If you are looking for a platform to create beautiful websites and online stores, Squarespace is a popular choice. It is one of the leading website builders, only trailing behind in the Wix vs. Squarespace battle.
Squarespace is widely popular for its carefully curated, flexible templates crafted by world-class designers. These templates allow you to create and customize a unique website faster than ever before.
Most users like that it is beginner-friendly and easy to use because of its affordable pricing, drag-and-drop editor, and deep eCommerce capabilities to sell your products and services.
In this Squarespace review, we will share our experience using Squarespace and provide an unbiased assessment of the platform’s features, usability, and insights to help you decide if it’s the right fit for your needs.
Squarespace Pros and Cons
Squarespace is one of the best website builders in 2026 after our annual website builder review and performance tests. They are most outstanding for their aesthetically pleasing templates and features tailored to creative professionals and artists.
Based on our experience, here is a list of Squarespace strengths and weaknesses.
Pros
- Over 160 curated templates for various industries
- Drag and drop capabilities to explore design options
- AI design guides
- Unlimited Storage and Product Uploads
- eCommerce functionality to sell anything online
- Book appointments with Acuity Scheduling tool
- Responsive email tools and designs
Cons
- No free plan
- Lacks Phone support
- Grid structure can limit creative freedom
How We Test Website Builders
We ensure transparency in our comparison of the best website builders by regularly testing and updating our rankings.
Our in-house team uses a set of parameters to assess the performance of each website builder, including support (10%), pricing (15%), design flexibility (20%), ease of use (25%) and features (30%).
Each parameter is assigned a percentage and contributes to the final rating out of five based on its performance.
Our Experience with the Squarespace Website Builder
Squarespace is one of the most popular website builders we have tested in 2026, offering a 14-day free trial to get started. You can use Squarespace if you are planning to showcase and sell anything on your website.
During this Squarespace review, our experts tested this platform and offered insights on how Squarespace performed in real-world scenarios.
Based on this, we will provide what we experienced to help you determine if Squarespace meets your specific website-building needs.
During the Squarespace onboarding process, the first question we encountered was, What’s your site about? In this section, you can either choose from a list of site topics or use the search bar for more flexibility. We selected “Weddings” and then clicked “Next.”
The next prompt asked, What do you want to do with your website? ” We chose the option by ticking Promote an event or project from the available list.
Finally, we were asked, How would you like to start building your website? This step allowed us to select a starting point that best suited our needs. Since we will discuss templates to create a website later in this Squarespace review, we opted to build with AI.
We like that the Squarespace Blueprint AI builder provides a guided experience to allow you to create a custom website in minutes. Your site will feature text and images generated by third-party AI software, all within a unique template. After clicking on Build with AI, the next window prompted us to click on Create Site.
Make a website with Squarespace
To proceed with setting up our website using Blueprint AI, we created an account by logging in with our Google credentials. Once logged in, we were prompted to choose a title for our website. A feature we particularly appreciated during this process was the option to select a brand personality. This allowed the AI to generate content that matched our preferred tone, ensuring the website reflected our brand’s unique voice.
The next page on the Blueprint AI dashboard guided us through building our homepage by selecting sections that aligned with our project.
As we chose each section, the AI instantly created a new page for it, adding it right below the Intro section. This step-by-step approach makes the process intuitive and easy, allowing even beginners to create a website in just minutes.
Another thing we noticed during this setup was the fact that AI allowed us to select a preferred layout for each of the sections we chose for our homepage. For example, when we selected the product section, various layout options were immediately presented on the suggested page.
The same applies when generating other pages.
After selecting our sections and choosing the preferred layout from the options available, we clicked on Next to add pages, colors and fonts to customize our site. Once we were satisfied with our selection, we clicked on Finish to complete our website setup with BluePrint AI.
During our Squarespace review, we encountered another guide within the editor to help users start selling on the platform. After confirming the site name and clicking Continue, we were presented with specialized tools for selling and marketing features designed to drive traffic to the site.
On top of that, an AI guide introduced us to the features available in the editor area. We appreciated the drag-and-drop functionality, similar to what Wix offers, which made it easy to move elements around the page.
