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Squarespace is a designer-friendly no-code platform with great aesthetics that consistently ranks among the best website builders in the market. With its sleek templates and comprehensive feature set, Squarespace positions itself as an all-in-one solution for creating stylish and functional websites with minimal effort.
Over the years, Techradar has spent thousands of hours testing 140+ website builders, making our reviewers the leading experts in what makes a platform exceptional. Squarespace stands out to us for its award-winning templates, which can be modified down to the last pixel thanks to a powerful block-based editor.
Wix remains our top pick for the best website builder of 2025, thanks to a slightly higher number of features at a reduced price point. But, Squarespace’s new Blueprint AI and Design Intelligence tools make it a close competitor that gives the former a good run for its money.
Squarespace: 2-minute review
Squarespace is a complete website builder, with everything you would expect from one of the best-known names in the industry. This includes a range of stunning website templates, a full AI website builder, ecommerce features including payment gateway integrations, marketing tools, analytics, and the ability to integrate with select 3rd party services.
The platform was originally built to serve the blogging space but is now capable of hosting practically any type of website from ecommerce stores to freelancer portfolios. Despite the platform’s growth, it stays true to its roots by continuing to offer some of the more aesthetically pleasing website templates available.
Squarespace isn’t the cheapest website builder, but it is fairly priced when compared with competitors with similar features, tools, and ease of use. Its entry level plan starts at $16/mo with an annual plan, which is in the same ballpark as Wix ($17/mo) and Hostinger ($11.99/mo). Plus, you can take advantage of a 14-day free trial to test it out, although unlike Wix, it doesn’t offer a forever-free version.
Overall, Squarespace is a safe bet for those looking for an easy to use website builder with all the features most businesses will ever need.
What is Squarespace?
Squarespace is a website builder that helps you create professional websites without coding. It’s like a digital canvas where you can design your online presence. You can use pre-made templates and customize them to fit your vision. Whether you want a blog, portfolio, or online store, Squarespace has all the tools you need.
When you sign up, you can choose from over 180 designer-made templates or use their AI-powered Blueprint tool for a custom design. After that, you can easily add your content, change colors and fonts, and arrange elements with their drag-and-drop editor. Squarespace takes care of technical details like hosting and security, so you don’t have to stress about them.
What’s great about Squarespace for beginners is that everything is in one package. This includes domain registration, cloud hosting, design tools, and a CMS. The all-in-one approach saves you from juggling services from different providers, which can be overwhelming when starting out.
Features
Squarespace has always offered some of the best website templates on the market, making it a firm favourite amongst creatives such as artists and photographers. Anyone looking for a stunning website should seriously consider Squarespace.
Owain Williams, Website Builder Editor
Squarespace provides a wide range of features for different website needs. At the heart of the platform is a powerful drag-and-drop editor with a smart grid system. This helps keep your design elements aligned. You’ll also find over 180 professionally designed templates. These templates are great starting points for creating stunning websites. They feature a modern, minimalist design with plenty of white space and room for photos.
If you want to sell online, Squarespace offers strong e-commerce tools in its Business plans. You can sell physical and digital products, offer subscriptions, and create discounts. It even helps with abandoned cart recovery emails and social media sales. The platform supports various payment methods, such as PayPal, Stripe, and Square, and includes automatic tax calculations. However, these e-commerce features come at a higher price compared to some competitors.
In 2023, Squarespace introduced Blueprint AI, which streamlines website creation. This AI system guides users through five simple steps to create a personalized website. It also generates content with its AI text generator. We found this feature helpful for beginners facing the “blank page” anxiety. Still, the AI-generated templates seem basic compared to Squarespace’s professionally designed options.
The platform has specialized tools like Acuity Scheduling for booking appointments, available for $16 a month. It also offers portfolio collections for showcasing work and various blocks to enhance user experience, like search and archive functions. While Squarespace includes many built-in features, it mainly relies on its own tools. This limits extensive third-party integrations in most areas. Squarespace’s pricing ranges from $16 to $52 per month (billed annually). Although it’s a premium price, the quality of design and features usually justify the investment for users.
Tools
Over the years, Squarespace has stacked on a bunch of different tools and add-ons to make its website builder more lucrative. This includes everything from SEO features to help you optimize your content strategy to AI tools for assistive design suggestions.
Blogging
If you’re into blogging, you’ll be glad to hear that Squarespace provides a full set of blogging features such as built-in blog pages, a comment section, and content promotion tools. However, if you’re making a blog as a means of making money, Squarespace shouldn’t be your first choice. First off, to get hold of ecommerce features, you’ll have to purchase the “Business” plan or up, and it will set you back $23 per month (if you subscribe for a year) or $36 for one month.
