Squarespace Review (2024) – Worth The Hype?

Building a website from scratch can be quite intimidating for beginners. It requires an investment of a chunk of time and resources, along with help from professional web designers. All of this can be quite expensive.

But what if you could design your entire website within a few hours all by yourself? This is possible with website builders. I have previously reviewed various website builders like Zyro, Carrd, Dukaan, and SwipePages on my blog.

And when I recently came across Squarespace, I decided to test it out as well. After testing out all the features of Squarespace for a few weeks and designing a few websites with it, I am here with its detailed review.

In this Squarespace Review, we will begin by discussing its user interface, editor, template collection, pricing, support, blogging, and eCommerce features. Later, we will also discuss its major pros and cons along with suitable alternatives.

So how good is Squarespace? Should you use it to build your professional websites and blogs? Well, let’s dive right in and find out in our detailed Squarespace Review. Let’s go!

Squarespace Review 2024

Kripesh Adwani

Ease of Use
Pricing
Templates
Features

Summary

Squarespace is one of the oldest and most reliable website builders that comes with advanced features for blogging and eCommerce. It’s a great option for anyone wanting to create professional websites quickly. 

Though its pricing plans are slightly expensive, its fast speeds, reliable mobile apps, and decades of experience make it a worthy buy!

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About Squarespace Website Builder

Squarespace started as a website building platform that was developed by Anthony Casalena for his personal use. Noticing the increased liking of the site from his family and friends, he established Squarespace as a do-it-yourself website builder in 2003. 

Squarespace banner

It is headquartered in New York but serves its software all around the globe and has shown tremendous growth since its inception. Building a website requires one to fulfill three primary criteria.

  • One needs to create a domain name that helps to locate the website.
  • A web host that helps your website to be accessed by others.
  • A catchy design to attract web surfers.

Keeping in mind these requirements, Squarespace helps to set up a website and provides all the basic requirements for managing and growing it. The program also comes up with creative and professional web templates, visual designs, SEO-friendly web pages, and simplistic and heavy content sites that are all easy to use for beginners.

Squarespace can be used by a company or an individual who needs a platform that helps them to create a website for their business. Even for personal use like setting up a blog space or professional service like a business page, Squarespace provides an end-stop solution for all.

Squarespace Review Video

If you prefer watching video content, then here’s the video review of Squarespace in the Hindi language with English subtitles.

Getting Started With Squarespace

You can sign up for a free trial on Squarespace. To help you design your website, Squarespace takes you through multiple steps where you need to select what your site is about and choose your aim and top goals with the site.

Getting Started with Squarespace

Then, it offers you a relevant collection of modern templates according to the choices made in the previous stages. Once you find a template that you like, you can click on ‘View Demo Site’ to view a pre-designed website using that template.

Previewing templates on Squarespace

If you’re satisfied with it, you can click on ‘Start with this design’ and sign up with your email or Google/Facebook/Apple account to design your website.

Squarespace Test Website

For testing out the features of the Squarespace website builder, I have used its Personal plan along with the Lakshi template.

Squarespace Test Website

The Personal plan offers access to all the important tools like pre-designed templates, SEO features, website metrics, and more. Your website stays as a sub-domain under Squarespace.

However, you can also connect your custom domain or get a free sub-domain by opting for a yearly subscription to Squarespace.

Squarespace User Interface

The user interface of Squarespace is commendable. It offers a clean, minimalistic, and spacious design to allow users to easily navigate different options and settings with no hassle.

Wix user interface

The left panel lets you switch between the Squarespace dashboard and domains. The main screen features your website, along with options to edit or tweak its settings. Finally, you can access the Squarespace support and account settings from the top right corner.

Overall, the interface is easy to use and understand for beginners and might be a piece of cake for professionals!

Squarespace Templates

Squarespace template designs

For website design, let’s come to the templates. Squarespace provides excellent styles that have been broken down into various categories based on the requirements. They range from Online Stores and Portfolios to Memberships and Blogs.

Squarespace has received good feedback for its template variations. It has 140+ high-quality templates. All of those templates offer a choice of customization. The professional-looking templates are quite helpful for small businesses, as their attractiveness brings in a lot of customers.

Squarespace Editor

While building a website from scratch, it is necessary to have functional features that are helpful when navigating through the website.

