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Best for Beginners
- Free plan includes comprehensive AI and editing tools
- Easy-to-use platform with intuitive design elements
- Ecommerce sites will need paid plans
Best for Online Entrepreneurs
- Professionally designed templates
- Detailed and easy-to-follow help center
- Limited customization options
If you’re new to web building, Wix offers robust and comprehensive AI tools to help you build a professional-looking website in less than 5 minutes. Squarespace also includes AI tools, but it may take longer to get your website up and running. When you do, though, you’ll have a professional site with the capabilities to grow your business.
Squarespace edges out Wix because of its broader access to ecommerce and payment tools, but that doesn’t mean Wix doesn’t have its merits.
Read on for a side-by-side comparison, including what we liked and how to determine if Wix or Squarespace is right for your online business.
Which web builder is the better value?
Which web builder has the best core features?
Which web builder is best for ecommerce and marketing?
Which web builder has the better support?
FAQs
Wix vs. Squarespace: Which is better?
Wix vs. Squarespace review at a glance
Wix offers a free tier and AI building tools, so anyone new to website design and management can quickly create a fully operational professional website. Squarespace includes ecommerce features with its Basic tier and allows budding entrepreneurs to grow their business based on their needs.
- Wix: Best for beginners
- Squarespace: Best for online entrepreneurs
Wix vs. Squarespace
Star rating | ||
Price | Free-$159/mo | $25.00-$139.00/mo |
Free trial | Yes — 14 days | |
Money-back guarantee | Yes — 14 days | |
Number of collaborators | Up to 100 | Up to unlimited |
Storage space | Yes — Up to unlimited | Yes — Up to unlimited |
Custom domain | Yes — Paid plans only | Yes (only for annual subscription) |
Site analytics | Yes, starting with Core plan | |
Ecommerce tools | Yes, starting with Core plan | |
AI tools | ||
Learn more | Get Wix | Get Squarespace |
How we test web builders
We use our proprietary grading rubric in all of our testing, which considers ease-of-use, design, price, compatibility, and features (among other metrics).
Our testing process is designed to ensure that the product isn't too confusing, delivers on its claims, and offers you a lot for a reasonable price. We sign up for each option ourselves, just like you would. Our ratings reflect the real-world performance of the product, which allows us to give our best advice on whether or not it's worthwhile.
To learn more about how we test, check out our full testing methodology here.
Wix pros and cons
Wix provided us with a useful and comprehensive way to create a website. We were impressed from the start with the intuitive AI-building tools, which had our Wix site created in less than 5 minutes. We also found the editing tools helpful in customizing the AI-built site to exactly what we wanted.
Starting for free and ensuring we created exactly what we wanted made us want to sign up with Wix. We fell in love with our little fictional site about reviewing books and saw how easy it would be to make it a reality. The only real downside to Wix was that we would have to pay for a custom domain and unlocked website that would be searchable online.
- Free plan includes comprehensive AI and editing tools
- Easy-to-use platform with intuitive design elements
- Low effort to start website building
- Ecommerce sites will need paid plans
- AI-generated content lacks depth and authenticity
Squarespace pros and cons
Squarespace helped us build a professional website after we answered a few quick questions. It focused more on fitting a premade template to our needs, prompting us with customization options, and producing a beautiful and functional Squarespace website.
The ability to adapt Squarespace to any type of website we wanted allowed us to see how effective this platform is for various businesses. Squarespace caters to people with more experience in ecommerce, but novices may find it user-friendly depending on their knowledge and skill level.
- Professionally designed Squarespace templates
- All-in-one hosting, security, and ecommerce platform
- Detailed and easy-to-follow help center
- Limited customization options
- Higher costs as business scales
Which web builder is the better value?
Wix has the advantage in price and value as it comes with a free tier and a money-back guarantee. This will allow someone to build a site and refine it before moving up to a paid tier.
While Squarespace might have more features per tier, you’ll have only a 2-week limit to determine if your site is what you want before you’ll have to pay for the service.
