Squarespace Vs. WordPress: Which One Is Better For Your Business?
When it comes to building a website, there are a lot of factors that you have to consider. Factors such as security, the number of features you'll have access to, customization, blogging, and the growing support of the website builder. Although hundreds of website builders are around, WordPress and Squarespace stand out.
Wordpress is known to host one-third of all the websites online, so it is no news that Wordpress has been around for a long time, and it has a good reputation. On the other hand, Squarespace is arguably the best website builder with professionally designed templates, robust in-built features, and unmatched customer support, resources, and plans.
However, which website builder should you go for? If you are wondering how these two platforms compare to one another and what they have to offer, then keep reading.
Squarespace is better for…
Business owners who want to create a stunning and functional website without hassle. It comes with the best professionally-designed templates, requires no code to set up your website, and has impeccable in-built features to support and grow your business. It is a go-to platform if you need a transparent service, flexible and affordable plans, state-of-the-art customer support, and a library of resources.
WordPress is better for…
Content-heavy websites that want 100% customization over everything and anything. WordPress is an open-source website that gives you the opportunity to customize any feature through code. It is excellent for websites that are not scared of getting their hands dirty, wants powerful plugging features, and require access to numerous plugins. If you are not discouraged by the learning curve, then you'll find WordPress effective.
Ease of Use: Squarespace Vs. WordPress
Regarding ease of use, Squarespace wins hands down because of how easily anyone can get acquainted with the website.
Squarespace
Squarespace is easy to use because you don't require technical knowledge to build a website. Everything has already been included in its dashboard, and you can make customizations without having to input any code. Besides, you get high-quality templates that'll require minor customization.
Also, it has a drag-and-drop editor that allows you to make changes by simply dragging elements around. What that means is that you can see the changes as you're making it, and what you see is exactly what you get (or what your visitors will also see). Besides that, it has a comprehensive editor that groups similar changes to make everything easy.
In addition, you can preview your changes before making the website go live. In contrast,
However, the only issue with Squarespace is that it is less customizable when compared with WordPress. Squarespace intentionally places restrictions on customization to ensure that your website turns out well in the end. This may also be difficult for developers who want more design freedom. Although Squarespace also provides CSS customization, it is nothing compared to WordPress.
WordPress
WordPress requires a knowledge of code to make full customizations to your websites, which can become discouraging to beginners who have no clue what codes are all about.
In addition, you can't view your changes when you're making them; you'll have to save them before discovering whether what you did makes sense. It is similar to drawing blindfolded; you must be a good artist (coder) to draw the perfect image.
However, WordPress shines when it comes to the freedom of customization that you get. You can literally customize anything on your website if you have a technical background which is one of the reasons that big websites and developers prefer WordPress. Also, it comes with many plugins that can aid your customization journey.
If you want a lot of customizations on your website but have no technical knowledge, you can hire a developer on any freelance site to get the tech problem out of the way. Although it may cost you a couple of hundred, it is definitely worth it.
Template & Design: Squarespace Vs. WordPress
Squarespace wins the round without hesitation, and here is why we say so. Squarespace comes with hundreds of templates that are all professionally designed. Currently, Squarespace has the best templates when comparing website builders; many users have testified to this fact.
Squarespace
These templates are categorized on different business needs, such as blogs, portfolios, restaurants, real estate, etc., and come with exact customization features. So, gone are the days when you'll have to choose a template you don't like because of a feature you need. You can make the same customizations to any Squarespace template you pick.
You can customize colors and fonts, change images and elements, add gallery blocks, add forms, set up banners, and more. If you are unsatisfied and still want to make extra customizations using CSS, Squarespace provides a code block where you can add code snippets.
"Squarespace has made my life easier. I don't have to worry about making many edits because the templates come with everything my business need. I just have to change colors, and that is all! This is the best template I have seen around for a while."
Another thing that makes Squarespace win this round is that all the templates are free. You won't have to spend an extra dollar adding these templates to your website. You can also switch these templates multiple times before going live.
WordPress
WordPress has thousands of templates that are both free and paid. Although that is a lot of templates compared to Squarespace, the majority of the templates are not well-designed, and you'd still need to go through customizations to achieve your desired results. Apart from that, these templates are usually designed by other designers and developers, so it is inevitable to see some bad ones.
