WordPress has reigned supreme in the world of website creation for nearly two decades, but things are comparatively different now. Today, several website builders compete with the WordPress powerhouse, giving it tough competition. One platform we find nearly competitive to WordPress is SquareSpace, which is quickly becoming a hot pick by developers due to its quick setup.
However, you cannot choose between WordPress and SquareSpace without defining your website goals. For instance, if you want to set up a website quickly, you would prefer SquareSpace. But if you want to build a custom website with superior functionality, a sturdy appearance, and more control over each website element, WordPress is the right platform.
While the debate about choosing between WordPress and SquareSpace will never end, the decision might become easier if you define your goals.
Here, we have compared WordPress and SquareSpace, as both website-building platforms have helped millions of people and businesses establish a strong web presence.
Note: In this comparison post, we are considering WordPress.org, an open-source self-hosted content management platform, and not WordPress.com, which is a typical website builder and lacks most of the functionality offered by WordPress.org.
Let’s start by defining what both platforms are and how to get started with them.
SquareSpace is a website builder designed to help people with no coding background create professional websites. It’s a hosted platform, which means you acquire its hosting as you sign up for it and don’t have to purchase hosting services separately from third-party hosting providers.
The designer-made templates make website creation a breeze, as you can pick a template that represents your niche and customize it to your liking using a drag-and-drop builder. The WYSIWYG editor reflects the changes as you make them in real-time, making it easier to predict the appearance of the final page. No one can manipulate the underlying code of Squarespace as it is proprietary software and does not allow anyone except the SquareSpace employees to contribute to the platform.
Since it’s an all-in-one platform, users can access all the tools. Its built-in capabilities make SquareSpace suitable for everyone who wants to do a quick website setup. The interface is friendly, and after learning a few things, anyone can build a full-fledged website with SquareSpace without requiring professional assistance.
WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) that powers over 43% of websites. It’s a hosted platform, meaning you must host your WordPress website with a third-party hosting provider like Bluehost, Siteground, Namecheap, GoDaddy, etc. Most hosting companies help you install and set up WordPress during signup.
The WordPress Gutenberg Editor works like a drag-and-drop builder and lets you quickly place blocks on the page where you want them. Installing WordPress Page Builder Plugins, a common practice for using WordPress, gives you more customization and flexibility to fine-tune your website to every nook and cranny.
Several free and paid WordPress themes are available that determine how your website will look. On theme marketplaces like ThemeForest, Envato, Colorlib, etc., you can find beautifully designed, premium themes for your website. Since WordPress is an open-source platform, anyone can create themes and plugins. Its source code is publicly accessible, and anyone can view and enhance it.
WordPress is free to install, but that’s not all. Setting up a WordPress site starts by choosing a reliable hosting provider. A good hosting company helps you install WordPress and makes it easy to use. Once the setup configurations are in place, you can kickstart website creation.
Both SquareSpace and WordPress are exceptional on their own but follow different approaches and target different ‘types’ of users.
If you are a pro at WordPress and comfortable with maintenance and self-owned work, you will not settle for anything but WordPress. This open-source CMS is a perfect blend of modernity and functionality, a treat for those who have tech skills and love to get into the codebase to not only create custom website but also themes, plugins, and widgets. Since WordPress is a self-hosted platform, users have to manage the hosting and domain setup, and handle several configurations on their own.
On the other hand, SquareSpace targets creative professionals and entrepreneurs who want to create a website without doing much work on the back end. This popular website builder has a user-friendly interface that anyone can master without learning coding. The drag-and-drop editor makes it truly effortless to create a website within a few clicks, and on top of that, there are multiple pre-designed templates to make the entire process even quicker. Squarespace has specifically marketed the paltfrom for non-techies, and with its built-in e-commerce features, anyone can create a modern online store and start selling products.
Before we get into the detailed comparison between this and that, here’s a quick side-by-side comparison to give you a quick sneak peek at which one ticks the right boxes for you.
