With more entrepreneurs looking to create their own web content, start a blog, and maintain control over design features, both Squarespace and WordPress remain popular options. Both platforms are suitable for beginners, but have different strengths and weaknesses depending on your goals. In this guide, we’ll compare Squarespace with WordPress in terms of features, pricing, customer service, and more, so you can decide which is best for you.
Squarespace vs WordPress: At a Glance
Squarespace is a Software as a Service (SaaS), all-in-one website builder for beginners. It’s designed for users who want to pay a flat fee to access everything. Squarespace’s monthly subscriptions include templates, site management, and plugins. It is very easy to use, with hosting included and no coding.
WordPress is another hosted SaaS platform designed for beginners, offering customizable features for building and maintaining smaller websites and blogs. In addition to a free option, it also offers paid plans with more features and add-on options.
Note that we are referring to WordPress.com, which is different from the self-hosted WordPress.org.
Both Squarespace and WordPress allow users to create websites using the tools and templates provided and require no coding knowledge, but the site building experiences are different. Choosing the right platform for your business or brand will depend on what exactly you need your site to do and how many options you’re looking for.
square space
design
Aesthetically appealing templates and photos
On Squarespace’s secure website
design
Aesthetically appealing templates and photos
Pros Cons
Best for blogs Unlimited bandwidth and storage Built-in design options Less intuitive design options Limited e-commerce features Not as many apps and plugins
WordPress
Great for
Blog and portfolio creation
convenient
Fast and free web creation
Maintenance
Maintenance-free updates and optimization
Great for
Blog and portfolio creation
convenient
Fast and free web creation
Maintenance
Maintenance-free updates and optimization
Pros Cons
Ability to create a free live site. Helpful setup tutorials. Automatic updates and backups. Limited storage space. Ads on all free plans. Unable to load plugins.
How the platforms stack up
No design knowledge required
Neither Squarespace nor WordPress allow unlimited design freedom, which is often ideal for beginners. Both platforms offer structured templates and a limited number of themes, along with basic editing tools.
Higher price plans on each platform open up more premium design options.
SEO tools
By using optimized keywords, search engine optimization (SEO) has the potential to push your website to the top of Google searches, allowing a larger audience to discover your content.
For the casual blogger who is simply looking to document and share with a small group of viewers, higher rankings may not matter.
On the other hand, if you want to monetize a blog and use it to generate income, having fully optimized SEO is essential to achieve higher search engine rankings and reach more people.
Squarespace users can set custom meta titles, descriptions, and URLs. Google Analytics is available with all plans and the platform allows for easy social media integration. Users cannot install any third-party SEO applications such as Yoast and must rely on the built-in options provided.
WordPress users don’t have as many configuration options, but the platform offers automatically generated XML sitemaps, which are designed to provide better visibility with search engines. Only those who pay for the Enterprise tier can install third-party plugins and use Google Analytics, which can make it difficult to maximize your SEO options.
E-commerce options
The Squarespace Business, Basic Commerce, and Advanced Commerce plans offer users fully integrated eCommerce solutions, with the ability to sell unlimited products. WordPress offers an eCommerce tier for online stores, including premium design options, carrier integrations, and payment acceptance from over 60 countries.
Storage and backup
Squarespace offers unlimited storage capacity, ideal for anyone looking to have a large online business presence or e-commerce site. WordPress has a 3GB limit for free plans, which is enough if you only need to host a simple website or blog. Storage capacities increase from 6GB to 200GB with paid plans.
Squarespace users must take the extra step of manually backing up their content.
WordPress offers automatic updates and backups, so users take this task off their plate.
bottom line
Both Squarespace and WordPress allow users to create a website for beginners and provide a simple blogging interface, with no coding knowledge required. Which platform is the best choice depends on your current needs, along with what you hope to achieve.
If you’re blogging frequently, hoping to reach a large audience, and ultimately trying to create an income-generating stream, Squarespace will be the best choice to help you achieve your goals.
If you want to create a simple, free website and starter blog for a smaller group of viewers, WordPress is a great choice.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Is Squarespace as good as WordPress for SEO?
Squarespace has come a long way in terms of SEO tools, although WordPress still offers more SEO tools.
Is WordPress cheaper than Squarespace?
WordPress is a free and open source platform where you only pay for web hosting. However, this does not necessarily mean that it is cheaper to build and manage a site with WordPress. This is because, unlike Squarespace, which includes everything for a flat monthly fee, with WordPress there are additional costs such as a domain name and SSL certificate, as well as optional extras such as a premium theme and/ or premium add-ons.
Is there a difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?
Yes, there are several differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. The main difference is that WordPress.com is fully hosted, while WordPress.org is self-hosted.
Is Squarespace a good website builder?
Squarespace is a great website builder for those looking for an easy-to-use platform with beautiful templates. It’s also a good choice for businesses that need e-commerce features. However, if you’re looking for an open source platform, consider WordPress.
How scalable are website builders?
Website builders are highly scalable and your plan can be easily modified to meet the needs of your growing team. If you go beyond even the top-tier package for your service, many vendors offer enterprise-level functionality with custom pricing. It may be worth contacting your system’s customer support team for more information.
Are there any benefits to using a website builder for my business?
A website builder like Squarespace or WordPress allows you to easily design your website through a step-by-step process that allows you to create the unique look you want. It also lets you choose where to host it when you’re ready to go live with your products, services, or content. Both Squarespace and WordPress can meet your website building needs.
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