Besides, if you want to get decent templates on WordPress, they are usually paid and cost around $10 - $80
Features: Squarespace Vs. WordPress
One of the crucial things to look out for when selecting a website builder is the number of features you get and if they are all free and in-built. While both platforms have great features, Squarespace is the best platform to use if you're looking for in-built features that won't cost anything.
Squarespace - Strong In-built Features
Squarespace believes in building the necessary features into the website, reducing reliance on third-party apps. At a glance, Squarespace comes with every feature you need to rank, grow and maintain your website. Some of the features you'll get access to are;
SEO: Squarespace has the necessary SEO tools to rank your website and maintain a strong appearance. You can easily rank your websites on search engines without relying on any third-party app.
Analytics:
The more insight you get about your website performance, the better for your website's growth. Squarespace comes with robust website metrics and analytics that track visitors' activities on your website, tell you how each page performs, where your target audience is from, and much more. Also, if you run an e-commerce platform on Squarespace, you have nothing to worry about. If that isn't enough, Squarespace allows you to integrate with Google Analytics.
Blogging features:
Squarespace has powerful blogging features that allow you to create, schedule and post blogs. It also comes with its in-built blog seo customization and different layout designs.
Social feeds and accounts:
You can embed your socials directly to your website and allow visitors to access your Instagram and other social accounts you have. Squarespace also allows you to import content from Instagram and Twitter to your website directly. You can even embed an Instagram feed on your Squarespace page.
Podcasts:
Another powerful feature that makes Squarespace stand out is that you can create a podcast using Squarespace. It has an excellent audio player; you can include your RSS feed directly on your page.
E-commerce:
Although E-commerce has been covered in the latter part of this article, Squarespace has powerful eCommerce features that allow you to sell on a small or large scale.
Email Marketing:
Squarespace's built-in marketing feature allows you to grow your email list and expand your reach, although it is a different subscription.
Scheduling and Subscription:
If you run classes or sessions, you'll find Squarespace Scheduling helpful. It allows you to create appointment calendars where clients can book your sessions and track your activities.
There are more features that Squarespace offers you, and what makes it more convenient is that you have access to all these features from your Website's dashboard. One thing that users say when it comes to Squarespace's features is its quality and convenience
WordPress: You can have access to any feature you want through plugins.
WordPress, however, comes with good features too, but you'll need third-party apps to access extra features, which may become expensive quickly. Some features you have access to on Wordpressa are;
Multilingual Site Support:
Although Squarespace offers multilingual options for your site, WordPress offers more language options which are great if you can access many audiences worldwide. You can translate your website into over 70+ languages. You'll have to integrate a weblog on your Squarespace website to do that.
Publishing tools:
There is a reason why WordPress still ranks as one of the best blogging platforms to date. WordPress comes with robust publishing tools for your blogs. It even comes with HTML, where you can customize your blog posts uniquely. In contrast, you don't readily have access to Squarespace HTML.
Comment Management:
Similar to Squarespace, you can manage comments and allow them to go through filter stages before approval. Also, other WordPress blogs can comment on your post, which isn't supported on Squarespace.
Generally, both websites come with good features. Still, Squarespace is the cheapest option if you want all the features to grow your website and eradicate the fear of being susceptible to malicious codes. On the other hand, although WordPress doesn't come with all the necessary features, you can easily rely on plugins and third-party apps. However, the disadvantage is the cost of subscriptions and frequent upgrades and maintenance.
SEO: Squarespace Vs. WordPress
Search Engine Optimization is non-negotiable in any website's growth. It is like the fuel that gets your website to its destination. Therefore, it isn't a thing of debate that the website builder you are going for comes with powerful SEO features.
If you are wondering which platform is better at SEO, both are! Although they have varying SEO experience, the bottom line is to get the job done, which both platforms succeeded.
Squarespace - In-built SEO
Squarespace comes with its powerful in-built SEO that makes life easy for website owners and beginners. You can easily access all the SEO features from your website dashboard. Some fo the SEO features that comes with Squarespace is;
Sitemaps:
Squarespace automatically generates a sitemap for all your website pages, making it easy to crawl and understand your website.
Customizable URLs:
Customizing the URL of each page and a blog post can help tremendously in ranking that page. You can customize your URLs and input the right keywords on Squarespace.
