Wix vs Squarespace 2023 | 9 Differences You Should Know
If you’ve researched online hosting, you’ve probably thought about Wix vs. Squarespace and which is best for you or your company. Wix and Squarespace can appeal to different individuals and companies, but they do have some similarities.
You don’t need to be super technical to utilize either host, but you should consider which website builder is right for you. Think about what you want your website to do and the design flexibility you want. Consider how you structure a template and what visual features you want.
Before you select the best host, you should have an introduction to Squarespace and Wix to help you decide which is right for you.
Wix vs. Squarespace Overall
When deciding between Wix and Squarespace, you should consider the different features each offers. They’re both some of the most popular web-building sites on the internet. You don’t have to have much technical knowledge to work with them, but you should know what you want in a site builder.
Consider what it’s like to use these web builder sites daily to determine which is right for you. From the ease of use to more advanced features, you should know what you can get from each. You may be surprised by what Wix offers or what Squarespace specializes in.
Using Wix
Wix is an excellent choice if you want something easy but with a bit of control. You can use the Wix editor to place your stuff where you want it, and you don’t have to know how to code. Choose from many different templates to fit your desires as you make your website.
If you don’t have a big budget, you can start with a free plan and upgrade later. You can utilize many of the features without having to pay. But if you need more premium features, you can choose a paid plan based on your budget.
Using Squarespace
A Squarespace plan comes with what you need to build your online presence. They have a drag-and-drop editor that you can use to put visuals where you want them, and you don’t need to code. Squarespace will host your content on their servers, making it super easy to get started.
They have a ton of template designs that you can choose from to find one you like. Then, you can build your website and make it look how you want it. A fantastic advantage of both Wix and Squarespace is the easy learning curve. If you want a website builder that you can start using immediately, you’ll find it in one or both of these options.
Use Verdict: In many cases, Wix is a better host than Squarespace based on how easy it is. Wix lets you drop boxes and media wherever you want, based on your desired functionality.
Creative Designs
An essential part of a Squarespace – Wix comparison is how you can create your website. You may find that one of the website builders has many fantastic features, but it’s not worth it if you don’t like the available templates. Every website is different, so you should consider what you want yours to look like before settling on the best builder.
If you’re new to designing, you should consider Wix’s ease of use and Squarespace. You don’t have to have the easiest site, but you want to make things simple unless you want to hire a designer. Feel free to explore Squarespace vs. Wix designing so that you can choose the best for you.
Designing Wix
Once you set up your Wix account, you can go to the Wix ADI and select Design. You can choose from available themes and customize the colors, fonts, and more. If you want to change your entire site, you can do that, but you can also adjust the appearance of individual elements within your website.
Being able to tweak Wix templates means you don’t have to find the perfect template. Instead, you can find one that’s close to what you want, and you can create the rest. But when comparing Wix vs Squarespace, consider how you can design in both platforms.
Designing Squarespace
Related: 25 Beautiful Examples of Squarespace Websites [2023]
Squarespace offers a variety of design templates that you can use to create your site. You can drag and drop blocks, like boxes, where you want them. The Squarespace templates are different from those on Wix, but you can still do a lot with them. You can create a portfolio, blog, or another type of website.
You can create an online store with your Squarespace account if you want to sell stuff online. The design process is flexible, so you can choose what you want to create. Feel free to customize the style and design a mobile viewer so that you can attract more viewers. If you want full design capabilities, you can also use code, but it’s not necessary.
Design Verdict: When it comes to visual changes, Squarespace is the better host. You can switch out the themes after you publish your website, but you can’t do that on Wix.
Related: Best Drag and Drop Website Builders in 2023
Tools and Technology
After you design your website, it’s time to make it work for you, whether you want to start a blog, create a store, or set up a portfolio. If you wish to keep things simple or go big, you can do that. And in both cases, you should compare Wix vs. Squarespace and their features.
Read further and learn how to choose the best blogging platform in 2023
The features are essential for builders’ websites because they determine what you can do with your design. You may create a beautiful page, but that won’t matter if you can’t use it how you want to. Before choosing between Wix and Squarespace, think about each one’s free and paid plans to find what you want.
Working With Wix
Along with a website builder, Wix offers advanced features to further your online presence. You can use their Logo Maker to create a logo to match your company and brand. If you offer services, you can use the Booking feature so that clients can set up an appointment more easily.