| Features | WordPress | SquareSpace |
|---|---|---|
| Software | Self-hosted open-source content management system (CMS). | Proprietary website builder. |
| Ease of use | More complex, comes with a learning curve. | Quick to understand, easier to use with drag and drop interface. |
| Customization | Highly customizable with themes and plugins. | 180+ professionally designed templates. |
| E-commerce Capabilities | Requires plugins like WooCommerce, which is great for building advanced e-commerce stores. | Built-in e-commerce feature, suitable for a simple store creation. |
| Free custom domain | No, need to buy seperately | Yes (for 1st year) |
| Hosting | Self-hosted: requires hosting from a third-party hosting provider. | Hosted: offers hosting and bandwidth for the website and its content (all plans) |
| Free Version | Free to install. | Not free, but a 14-day free trial is available. |
| Blogging Tools | Extensive | Limited |
| SEO | Requires plugin for SEO optimization. | Built-in SEO tools. |
| Security | Requires regular updates and maintenance. | Squarespace handles most security aspects. |
| Total Cost | It is completely free to install and use, with free plugins and themes available. However, it requires hosting and a domain. Furthermore, the price may increase if you opt for premium plugins and themes for your website. | Paid plans range from $16/month to $52/month and include a domain, hosting, SEO, e-commerce plugins, etc — a complete website setup. |
| Scalability | Highly scalable, can grow with your needs. | Good for small to medium websites. Limited scalability for complex websites. |
| Support | Forums, third-party developers, paid support. | 24/7 active, dedicated support. |
| Ownership | You own all your website data. | Squarespace owns the data while you use their service. |
Both SquareSpace and WordPress offer a wide variety of pre-designed templates to help you build your website’s foundation based on your business niche and goals.
SquareSpace has almost over 180 pre-made templates that follow almost the same underlying structure and are developed by SquareSpace developers. These are free and neatly crafted, so everyone can use them according to their specifications. Whether you are running a business, selling products, or a creative professional, you will find SquareSpace templates highly accommodating to your needs. You can easily pick one by previewing it for mobile and desktop devices. You can also create a template using SquareSpace BluePrint AI and customize it easily.
While SquareSpace templates are limited in numbers, the platform has always prioritized quality over quantity, so its templates compete with other first-class website builders like Wix, Webflow, etc. SquareSpace’s built-in customizer makes the templates easy to tweak, such as changing the color and font and uploading logos and images. With SquareSpace, you can make your website not only look good but also functional to meet your business goals, without much effort.
Although SquareSpace templates make website creation easier, they have limited layout choices. While the templates and designs are aesthetically pleasing, they have limited customization freedom, and you can only add custom CSS within the parameters defined by SquareSpace.
WordPress offers a wide range of free and premium themes that are highly customizable and responsive. Many themes come with built-in page editors and several features to make website creation a breeze. While the number of themes is limitless, there is a mixed collection of themes, some beautifully designed while others have outdated designs.
While WordPress offers several free themes, there is a chance that plenty of people have already used the same theme, making it difficult for your website to have a distinctive look. In that case, you can head over to several WordPress theme marketplaces online, such as Colorlib and ThemeForest, where you can find paid themes developed by third-party developers. These themes range from less than $80 and go upto $1000 depending upon the license you choose. Some themes cost a one-time fee, while others are charged yearly, giving you access to the theme updates and support. You may customize the theme to fit your design requirements and create beautiful custom layouts within minutes. Moreover, WordPress lets you switch themes and gives you more control over your website’s appearance.
The sheer number of theme designs and the ability to customize them make WordPress a favorite of developers but confusing to beginners. And if you accidentally install a malicious WordPress theme, your website security can be compromised, so it’s vital to install a theme from a reputable source.
Verdict: While SquareSpace templates offer better design aesthetics and an easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor for customizing them, WordPress is known for its massive marketplace. So, it’s a tie here, as both WordPress and SquareSpace offer appealing templates for building a website smoothly.
One of the major concerns for entrepreneurs and startup owners who want to create a web presence is how easily and quickly they can get accustomed to the platform. Signing up for a new dashboard and setting up a new website can be overwhelming. Let’s see how SquareSpace and WordPress differ in their learning curves and how quickly you can set up a website.
Understanding the platform is as smooth as butter, as no coding or technical setup is involved. The intuitive drag-and-drop editor is highly flexible and easy to use, and you can quickly get used to it in minutes. You can easily drag the content blocks, images, and other elements and drop them wherever you want on the page. The content editor is simple, too. Just locate the element you want to change, click on it, and make changes as you want. Moreover, you don’t have to switch back and forth between your website and dashboard to see the changes as you edit the front-end page in real time. The sidebar menu is clean and has fewer options, making the navigation easy and manageable.
SquareSpace offers a versatile ‘Fluid Engine’ that gives you maximum control over your website layout and allows you to customize the mobile view of your site without affecting its desktop version. You can even duplicate the blocks and save time. It is also easier to use and more flexible than Classic Editor. Although no tablet view editor and image block layouts and animations are missing, its extensive features and usability exude its friendliness for beginners and pros.