Customizable Meta titles and descriptions:
You know the title and description you see on search engine pages before clicking the link? Squarespace allows you to customize how your website and pages appear on search engine results. This is the perfect place to input your website's keywords and rank higher.
Page redirects:
Squarespace automatically redirects your visitors to the new URL page if you change the old ones.
Alt text and product descriptions:
You can add image alt texts which is excellent for Google crawling and people with special needs. Also, when it comes to e-commerce, Squarespace allows you to make a lot of SEO changes.
There are much more SEO features on Squarespace. If these features are well-used, rest assured that your website will rank significantly on search engines.
WordPress SEO
WordPress also has SEO customizations, such as front page meta description, page title structure, and social previews. However, to get the best out of WordPress SEO, installing SEO plugins is the best. Yoast SEO is the best WordPress SEO plugin, with over 13 million users. It takes you through everything you need to know about SEO, including courses, link suggestions, and so much more. You can access it for free, but the magic happens when you opt-in for one of the premium plans, and the cheapest costs $99/year.
With Yoast Plugin, you have access to everything you need to rank your website.
Overall, both Squarespace and WordPress offer great SEO capabilities, and your websites will rank well on both platforms. However, if you're thinking of convenience, less expense, and an all-in-one SEO feature, Squarespace is the best option. But if you want a more flexible and comprehensive SEO plugin that comes with courses, support, and keyword suggestions, Yoast SEO is your surest bet.
E-commerce Capabilities: Squarespace Vs. WordPress
In this round, Squarespace also wins because of its in-built e-commerce features and robust plan.
Squarespace
Squarespace offers two e-commerce plans and also e-commerce features on its business plans. You can start selling products on the business plan, which costs $23/month. However, if you decide to sell on the business plan instead of subscribing to the e-commerce plan, you'll have to pay a 3% transaction fee for each product. If you sell a few products, this won't make much difference, but it may become expensive for larger stores. Therefore, you get basic and advanced e-commerce plans created for online stores.
Some of the e-commerce features that come with Squarespace are;
Inventory Management:
You get to manage your products, check the products in stock, track sales, include variants, and so much more.
Payment Options
Squarespace provides four payment options for selling, and if you want more payment options, you can quickly check out their App Marketplace called Squarespace Extensions
Tax and Shipping Calculations:
Squarespace automatically calculates the shipping and tax fees on its advanced plans, and it integrates with the biggest shipping companies, including UPS and FedEx
Dropshipping:
You can start your dropshipping business with Squarespace. You can access the most prominent dropshipping software, Spocket, and Printify. Squarespace also has extra features to run your dropshipping business successfully.
Subscriptions, Gift cards, and advanced discounts: Selling subscriptions, gift cards, and automatically applying discounts have never been more accessible. You can sell recurring subscriptions using Squarespace Commerce.
Abandoned Cart Recovery:
Send emails to buyers who didn't make it to the checkout page not to miss the deal. This is one important feature of e-commerce, and you are not left hanging if you use Squarespace. You also get the chance to send automatic emails depending on your settings.
Selling Offline:
Squarespace integrates with Square, so you are not limited if you have a physical shop. You can easily buy one of Squarespace POS and keep selling even in your physical shop.
WordPress - Woocommerce Plugin
Although WordPress doesn't have an in-built e-commerce function, it has a plugin built explicitly for that: WooCommerce. Woocommerce has proven effective in hosting and managing small and large stores.
Woocommerce comes with every e-commerce feature you may need, including adding products, selling digital and physical products, and payment options.
One advantage of WooCommerce is that it is fully customizable, so you don't have to deal with the customization features that Squarespace comes with. Also, it integrates seamlessly with WordPress, so you don't have to worry about compatibility issues.
WooCommerce pricing plans are considerable, giving you everything you need; however, to access more features, you'll need to access higher plans. You can find out more here.
Both platforms offer e-commerce functions. If you want to start an online store from scratch or integrate it with your business website, we strongly suggest you go for Squarespace. However, if you are more inclined to Wordpress or have a Wordpress website, Woocommerce is the best option.
related article: Squarespace Pricing Plans: A Complete GuideBlogging: Squarespace Vs. WordPress
A blog is a good marketing strategy for building your audience, passing across helpful information, establishing credibility, and positioning yourself as an authority. Apart from this, a blog is a great way to sell products, demonstrate integrity and turn readers into dogged visitors and customers.
