Design
Squarespace
Designer-grade websites.
What it is
Squarespace focuses on the 'power of design,' making it the choice for creative professionals and luxury brands. It uses design constraints to ensure your site always looks polished and high-end. Its templates are world-class. With strong e-commerce and scheduling tools built-in, it lets a brand manage its entire digital presence with a premium aesthetic.
Key features
Fluid Engine
A powerful and flexible next-gen editor for professional-level designers.
Commerce Analytics
Track your sales and customer behavior through detailed, stylish charts.
Scheduling
Embed a professional appointment system directly into your site via Acuity.
Bio Sites
Create stylish 'Link in Bio' pages for your social media accounts for free.
Strengths and trade-offs
What works well
- Premium Templates: The cleanest and most 'expensive-looking' designs on the web.
- Ease of Use: The new Fluid Engine makes drag-and-drop much more intuitive.
- All-in-One: Every essential tool is built-in without needing extra plugins.
- Mobile Ready: Designs look consistently flawless on mobile devices automatically.
Where it falls short
- Flexibility Limits: Does not allow the same total freedom as Wix to place items anywhere.
- Price: Monthly fees can be higher than those of most major competitors.
- App Market: Its ecosystem for third-party apps is smaller than Shopify or WordPress.
Who it is for
Photographers, Artists, and Boutique Brands.
Pick it or skip it
Pick Squarespace if
- Design-led sites where the templates do most of the work
- Annual billing — the vendor lists up to 36% off plus a free domain for the first year
- Trying it properly: 14 days free with no card
Skip it if
- You sell on the cheapest plan — Personal takes a 2% cut on store sales and 7% on digital content
- You sell memberships or digital products: the cut only reaches 0% on Commerce Advanced
- You want to move the site elsewhere later; it is a hosted platform
Our verdict
Strong templates out of the box, if you want design quality without hiring a designer.
Closest alternatives we track
Same category, ordered by verified starting price.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does Squarespace cost?
- Squarespace starts at $16/user/mo per user. We verified this against the vendor's pricing page; see "What we checked" below for the date.
- Does Squarespace have a free plan?
- No free plan is listed on the vendor's pricing page. Squarespace is sold as a paid subscription.
- Who is Squarespace best for?
- Photographers, Artists, and Boutique Brands.
- What are the closest alternatives to Squarespace?
- In the same category we track Carrd, Bootstrap Studio and Framer. Each has its own review page with verified pricing, and the comparison links above show them side by side.
- What are the main drawbacks of Squarespace?
- The trade-offs we noted: Flexibility Limits: Does not allow the same total freedom as Wix to place items anywhere.; Price: Monthly fees can be higher than those of most major competitors.; App Market: Its ecosystem for third-party apps is smaller than Shopify or WordPress..
- When should you not use Squarespace?
- Skip Squarespace if: You sell on the cheapest plan — Personal takes a 2% cut on store sales and 7% on digital content; You sell memberships or digital products: the cut only reaches 0% on Commerce Advanced; You want to move the site elsewhere later; it is a hosted platform.
What we checked
- Public APIOffers a documented API you can build against.Yes
- Mobile appHas a native app for iOS or Android, not just a mobile website.Yes
- Open source / self-hostableSource is open and the tool can be run on your own infrastructure.No
- SSO (SAML)Supports SAML single sign-on on at least one plan.No
“Not checked” means exactly that — we have not verified it, and we do not guess.
Evidence and freshness
Status: Vendor pricing page verifiedReviewed: 2026-09-07
- Squarespace — Pricing ↗
Checked 2026-09-07 · Supports: four plans: Personal, Business, Commerce Basic, Commerce Advanced, 14-day free trial with no credit card, up to 36% off with annual billing plus one year of free domain registration, store transaction fees: Personal 2%, Business and Commerce plans 0%, digital content and membership fees: Personal 7%, Business 5%, Commerce Basic 1%, Commerce Advanced 0%
Limit: The plan table renders its prices in the browser; no monthly figure could be read, so none is claimed.
Compare Squarespace with alternatives
More Design tools: see the full Design category