Once you understand the platform, it’s just a matter of a few hours to build a custom website with SquareSpace. There is an introductory tutorial that walks you through every aspect of the website as well.
While Squarespace allows you to customize the website elements, you don’t have complete control. You can edit an element and adjust the layout formats and space, but the customization capabilities are not extensive like those of WordPress and depend upon the on-page options supported by the chosen template.
SquareSpace also offers SquareSpace AI Blueprint, which generates a template with the help of AI. To start with SquareSpace Blueprint AI, you have to go through the setup process, mentioning the website title, brand personality, sections you want to add to your home page, pages, color scheme, and fonts for your website. Once you specify everything, the system will transform your specifications into a beautifully designed website template that you can customize further.
If you are using WordPress for the first time, you might find its dashboard cluttered if you have installed or need a lot of plugins. But if you are ready to spend time learning WordPress configuration, you can easily create a website and tweak all elements to your satisfaction. The recent launch of WordPress Gutenberg Editor has made content editing fun. Moreover, several WordPress website-building plugins (page builders such as Elementor, Divi, etc.) are available to help you create a website with the drag-and-drop approach and make customization a breeze. It is no surprise why users find installing page builders more convenient.
While setting up a website in WordPress might seem tedious for beginners, but if you are a designer or developer, you can do tons of exciting things with WordPress, such as tweaking and turning every line of code.
It is worth mentioning that its block editor can sometimes be confusing, especially for beginners. Moreover, you have to be proactive when installing themes or plugins, as some are easier to install while others require additional steps after they have been installed. If a theme is not like the demo or the plugin doesn’t do what you need and works differently than mentioned, it can cause serious trouble for users without prior WordPress experience.
Without coding & technical knowledge, and experience, you can stumble at the WordPress backend as a beginner. But once you adapt to the WordPress ecosystem, you can build anything from scratch and master it.
While setting up a website in WordPress might seem tedious for beginners, but if you are a designer or developer, you can do tons of exciting things with WordPress, such as tweaking and turning every line of code.
It is worth mentioning that its block editor can sometimes be confusing, especially for beginners. Moreover, you have to be proactive when installing themes or plugins, as some are easier to install while others require additional steps after they have been installed. If a theme is not like the demo or the plugin doesn’t do what you need and works differently than mentioned, it can cause serious trouble for users without prior WordPress experience.
Without coding & technical knowledge, and experience, you can stumble at the WordPress backend as a beginner. But once you adapt to the WordPress ecosystem, you can build anything from scratch and master it.
Verdict: While both platforms require some learning, SquareSpace has a more user-friendly interface and easy-to-use features for beginners compared to WordPress, but the customization capabilities are limited. WordPress has a steep learning curve but unlimited customization options to create a custom website that is completely under your control.
The purpose of plugins is to extend the website’s functionality without writing code. These extensions allow better customization and optimization and enrich your site with tons of functions and features.
While SquareSpace has not officially released any plugins, the Squarespace developers have introduced integration with third-party extensions to meet your needs and make your website more customizable and functional. The third-party plugins come under the SquareSpace extensions that you can use for different purposes such as dropshipping, SEO, website translation into multiple languages, shipping and inventory management, etc. In Squarespace, you don’t have to figure out yourself which extension you should install as SquareSpace has provided all the useful extensions for each purpose. However, unlike WordPress, the number of extensions and integrations is limited.
WordPress has a large repository of over 59,000 plugins, which keeps on soaring high as third-party developers develop custom plugins for every need regularly. Unlike Squarespace, WordPress heavily relies on its plugins. Installing the right plugin on your site allows you to add rich functionalities and customize it to perfection without any code input.
WordPress offers free and paid plugins for every need. Furthermore, there are several third-party plugin marketplaces to satisfy your needs. With such an extensive availability of plugins, it can be quite overwhelming to pick a plugin that exactly matches your specific requirements. Also, when a plugin does not deliver what it claims, users have to install more plugins to accommodate the functionality.
While plugins bring greater functionality, installing too many can severely impact your website’s speed. Also, installing a malicious or poorly coded plugin can risk your site’s security and performance. To prevent these scenarios, it is crucial to pick a plugin carefully from trusted sources only.
Verdict: With its extensive plugin repository, WordPress wins this war over SquareSpace, which comes with limited built-in features and extensions.
With the increased mobile traffic on websites, most website-building platforms have started prioritizing mobile-first experiences. And why not? It’s more important now than ever to have a website that looks great on small screens and does not make mobile users feel forbidden.