Squarespace’s grid pattern in the editor helps you snap elements together and keep everything aligned, which is especially helpful if you’re new to website building. We noticed that Squarespace’s grid editor can feel a bit restrictive since you’re limited to moving elements within the set lines.
If you’re looking for complete creative freedom, you might prefer Wix, as it allows you to drag elements anywhere on the page, unlike Squarespace’s more structured grid system.
We strongly recommend using a template to design your site, as the AI-generated output can sometimes lack the sophistication needed for a professional appearance.
However, if your goal is to create a straightforward website, such as a portfolio or a personal project, the AI blueprint offers a streamlined and efficient way to design and edit your pages with minimal effort.
One thing to keep in mind is that Squarespace doesn’t have an autosave feature while editing, so be cautious not to accidentally close a tab.
Despite the lack of autosave, we were glad to see that Squarespace prompts you to save your work if you attempt to exit the editor.
With Squarespace’s AI features, we saved so much time, and you can, too—it’s like having a virtual assistant.
How Much Does Squarespace Cost? Pricing Review
Another important aspect worth discussing in our Squarespace review is the pricing and plans available for launching your site.
Similar to other popular website builders, Squarespace offers premium plans that you can upgrade to, enabling you to get the most out of your site.
Is Squarespace a cheap website builder? Squarespace offers four reasonably priced plans, starting at only $16 per month with an annual subscription compared to Wix’s $17 per month. This shows that Squarespace is more affordable and offers better value for money with additional features tailored to creative professionals and online merchants.
As we mentioned earlier, Squarespace offers a 14-day trial, but this only allows you to build your website—not to publish it. Unlike competitors like Wix, Squarespace doesn’t offer a free plan, which is a pity. If you’re looking for a free option, check out our ranking of the best free website builders.
So, which Squarespace plan should you choose? Here is a breakdown of Squarespace’s annual pricing plans:
- Personal: Starts at only $16 per month – Perfect for bloggers and portfolio sites with basic features.
- Business: $23/month – Offer a great start for small businesses with additional features to sell products and services but with a 3% transaction fee.
- Basic Commerce: $28 per month – More tools to grow your online store with 0% transaction fees.
- Advanced Commerce: $52/month – Ideal for larger online stores with advanced eCommerce features like shipping and discounts.
You might wonder which Commerce plan is better. While the $24 difference might seem small, for established businesses, those extra features can mean retaining more customers and offering better services.
Basic Commerce is great for beginners, while Advanced Commerce is worth considering for more established businesses. When you’re ready to upgrade, the plan you choose should align with your website’s needs.
How to use Squarespace to design a website?
Squarespace is one of our top choices for designing a beautiful website with an online store. They offer just 160+ templates, but they are beautiful and carefully curated. In addition, Squarespace’s templates are created by world-class designers who maintain a high level of quality.
To help you grasp what it takes to design a website with Squarespace, we’ll explore their design options by working with one of their templates. That said, we clicked on Get Started to explore the available templates and make it ours with ease.
Since we created a wedding-themed website using the Blueprint AI builder, we selected Weddings from the categories. This is to allow us to compare both results later in this Squarespace review and recommend which you should consider first.
We particularly liked the Dario theme because of its attractive look and minimalist design options. After choosing our preferred color palette from the available options, we clicked Start with this design to proceed.
Once we accessed the Editor, the setup guide offered a basic walkthrough on how to start building our site. This feature is particularly helpful for beginners who may lack design experience or familiarity with the editor.
However, we couldn’t fully access most of Squarespace features on the free 14-day trial. This forced us to upgrade by subscribing to the personal plan.
Design your website with Squarespace
Beyond that, Squarespace allows you to edit all sections, change layouts, and add professionally designed elements to your site.
These steps are essential for making your site stand out, especially considering that millions of websites have been created on Squarespace since 2003.
What we noticed with Squarespace’s editor is that most of the features are designed to help you sell any product or service. We will examine these features later in this Squarespace review.
Squarespace Features: Our Expert Take
Squarespace stands out with its generous suite of features, particularly its marketing tools, which include built-in email campaigns, social media integration, and SEO optimization, allowing users to effectively promote their websites and engage with their audience.