The editor offers nine crucial elements through which one can create a website. The preview button takes the editor to the front end of the page, allowing a sneak peek of the website.

Squarespace Editor options

All the other options provide a back-end development. These include:

  • Pages tab lets you create new pages and edit the existing ones.
  • Design tab lets you customize fonts, colors, browser icons, error pages, etc.
  • Commerce tab helps you manage your store’s orders, customers, inventory, etc.
  • Marketing tab lets you manage your email marketing campaigns and run promotional material like Instagram stories, pop-ups, etc.
  • Scheduling tab serves as an online assistant for making plans, adding tasks, and syncing with popular calendar apps.
  • Analytics tab lets you track and analyze your sales, traffic, products, search keywords, customers, etc.
  • Profiles tab lets you view a list of your subscribers, customers, leads, and donors.
  • Settings tab helps you toggle and change the comprehensive settings of the website.
  • Help tab lets you access Squarespace’s knowledge base, videos, webinars, etc.

Squarespace Fluid Engine Editor

Talking about the website editor, Squarespace offers its latest editor called Fluid Engine. It is a drag-and-drop editor with a beginner-friendly interface.

With this editor, you get a live editing functionality. This means whatever edits you make will be visible right away on the template. Unlike other website builders, Squarespace lets you edit right on top of the template.

Elements in Squarespace Editor

When editing a template, you can directly drag and drop elements into it. These include text, buttons, forms, images, videos, audio, integrations, business products, and many more. You can also add different sections like Intro, Contact, People, Products, About, Quotes, Menus, Forms, etc.

But a downside to the Fluid Engine editor is that you cannot place images or text wherever you want. Unlike the Wix website builder, you can only place the editor elements in pre-made positions defined by grid lines on the page.

Squarespace Editor limitations

The editor also takes longer to load. However, there are tricks to make your site load faster, like you can reduce the size of the images, avoid adding too many plugins, and use a few fonts.

An impressive feature of the Squarespace editor is its responsive mobile design tool. The changes you implement on the desktop mode are automatically reflected on the mobile version and vice versa.

However, this might also serve as a disadvantage for professional users who prefer customizing their websites separately for desktop and mobile viewing.

Squarespace Extensions and Integrations

Extensions help you extend the functionality of your website builder platform. Squarespace provides 30+ powerful extensions to cater to your website needs. However, some extensions are available on a monthly subscription basis.

Squarespace extensions

You can find integrations from the following categories.

  • Shipping and Fulfilment Category: Shippo, ShipBob, Order Desk, Ship Station, etc.
  • Finance Category: TaxJar, Dext, FreshBooks, etc.
  • Inventory and Products Category: Trunk, Spocket, Printify, Art of Where, etc.
  • Sales and Marketing Category: Mailchimp, SmartSEO, Judge.me, Channable, Outfy, etc.

I like the integration of Squarespace with Mailchimp (for email marketing), Google Analytics (for tracking website stats), and Stripe (for payments).

Squarespace Blogging Features

Setting up blogging websites is one of the significant services provided by Squarespace. Based on the theme of users’ blogs, Squarespace proposes an endless list of templates to select through.

It has beautiful and aesthetic-looking web pages that help you represent yourself. Talking about limitations, you can publish up to 1000 pages on your website along with unlimited blog posts, which is fantastic for a website builder.

Wix blog editor

In order to edit your blog, you need to use the Squarespace editor and head over to the Blog page under the Pages tab. The blog layout pans out with the header, followed by many sections you can add. Each section can accommodate many blocks.

These blocks can range from basic elements like text, audio, video, and forms to integrations like social media accounts. For stock images, they have inbuilt support from the Unsplash image library that makes the process smoother.

Squarespace blog elements

But the best part about Squarespace Blog is again its live editing feature. It has a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor. This means that while you are editing, it displays the text and elements exactly how they would appear on being published.

Squarespace SEO Features

Squarespace is the best solution for bloggers, as it makes their work simple. Talking about the SEO features, it lets you optimize both your website pages and blog posts.

Squarespace SEO options

You can add a featured image, image alt tags, post excerpt, post URL, social sharing options, etc. It also offers built-in mobile optimization, metadata editing, automatic markup, and the provision of sitemaps.

The SEO tools also give out an SEO checklist, which makes it easy for an individual to learn to optimize their site. Overall, Squarespace is a reliable platform for SEO features.