The Squarespace templates are responsive by default, and after the release of Fluid Engine, you can control how your website will look on mobile screens; you can design the mobile version of your website independently from the desktop version, which is just GREAT. You may view your website on desktop and mobile devices to see how its layout adapts to the screen size and implement the changes to accommodate certain elements well.
With the Device View, you can view different views of your website when you are testing responsiveness from a desktop computer. You may also turn off the mobile popups and adjust the image galleries accordingly.
While the SquareSapce responsive editing capabilities are good, there are only two views, desktop and mobile, and there is no way to edit for other screens without installing a third-party extension. Also, hiding elements on mobile or desktop may frustrate beginners.
Most WordPress themes are built responsive, meaning the websites look great on desktop and mobile devices. However, if you find any issue with the design or functionality, the default Customizer of WordPress lets you customize different views of your site and preview the changes as you make them. Click on the respective device icon to switch between mobile, desktop, and tablet views.
Moreover, installing a page builder gives you more options and control over your website’s responsiveness. For example, Elementor allows you to view your website for 7 different screen sizes, make changes, and even show or hide elements for different screens with just one click, making your website perfect for each audience.
Verdict: SquareSpace Fluid Engine lets you customize your website’s mobile capability. However, with WordPress, you get complete control over editing your website layouts across every device, including mobile screens, tablets, and desktops.
Choosing between SquareSpace and WordPress largely depends upon their value for money. Those who are building a website on a budget prefer to choose a platform that offers the required features without costing them too much.
Note: All the prices mentioned in this section/article follow the platform’s billed annual structure, not monthly. The prices are valid as of December 17, 2024.
Unlike other website builders, SquareSpace offers no free plan, and its premium plans start at $16 monthly (billed annually) with a 14-day free trial. Users may choose to purchase any of the plans based on their requirements, from a basic website to an advanced e-commerce store website, and every plan offers a decent number of tools and features to those who want to build websites without starting from scratch and getting into the technical work.
SquareSpace offers a free domain for the first year on each plan. Moreover, you don’t have to purchase separate hosting, and you automatically acquire fully managed cloud hosting once you sign up for any of its paid plans. Unlike most hosting providers, SquareSpace does not trick users with a low price that later increases to manifolds upon renewal. It keeps everything transparent by offering a cost that remains the same without any hidden charges. This is an excellent advantage of Squarespace over using WordPress.
If you want to build a basic website, you may find its Personal Plan more suitable as it offers all the fantastic features and pre-built templates to create a custom website quickly from start to end.
Squarespace also facilitates e-commerce business owners. So, if you want to make an e-commerce website, sell products and services, and begin taking payments on your website, you may consider SquareSpace’s Business plan, which costs $23 monthly (billed annually). To grow your online business, direct customers to the checkout page, and leverage the built-in tools to maximize your sales, such as advanced shipping, powerful merchandising, etc., you may upgrade to the SquareSpace basic or advanced Commerce plans that range from $28 per month to $52 per month (billed annually.)
If you want to create a portfolio website or a simple blogging site, the SquareSpace Personal Plan accommodates your needs well and offers good value for money. But if you plan to sell with SquareSpace, you must get any of its Business or Commerce plans. While its Business plan charges 3% transaction fees, the SquareSpace Commerce plans do not charge any fees on online transactions.
WordPress is an open-source CMS that is free to download and use. However, to launch your website, you must purchase a domain and a reliable host. Registering your domain will cost between $10 and $20 per year, but most hosting providers offer a FREE domain (for the first year) in their plans, so you don’t have to buy a domain separately if you’re just starting. Hosting costs vary greatly, from under $5/monthly to going upto $80/monthly, depending on your website needs.
Tip: Don’t buy your domain before comparing and finalizing the hosting provider and plans. You will most likely get a FREE Domain for the first year with your hosting, saving you the domain cost for the first year.
Several hosting companies offer hosting for as low as $1.58/month, but only if you buy for 2 to 3 years. And once your initial limit is over, the renewal cost may rise up to 2 to 5 times that original price. Moreover, these plans are super basic; they have low storage and bandwidth and can’t handle significant traffic, so you may have to upgrade your plans for your business website. So don’t get tricked by the hosting providers who market them ‘cheaper than SquareSpace’ as ‘cheaper’ does not mean better or better value for money in the long run.