The free plan lets you get started right now, but you can pay for an online store or more advanced website analytics. Then, you can sell products, and the analytics can tell you how many visitors you get. Consider a few Wix plans to choose the one with all of the features you need.
Working With Squarespace
All Squarespace plans come with a free URL, different templates, mobile optimization, and more. You can also enjoy their security options and basic support. The most affordable plan only allows for two website owners, so you’ll need to upgrade if more people need to edit your text.
If you want to use gift cards and create an online store, you’ll need a business tier or a higher-tiered option. The lowest plan is a great choice for a blog or portfolio site, but there are some limitations. And thanks to their monthly and annual plans, you can save money on any plan if you pay for a year upfront.
Tools Verdict: Both Squarespace and Wix have a lot of choices for you to customize a template. Squarespace has a lot of built-in tools, whereas Wix has an app store where you can find additional stuff that you may need. So Wix comes out slightly ahead.
Make Sales
One great way to use websites for builders or other professionals is as an online store. You can sell physical products you ship or create digital items your customers can download. Wix and Squarespace both offer plans that let you sell stuff.
While Shopify and other sales companies exist, no Wix vs. Squarespace comparison is complete without looking at the eCommerce capabilities. You can set the prices of what you sell, and other sales functions allow you to grow your business online. Freelancers can also use pages to display their offerings to make money online.
Selling On Wix
If you have at least one product to sell online, you can do that with Wix e-commerce. You can attract clients with your social media, as well as your site. The Wix ADI lets you customize the look of your listings, so you can bring attention to a specific category of what you sell.
You can accept payments with Wix, and Wix also lets you take a credit card, PayPal, and Stripe. Your clients can purchase immediately, or you can have them add items to their cart before checkout. Then, you can make more sales and make even more money online. Artists and photographers can display their work to help encourage others to buy.
Selling On Squarespace
If you want to create pages on Squarespace, you can also turn them into an e-commerce store. You can use many of their site designs to provide information on your product or service. Squarespace offers integrations with payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, and Square, so you can choose how you take payment.
Before you start selling with Squarespace, be sure to review their sales resources to make sure you don’t break any rules. Squarespace limits what you can sell, so be sure you don’t offer something they restrict. Still, you can ship packages to clients with FedEx and UPS, but make sure the opacity is there so that you can protect the items during shipping.
Sales Verdict: The ability to add apps makes Wix a more flexible selection for selling online. You can sell on Squarespace, but it doesn’t have the same functionality as Wix.
Writing a Blog
Blogging is an excellent method to grow your digital presence, whether you have a portfolio or sell stuff. If you want to share tips and tricks or provide extra info, you should know the basic blogging features of Wix vs Squarespace. While many blogs are already out there, you can share your unique perspective on the topics you know about.
You can use marketing tools like email marketing to grow your following and get more viewers to your blog. You can show more of yourself, such as your photography or your online service. If you get a lot of questions, you can use an article to clear stuff up. Bloggers can also utilize affiliate commissions to make money, and those fees can pay for operating the Wix or Squarespace subscription.
Blogging On Wix
Wix suggests that you start a blog to increase traffic to your site. You can set one up from scratch when you start with Wix or build one later. As a blogger, you can touch on more points about your stuff or industry and share pictures or examples of your work. You can include different areas of your blog where you can share different lists or tricks.
The dilemma with this is that Wix isn’t a content management system (CMS), so it’s not the best choice for sharing blog posts. But a Wix blog is great if you want to add a small blog to your primary site. Still, you can use it with your current domain name and have the same design flexibility as you would when making anything with the drag-and-drop editor.
Opacity isn’t always necessary, but it’s important to make your paragraphs easy to read, so make sure images are to the side or aren’t too dark. If you want to add photos, consider the contrast to make the paragraphs stand out. You can adjust the volume large-wave or volume-small wave as well.
The VIP plan is perfect for this since it offers the most storage space. Then, you can include as many photos and media on your blog as you want.
Blogging On Squarespace
Squarespace also offers blogging tools, so you can create blogs to go along with your product or service. You can use content blocks, and you’ll have more or less flexibility based on the template that you use. To write your first article, you can add it to your editor.
You can create a title and write the body text; if you have images, you can add alt text to describe them. Beginners can start right away, and you don’t have to know much about coding or writing to publish something. Your first article can be about something you know, and you can share guides related to the rest of your website. Squarespace may not have as many choices as content management systems, but it’s perfect for basic blogging.