The platform also offers advanced scheduling capabilities through its integrated scheduling tool, which is perfect for businesses needing to manage appointments or bookings seamlessly.
These features, combined with its robust eCommerce options, make Squarespace an all-in-one solution for creating, managing, and growing a professional online presence.
Here’s a list of the features that make Squarespace one of the top website builders for creating a site in minutes.
World-Class Templates
Among the features that make Squarespace a popular website builder is their award-winning designer templates. Templates are essential for beginners who may not fully understand design principles, providing a solid foundation to build a professional-looking website.
One thing we appreciated about these templates is the attention to detail for every use case, making it easy to create a professional-looking site right out of the box.
No matter which plan you choose, all 160+ templates are completely free to use and customize. Squarespace’s templates are not only stylish but also fully mobile responsive, ensuring a beautiful look on any device.
Even if you know what you want your site to look like, Squarespace’s carefully crafted templates help you identify and utilize the right elements to achieve your vision.
By starting with a Squarespace template you love, you gain immediate access to a professional layout that can be easily customized, reducing both the time and effort required to build your site.
Blogging with Squarespace
With Squarespace, you can easily create a personalized blog that aligns with your brand by choosing from over 50 blog templates designed to best represent your unique style.
We like that Squarespace offers blogging capabilities that make it easy to create and manage engaging content in the same dashboard as your website. You can customize each post individually, choosing whether to include a comments section and even changing the URL after publication.
However, one drawback to be aware of is the lack of an autosave or revision history feature, meaning any unsaved progress could be lost if your computer crashes mid-sentence.
Nevertheless, you will have essential features like AI writing assistance, SEO optimization, content scheduling, and analytics to mold your blog ideas into a perfect post.
With Squarespace AI, you have a creative partner that delivers starter content, making it easier to develop and refine your blog posts.
We also found out that Squarespace equips you with everything you need to turn your blog into a revenue stream by setting up paywalls. On top of that, you can promote and sell premium, create paid newsletter content, and charge for membership access.
Squarespace eCommerce Tools
Another reason to choose Squarespace, according to our review, is that the all-in-one platform is designed to sell with various eCommerce tools.
With a Squarespace online store, you can sell your products online by allowing your customers to browse through your merchandise, add items to their cart, and check out easily.
Again, you can add products to your inventory and use Squarespace AI to get your product descriptions written faster. You can also integrate payment processors such as Squarespace payment, Stripe, Paypal, and Square. All of this can be done through the Squarespace eCommerce dashboard.
Furthermore, the type of product you want to sell will determine the settings and features you will get. Whenever you click on add a product from the selling section, you will be asked what you want to sell. You have the option to sell a service, member site, course, Gift card, digital download, and tangible physical products.
One of the amazing options we find interesting is Acuity scheduling. This flexible software allows you to carry out seamless client scheduling and automated booking appointments to showcase your services and real-time availability. We like that you can design your scheduling page with appointment types to let your clients know what your business offers.
In addition, you will get a customizable onboarding process to create invoices, contracts, proposals and estimate pricing and payment schedule. These tools can help you capture leads, get hired and collect payments.
What’s more, Squarespace allows you to fully control your membership site, customizing the features accessible to members directly from the dashboard.You can view a comprehensive list of your subscribers, leads, and total customer base, all in one place, making it easy to track and grow your community.
Despite the wide range of customizable settings, Squarespace’s dashboard remains beginner-friendly, making it easy for anyone to navigate and manage their online store. Creating an e-commerce site with Squarespace is definitely a great idea. It’s no wonder we consider it a solid alternative to Shopify.
Build an e-commerce with Squarespace
Unlimited Bandwidth, Storage and Free Domain
Another reason to consider Squarespace as your website builder is that it offers unlimited bandwidth, storage, and free custom domain on all plans.
One of the parameters you need to consider before choosing a website builder is the amount of storage space you get to accommodate your content. This includes your product images, videos, courses, and digital downloads. Otherwise, you might quickly run out of space with no solution other than relocating your site, which can be incredibly stressful.
With Squarespace, you will have unlimited storage space to publish and manage your media-heavy online store. On top of that, you will also get unlimited bandwidth to manage your online traffic. This is especially beneficial since the platform allows you to host up to 30-minute-long videos, ensuring smooth streaming without eating into your resources.