Moreover, since most WordPress themes are not too appealing, you may have to purchase a premium theme that may cost between $20 to over $700 per theme. Some themes are charged per site and annually, while some offer lifetime plans. The additional costs of plugins are also to be considered, ranging from $20 to $200 annually per plugin, which means that besides being marketed as a free paltfrom, WordPress will cost you a significant amount of money.
Also, if you want to hire a WordPress developer to create a complicated WordPress site, you must add this cost to your cost breakdown. There are website maintenance costs if you want your website to perform optimally. So, in WordPress, evaluating the total expense of website creation is pretty complicated.
Conclusively, while WordPress is free from the get-go, practically, it is not ‘really’ free when creating a website. However, the expenses of creating a WordPress site can be controlled and managed and bring value for money. Not to mention, the power and customization capabilities you can achieve by paying for the desired host, premium themes, and plugins are worth each dollar. The Kemo SaaS Ultimate plan offers hosting for WordPress sites along with SSL certificates and priority support.
Verdict: SquareSpace and WordPress have different pricing structures. While SquareSpace offers everything in a package, making it a predictable expense, the cost of creating a website with WordPress greatly depends on how many premium resources you plan to add to your site. However, you have the freedom to use free resources and pay only for the domain and hosting, keeping the cost as minimal as possible.
A blog is essential to keep your website visitors engaged and establish yourself as an authority in your industry. With a regularly updated blog, you can connect with your audience and help your website perform better in search engines. Whether using WordPress or SquareSpace, you can easily add a blog to your website.
With SquareSpace’s user-friendly interface, adding and managing a blog is easy. There are multiple blogging tools that you can use to create and schedule blog posts, categorize posts, enable comments, share your blog posts on social media, and set up multiple authors, as everything is guided inside the paltfrom. Most of the SquareSpace templates are equipped with a ‘Blog’ page and other features like thumbnail images, blog post widgets, author profiles, etc., to give your blog page and posts a stunning appearance. There are content blocks, and each block offers several layout control options.
While SquareSpace has a nice set of blogging capabilities, it also has some limitations, such as limited heading styles, a lack of auto-save, and version history. While SquareSpace makes it effortless to set up a blog, its blogging tools lack intuitiveness.
WordPress started as a blogging platform, and even today, it powers most of the blogging websites on the internet. It offers a block editor, categories, tags, a native commenting system, and every tool to help you do blogging. WordPress lets you create a blog in your language, make your content private or public, secure pages with passwords, create beautiful blog posts, and enrich media files. The commenting system lets any user with a WordPress account comment on any WordPress blog, fostering a community of bloggers. You can also add and manage multiple authors on your site and display author profiles in various ways.
Several plugins help you create custom designs flexibly without writing code. Thousands of pre-made themes are available to help you customize your blog’s appearance, and you can even edit the source code for advanced customization. But with this greater flexibility comes a learning curve, especially for beginners. WordPress’s advanced blogging ecosystem might cause you to stumble while setting up a blog.
Verdict: WordPress is unarguably the best platform, along with blog-specific plugins and tools to help you build any blogging site. While SquareSpace has a quick and user-friendly setup, it is only suitable for creating a simple blog.
We see online stores excel everywhere, as almost every website sells something online. SquareSpace and WordPress both help you create and run an e-commerce store. However, like in other aspects, both platforms take different approaches.
SquareSpace offers pre-made commerce templates that you may choose to start creating your e-commerce store. While these template designs are quite limited in numbers, they are sufficient for e-commerce needs, and you can easily customize them by setting the text alignment, choosing how to display the product, creating stunning layouts using SquareSpace’s built-in editing capabilities, adding animations, etc. Setting up an online store with SquareSpace does not come with a learning curve, as you can smoothly create product pages and catalogs, incorporate payments and sell unlimited products on your website.
Once you upgrade to SquareSpace’s advanced plans, you can access decent e-commerce features, including abandoned cart recovery, dynamic shipping rates, label printing, unlimited inventory, selling on Facebook and Instagram, POS, subscription selling, etc. If you want to create a simple store and sell online in only one currency, the platform’s e-commerce capabilities are pretty enough. Many users find SquareSpace satisfying their needs, as setting up an online store is straightforward and painless. Everything can be done from a single dashboard without requiring any professional assistance.
SquareSpace accepts payments via PayPal, Stripe, and Square. SquareSpace Payments is available for businesses in the USA, UK, and Canada for commerce and digital products, including donations, subscriptions, one-time purchases, member sites, etc.
The platform does not support multi-currency selling, which might be a problem for those who want to establish a global online store. Currently, SquareSpace does not facilitate payments via Google Pay. SquareSpace POS is only available in the USA and is supported by the iOS app.