Squarespace Marketing Features

Email Marketing

Squarespace offers its native email marketing feature where you can create detailed marketing campaigns for your business.

Squarespace Email Marketing

Here, you can select your email templates from their collection, create mailing lists or import them to Squarespace, draft emails, and even automate them.

However, Email Marketing is a paid feature of Squarespace starting at $5/month. The Starter plan allows you to send out 500 emails/month on an annual plan, which is quite good when starting out.

Analytics

With Squarespace Analytics, you can track the performance of your website along with the behavior of your audience. This feature helps you analyze and track how your audience is interacting with your website.

Squarespace Analytics

You can get detailed insights and reports on your sales, revenue generated, website traffic, products sold, orders, traffic sources, traffic by location, and more.

Squarespace eCommerce Features

Squarespace is a great option for building eCommerce sites and online businesses. It can help you quickly set up an online store for your business.

Let’s look at all the eCommerce features of Squarespace, from adding products to your store to selecting a subscription plan.

Adding Products

The first step to setting up your eCommerce store is deciding what product you want to sell.

Squarespace - Types of Products

Squarespace offers you six different product options to choose from. This includes physical products, digital products, services, gift cards, memberships, and scheduling services. On selecting the product type, you can add products along with their images and descriptions.

Adding physical products on Squarespace

You can also set the price, stock, sale price, and related products, and customize the checkout pages. If you already have products listed elsewhere, Squarespace lets you import them from Etsy, Shopify, and Big Cartel.

Squarespace also offers SEO optimization for your product pages. You can add product categories, and tags, customize the URL and add social sharing buttons on your product page. Overall, it is quite effortless to add a product to Squarespace.

Setting up Payment Methods

Squarespace provides a limited number of payment options. Users living outside the US can connect Stripe and PayPal to collect payments from their customers. Whereas, users residing in the US can also opt for Square Payments.

Setting payment methods on Squarespace

You can also choose a currency for your online store from a list of 25+ currencies. Another thing to note is that if you opt for the Business plan, you are charged an additional transaction fee of 3%, which is eliminated on the higher plans.

Choosing Fulfillment Options

Under fulfillment options, you can specify the method according to which your shipping would be calculated.

Shipping methods on Squarespace

It can be a flat rate, according to rate, or as per different delivery services like FedEx, UPS, etc. You can also set shipping zones if you wish to sell your products in specific countries.

Finally, under pickup options, you can specify the detailed address where your products will be picked from for delivery to customers.

Adding pickup address on Squarespace

The eCommerce options provided by Squarespace are really efficient and would help you sell a variety of products with ease. However, you can also look at Dukaan and Zyro as potential alternatives for building eCommerce stores.

Squarespace Pricing Plans

Access to such good websites and beautiful templates come with a price! Here is the Squarespace cost breakdown, so you can choose which Squarespace plan will be the best for you.

Personal PlanBusiness PlanBasic CommerceAdvanced Commerce 
Pricing (paid annually)$16/month$23/month$27/month$49/month
Free Custom Domain (1 year)YesYesYesYes
Unlimited BandwidthYesYesYesYes
Video Storage30 mins30 mins30 mins30 mins
Premium IntegrationsN.A.YesYesYes
Contributors2UnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
Squarespace Video StudioLimited AccessUnlimited AccessUnlimited AccessUnlimited Access
Fully Integrated eCommerce N.A.YesYesYes
Transaction FeeN.A.3% 0%0%

The paid plans of Squarespace are on the expensive side compared to other website builders like Zyro or Weebly. They can be purchased on a monthly or a yearly subscription.

Squarespace also has an option to switch between plans, thus allowing users to upgrade or downgrade their subscriptions conveniently.

Free Trial

Squarespace does not provide a free plan, but it provides a free trial that is valid for up to 14 days. The free trial does not require a credit card and lets the users customize their template without restrictions.

After the trial expires, it requires one to select paid plans out of the Personal, Business, Basic Commerce, and Advanced Commerce plans.

Payment Methods

The payment for the subscriptions could be completed through a debit card or credit card issued by any bank. Squarespace also provides discount coupons for yearly subscriptions, as well as for students for educational purposes.