Finally, all Squarespace annual plans offer a custom domain for the first year. This allows you to save costs to start your business. However, the monthly plan doesn’t allow you to claim this offer.
Marketing tools
Apart from building your standalone website or with an online store, Squarespace also offers amazing tools to market your business.
On top of this list of marketing tools are built-in SEO functionalities. Squarespace offers a unique SEO setup with a detailed dashboard that allows you to tweak various settings to enhance your site’s visibility. All you have to do to start the checklist is customize the general SEO title format for all your pages, ensuring consistency across your site as new pages are created.
Another marketing tool you will find useful on Squarespace is the email campaign. You can use the email automation suite to convert site visitors into customers. We found out during our Squarespace review that you can select an email template that fits your marketing purpose. On top of that, you can create a mailing list and add sender details to start growing your audience.
In addition, Squarespace’s analytics tool provides a comprehensive view of your website and store traffic, offering detailed metrics essential for optimizing SEO and marketing strategies. The Purchase Funnel feature lets you track the exact path users take before making a purchase, helping you understand buyer behavior and improve conversions.
Besides, you can integrate it with Google Search Console to get insights into your top-performing organic keywords and traffic sources, complete with visual charts to track your site’s performance.
Finally, you can also use other social tools like the Unfold social media app and social media integrations like Facebook, Instagram, and Google Merchant solutions to boost your brand. However, as we mentioned earlier during our Squarespace review, all of these features require you to upgrade to fully optimize your website.
How Reliable is Squarespace Customer Support?
During our Squarespace review, we also tested their customer support channels. While you can reach their support agents through 24/7 email and chat from 4 am to 8 pm EST, you will need to be patient as response times can vary.
Squarespace acknowledges that their live chat support is limited due to high demand on certain topics. However, if you’re patient and stay in the queue, you can expect a reply after a few hours. More often than not, you’ll be directed to use email for further assistance.
Finally, when we tested the email option, we only got a response after 24 hours of sending a request. This suggests that while the support team is reliable, there may be delays in response times, especially during peak periods.
Conclusion: Is Squarespace Best for Selling?
Squarespace is an excellent platform for selling, particularly for small to medium-sized businesses looking for an all-in-one solution.
We like that Squarespace eCommerce capabilities are robust, with features like unlimited product listings, customizable checkout pages, and integrated payment processing, making it easy to manage your online store. The platform’s intuitive dashboard also allows you to track inventory, sales, and customer profiles, ensuring smooth operations.
One of Squarespace’s standout features is its carefully curated, designer-quality templates, which are not only visually stunning but also optimized for conversion. These templates are fully customizable, allowing you to create a unique shopping experience that reflects your brand.
In our Squarespace review, we promised to share our view: while Blueprint AI website builder offers customizable designs, it falls short of the polished design options available when selecting a ready-made template from the library.
Overall, Squarespace is a solid choice for anyone looking to build a professional and effective online store. However, their customer support service is still a cause for concern.
Squarespace FAQ
Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about Squarespace to help you make an informed decision.
Is Squarespace good for eCommerce?
Yes, Squarespace is an excellent choice for eCommerce, offering a range of features like customizable checkout pages, integrated payment processing, and inventory management.
Is it better to use Wix or Squarespace?
Both Wix and Squarespace are popular website builders with distinct strengths. Squarespace is known for its elegant, designer-quality templates and is often preferred for eCommerce and portfolio sites.
Wix, on the other hand, offers more flexibility with its drag-and-drop editor and all-round features, making it a good choice for those who want complete creative control.
Are Squarespace websites bad for SEO?
No, Squarespace websites are not bad for SEO. In fact, Squarespace offers strong SEO tools, including customizable meta tags, clean URLs, and automatic XML sitemaps. These features help ensure that your site is well-optimized for search engines.
Which Squarespace plan is the best?
The best Squarespace plan depends on your specific needs. If you’re looking to simply upgrade and publish your website, the Personal plan is a great starting point. However, if you require more advanced features, such as e-commerce capabilities or marketing tools, you might want to explore the Business or Commerce plans to see which features are most important for your needs.