WordPress is a clear winner in this round because it has established its credibility and has way more plugins to add to your blog to get optimum results. However, Squarespace doesn't fall far behind because it comes with in-built blogging features that can lead to the success of your blog. Let's take a closer look at both platforms.
Squarespace Blogging Tools
Apart from publishing and scheduling your posts. You can also add categories and add tags to your posts. Also, you can give people access to contribute without them having access to your entire website. This is great if you have more than one author or editor.
Another fascinating thing about Squarespace is its numerous blog templates that allow you to choose diverse layouts. You can decide to opt in for the chronological layout or go for a more sophisticated, magazine-like layout. Also, website templates are explicitly tailored for content and blogging, so you don't have to worry about your blog looking boring.
You can add summary blocks, add recent or previous posts, and even allow comments. The Squarespace blog also allows SEO, so you can optimize each blog post, edit URL, add alt text, and much more!
Squarespace is an excellent place to host and grow your blog, so you have nothing to worry about.
related article: Squarespace Domain Review: Everything You Need To KnowWordPress Blogging Tools
WordPress has many plugins that can take your blog to the next level. Although Squarespace comes with powerful blogging tools, it cannot beat WordPress. Wordpress allows users to access the HTML text of your blog and let anyone with a Wordpress account leave a comment on your blog. It is no doubt that WordPress offers a wide range of plugins and a bustling blogging community.
Apps & Integrations: Squarespace Vs. WordPress
Squarespace is also the winner in this round, not because of the number of plugins and apps but because of its quality and effectiveness. Squarespace comes with 31 plugins, and although it seems like a small number, these apps perform at their highest peak and are necessary.
Squarespace Extensions, the app marketplace of Squarespace, houses these 31 apps that cover shipping, taxes, language translation, etc. They are mostly e-commerce focused and were included after careful consideration by the team. Apart from this, you can easily run your website without installing any of these apps because all the required features are already built in.
WordPress, on the other hand, has over 60 000 plugins! There is no plugin you're looking for that you won't find on the WordPress marketplace. However, these plugins may not be effective because different developers build them. They may contain malicious codes that can breach the security of your website, and some may even affect your website's performance.
Therefore, it is important to read reviews before installing any plugin from WordPress, apart from the established ones like Woocommerce and Yoast, because you never know what you're installing and if it is worth the investment. Also, these plugins are free or paid, so with dedicated time, you may find some pretty good free plugins for your WordPress site.
related article: Squarespace Review: Is It Really Worth The Investment?
Mobile Apps and Editor: Squarespace Vs. WordPress
Squarespace offers four different mobile apps available on ios and Android, depending on your needs. They are;
Analytics: The analytics lets you view your website metrics on the goal. You can get insight into your pages' performance and what you need to improve.
Blog: You can write, edit and schedule on the go. You don't have to miss any inspiration because you are not close to your working desk.
Commerce: You can manage your store, check your inventory and approve sales from the comfort of anywhere you are currently at. This is super helpful for store owners that don't have a physical shop.
Squarespace App: This serves as the general app, and you can do many things there, such as editing images, reviewing posts and comments, etc.
On the other hand, WordPress offers an all-in-one mobile app also available on ios and Android.
Although it comes in different versions, all you need to do is to locate the right one, and you can edit your images, add blogs, keep track of analytics, and the like.
related article: 12 Best Squarespace Alternatives To Build A WebsiteSecurity & Updates: Squarespace Vs. WordPress
Squarespace updates are the simplest thing ever. You don't need to click a button to update your site. Squarespace automatically updates your websites, so you won't know when updates are happening.
In contrast, WordPress sends you a message to update your site, and the tricky part is that the plugins on your site may crash or cause issues to your website if the developers don't upload them automatically. Therefore, it is important to check if there will be conflicts with your themes or plugins if you decide to update your WordPress site.
Security
Squarespace wins this round because Squarespace allows you to sit back and relax because you know your website's security is covered.
Squarespace - Already done everything
Squarespace automatically protects your site once you create a website with them. You get a free SSL certificate that encrypts your site's data and protects your customer's information from breach.
You also have a GDPR security feature that is important if you are selling in the EU. In addition to this, Squarespace cookies make running your website safe.