Whether you want to set up a blog or have it be a section of your overall site, Squarespace is perfect for this. You can utilize the design flexibility to include different media types and create email campaigns to prelate your posts. Luckily, Squarespace features email marketing right in it, so you don’t need anything else.
Blog Verdict: Squarespace is the better platform for writing a blog. You can start writing immediately, but Wix requires you to add apps to create a blog. That can be more complicated and can take time to set up.
Marketing
Without online traffic, it will be hard to have a successful digital presence. A Squarespace comparison should include a rundown of what each can do when it comes to marketing your website. Without the right marketing tools, even the best Wix templates won’t be enough to help your website gain traction.
You don’t need to understand technical terminology, like volume small-wave, but marketing is essential for website building. By using the included marketing tools, you can increase the number of page views that you get, which can help give you the momentum to grow your website even more.
Marketing a Wix Site
Wix offers multiple choices for you to grow your presence, and they come in the form of plugins. You can use these add-ons to get more traffic, and you don’t have to use much money or time to market your stuff. Wix has tools for creating ads on Google as well as pop-ups that can encourage people to give you their email addresses.
The App Market is perfect for finding various options to add more stuff to your Wix website. You don’t have to create the different elements yourself, but you can use the apps to customize things further. Many of the App Market programs have a free plan, but you can pay for them too.
Marketing a Squarespace Site
If you use Squarespace, you can market your website to customers in a few ways. You can make sure that search engines know you exist so that they can send clients to you. Squarespace lets you use keywords to help you rank well when viewers look for specific terms online.
If an engine knows you could help someone out, the engine will suggest your page over your competitors. Even if you don’t sell anything, you can utilize Squarespace as a tool to market to anyone online. That means you can get in front of tons of individuals without having to pay for adverts.
Marketing Verdict: Marketing on Wix lets you do more and send more emails compared to Squarespace. While you can market there, you’ll need to pay for the email features.
SEO and Rankings
You can spend as much money as you want on marketing yourself online, but you must utilize search engine optimization (SEO) for the best results. Whenever anyone goes somewhere like Bing to research your topic, you want them to find you first. It can take time for your site to climb the ranks, but doing so will eventually get you more clicks to your website.
Many website hosting plans include tools for optimizing your site. Wix and Squarespace offer everything you need to start, and you can use an SEO guide to help with the rest. And thanks to the guides available online, you don’t have to know advanced SEO to process the information.
When deciding between Wix or Squarespace, consider how each website builder is best at certain optimization aspects. Then, beginners and professionals can select the builder with their desired SEO features.
SEO On Wix
Wix offers built-in SEO features that you don’t have to mess with, but you’ll still have them. Their servers load quickly so your clients don’t have to wait long. Wix will also take care of logging your website with engines so that you can appear higher in searches.
The Wix SEO Wiz will ask you a few queries so that you can understand your website better. You can use the Wiz to help write the best meta descriptions and titles to improve your rankings on Google or Bing. Then, you can learn more about the requirements to optimize everything yourself.
Whether you adjust your menus or you select the right keywords, businesses in all industries can benefit from the drag-and-drop function to help put each image where it should go in your Wix blog. The app market can also help you with this, and so can the knowledge base and other Wix users.
SEO On Squarespace
Squarespace provides a checklist of what you should do to optimize your websites, such as connecting to social media and adding the right titles and descriptions. The help center includes many great articles about setting up various parts of your website to improve its ranking.
Whether you’re starting with Squarespace or are about to write a new blog post, you should utilize their articles and information. Like with Wix, you can add volume small-wave or volume large-wave coding to any photos that you include. Each of their pricing plans includes unlimited storage, so you don’t have to worry about a 50GB storage cap, and there’s no limit on bandwidth.
Instead, you can publish as many blog posts as you want, further assisting you with growing your website. A business plan on Squarespace is essential if you want to utilize the blogging tools. However, any of the pricing plans are suitable to some degree.
SEO Verdict: Wix is the winner, thanks to the SEO Wiz when optimizing for search engines. Squarespace can do it as well, but it’s not the best for a beginner.
Customer Help
When comparing Wix to Squarespace, you should think about how each company can assist its clients. Before you begin a subscription with Wix, Squarespace, WordPress, or Weebly, you should know what you can expect when it comes to supporting. Think about how much help you might need or want when starting your website.
