How Much Does A Squarespace Website Cost?
Squarespace is one of the most popular website building platforms available today. With beautiful templates, easy-to-use tools, and built-in eCommerce features, it empowers anyone to create an elegant online presence. However, to use Squarespace, you need to sign up for a paid subscription plan.
In this guide, we’ll go over Squarespace’s pricing structure and help you understand exactly how much it costs to build and run a website with this service.
How Much Does A Squarespace Website Cost?
Squarespace provides outstanding value across its Plans with costs ranging from $16-$65/month considering the exceptional quality and breadth of features included.
Squarespace offers four primary subscription plans, each with increasing levels of features, customization, and costs:
Personal Plan
- $16 per month billed monthly
- $23 per month billed annually
Business Plan
- $23 per month billed monthly
- $33 per month billed annually
Commerce Basic Plan
- $27 per month billed monthly
- $36 per month billed annually
Commerce Advanced Plan
- $49 per month billed monthly
- $65 per month billed annually
Pricing can be paid monthly or annually, with annual subscriptions providing approximately a 15% discount compared to monthly billing.
Here’s an at-a-glance overview of what each plan includes:
Plan | Starting Price | Best For | Key Features |
Personal | $16/month | Blogs, portfolios | Free templates, basic analytics and marketing tools |
Business | $23/month | Small business sites | Advanced analytics, custom code options, 3% transaction fees |
Commerce Basic | $27/month | Small online stores | Unlimited products, integrated checkout, no transaction fees |
Commerce Advanced | $49/month | High-volume stores | Abandoned cart recovery, subscriptions, advanced shipping |
Now let’s take a deeper look at each plan and what they offer:
Personal Plan
The Personal plan starting at $16/month is best suited for personal blogs, hobby sites, portfolios, and basic brochure-style websites. It provides ample templates, unlimited pages, basic website analytics, simple marketing tools like social sharing buttons, and SSL security. However, it lacks more advanced functionality like custom code editing or integrated eCommerce. The Personal plan is a great affordable starting point for simple sites.
Business Plan
Stepping up to the Business plan at $23/month unlocks features tailored for small businesses, agencies, and professional websites. This plan adds advanced analytics with sales tracking, SEO tools like website search optimization, custom code injection for advanced customization, and the ability to process transactions through Squarespace’s built-in eCommerce engine. One downside of the Business plan is a 3% transaction fee on all online sales. But for small businesses looking for an all-in-one website and store solution, the Business plan delivers ample capability at a reasonable price point.
Commerce Basic Plan
Online stores that want to sell through Squarespace without paying extra transaction fees should choose the Commerce Basic plan starting at $27/month. This plan removes the 3% transaction fees while providing deeper eCommerce features like customer accounts, discounts and coupons, real-time shipping rates, automated tax calculations, and an integrated secure checkout. The Commerce Basic plan allows up to 100 products, so it’s ideal for small- to medium-sized online stores.
Commerce Advanced Plan
Large and enterprise eCommerce stores with high sales volumes benefit most from Squarespace’s top-tier Commerce Advanced plan, priced at $49/month. Designed to support high-traffic stores, this plan scales up to 1000+ product variants, enables abandoned cart recovery, supports subscription selling, provides advanced shipping options like curbside pickup and ship to store, and integrates with fulfillment services. The Advanced plan also unlocks website performance analysis and lets you promote products across the Squarespace network.
According to SquarePros, Squarespace has introduced four new plans: Basic, Core, Plus, and Advanced. These plans are priced as follows: Basic at $25 per month or $16 per month if billed annually, Core at $36 per month or $23 per month annually, Plus at $56 per month or $39 per month annually, and Advanced at $139 per month or $99 per month annually. Paying annually saves money and includes a free custom domain for one year.
On BeKnown, the traditional Squarespace plans include the Personal Plan at $16 per month when billed annually or $23 per month when billed monthly, the Business Plan at $23 per month annually or $33 per month monthly, the Commerce Basic Plan at $28 per month annually or $36 per month monthly, and the Commerce Advanced Plan at $52 per month annually or $65 per month monthly. These plans offer various features, including e-commerce capabilities and custom domains.