While the limitations might hinder you from reaching a worldwide audience, the built-in capabilities of SquareSpace are fairly enough to cater to the needs of a basic store. To manage a more complex e-commerce store, look for a more dedicated platform like Shopify.
WordPress does not come with built-in e-commerce features, but as they say, with plugins comes greater functionalities. By installing a WordPress e-commerce plugin, you can add retailing functionality to your website that surpasses the functionality offered by SquareSpace. While this functionality comes with a learning curve, it is exceptional and flexible in so many ways.
With WordPress plugins, you can easily create a friendly checkout, manage inventory, automate tax calculations, and do many exceptional commerce things. You can sell digital and physical goods and subscriptions, run an affiliate program, and grow your sales by using marketing techniques. There are also multilingual site options to make your site accessible in more than 70 languages, meaning more business.
WooCommerce is a powerful e-commerce plugin for WordPress that gives you complete control over your store. You can add features to your store and monitor its growth within WooCommerce Admin, a powerful dashboard. The WooCommerce Marketplace has thousands of extensions, free and paid, to help create powerful stores and extend store functionality. With the WooCommerce Mobile App, you can manage your online store from anywhere.
In terms of creating an aesthetic online shop, nothing beats the customization freedom offered by WordPress. You can create beautiful product pages and customize them using product blocks. You can accept online payments via PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay, and even Bitcoin, which helps you establish a global online store.
Verdict: SquareSpace works great if you intend to create a simple online store, but the customization and powers WordPress brings with its e-commerce-compatible plugins are hard to beat in every aspect. There is a tie between WordPress and SquareSpace, and choosing one depends on the type of online store you want to create.
After you have created and customized a website, it’s time to get eyeballs on it. Obviously, you are making an online presence to get search engines to recognize its purpose and people to come to it. When it comes to picking a platform that optimizes your website for search engines, both WordPress and SquareSpace do great. However, they both optimize your site in different ways.
SquareSpace offers built-in SEO tools to optimize your website for search engines. You can incorporate relevant keywords into your website content and customize the default SEO page title and descriptions. It lets you add image alt text and customize the URL of your page. SquareSpace gives your on-page SEO a solid foundation, and with its responsive templates, you can create a website that looks great across all devices and loads fast. SquareSpace also takes care of your sitemap, so you don’t have to do it manually.
Interestingly, SquareSpace provides a detailed SEO checklist to provide users recommendations on optimizing the site and help users keep up with the changing landscape of search engines. The features like an automatic SSL certificate, customizable URL slugs, and page redirects ensure that users have a seamless experience on your website regardless of their device. You can track the Google insights to analyze your site’s performance and adjust your SEO strategies for improved visibility.
In addition to the built-in SEO, you can also install an SEO extension on your Squarespace website, SEOSpace. This extension is beginner-friendly and provides a clean SEO checklist for you to implement for your website’s basic SEO. Though the options are not advanced, websites created with SquareSpace may rank well on Google, as seen.
Like Squarespace, WordPress gives you complete control over your site’s on-page SEO. You can customize meta titles and descriptions, add image alt text, and create a search-engine-friendly URL. WordPress themes and templates are also optimized for search engines, so whatever theme you choose will give your website an SEO-friendly foundation.
WordPress has an advantage over SquareSpace because the former allows you to edit the code and remove unnecessary coding. You can even install SEO plugins to optimize your site content and get your hands on features like XML sitemaps, redirects, page speed, breadcrumbs, schema markup, etc. There are certain plugins that you may install to add required data to your web page with less effort. Installing SEO plugins lets you get recommendations and improve your site’s SEO.
Since WordPress is a self-hosted platform, you can choose a hosting provider that optimizes the page load speed and follows Google’s ranking algorithm. With WordPress, you can control which plugins you should install to improve your website speed and performance.
Verdict: WordPress and SquareSpace give you good control over your site’s SEO, but there is a significant difference. SquareSpace’s SEO features and tools are built-in, while WordPress SEO depends on plugins. If you want to put serious effort into your site’s SEO, you might be satisfied with the flexibility and feasibility offered by WordPress.
Security is one of the major concerns for anyone who intends to build a website. No one wants to make their websites vulnerable to hackers and threats, so choosing an utterly secure platform is a must.
SquareSpace is a hosted platform, which means that it takes care of everything on its own for you. No third-party developer or coder can modify the core software, ensuring security. The paltfrom ticks all the boxes to protect your website against hackers by providing a SSL certificate, two-factor authentication, and PCI-DSS compliance. Moreover, the platform performs automatic software updates to keep your site updated and working optimally.