Squarespace takes care of your website security without trying too hard, so there is nothing to worry about. Even your customers can be assured that shopping or visiting your website is safe.
WordPress - You're Responsible
On WordPress, you are responsible for the security of your website. You have to sort out your SSL certificate and ensure your data is well protected (Except you're using the self-hosting version of WordPress, which is wordpress.org).
Your security depends majorly on the hosting platform you're using. We strongly suggest you use Bluehost for your website's hosting platform. Apart from being the number one hosting platform for WordPress websites, it comes with all the security your WordPress needs, including a free SSL certificate.
related article: Squarespace Scheduling: The Ultimate Guide For Small Business OwnersPricing Plans: Squarespace Vs. WordPress
The cheapest plan is WordPress because it is a free, open-source website. However, you'll need to pay for hosting and plugins. On the other hand, Squarespace comes with four pricing plans.
Squarespace Pricing Plans
Personal - $12/month (annual payment)
You get access to all website features, such as
Free domain for a year
Free SSL Certificate
Unlimited Storage and Bandwidth
Blog
SEO tools
Customer Support, etc
Business - $23/month (annual payment)
The business plan comes with website features, including e-commerce capabilities and other features such as more contributors, CSS customizations, more video storage, etc
3% transaction fee
E-commerce capabilities
Selling unlimited products, etc
Basic Commerce - $27/month (annual payment)
Basic commerce is solely for online stores, and it comes with all the e-commerce features you'll need, such as
POS
Customer accounts
Selling on social media, etc
Advanced Commerce - $49/month (annual payment)
Advanced commerce comes with more features, such as
Selling subscriptions,
Abandoned cart recovery
Advanced APIs, etc.
related article: Squarespace Vs Shopify: Which Platform Is Best For Your Business?WordPress Pricing Plans
WordPress is free, but you'll need to sort out website hosting, domain names, themes, plugins, etc.
Website Hosting:
There are various website hosting platforms you can use, such as Bluehost, Dreamhost, and so much more. However, we'll recommend Bluehost because it is more reliable and provides your website with more security. It starts around $7/month ($84 annually)
Plugins:
Plugins generally cost around $10 - $50, depending on the one you are using. Also, the number of plugins you use depends on the features you need on your website.
Themes:
To get a decent look, it is best to go for a paid theme, ranging from $30 - $90.
If you calculate the amount of money you'll spend together to have a functional website; it may cost more than some paid plans on Squarespace.
related article: Wix Vs. Squarespace : Features & Pricing ComparedCustomer Support: Squarespace Vs. WordPress
Squarespace has unmatchable customer support compared to other website builders. Although they do not have phone support, their email and live chat are one of the best out there. They are available 24/7 and respond within one hour. Apart from these supports, Squarespace has an extensive library of resources that answer any questions you may have about your website. If that is not enough, there is an active forum to ask questions or find answers to your pending questions. Lastly, Squarespace offers robust webinars to orientate you on specific topics.
WordPress Support
Unfortunately, there is no in-house team for support, so you don't have any access to emails, live chat, or phone support. However, there are thousands of documents that past designers and developers have written where you can get answers to your questions.
However, Bluehost offers 24/7 phone support so that you can ask your pending WordPress questions to their representatives.
related article: 25 Best Squarespace Templates For Virtual AssistantsSite Migration
You can migrate on both platforms to a new website builder, so both platforms did great. Since Squarespace have all its features inbuilt, you can also migrate from WordPress to Squarespace or vice versa through the Squarespace dashboard.
WordPress also allows for site migration, so you have nothing to worry about. However, remember that neither platform doesn't support the migration of product pages, styling, videos, and audio.
related article: ConvertKit Review: Is It Worth The Investment?Final Verdict: Which Website Builder Is Best?
We've looked at Squarespace Vs. WordPress side by side, and I have realized that each platform has unique strengths. Squarespace has all its features built-in, so you don't have to worry about integrating plugins into your site. You can also build your site without knowing a single line of code, and of course, you'll come up with a professionally-looking site thanks to their top-notch templates.
WordPress, however, gives you full technical customization over your website and supports thousands of plugins. So, you can add any feature your website requires.
Depending on your website goals, both platforms are great for building a website. However, if you need a good-looking website on a considerable budget and don't require any technical background, Squarespace is the best choice!