The Forbes Advisor editorial team is independent and objective. To help support our reporting work, and to continue our ability to provide this content for free to our readers, we receive payment from the companies that advertise on the Forbes Advisor site. This comes from two main sources.
First, we provide paid placements to advertisers to present their offers. The payments we receive for those placements affects how and where advertisers’ offers appear on the site. This site does not include all companies or products available within the market.
Second, we also include links to advertisers’ offers in some of our articles. These “affiliate links” may generate income for our site when you click on them. The compensation we receive from advertisers does not influence the recommendations or advice our editorial team provides in our articles or otherwise impact any of the editorial content on Forbes Advisor.
While we work hard to provide accurate and up to date information that we think you will find relevant, Forbes Advisor does not and cannot guarantee that any information provided is complete and makes no representations or warranties in connection thereto, nor to the accuracy or applicability thereof.
Updated: Jan 16, 2024, 6:12am
Fact Checked
Fact Checked
With more entrepreneurs seeking to create their own website content, start a blog and retain control over design features, both Squarespace and WordPress remain popular options. The two platforms are both beginner-friendly but have different strengths and weaknesses depending on your goals. In this guide, we’ll compare Squarespace vs WordPress in terms of their features, pricing, customer service and more, so you can decide which is best for you.
Featured Partners
1
Wix
On Wix’s Website
Starting price
$16 USD ($21.88 CAD) per month
Drag-and-drop editor
Yes
E-commerce in entry-level plan
No
2
BlueHost
On Bluehost’s Website
Starting price
$2.95 USD ($4.05 CAD) per month
Storage and bandwidth
Unmetered bandwidth, and SSD storage starts at 10GB
Extras and inclusions
Free domain name and SSL for a year, free CDN
3
Squarespace
On Squarespace’s Website
Starting price
$16 USD ($21.88 CAD) per month
Drag-and-drop editor
Yes
Standout Features
Free domain and SSL certificate, no transaction fees, award-winning templates
Squarespace is a software as a service (SaaS), all-in-one beginner website builder. It is designed for users who want to pay one flat fee to access everything. Squarespace monthly subscriptions include templates, site management and plugins. It’s very user-friendly, with hosting included and no coding involved.
WordPress* is another hosted SaaS platform designed for beginners, offering customizable features for building and maintaining smaller websites and blogs. In addition to a free option, it also offers paid plans with more features and add-on choices.
*Note that we are referring to WordPress.com, which is different from the self-hosted WordPress.org.
Both Squarespace and WordPress allow users to create websites using provided tools and templates, and require no coding knowledge, but the site-building experiences are different. Choosing the right platform for your business or brand will come down to what exactly you need your site to do, and how many options you are looking for.
Aesthetically appealing templates and stock photos
Top-notch blogging tools
Unlimited
Aesthetically appealing templates and stock photos
Top-notch blogging tools
Unlimited
Blogging and portfolio building
Quick, free website creation
Maintenance-free updates and optimization
Blogging and portfolio building
Quick, free website creation
Maintenance-free updates and optimization
Neither Squarespace nor WordPress allow for unlimited design freedom, which is often ideal for beginners. Both platforms offer structured templates and a limited number of themes, along with basic editing tools.
The higher-priced plans on each platform do open up more premium design options.
By using optimized keywords, search engine optimization (SEO) has the potential to push your website to the top of Google searches, allowing a larger audience to discover your content.
For the casual blogger who is simply looking to document and share with a small group of viewers, ranking higher may not be important.
On the other hand, if you are hoping to monetize a blog and use it to generate income, having fully maximized SEO is essential to achieving higher search engine rankings and reaching more people.
Squarespace users are able to configure meta titles, descriptions and custom URLs. Google Analytics is available with all plans, and the platform allows for easy social media integration. Users may not install any third-party SEO apps, such as Yoast, and instead must rely on the provided built-in options.