If you don’t need assistance, you can prioritize other factors in your decision. But if you need extra hints, you should look for factors like phone support and a help center. Priority support can also be useful if you have a business and need extra help with cart recovery and other issues.
Customer support forums can be useful if you don’t have access to a specific support team or chat support, but you may need support from an SEO department if you can’t get viewers to your website.
Wix Support
Wix has multiple pricing plans with different levels of support. The VIP plan gets support from their team before anyone on any other plan. You can also look into a business tier if you have a company and want the highest tier. However, the free plan doesn’t get you much past the knowledge base and other community support methods.
Because of this, beginners may want to invest a bit more for some extra assistance. But if you have technical experience, you may not want anything more than the Wix guides. Still, the platform is useful, and the quality of the support you get is fantastic. Whether you can’t figure out how to add videos or reviews to your site, you can do that.
And eCommerce stores can head to forums to learn about creating what you want. If you value quality help from a company, you should consider the higher tiers on Wix. You’ll get more support and help for whatever.
Squarespace Support
Squarespace provides multiple support methods. You can view their guides or watch their videos for answers to common problems that clients have. If you want to learn even more, you can sign up for Squarespace webinars, where you can learn in a single session. But if you have a weird problem and need an immediate answer, you can take it to the help center to chat with clients.
Anybody worldwide can utilize Squarespace chat and phone support, but you will log into your account. Then, you can contact support. Whether you have eCommerce complications or need help with HTML or other obstacles, you can contact the company for almost any purpose.
That freedom can be nice for beginners or individuals who aren’t technically savvy. You don’t need to be an expert, but you can get lots of assistance from anywhere from the FAQs to a reply from a support person.
Help Verdict: Wix features better assistance since you can get help more easily. However, Squarespace doesn’t provide help over the phone.
Value and Pricing
When deciding between Wix and Squarespace, you should consider the value of each and which is best for you. Each has different templates and plans that work best for certain companies or individuals. The fee is well worth it if you want to avoid the hassle of creating a website from scratch.
You can also select the right tier for your business or digital idea so that you can bring it to life. If you’re scared of investing, consider that you can make a lot of your investment back by selling a service. You may need to write out the breakdown of the cost and potential reward, so do that if you have any doubts.
But if you can bet on yourself, you can create the best website online. You can create the right backgrounds, make it work on different devices, and include pop-ups to encourage clients to sign up or buy from you.
Wix Pricing
Related: Detailed Wix Pricing Overview
Wix has a free plan, which can be perfect if you need to start your website. Their paid plans start at $13 per month, so you don’t need a massive budget to use them. Paying for Wix will get rid of Wix advertisements on your pages, and you can get a domain voucher so that you can get it free for a year. The plan will also get you 2GB of bandwidth and 3GB of storage.
Upgrading to any other plan means you’ll have unlimited bandwidth and at least 10GB of storage. You will also receive a voucher for adverts and two extra programs to help boost your site. The more you upgrade, the more savings you’ll get on the total offering for hosting. While the most expensive plan isn’t always the best solution, it can be worth a step up from the free tier.
If you want to utilize eCommerce, you’ll need a business plan, like the Business VIP tier. You can accept payments and deal with sales, but the plans are $23 to $500 per month. Other plans cost $17 per month, $22 per month, and $39 per month with even more capabilities.
Squarespace Pricing
Related: Squarespace Pricing | 5 Key Ways to Save Money
Squarespace has multiple tiers for their sites, so you can start no matter your budget. The lowest-priced plan is $12 per month if you pay for a year at a time, and it includes a free URL, unlimited storage, and SEO capabilities. You can use any of their available templates, from portfolios to blogs.
You’ll need at least the Business tier to get eCommerce from Squarespace, which will run you $18 a month. Meanwhile, the Commerce tier lets you have customer accounts, but it’s priced at $26 per month. The advanced tier is $40, providing even more capabilities for creating and building your digital store.
The Wix vs. Squarespace debate is contentious, but you should consider everything each platform has. Then, you can think about what you’re looking for in a builder and settle on the right host for you.
Price Verdict: Wix has more plans at different costs to have better prices than Squarespace. Still, Squarespace is a fantastic host.
Wix vs. Squarespace
Now, you should think about what you need from website builders. You should look at everything when comparing the Wix and Squarespace website builders. Some builders have specific features that fulfill particular needs and industries better than for another industry.
All plans come with templates that you can use, but the user interface can be different based on your choice. Still, site designs can be pretty customizable, depending on how much you’re willing to work. On the other hand, you have to consider the value of your host. So before you settle on anything, review the pricing page for any host you’re considering.