Websites made with SquareSpace have fewer chances of getting hacked, and such instances only happen if you use a weak password, allow a random team member to contribute to your SquareSpace account or website, or turn of two-factor authentication. However, these instances are not directly linked to SquareSpace security measures and depend upon the end-user’s handling of his site’s security individually.
One thing to mention here is that SquareSpace does not offer automatic backup of your website. You have to do it manually by exporting your site content as an XML file, duplicating your site regularly, or storing your assets in Google Drive.
With WordPress, you are responsible for maintaining your website and ensuring it’s not vulnerable to outside attacks. You must ensure that the WordPress themes and plugins are up-to-date, and if any mishaps occur, it can lead to compatibility issues, data loss etc. There are higher chances that a plugin is poorly coded, and installing it can compromise your site’s security.
Moreover, you or your website developer must get SSL certificate and two-factor authentication. The web hosting provider you choose also significantly impacts your website security. Several shared hosting companies don’t put much effort into site security and maintenance, so you must carefully choose the hosting provider to host your WordPress site.
Although WordPress does not offer built-in security features, you can still create a highly secure WordPress site with the right people and tools. Regular security audits can also help you evaluate your site’s performance and prevent it from being affected by dodgy code.
Verdict: SquareSpace’s built-in security features make websites less vulnerable to outside attacks and make it a more secure platform than WordPress. If you want to keep your WordPress site secure from outside attacks, you have to take the job into your own hands, install security plugins, and configure everything.
Regular site maintenance is crucial to running your website smoothly and improving performance. Website performance and speed are essential ranking factors that can be achieved with consistent site maintenance.
With SquareSpace, you don’t have to worry about constantly maintaining your site, as the platform takes care of everything. Since you automatically acquire SquareSpace hosting after signing up for the platform, you are also free from taking care of your site hosting. From software updates to server settings to web hosting, the paltfrom is in charge of your website maintenance work so you can focus on improving your site content.
With WordPress, you are responsible for maintaining your website and ensuring that every plugin and theme you use is up-to-date. You must keep your site updated so nothing can breach its security. You can put your WordPress site into maintenance mode in case of more significant fixes, like switching servers or redesigning it. By doing this, you can inform visitors about the maintenance work on your site and give them an estimated time for your site to be live again. You can choose a hosting plan that offers regular site backups so in case something goes wrong, you can retrieve your website.
Verdict: SquareSpace has an edge over WordPress as it handles all the website’s backend maintenance, and the user does not have to worry about regular updates. While with WordPress, it depends on your choices and work.
Data portability is the ability to move data between different platforms, applications, and environments without affecting the data usability. It gives users more control over their data and makes them switch between services without losing their data. Whatever platform a user is using, he should have the freedom to switch from it if he does not like the platform, and the platform should be accommodating enough to streamline the data portability.
Although SquareSpace offers data portability, it has limitations. Like other proprietary website builders, SquareSpace uses data to keep users hooked on its platform, which is disappointing. When exporting data, you can only export specific content, including galleries, pages, and a blog page, in an XML file. You cannot export product pages, video blocks, custom CSS, style changes, and album pages when migrating away from SquareSpace. And you have to import the data manually to use it on your new website.
WordPress allows you to export all your data somewhere else, thanks to tools that make the entire migrating process effortless. You can easily export and create a backup of your theme, content, plugins, and database or move them to another CMS. You can also change the web hosts without affecting your data. The data ownership that comes with WordPress is hard to find anywhere else.
Verdict: WordPress features ensure smooth data portability that beats SquareSpace in every way.
Customer support is crucial if you create a site yourself without involving a developer or agency. Whether you use WordPress or SquareSpace, comprehensive support should be available.
SquareSpace offers comprehensive customer support via email and live chat that helps you resolve any issues quickly. They have a dedicated team available 24/7 to respond to your queries regarding the platform, and not just that, they have an extensive knowledge base to help clients. So if something goes wrong or out of your hands, there is a professional support out there that you can quickly turn to.
While SquareSpace is a simple platform, there are fewer chances of you facing issues with it. If you do, they are efficient enough to respond within a day. They also offer support on social media, including X and Facebook Messenger. Currently, SquareSpace is not offering support via phone, which can be disappointing for some users, and prefers to offer online support to deliver better-guided assistance.