Discount Coupon Code

If you really feel like Squarespace would be a good option for you, I have an interesting discount coupon for you. You can use my link to purchase any plan of Squarespace and get a 10% extra discount by entering the coupon code PARTNER10.

Squarespace Mobile App

Squarespace has been modeled in a way that is accessible on mobile phones and desktop computers. Its mobile app is a complete replica of the desktop site and is available for both Android and iOS devices.

Squarespace Mobile app

Editing through a small screen could be difficult, so the app tries to fix all the issues that emerge from editing on the phone.

It lets you easily edit and update your website right from the comfort of your mobile phone. Adding new elements and sections on your page is a breeze with Squarespace. However, some blocks do not allow editing access on mobile.

Squarespace Mobile UI

Overall, the app is responsive, and I had a pretty decent experience using it on my iOS device. I feel that their mobile app would be valuable for those users who don’t have access to a PC all the time.

So, if someone wants to make some quick updates to their web pages, the mobile app would be a reliable solution.

Additional Squarespace Features

Apart from these, Squarespace also has a few notable features that will ease your website designing process. Let’s see what they are.

Logo Maker

Squarespace offers a free logo maker which is extremely easy to use. It comes with basic shapes and text options you can use to design a logo.

Squarespace logo maker

All you need to do is enter your company name, and tagline, and choose a symbol for your brand. Then you can edit the typography and colors on your logo and download it in PNG format. This is a simple, convenient, and time-saving option for beginners.

Video Studio

If you wish to create reels or shorts for your videos, the Squarespace Video Studio would be an awesome tool to try out.

Squarespace Video Studio

With this video editing tool, you can create promotional videos for your brand and social media. It is available as an iOS app. However, you can only access it for free if you have a Squarespace subscription.

Unfold

Unfold is an image editing application offered by Squarespace on Android and iOS devices.

Unfold_ A toolkit for storytellers

This tool is free to use and offers pre-designed templates to create stories, collages, and graphics. It offers filters and editing options for creating attractive graphics for social media.

Squarespace Customer Support

Squarespace as a company really cares about its customers. It has one of the best customer support systems that comprise an extensive knowledge base of articles on all the major topics.

Videos to help customers

It offers an ample amount of video tutorials to help beginners get started with their platform and build attractive and professional websites. You can also contact Squarespace through email or live chat support.

Squarespace support

The email replies are helpful and knowledgeable and your queries are resolved within 24 hours. Their live chat support is one of the best I have observed on any other website builder. Even though it’s not super swift, the quality of support offered is appreciable. Overall, the quality of support is quite good. 

Squarespace Sharing

They have recently introduced a permission section in the settings tool of the editorial section, which allows users to invite contributors to one or multiple sites and allocate different permissions.

Squarespace Permissions

You can assign any of the following roles to an added user: Administrator, Website Editor, Billing, Comment Moderator, Analytics, Store Manager, Squarespace Email Campaigns Editor, etc. You can also set access controls like administrator, view & edit, and view only.

Squarespace Pros

Template Collection

The extensive range of templates differentiated based on requirements has made it a go-to option for the choice of web layouts. The templates provided by Squarespace are customizable and mobile-friendly.

Marketing and SEO Tools

Squarespace’s extensive SEO and marketing features also help the brand stand out. They also have a native paid email marketing service that can help you with your marketing campaign.

Good Customer Service 

Squarespace also helps its customers by providing an extensive knowledge base of articles along with swift and knowledgeable live chat and email support.

The quality of their support is one of the best I’ve noted on any website-building platform.

Works Efficiently on Mobile App

It is easy to set up the website using mobile as well. It considers the graphic interface of the mobile and desktop without disrupting the quality of the content. These features make the software user-friendly.

Excellent Blogging Options

If you are looking to design a blog, Squarespace has got you covered with a range of templates, elements, and dedicated tools for blogging. You can also add unlimited blog pages to your site.

Range of Integrations

Square offers an array of integrations that help you run your business on the go. Mailchimp and Google Analytics are among them.

Squarespace Cons

Limited Customization

Many other web-building sites have surpassed Squarespace with their uniqueness. Squarespace has many restrictions to customizing your template and adding text and images which restrict you in terms of design.

Expensive Plans

Compared to its other site builder tools, Squarespace is pricier. It’s not costly or unjustified, but more expensive than its competitors.