Best Value
|
||
Price range | Free-$159/mo | $25.00-$139.00/mo |
Best value plan | Core for $29/mo | Core for $36.00/mo |
Free trial | Yes — 14 days | |
Money-back guarantee | Yes — 14 days | |
Learn more | Get Wix | Get Squarespace |
Wix plans
Wix users have the option to join with a free plan. If you’re interested in building a website but want time to get it right, the free plan gives you the basics you’ll need. As your business grows, you can upscale to one of Wix’s other plans.
Free:
- AI building tools
- Customization options
- Editing tools
Lite:
- Custom domain
- Free domain for a year
- Remove Wix branding
- 2 collaborators
- 2GB of storage space
- Lite marketing tools
Core:
Everything in Lite plus
- Site analytics
- 50GB storage
- 5 collaborators
- Marketing, payment, and ecommerce tools
- Room for 50,000 products
Business:
Everything in Core plus
- Sales tax calculations
- Increased ecommerce tools
- 10 collaborators
- 100GB of storage
- More functionality in other features
Business Elite:
Everything in Business with more room to grow, including
- Unlimited storage
- Unlimited customer care
- 100 collaborators
- Upgraded marketing and ecommerce tools
Squarespace plans
Squarespace offers a 14-day free trial to give you time to build your site. If you start with the Basic plan, you’ll have features like analytics and ecommerce tools. Once your business grows, you can scale up with Squarespace’s higher-tier plans.
Basic
- Variety of templates
- Free custom domain
- AI tools
- 2 contributors
- Payment and ecommerce capabilities
Core:
Everything in Basic plus
- Unlimited contributors
- CSS & Javascript capabilities
- Google Workspace email
- Better payment and ecommerce capabilities,
- Shipping and tax services
- Analytics
- Small transaction fees
Plus:
Everything in Core plus
- API integrations
- Smaller transaction fees
Advanced:
Everything in Plus plus
- Even Smaller transaction fees
Which web builder has the best core features?
Squarespace has better features in every plan, including its lowest-tier plans. While you’ll need to subscribe to the Core plan on Wix to get ecommerce tools, these features come standard with every Squarespace plan.
Best Features
| ||
Number of contributors | Up to 100 | Up to unlimited |
Custom domain | ||
Free domain | ||
Site analytics | ||
Storage space | Yes — Up to unlimited | Yes — Up to unlimited |
AI tools | ||
SEO tools | ||
Professional email | Yes, via Google Workspace (not included) | Yes, free Google Workspace for the first year |
Learn more | Get Wix | Get Squarespace |
Wix's free plan doesn’t include many marketing or ecommerce tools. On the other hand, Squarespace doesn’t offer a free plan but provides ecommerce and some payment options, even with the lowest-tier Squarespace plan.
Being able to process payments on your website gives you a more professional appearance and makes transactions easier and safer for customers. We like that Squarespace payments are included with every plan, whereas with Wix, users must upgrade to the Core plan to access these features.
Anyone wanting to create a profitable website that looks professional and handles sales from the start will find the introductory Squarespace plans helpful.
Which web builder is best for ecommerce and marketing?
Both of these sites offer ecommerce and marketing tools that are helpful for the budding online entrepreneur, but Squarespace has the advantage. Wix includes more options for customer loyalty programs and has lead-building tools. Conversely, Squarespace offers more dropshipping and payment option integrations.
Our Pick
| ||
Customer accounts | ||
Customer subscription plans | ||
Customer loyalty programs | ||
Product reviews | ||
Newsletter list | ||
Physical point of sale options | ||
Physical product support | Integration with Modalyst | Third-party extension integrations |
Sales and discounts | ||
Gift cards | ||
Extras | Extensive AI tools, customizable templates, Google SEO integrations, lead-building tools, large widget library | AI tools, customizable templates, SEO checklist, widget library |
Learn more | Get Wix | Get Squarespace |
Wix allows your customers to set up loyalty programs, depending on your chosen plan. With Squarespace, you’ll need to use a third-party plugin like Elfsight to set up customer loyalty programs. Wix also includes lead-building tools, while Squarespace doesn’t offer as many options.
