Squarespace vs Wix: The Honest Comparison

You're here because you want to build a website and you've narrowed it down to two options. Both Squarespace and Wix are solid choices, but they're built for different people. Let me cut through the marketing fluff and help you decide.

The short version: Squarespace is better for creatives who want beautiful, polished websites without fighting their tools. Wix is better if you want maximum flexibility and more features, even if it means a steeper learning curve.

Pricing: What You'll Actually Pay

Let's start with the numbers, since that's usually what kills deals.

Squarespace Pricing (Billed Annually)

Wix Pricing (Billed Annually)

Key difference: Squarespace's cheapest plan ($16/month) includes basic ecommerce. With Wix, you need the Core plan ($29/month) to sell anything. So if you plan to sell products or services, Squarespace is actually cheaper at the entry level.

Both platforms include a free custom domain for the first year on annual plans. After that, expect to pay around $15-20/year for renewals.

Want to save on Squarespace? Check our Squarespace coupon page or read our full Squarespace pricing breakdown.

Templates: Quality vs Quantity

This is where the platforms diverge sharply.

Wix has over 2,600 templates. That sounds impressive until you realize a lot of them are mediocre. You'll spend time sifting through options to find something that doesn't look dated or generic.

Squarespace has about 190 templates. Every single one looks like it was designed by someone who actually knows what they're doing. The quality is consistently high across the board.

Think of it this way: Wix is a warehouse. Squarespace is a curated boutique. If you know exactly what you want and don't mind digging, Wix might have it. If you want to pick something beautiful and start building, Squarespace wins.

For photographers, artists, architects, and anyone in a visual industry, Squarespace's templates are genuinely hard to beat.

The Editor Experience: Freedom vs Structure

This is the biggest practical difference between the two.

Wix: Total Freedom (For Better or Worse)

Wix uses an unstructured drag-and-drop editor. You can move any element anywhere on the page—down to the pixel. Sounds great in theory.

In practice, this freedom often leads to chaos. Elements can overlap, spacing gets inconsistent, and your mobile version can look completely different from your desktop version (you have to edit them separately). Non-designers often end up with sites that look unprofessional because there's no guardrails.

Squarespace: Guided Structure

Squarespace uses a grid-based system. You place elements in sections, and they snap into alignment. You can't put things wherever you want, but your site will look clean and professional almost by default.

The tradeoff: less creative freedom. If you have a very specific vision that breaks conventional layouts, Squarespace might frustrate you.

My take: Unless you're a designer or have very specific needs, Squarespace's structured approach will save you hours of frustration and produce better results. Our Squarespace tutorial shows how quickly you can get a professional site up.

Ecommerce: Which One Sells Better?

Both platforms can handle online stores, but they approach it differently.

Squarespace Ecommerce

Wix Ecommerce

For simple stores: Squarespace is easier to set up and looks better out of the box. The Core plan at $23/month with 0% transaction fees is hard to beat for small sellers.

For serious ecommerce: If you're running a store with thousands of products, need advanced shipping calculations, or want multicurrency support, Wix has more features. But at that point, you might want to consider a dedicated platform like Shopify instead.

Compare Squarespace to other ecommerce options in our Squarespace vs Shopify guide.

Apps and Integrations

Wix crushes Squarespace here. The Wix App Market has hundreds of third-party integrations. Squarespace has fewer than 50.

If you need specific functionality—advanced booking systems, restaurant ordering, complex forms, accounting integrations—Wix is more likely to have an app for it.

Squarespace's approach is to build core features into the platform. Email marketing, scheduling, invoicing, SEO tools—they're all built-in. You don't need apps for the basics, but you also can't extend functionality as easily.

SEO and Performance

Both platforms provide the essential SEO tools: custom URLs, meta descriptions, alt text, sitemaps, SSL certificates.

Wix offers a personalized SEO checklist and built-in keyword research tools, which is helpful for beginners who don't know where to start.

Squarespace has cleaner code and all templates are fully responsive (they automatically adjust to mobile). Wix templates require you to manually adjust the mobile version, and some don't handle responsive design as well.

Speed-wise, Squarespace sites tend to load faster. In testing, Squarespace consistently outperforms Wix on page load times—sometimes by nearly 2x.

For pure SEO, I'd give a slight edge to Squarespace because of the responsive templates and faster performance. Google cares about mobile experience, and Squarespace handles it better by default.

Support and Help

Wix wins on support channels: 24/7 phone support, live chat, email, video tutorials, online courses, and a community forum.

Squarespace offers email and live chat support, but no phone support. They do have good documentation and video guides, but if you want to talk to someone, you'll be typing.

Free Plans and Trials

Wix has a free forever plan. The catch: your site will have Wix ads, a Wix-branded URL, and limited features. It's fine for testing but not for anything serious.

Squarespace has a 14-day free trial. No credit card required. You can build your entire site during the trial—you just can't publish with a custom domain until you pay.

For actually evaluating the platforms, I prefer Squarespace's approach. You get to use the real product for two weeks. With Wix's free plan, you're using a hobbled version that doesn't represent the actual experience.

Try Squarespace with our free trial guide.

Who Should Use Squarespace

Try Squarespace free for 14 days →

Who Should Use Wix

The Bottom Line

If you're reading this comparison, you'll probably be happy with either platform. They're the two best general-purpose website builders on the market.

Choose Squarespace if: You want to build a beautiful, professional website quickly without fighting your tools. The structured editor and gorgeous templates make it nearly impossible to create something ugly. It's easier to use and cheaper for basic ecommerce.

Choose Wix if: You want maximum features and flexibility, don't mind a learning curve, and might need specific integrations. The free plan is useful for extended testing, and the ecommerce features are more robust at middle price tiers.

For most small businesses, freelancers, and creative professionals, I lean toward Squarespace. The templates are better, the editor is more intuitive, and the pricing makes more sense for most use cases. But Wix is a legitimate alternative if you need something Squarespace can't do.

Still undecided? Read our Squarespace reviews or compare Squarespace vs WordPress if you're considering self-hosted options.