Squarespace built its reputation on template quality — its designs still look more polished out of the box than most competitors, which is exactly why it remains the go-to for portfolios and design-conscious small businesses. All four plans now include unlimited product selling, which simplified a previously confusing tier structure.
Squarespace is an all-in-one website builder with hosting, domain, e-commerce, SEO, and email marketing tools bundled together, eliminating the need for third-party services most competitors require you to stitch together separately.
Basic: $16/month billed annually ($25 monthly) — unlimited bandwidth and storage, basic SEO tools. No product/service selling.
Core: $23/month billed annually ($33 monthly) — unlocks selling, waives online store transaction fees.
Plus: $39/month billed annually ($56 monthly) — abandoned cart recovery, subscription selling, lower processing rates (2.7% + $0.30).
Advanced: $99/month billed annually ($139 monthly) — lowest processing rates (2.5% + $0.30), unlimited video storage.
A 14-day free trial is available, but you must select a paid plan to publish your site — there's no permanent free tier. Each site you manage bills separately, so agencies running multiple client sites pay per site, not a bundled agency rate.
Professionally designed templates that hold up well without customization, built-in e-commerce with no separate cart software needed, integrated email marketing tools, and mobile-optimized sites by default across every template.
Pros: Templates remain genuinely more polished than most competitors out of the box, all-in-one bundling means fewer third-party tools to manage, unlimited product selling now included on every paid tier.
Cons: No free tier — you must commit to a paid plan to publish anything, the jump from Basic to Core (needed for any selling) adds real monthly cost, and per-site billing means multi-site agencies pay full price on each.
Portfolios, small businesses, and design-conscious personal sites that value visual polish over deep customization get the most from Squarespace's template quality. High-volume e-commerce sellers should compare Plus and Advanced's processing rate savings against their actual transaction volume before committing.
Wix offers more granular drag-and-drop control at a similar price point but with less consistently polished default templates. Shopify is the stronger choice specifically for serious e-commerce at scale, where Squarespace's commerce tools feel secondary to its design focus.
Squarespace remains the strongest pick for anyone who wants a site to simply look professional without much manual design work. Core is the sensible entry point once you need to sell anything; only pay for Plus or Advanced once your transaction volume justifies the lower processing rates.
Basic: $16/month billed annually ($25 monthly) — unlimited bandwidth and storage, basic SEO tools. No product/service selling.
Core: $23/month billed annually ($33 monthly) — unlocks selling, waives online store transaction fees.
Plus: $39/month billed annually ($56 monthly) — abandoned cart recovery, subscription selling, lower processing rates (2.7% + $0.30).
Advanced: $99/month billed annually ($139 monthly) — lowest processing rates (2.5% + $0.30), unlimited video storage.
Professionally designed templates that hold up well without customization, built-in e-commerce with no separate cart software needed, integrated email marketing tools, and mobile-optimized sites by default across every template.
Portfolios, small businesses, and design-conscious personal sites that value visual polish over deep customization get the most from Squarespace's template quality. High-volume e-commerce sellers should compare Plus and Advanced's processing rate savings against their actual transaction volume before committing.
Pros: Templates remain genuinely more polished than most competitors out of the box, all-in-one bundling means fewer third-party tools to manage, unlimited product selling now included on every paid tier.
Cons: No free tier — you must commit to a paid plan to publish anything, the jump from Basic to Core (needed for any selling) adds real monthly cost, and per-site billing means multi-site agencies pay full price on each.
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