Squarespace gives you more control over where you source products and what payments you accept. You can integrate PayPal, Klarna, Afterpay, and more. While Wix offers helpful customer loyalty and lead-building tools, having more control over the sourcing and purchasing of your products gives Squarespace the edge.
As a business owner, you need a cookie policy to disclose what you do with user data. You also need privacy policies, a refund policy, and others. With TermsFeed, you can quickly create legal provisions for GDPR, CCPA, CPRA, and more.
Which web builder has the better support?
Wix includes phone support, whereas Squarespace doesn’t, but Squarespace’s self-help features are far more robust. Squarespace edges Wix out again due to the user-friendliness and depth of its online guides.
Our Pick
| ||
24/7 customer support | ||
Customer support options | Live chat, phone, email, online guides | Live chat, email, forums, online guides |
Learn more | Get Wix | Get Squarespace |
Wix pushed its 24/7 AI chat much harder than any of its other support options, but we liked that we could schedule a callback directly from the chatbot. We ran into some issues with the AI understanding us, but it quickly suggested human support options. Plus, Wix’s help center guides were helpful.
Squarespace’s help center had comprehensive online guides that made it easy for us to troubleshoot our problems ourselves without having to engage the chatbot. Email is available 24/7 and live chat keeps business hours, but we didn’t need to use either.
FAQs
What is the downside of Wix?
Wix requires users who want ecommerce platforms to upgrade. We found that you’d have to purchase the Core plan, the third tier, to get usable ecommerce features. If you’re dropshipping, you have fewer integration options for distributors and payments.
Do professionals use Squarespace?
Yes, ever since Squarespace hit the market, it’s been used by developers and entrepreneurs alike. Many professional people use Squarespace for their websites.
Should I switch from Wix to Squarespace?
We love Wix, but you may want to switch if your online business is growing. Squarespace offers a lower monthly cost on its highest tier and includes more integrations and payment options.
Is Wix good for beginners?
We think Wix is great for beginners. It’ll help you learn how to design and run a website and give you intuitive AI tools. Beginners can use the free plan for as long as they want to customize their site before having to upgrade to a paid plan for ecommerce integration.
Wix vs. Squarespace: Which is better?
Squarespace is the better option for entrepreneurs, but not by a lot. We like both platforms, but Squarespace edges Wix out regarding core and ecommerce features, as well as customer support.
Value | ||
Core features | ||
Ecommerce features | ||
Compatibility & customer support | ||
Learn more | Get Wix | Get Squarespace |
Overall, we recommend Squarespace.
Squarespace offers more ecommerce and core features in all its plans, while Wix requires you to upgrade to at least the third tier for functional ecommerce tools. We also found Squarespace’s online guides to be more user-friendly. Setting up and starting your Squarespace website may take a little more effort, but the web-building platform allows you to scale your online business as large as you want.
Even still, Wix is great for beginners. Its AI tools are incredibly robust, and once we created editing pages, we found they required very little effort. We did run into some minor issues with the AI chat support. The Wix platform also has a more limited selection of dropshipping and payment options. However, it’s still a comprehensive web-building option, especially for anyone who knows how to create websites.
Top alternatives
Wix and Squarespace are arguably two of the best web-building platforms for quickly creating a polished and functional ecommerce website. However, other web builders specialize in ecommerce, like Shopify and Square Online.
Or, if you’re looking for more hands-on integration, you may want to consider platforms like GoDaddy or Hostinger, which offer a WordPress builder in addition to web-hosting capabilities.
Star rating | ||||
Best for | Best for beginners | Best for small businesses | Best for Square POS businesses | Best for scaling |
Price range | Free-$159/mo | $25.00-$139.00/mo | Free or $79.00/mo (billed annually) | $29/mo-$2,300/mo |
Learn more | Read Our Wix Review | Read Our Squarespace Review | Read Our Square Online Review | Read Our Shopify Review |