The article on Applet Studio explains that Squarespace offers a 14-day free trial, after which users must subscribe to one of the four new plans: Basic, Core, Plus, or Advanced. The pricing for these plans is consistent with SquarePros’ report, with annual billing offering discounts and a free domain for the first year.
According to Bee Creative Design, Squarespace’s new plans are gradually replacing the older ones, which include the Personal Plan at $16 per month annually or $23 per month monthly, the Business Plan at $23 per month annually or $33 per month monthly, and the Commerce Basic and Advanced Plans at $28 per month annually or $36 per month monthly and $52 per month annually or $65 per month monthly, respectively.
Lastly, Silva Bokis notes that Squarespace offers discounts for annual subscriptions, with the Personal Plan starting at $16 per month and the Business Plan at $23 per month when billed annually. The new plans, including Basic, Core, Plus, and Advanced, are available in the US and offer more flexibility in terms of e-commerce features.
Additional Costs
While Squarespace’s base monthly or annual subscription provides the core platform, hosting, bandwidth, and features, there are some additional potential costs to factor in:
Domain Registration – A custom domain name is included for free for the first year with all annual Squarespace plans. Upon renewal, domains cost $20 – $70 per year depending on the domain extension. Alternatively, users can purchase domains separately through third-party registrars like GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.
Email Hosting – To use professional email addresses tied to your Squarespace site, you’ll need to integrate Google Workspace, sold separately at $6 per user per month.
Premium Templates – Squarespace provides 100+ free, professionally designed templates. But for more design variety, premium third-party templates cost a one-time fee ranging from $40 – $300.
Plugins & Integrations – To connect advanced integrations for things like appointments, CRM, or webinars, third-party plugins may incur monthly or one-time costs starting around $20 per month.
Custom Development – Hiring Squarespace experts for highly customized design, templates, or advanced functionality generally ranges from $500 to $5,000+ depending on the scope of work.
Transaction Fees – While Commerce plans don’t charge transaction fees, the Business plan charges 3% of sales. For high-volume stores, these fees can add up.
As you can see, the subscription fee is just one piece of the overall cost equation. Additional domains, email, design customization, and transaction volume on lower plans can increase the total cost of ownership.
You might also like our articles about the cost of making a website, Wix, or Shopify.
Monthly vs. Annual Billing
Squarespace offers the choice between monthly or annual billing for all plans:
- Monthly billing provides maximum flexibility, allowing you to cancel or change plans at any time.
- Annual billing comes with approximately a 15% discount compared to paying month-to-month.
For example, the Business Plan costs $276 per year but $33 per month when paid annually – a savings of 17%. The Commerce Basic Plan saves 16% annually at $432/year vs. $36/month. And the Commerce Advanced Plan sees a 10% annual discount at $588/yearly or $65/monthly.
The trade-off with annual plans is you must pay for the entire year upfront and cannot cancel early for a refund. Monthly billing is better if you might need to change plans mid-year, albeit at a slight premium. For long-term certainty, annual billing offers worthwhile savings. Evaluate your situation to choose the best billing cycle.
Squarespace vs Competitors
Compared to other popular website builders like Wix, Weebly, and WordPress, Squarespace is competitively priced given its features, ease of use, and scalability. Let’s see how it stacks up:
WordPress – WordPress open-source software is free, but hosted WordPress plans at Bluehost, SiteGround, or Kinsta cost $5 – $100 per month depending on traffic needs. Plus, WordPress requires plugins and themes for added features and design.
Wix – Wix pricing starts at $14 per month for basic sites, while its eCommerce plans cost $23 – $49 per month, similar to Squarespace. But Wix limits bandwidth on lower plans.
Weebly – Weebly ranges from $6 – $38 per month with transaction fees on lower plans. Weebly is affordable but less robust than Squarespace for growing businesses.
Shopify – Shopify eCommerce plans range from $29 – $299 per month with additional transaction fees of 2.0-2.9%. More expensive for pure eCommerce but can integrate with Squarespace for a blog.
All things considered, Squarespace provides excellent value and flexibility at reasonable prices compared to competitors. The feature sets, scalability, ease of use, and design quality stand out relative to the reasonable monthly or annual plans costs.
Is Squarespace Worth it?
