For business owners who do not want to pay thousands of dollars to website designers, platforms, such as Square and Squarespace, make creating websites easy even for the most coding illiterate among us. Despite similar names, Square and Squarespace are two different website-building companies with different strengths, weaknesses and price points. We have compared the two platforms to help you decide which one meets your business needs best.
Featured Partners
1
Wix
$17 per month
Yes
Yes
2
Web.com
$1.95 per month
Yes
Customizable templates, easy grag-and-drop technology, SSL certificate
3
Squarespace
$23 per month
Yes
Yes
Square vs. Squarespace: At a Glance
Square emerged on the scene in 2009 as a point-of-sale (POS) provider. Immediately, the company built its brand with the small white square card reader that allowed business owners to take payments anywhere without being tethered to a physical register. While best known for its point-of-sale system, Square offers various other small business tools including the website builder Square Online. Square Online provides free website templates to help businesses build a brand, connect with customers and sell products and services online.
Squarespace launched in 2003 in a dorm room at the University of Maryland. Since its inception, Squarespace has been devoted to helping everyday people build beautiful websites. Today, it is one of the leaders in the website building space, allowing users to create a customizable website or online store within minutes using its all-in-one solution.
Both platforms offer drag-and-drop templates, intuitive website building features aimed at business owners with no previous coding experience, security features and simple search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing features.
Square
Starting price
Free
$19.95 per month for a custom domain
E-commerce plans
Yes
Processing fees
2.9-percent plus 30 cents per transaction
Free
$19.95 per month for a custom domain
Yes
2.9-percent plus 30 cents per transaction
Square Online includes free unlimited hosting, a free URL, responsive website design tools, inventory management services, marketing tools and advanced reporting to track marketing efforts. One big advantage of using Square Online is that it seamlessly integrates with other Square tools. This integration makes business matters such as inventory management, sending email promotions, creating coupons and offering a rewards program to both online and in-person customers a piece of cake.
- Free plan available
- Slightly less expensive than Squarespace
- Very beginner-friendly
- Easy integration with other Square products
- In-store and online selling tools
- Mediocre templates
- Limited customization features
- Top-tier plan very expensive
Squarespace
Starting price
$16
per month
E-commerce plans
Yes
Processing fees
Varies by plan and payment processor
$16
per month
Yes
Varies by plan and payment processor
Squarespace is one of the leading all-in-one website builders on the market today for good reason. The platform allows users to create and maintain beautiful websites without any web design experience. Squarespace is best known for its high-quality, sleek templates. The customizable templates are photography heavy, enhancing artists, bloggers and product-driven online stores.
Squarespace offers four plans to meet the needs of any type of business. More advanced plans include discount codes, the ability to sell subscriptions, advanced analytics, real-time shipping quotes and merchandising tools. The simplicity of the software allows anyone to create a fully functioning website. Squarespace is also a fully hosted website builder, meaning you don’t have to purchase hosting services separately.
- All-in-one plans
- Monthly and annual contracts
- Impressive template designs
- User-friendly
- No transaction fees for top-tier plans
- Plans are more expensive
- Phone support not offered
- No free plan
How Square vs. Squarespace Stack Up
| Square | Squarespace | |
|---|---|---|
|
Forbes Advisor Rating
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Free Plan
|
Yes
|
No
|
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Paid Plan Pricing
|
$29 to $69 per month (billed annually)
|
$16 to $52 per month (if billed annually)
|
|
Features
|
Unlimited bandwidth and custom domain for paid plans, website builder, SSL security, extensive inventory management
|
SSL security, unlimited bandwidth, website builder, custom domain
|
|
Templates
|
Basic
|
Impressive
|
|
Marketing Tools
|
Lead capture forms, coupon creation, sell on social media platforms
|
Gift cards, abandoned cart recovery, product reviews
|
|
Customer Support
|
24/7 customer support via community forums and live chat. Phone support is available Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific time.
|
24/7 customer support via email, community forums and webinars. Live chat is available from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. Phone support is not available.
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Learn More
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Read Reviews
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There is no beating Squarespace’s template designs. The drag-and-drop features help inexperienced business owners create stunning websites with a little help from the free webinars and tutorials. On average, its plans are on the expensive side, but its top two e-commerce plans eliminate the normal 3% transaction fee on purchases, helping users save money.
Overall, Square is not as robust as Squarespace, however, with the exception of its top-tier plan, it is a cheaper option. In addition to a free plan, Square’s basic plans contain many features that Squarespace’s basic plans do not. For example, all of Square’s plans (including its free plan) allow users to sell their products on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Squarespace users will not unlock those features until the third most expensive plan.
Additional Features
Brick-and-mortar store owners already using Square for their point-of-sale system can link products sold on their Square Online store into Square’s inventory management system. Whenever a product is sold online or in person, the inventory management system will automatically update the inventory records. Square will notify owners when product stock is low. Square’s other key inventory management features include inventory level tracking, bulk upload options and notifications for inventory levels. These help business owners make better purchasing decisions, keep inventory organized and increase productivity.
Squarespace’s inventory management system is not as extensive, but it does allow users to check the inventory status on its mobile app.
Bottom Line
Squarespace is hands down one of the best website builders on the market because of its incredible supply of sleek customizable templates. If your business relies solely on e-commerce or if you are an artist who relies heavily on photography, this is the platform for you. Square is perfect for new business owners who do not need a complex e-commerce website or for owners of a brick-and-mortar store who would like an e-commerce website to complement their in-person sales.
Featured Partners
1
Wix
$17 per month
Yes
Yes
2
Web.com
$1.95 per month
Yes
Customizable templates, easy grag-and-drop technology, SSL certificate
3
Squarespace
$23 per month
Yes
Yes
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the best website builder today?
The top three web builders available today are Weebly, GoDaddy and Squarespace. These platforms feature prebuilt themes and drag-and-drop interfaces, making it easy and affordable to create a functional, well-designed website.
Does Square have a website builder?
While Square is best known as a point-of-sale provider, the platform also offers other business tools, such as inventory management, product management and a full online site building service. Square Online provides powerful website designs made for e-commerce.
Is Squarespace a good website builder?
Squarespace is a great website builder for those who are 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.
Are there any free website builders?
Square is one of a handful of website building platforms that offer a free plan. While the plan is forever free, it is limited. Users of the free plan cannot connect a custom domain or create password-protected pages, and their header and footer will contain Square ads. Get the complete breakdown of the best free website builders.