store your content wherever you prefer and can change web hosts at any time that suits your needs.

Squarespace

As with many other aspects of the platform, the export feature on Squarespace is also quite restricted. This didn’t come as a huge surprise to us, as it’s a common tactic for proprietary platforms to use your data as a way to keep you locked into their service.

You can only export certain parts of your content in an XML file. This includes your pages, galleries, and one blog page with all its posts.

Your product pages, album pages, text, audio, and video blocks will not be exported. This significant limitation can make switching platforms a real headache if your website relies heavily on these types of content.

Conclusion

The content you create on your site is yours, and you should have the freedom and tools so that you can move it elsewhere.

WordPress again beats Squarespace with easy-to-manage tools to export your entire site.

Winner: WordPress

Languages and Internationalization

In today’s global market, many businesses need to cater to a multilingual audience across different geographical locations.

So, let’s take a look at how both Squarespace and WordPress handle the complexities of languages, multilingual content, and reaching customers in different parts of the world.

WordPress

WordPress is fully translated into dozens of languages. Users visiting a WordPress website can often choose their preferred language directly from their profile settings.

What’s more, the majority of WordPress themes are translation-ready, and all popular WordPress plugins are also translated into many languages.

You have the freedom to build a WordPress website in any language you want. If your specific language isn’t yet available in the WordPress core, you even have the option to contribute and translate WordPress yourself.

WordPress does not come with multi-lingual functionality out of the box. However, there are excellent plugins to create multilingual websites that are SEO-friendly and incredibly feature-rich.

Squarespace

The Squarespace platform itself is fully translated into six main languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. It also offers partial support for a few additional languages.

You have the ability to change your website’s language and select a different time zone or country setting. However, when it comes to currencies for your online store, you’re limited to those supported by Stripe and PayPal.

You can create multilingual pages by basically duplicating your pages. You will have to manually create a site structure or different sites for each language (and remember, you’ll be billed separately for each individual site).

Alternatively, you can pay for Weglot, a third-party service to manage translations. Pricing for Weglot starts at $9.99 per month for one language. You can find out more in our Weglot review.

Conclusion

WordPress is way ahead in terms of languages and localization options. Squarespace again comes out as very limited and unsuitable for creating multilingual websites.

Winner: WordPress

Summarizing Squarespace vs. WordPress Comparison

WordPress is a far superior platform to Squarespace when it comes to building a website. Our CMS market share report shows that WordPress powers over 43% of all websites, while Squarespace is only used by 2.1% of websites.

Here is a quick breakdown of the pros and cons of both platforms.

Pros of using Squarespace

• Easier to use for small websites
• Polished user experience
• Hassle-free website setup
• Customer support via Twitter, live chat, and email support.

Cons of using Squarespace

• Costs higher than a website on shared hosting
• Limited design choices
• A limited set of features
• Limitations put you at a disadvantage in growing your business

Pros of using WordPress

• Easy to use with a slight learning curve
• Incredibly flexible to create any kind of website
• Massive collection of themes and plugins
• Truly powerful eCommerce platform
• Can be started at a very low cost
• Community support via online forums

Cons of using WordPress

• You’ll have to install updates and make backups
• You’ll have to manually scale resources by upgrading your hosting as your business grows
• You’ll be responsible for managing your website security

Weighing the pros and cons, we can confidently say that WordPress is a better platform to start a website.

The freedom to grow your website as you see fit is important for all businesses.

You should not trade that for any cost. WordPress provides this freedom at a much lower cost than all other platforms.

Squarespace or WordPress – Which One Should I Choose?

We recommend using WordPress over Squarespace for all users. We found it to be more flexible, powerful, and enabling for small businesses.

We believe that with the current features, we cannot recommend Squarespace for any type of website at that price point.

However, because of its ease of use, Squarespace could be suitable for personal websites or portfolios if you are willing to pay a premium for limited features.

Frequently Asked Questions About Squarespace vs WordPress

Following are some of the most commonly asked questions about Squarespace vs WordPress.

1. Is WordPress better than Squarespace?

Yes, WordPress is better than Squarespace because it gives you more freedom and flexibility to build any kind of website.

Squarespace is easy to use, but it offers a free, limited set of features and flexibility. It is comparable to platforms like Wix or Weebly, which are also fully hosted site builders with similar limitations.

2. Is WordPress better for SEO than Squarespace?

Yes, WordPress is better for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) than Squarespace. With WordPress, you can use SEO plugins like All in One SEO for WordPress or Yoast SEO. This makes it easy to optimize your site for better search rankings, even for beginners without the technical know-how. It comes with powerful sitemaps, schema markup, SEO titles, meta descriptions, and more.

With Squarespace, you are limited to the SEO functionality available in the backend platform and cannot extend it.

3. How can I switch from Squarespace to WordPress?

Squarespace offers limited export options, but you can still switch from Squarespace to WordPress. See our tutorial on how to easily move from Squarespace to WordPress for step-by-step instructions.

4. Which one is better for bloggers, Squarespace or WordPress?

WordPress is the better platform for bloggers. It started out as a blogging platform and still has the best blogging tools than any other site builder on the market.

We hope this article offered you a side-by-side comparison of WordPress vs. Squarespace. You may also want to see our complete WordPress review for a detailed overview of the platform.

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