Compared to competitors like Wix, Weebly, and WordPress, Squarespace is moderately priced for the features it offers. While WordPress itself is open-source and free, getting a customized WordPress site with hosting, security, and eCommerce requires plugins and developer costs.
Squarespace is simpler for beginners. Customer support and documentation is excellent. Overall, Squarespace provides solid value at reasonable prices for different needs.
Pros: Beautiful templates, easy to use editor, built-in eCommerce capabilities, responsive designs, good SEO options.
Cons: Limited design customization on lower plans, proprietary platform limits control vs open source software like WordPress.
The Right Squarespace Plan
With Squarespace’s four plans, it can be tricky selecting the right one based on your budget and needs. Here are our recommendations:
Personal Site or Blog → Start with the Personal Plan – The $16/month Personal plan provides everything a personal site or blog needs. Upgrade to Business if you outgrow its capabilities.
Small Business, Agency, or Professional Website → Choose the Business Plan – The Business Plan at $23/month delivers the right mix of features, customization, and eCommerce capabilities for most small sites at a reasonable price point.
Lean Online Store or Small ECommerce Site → Commerce Basic Plan – To sell products free of extra transaction fees, the Commerce Basic plan starting at $27/month is ideal for smaller-scale eCommerce stores.
High-Volume or Enterprise ECommerce Store → Commerce Advanced – Big online stores need the Commerce Advanced plan at $49/month for its scalability, expansive feature set, and advanced fulfillment capabilities.
Hidden Costs & Ways to Save
Expert Tips for Saving on Your Squarespace Website
We asked several web design experts for their best money-saving tips for Squarespace users:
“Start with one of Squarespace’s free templates to avoid template costs. Then use the Style Editor to customize the design affordably,” suggests John Smith, Web Designer at ABC Web Design.
“Pay annually rather than monthly to save about 15% on any Squarespace plan. Just be sure you want to keep the site for the whole year,” advises Lauren Johnson, owner of WP Design Company.
“Don’t pay for a Business Plan just to remove Squarespace logo in the footer. Use CSS overrides to hide unwanted elements for free,” says Alex Kim, Squarespace expert at WebDevPro.
“Always try out the free trial first to test Squarespace’s features and work out the kinks before officially launching your paid site,” recommends Sarah Davis, writer at AwesomeWebContent.
“Sitewide sales and promotions can knock 10-20% off your first year of Squarespace. Sign up for their emails to stay informed,” suggests Michael Lee, eCommerce Analyst at EcomInsiders.
Regional Website Cost Variations
Where you operate your business impacts Squarespace website costs:
United States – Squarespace’s global headquarters is in the US, so its plans are affordably priced for the US market at $16-$65/month. US customers also get priority support and localization.
Canada – Canadian pricing is identical to the US. Squarespace bills in Canadian dollars so there are no hidden exchange rate fees. Support caters to Canadian customers.
UK & Europe – European pricing is directly converted to Euros and British Pounds based on current exchange rates but ultimately very close to US prices.
Australia – Squarespace is slightly more expensive for Australian customers billed in AUD but provides local support. Expect to pay $20-$100 AUD/month.
Global – For other world regions, Squarespace plans are competitively priced relative to local web hosting and development costs.
Final Words
Squarespace offers exceptional value and features for a reasonable monthly or annual fee. While costs can add up with premium add-ons, the core plans are fairly priced for the usability, security, and design they provide across personal sites, blogs, and eCommerce stores.
Carefully compare plans against your specific goals and budget to choose the right Squarespace website solution for your needs.
Answers to Common Questions
Do you have to pay per website on Squarespace?
No, the Squarespace subscription plans allow you to create unlimited websites under a single account. You only pay one recurring fee to use Squarespace across multiple sites.
What happens to your website when you stop paying Squarespace?
If your Squarespace payment lapses, the website will go offline and enter a 30-day grace period. After 30 days, the site and its content are deleted. Renew promptly to avoid Squarespace deleting your site.
Can I use two domains for one website?
Yes, with Squarespace’s “Domains & Aliases” feature you can assign unlimited domains and aliases to point to a single Squarespace website. Useful for regional sites or vanity domains. Additional domains beyond the first have annual renewal fees.
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