But if you still can’t choose, think about the tools and information that make Wix or Squarespace better for some individuals. Both let you upload a video, and you can have comments on everything you include. Consider how Wix and Squarespace are unique.
Why Choose Wix
Wix is among the most uncomplicated website builders. You don’t need any technical skills, and you can drag an element where you want it. If ease of use is important to you, you will get that with a Wix subscription. They have plans for both individuals and companies that need to set up an online presence.
You can connect an email to your site and set up an online store. The Wix App Market is perfect for finding tools to add to your site, and they provide fantastic information for their clients. Thanks to the visual setup, a beginner can utilize Wix and get started within a day or two.
Wix is perfect for just about anybody who needs a website builder with good features.
Why Choose Squarespace
On the other hand, you have Squarespace, which can be just as simple as Wix. Squarespace doesn’t separate tiers for individuals and companies, which makes the higher tiers more affordable. That way, you can get more options and details for your presence for a lower price than Wix.
You can view an example of what you can do with Squarespace before you sign up, so you can make sure it will suit you. Unlimited bandwidth can also be useful for growing your site, even if you don’t need other capabilities of the higher tiers.
Squarespace is excellent for creative individuals and firms that like the templates to be able to make changes.
Wix vs. Squarespace FAQs
Consider another question or a few when deciding which website builder is better for you.
Which Is Better, Wix or Squarespace?
Wix is an excellent website creator for anybody with no technical knowledge. You can choose from different plans based on what you want your website to do. Squarespace has different tiers as well, which can be useful if you need a basic plan or something more complex.
If you can’t decide between Wix and Squarespace, consider the templates that you can choose from with each. Wix is a great website builder that has templates, but you can also buy them from a website building company. You can also add apps to help you do what you want to do online.
On the other hand, Squarespace has many templates, and you can find the best for you. You can also read through the Squarespace forum to learn more about making your site stand out. Thanks to SEO tools, you can help Google find your site and share your information with the world.
Is Squarespace Cheaper Than Wix?
Now, Wix does have a higher price than Squarespace for the lowest-paid tier. Both have fantastic features for creating a blog, selling, and more. But if you want a plan with more features, Wix will be the cheaper host.
Why You Shouldn’t Use Squarespace?
Be careful if you want to customize your site from the standard template on Squarespace. Squarespace won’t help you fix your site unless you stick with what they provide. So unless you know how to resolve stuff, you can’t make major customizations.
Squarespace can also update the layout of your website without telling you. That can be stressful if you need to correct whatever might go wrong during an update. And if you happen to cater to readers who speak multiple languages, you won’t be able to do that with a Squarespace subscription.
Why You Shouldn’t Use Wix?
Wix has developed in terms of SEO and other features, but it’s still far from perfect. First, you can’t export your site if you decide to leave Wix. Instead, you’ll have to build your website all over again when you choose a new builder. It has some design flexibility, but you may need to switch to a different host in the future.
And you should be able to do that without having to recreate what you had. Yes, you can adjust the desktop and mobile screen, but you should consider your reasons for selecting Wix to make sure you’ll be happy with it.
What Else Should You Consider?
No Wix vs Squarespace debate is complete without looking at every capability that you can. Wix and Squarespace have many attractive features for many individuals and companies who want to build an online presence. If you want to find the best host for you, you should look at an example website.
Think about the quality of the designs you find. How does it feel like a visitor? Consider how you want your website to appear and the features you will enjoy. Squarespace is better for some individuals, while Wix is the best for particular companies.
Wix vs. Squarespace: Final Showdown
Deciding between Wix or Squarespace can be difficult for any budding professional or company. You have to figure out what features you want from a host, what templates you plan to use, and more. It’s also essential to consider factors like writing articles, SEO, and selling.
Many website builders are online, and Wix and Squarespace are among the most popular selections. You don’t need to know how to code to utilize either of them. Instead, you can put photos and paragraphs wherever you want.
Wix is hands down the better choice when it comes to saving money on higher-tier hosting. You can get the same advanced features for a little less than Squarespace. Wix lets you implement different designs, but you can’t export what you create if you decide to move.
Squarespace can be useful if you want a host that you can start with immediately. But if you want to customize your stuff, you need to know how to adjust it if you run into an obstacle. You can also learn from the Squarespace forum and guide.