Ecommerce
The Business plan (and up) will also let you integrate a shopping cart into your website with ease, as well as sell physical products, digital downloads, online services, and subscriptions. However, if we take the 3% transaction fee on sales and the plan’s initial price tag into account, this solution doesn’t seem particularly pocket-friendly.
Also, Squarespace isn’t as strong as some of its competitor (like Shopify) when it comes to shipping and payment options – for instance, manual payments isn’t an option and you can’t sell in multiple currencies.
SEO and marketing
Squarespace also offers superb Search Engine Optimization (SEO) features, which will help you get your site in front of your core audience. There are multiple options for social media marketing, email marketing, and custom post designs. Not only are these tools powerful, but they are easy to use – this makes it one of the best small business website builders on the market.
AI tools
Although Squarespace’s AI offering isn’t quite as advanced as some competitors such as Wix and Hostinger, it does offer a host of helpful AI-powered tools that will make creating your website a breeze.
The list starts with the option to use AI to get your initial website set up. If you select this option Squarespace will ask you a few questions such as the name of your site, which sections and pages you want on your website, which colors and fonts you want to use, and then use your answers to build your site.
Like with most AI website builders, the results are a little generic and will need some editing. Luckily, Squarespace also offers some AI tools to help you do this. For example, you can use an AI copywriter to help you complete your site’s written content. A similar tool can be used to create product descriptions, which can be a lifesaver for large online stores.
Finally, Squarespace also offers AI-powered branding and email marketing tools, helping you make the right impression and getting you in front of the right people.
Integrations
Squarespace doesn’t take too kindly to third-party tools – while there’s a decent variety of versatile tools it’s not up to scratch – so, you might feel like you’re stuck with Squarespace’s ecosystem.
Website editor
We should also talk about Squarespace’s up-to-date, drag-and-drop editor called Fluid Engine, a superior version to their old editor. As soon as you add an element or change something on the template you’re using, it will become visible straight away. It also offers a decent level of customization choices, so you can adjust your template to suit your needs and desires.
The only major drawback is that you can’t place elements (such as images or text) wherever you want them to be – you can position them in pre-built places bounded by grid lines. Also, while you’ll be prompted to save your site after each change, you won’t enjoy the convince of the autosave functionality.
Ease of use
Of all the website builders we have tested, Squarespace ranks as one of the easiest to use. Its drag-and-drop editor balances simplicity and functionality. This makes it great for beginners but still offers depth for experienced users. The clean, minimalist interface removes clutter. It shows only the tools you need, like the option to add a new section, which appears when you hover over an existing section.
Getting started with Squarespace is easy. During onboarding, you answer a few questions about your website’s purpose and goals. This helps the platform tailor its recommendations to your needs. The 14-day free trial lets you explore without rushing into a paid plan. We liked that no credit card is needed to start the trial, allowing risk-free experimentation.
Squarespace emphasizes user experience (UX) principles, evident in how the platform works and the sites it creates. The editor uses a smart grid system to align elements. This helps beginners create visually balanced pages. Real-time previews show how your changes affect your site, making the design process dynamic. However, some users notice lag or unresponsiveness with larger, content-heavy websites.
The platform includes accessibility features through its All in One Accessibility Widget. This makes your website more usable for people with various disabilities, including visual, hearing, motor, and cognitive impairments. Yet while customization is simple, Squarespace has limits. Once you pick a template, you can’t switch to another without rebuilding your site. And some advanced customizations need CSS or JavaScript knowledge, which is only available on higher-tier plans.
Pricing
Plan | Monthly cost (paid monthly) | Monthly cost (paid annually) |
|---|---|---|
Personal | $25 | $16 |
Business | $36 | $23 |
Commerce (Basic) | $40 | $28 |
Commerce (Advanced) | $72 | $52 |
The site builder’s price tag is on par with similar all-in-one solutions on the market and it provides plenty of bang for the buck. However, if you only wanted a pocket-friendly site builder without other components of Squarespace, we’re sorry to say you won’t find this here.
If you’re in for an all-in-one solution, you can choose between four plans ranging from $16 to $52 per month, if you opt for an annual billing option, that is. If you choose a one-month-only option, the price will spike significantly.
While Squarespace doesn’t offer a forever-free edition of its site builder, there is a 14-day free trial with all four plans and no credit card details are required. It is also worth mentioning that you can often save on your subscription by using Squarespace promo codes and/or signing up for a longer period of time.
As for payment methods, Squarespace accepts all major credit/debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, and American Express included), JCB, Diners Club (in USD only), and SEPA direct debit (in EUR only). As you already suspect, you can’t pay via PayPal or Bitcoin (BTC).