Since WordPress is an open-source CMS platform, customer support does not work as efficiently as SquareSpace. If you get into trouble, such as plugins clashing, malfunctioning forms, improper visual effects, etc., you have to look for helpful resources by yourself as there are plenty of WordPress forums. In the community forums, millions of users share helpful material to help each other, but finding answers among millions of posts could be overwhelming. And if you find yourself gaining nothing valuable out of the community forums, you will most likely hire someone to fix the trouble.
The Premium WordPress themes and plugins offer customer support from their respective developers. Depending on your pricing plan, they offer efficient support via direct email access, live chat, or a ticket system. Also, renowned WordPress hosting companies provide basic support for setting up your website.
Verdict: Regarding customer support, SquareSpace simply beats WordPress with its dedicated and actively available support team. While WordPress is an efficient platform for creating custom websites, you must rely on forums or a developer if you encounter an issue.
We hope you are well-informed about which platform you should consider when creating your website. While SquareSpace ticks the boxes for beginners and for those who want to build a simple website under predictable expenses, WordPress is a favorite tool of those users who prefer functionality and robust features.
After digging deeper into the comparison between SquareSpace and WordPress, we can say that:
SquareSpace has an edge over WordPress if:
On the other hand, WordPress has an edge over SquareSpace if:
SquareSpace users are satisfied with the built-in capabilities of the paltfrom to run a simple site, but if the plan is to grow a website, WordPress is the better-suited option than SquareSpace. If you are afraid of WordPress’ steep learning curve, you are suggested to hire a professional WP developer or agency and get peace of mind by handing them your site creation and maintenance chores.
We have also reviewed Shopify vs. Wix vs. SquareSpace, so if you want an alternative to SquareSpace, you may check this detailed comparison.
While SquareSpace is a set-and-forget platform, WordPress has better wrapped all the advanced features under its shade. The point is not to choose a better paltfrom, but a paltfrom that satisfies your needs better so you don’t have to put your efforts in a direction that is useless to you.
Yes, SquareSpace is more user-friendly, has a guided setup than WordPress, and lets anyone build a website without doing much. SquareSpace does not require much configuration and is preferred by beginners for the platform’s simplicity.
WordPress is more flexible than SquareSpace and lets you build any type of website. It manages content better than SquareSpace and offers more templates suitable for multiple industries. WordPress offers a wide range of free and paid plugins to extend the site’s functionality, but with SquareSpace, there are limited third-party plugins available. Moreover, WordPress gives you limitless customization capabilities and helps you build a 100% custom website with all the design control in your hands.
SquareSpace has built-in e-commerce features that help you create an online store and are easy to use. WordPress, on the other hand, does not come with built-in e-commerce functionality, but tons of plugins are available that help you build a feature-rich online store. WordPress is the best option if you have a budget and are willing to purchase premium WP plugins to set up an e-commerce store.
WordPress is free to download, but expenses arise from hosting setup, domain purchase, premium themes and plugins, etc. Considering all the costs of running a WordPress website, it is safe to say that Squarespace is cheaper, as its premium plans start from only $16/month and include many features.
WordPress started as a blogging platform, and even today, its blogging tools and features are the best compared to any website builder. However, if you want to create a simple blog with basic functionality, you may opt for SquareSpace, which is also user-friendly. WordPress is the best option if you want to create a flexible blog design with extensive functionality.
WordPress offers unlimited customization possibilities, but the interface might be overwhelming, especially for beginners. SquareSpace has a simple interface that offers an effortless customization experience with its user-friendly drag-and-drop builder, but the customization options are limited. Although WordPress has a learning curve, the extensive customization capabilities are worth the effort.
Some of WordPress’s top competitors are Wix, SquareSpace, Webflow, Joomla, Hostinger, and Shopify.
If you want highly custom features and to scale your website, switch from SquareSpace to WordPress. Although SquareSpace’s simplicity and minimalism attract users, it is not the right place to achieve long-term goals.
Yes, multiple free and paid page builder plugins for WordPress make it easy to create and customize a website using drag-and-drop functionality. Some popular WordPress page builders are Elementor, Divi Builder, Beaver Builder, Brizy, and Visual Composer.
WordPress is a highly flexible platform that offers a large library of themes and plugins and multiple customization options. While SquareSpace has a friendly interface, WordPress gives you more freedom to create a custom website and is flexible enough to achieve long-term website goals. If you want to scale your website, WordPress has all the tools and features to accommodate your needs.
Multiple website builders are in the market, which give SquareSpace solid competition, including Wix, Webflow, Shopify, GoDaddy, BigCommerce, and Weebly.
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