Tools Slow Down the Site

The SEO tools provided by Squarespace are a blessing for novice users. However, it slows down the loading time, which adds to the disadvantages.

The other website builder tools available in the market are much better for professional uses, as the marketing tools are designed for the executive level and not on basic standards.

Squarespace Alternatives

Squarespace competes with various other website builders that provide equally impressive features. Let’s look at them in detail.

Wix

Wix is an easy-to-use website builder for beginners that features a commendable user interface, 500+ customizable templates, and a free domain, along with 24/7 customer support.

You can also avail a free trial of 14 days before investing in this website builder. Its pricing plans start at $16/month billed annually.

Weebly

Weebly is a multi-purpose website builder that allows you to create professional websites, blogs, and eCommerce stores. It also provides appreciable editorial features and lots of customizable templates.

This builder is highly recommended for beginners and learners. Its Starter plan is priced at $5/month when billed annually.

Zyro

Zyro is a user-friendly website builder that offers a simple grid layout and is easy to use. It comes with lots of responsive templates, good speeds, and drag-and-drop support for elements.

It also comes with various AI tools like Heatmaps and logo maker, reducing the user’s dependence on external help. Its pricing plans start from $2.99/month.

You can also get an extra 4 months of free access to any plan of Zyro by entering the coupon code KRIPESH on checkout.

Who Should Use Squarespace?

Squarespace is an open platform accessible to anyone who’s interested in creating a website. The target audience of Squarespace is bloggers who have little to no knowledge about creating a website.

Squarespace has attracted a fair amount of e-commerce owners with its professional and executive templates. The website also offers end-stop solutions for small businesses that want to expand their business on the Internet.

Reportedly, many big companies have adopted Squarespace like HBO, Accenture, and Wattpad. So, whether you are a newbie blogger, an entrepreneur, a small business owner, a freelancer, or an online store owner, Squarespace would be a suitable option for you.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Squarespace is a notable contributor to the website-building domain. They have been around for almost two decades now, which makes them a highly established website builder. I’m happy with how swiftly Squarespace has progressed as a company.

They have made many significant changes and improvements in their interface, design, and features, that are commendable. Despite the tough competition, it excels in providing a range of powerful features. 

You can create a wide range of websites with it, including blogging websites, eCommerce stores, portfolio sites, business websites, a combination of blogs and online stores, etc.

Although it is on the slightly expensive side, Squarespace is a reliable option when you need professional templates, fast speeds, helpful support, feature-rich mobile apps, and excellent blogging features. Overall, Squarespace is highly recommended for anyone who wants to create a website but lacks the technical knowledge to do so.

If you wish to subscribe to their paid plans, you can use my link to get a 10% off on all plans by using the coupon code PARTNER10.

Anyway, have you used a website builder before? Which is your favorite website builder in the market, and why? Do you think Squarespace is a good choice for a new blogger? Share your opinions in the comments section below. I’ll be waiting to hear them out. 

This is Kripesh signing off. Take care and keep learning. Cheers! 🙂

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the refund policy of Squarespace?

Squarespace offers a 14-day refund policy on its subscriptions. If you don’t find their website builder useful, you can get a complete refund of your money within 14 days. 

Does Squarespace include a free trial?

Yes, Squarespace has a 14-day free trial which starts as soon as one selects a template to edit. The free trial does not require one to provide credit card details.

What are the payment methods available on Squarespace?

When purchasing a subscription to Squarespace, the payment can be made through a credit card or debit card issued by any bank. 

Is Squarespace worth it?

I think Squarespace does what it promises to without a lot of catches. It offers marketing tools, integrations, quality support, and swift speeds, and has arguably one of the best collections of templates.

However, it is on the expensive side. So if your budget permits you, I think Squarespace is a great option.

 Sqaurespace Pros (+)

  • Template Collection
  • Marketing Tools
  • Good Customer Service
  • Mobile App
  • Integrations

 Squarespace Cons (-)

  • Limited Customization
  • Expensive Plans
Photo of author

Kripesh Adwani

Kripesh Adwani is a digital tool expert who buys, tests, and reviews SAAS tools for small businesses. Based on 10+ years of experience in tech he provides insightful reviews. His content is widely consumed, serving millions of users each month. Kripesh has also been featured in more than 50 publications, including The Economic Times, The Free Press Journal & Cloudways.

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