For a more detailed review the plans available on Squarespace you can read our full Squarespace pricing guide.
Security
Squarespace websites are all kept on secure with SSL certificates, two-factor authentication (2FA), protection against distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, and a login activity panel. While the activity log won’t protect your site by itself, it’ll help you discover if any logins were made from suspicious or unknown devices.
Squarespace’s security staff is monitoring all Squarespace sites round-the-clock for threats and vulnerabilities to make sure your site is properly protected. Still, if you discover a vulnerability, you can report it to the security staff and they’ll conduct their investigation on it.
Customer support
If you get stuck somewhere during your Squarespace journey, you can seek assistance from their support staff via live chat, email, and X (Twitter). Sadly, phone support isn’t available.
Live chat is available Monday to Friday, 4 AM to 8 PM, ET, and once you contact the staff, someone will get back to you in a matter of minutes. In contrast, email support is available 24/7, but the response time can sometimes be sluggish.
As for self-service, you can visit the Help Center which contains a well-supplied knowledge base, video guides, and an avidly active community forum you can conveniently browse by topics.
Alternatives
As we noted earlier, Wix is an awesome alternative for those who want to build their site on a tight budget or entirely free — it even offers a forever-free edition of its site builder for personal use. Plus, it’s super simple to use, packed with features, and provides automatic backups.
If you’re searching for a cheap yet endlessly customizable site builder, WordPress is the solution of choice. Since it’s an open-sourced software, it has thousands of themes, templates, plugins, how-to guides, and a committed community that can lend you a helping hand. While it’s not as beginner-friendly as Squarespace or Wix, it makes up for it with a fabulous level of flexibility and freedom.
Finally, Shopify is built for ecommerce from the ground up, so if an ecommerce solution is what you’re looking for, it might be the best choice. Squarespace offers all essential ecommerce features, but it’s still better suited for a professional site or a blog.
How we tested Squarespace
To test the Squarespace website builder we started by setting up an account. We then got hands-on with the tools and features available when building a website on the platform. This included exploring the various available website templates, SEO and marketing tools, and testing the drag-and-drop website editor.
We also reviewed the available plans, comparing their pricing and what they include. Finally, we researched what level of help and support is available to users and how the platform protects users’ websites from security threats.
You can learn more about how we test website builders with our full guide.
Summary
Squarespace is a splendid, simple-to-use site builder with terrific templates and it gets better each time a new version crops up. Hitting high marks in all major areas, Squarespace site builder qualifies as an amazing all-arounder in the market, and it’s also fit for small and mid-sized online stores.
Their website builder comes packed with tools and features such as email marketing, an SSL certificate, and options for mobile responsive templates – giving you everything you need to launch and grow your website in one convenient space.
However, Squarespace keeps its users on a short leash with a low level of customization and the inability to switch between templates without starting from scratch. Also, the lack of auto-save features makes it less convenient than some of its competitors.
Squarespace: FAQs
Does Squarespace have a free plan?
No, unlike some other website builders, Squarespace doesn’t have a free plan. However, it does offer a free 14-day trial. This offers you the opportunity to test out the platform to make sure it is the right one for you.
Does Squarespace charge a transaction fee on sales?
It depends on the plan you pick.
The Business plan ($23/mo paid annually) is the cheapest plan which offers the full range of ecommerce functionality but charges a 3% transaction fee for physical products and services sold via the site. Both the Commerce plans (Basic ($27/mo paid annually) and Advanced ($49/mo paid annually)) charge a 0% transaction fee.
So, at just $4 extra a month, most ecommerce businesses would benefit from investing in the Commerce plan. But you will need to do the math to decide which one works best for you.
Can I get a discount on a Squarespace plan?
Yes, we keep track of all the latest Squarespace voucher codes.
Is Squarespace better than Wix?
Well, it depends on what you’re looking for in a site builder. Wix offers more templates overall, but the ones you’ll get with Squarespace look better. Also, Wix has a forever-free edition, while with Squarespace you can make use of a 14-day free trial, and that’s about it.
Both site builders are easy to use, offer robust ecommerce features, and provide superb value for money. However, Wix is cheaper while Squarespace has more additional tools for growing your site.
Is Squarespace good for beginners?
Yes, Squarespace is one of the best site builders for beginners. Its intuitive, drag-and-drop editor is backed by simple-to-follow guides in case you get stuck. And if that doesn’t do the trick, you can rely on rather responsive customer support staff.
What are the downsides of using Squarespace?
The primary drawbacks of using Squarespace are the shortage of customization capabilities, the absence of auto-save features, and the lack of phone support. Also, there are cheaper options around and some of them offer a free edition of their site builders too.
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