WordPress users do not have as many configuration options, but the platform offers auto-generated XML sitemaps, which are designed to provide better visibility with search engines. Only those paying for the Business tier are able to install third-party plugins and utilize Google Analytics, which may make it difficult to maximize SEO options.
Squarespace Business, Basic Commerce and Advanced Commerce plans all offer users fully integrated e-commerce solutions, with the ability to sell unlimited products. WordPress offers an eCommerce tier for online stores, which includes premium design options, integrations with shipping carriers and acceptance of payments from over 60 countries.
Squarespace offers unlimited storage capacity, which is ideal for anyone hoping to pursue a large online business presence or e-commerce site. WordPress has a limit of 1 GB for free plans, which is plenty if you only need to host a simple website or blog. The storage capacities increase from 6 GB to 50 GB with the paid plans.
Squarespace users must take the extra step of backing up their content manually.
WordPress offers automatic updates and backups, so users have that task taken off of their plate.
Both Squarespace and WordPress allow users to build a beginner website and offer a straightforward blogging interface, with no coding knowledge needed. Which platform is the best choice depends on your current needs, along with what you hope to accomplish.
If you will be blogging frequently, hoping to reach a large audience and ultimately seeking to create an income-generating stream, Squarespace will be the better choice to help you achieve your goals.
If you are seeking to create a free, simple website and starter blog for a smaller group of viewers, WordPress is a great option.
Featured Partners
1
Wix
On Wix’s Website
Starting price
$16 USD ($21.88 CAD) per month
Drag-and-drop editor
Yes
E-commerce in entry-level plan
No
2
BlueHost
On Bluehost’s Website
Starting price
$2.95 USD ($4.05 CAD) per month
Storage and bandwidth
Unmetered bandwidth, and SSD storage starts at 10GB
Extras and inclusions
Free domain name and SSL for a year, free CDN
3
Squarespace
On Squarespace’s Website
Starting price
$16 USD ($21.88 CAD) per month
Drag-and-drop editor
Yes
Standout Features
Free domain and SSL certificate, no transaction fees, award-winning templates
Canadian specific editing and research (including pricing) conducted by Anna Rey.
Related: Webflow Vs. Squarespace
Squarespace has come a long way in terms of SEO tools, although WordPress still offers more SEO tools.
WordPress is a free open-source platform where you only have to pay for web hosting. Though, this doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s cheaper to build and manage a site with WordPress. This is because, unlike Squarespace, which includes everything for one flat monthly fee, with WordPress there are additional costs involved, such as a domain name and an SSL certificate, as well as optional extras such as premium theme and/or premium plugins.
There are several differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. The main difference is that WordPress.com is fully hosted while WordPress.org is self-hosted.
Squarespace is a great website builder for those who are looking for an easy-to-use platform with beautiful templates. It’s also a good choice for businesses that need e-commerce features. However, if you’re looking for an open-source platform, consider WordPress.
Website builders are highly scalable, and your plan can be easily modified to meet the needs of your growing team. If you outgrow even the top-level package of your service, many vendors offer enterprise-level functionality with customized pricing. It may be worthwhile to get in touch with your system’s customer service team to learn more.
A website builder like Squarespace or WordPress makes it possible for you to design your website easily using a step-by-step process that allows you to create the unique look that you want. It also allows you to choose where to host it when you’re ready to go live with your products, services or content. Both Squarespace and WordPress can meet your website building needs.
Laura is a freelance writer specializing in ecommerce, lifestyle, and SMB content. As a small business owner, she is passionate about supporting other entrepreneurs, and sharing information that will help them thrive.
Cassie is a deputy editor, collaborating with teams around the world while living in the beautiful hills of Kentucky. She is passionate about economic development and is on the board of two non-profit organizations seeking to revitalize her former railroad town. Prior to joining the team at Forbes Advisor, Cassie was a Content Operations Manager and Copywriting Manager at Fit Small Business.
