Squarespace vs Wix
We give Squarespace a 2.6 GPA and Wix a 2.8, out of 4.0. Wix grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Squarespace
Template-based website builder with an online store and invoicing
Wix
Drag-and-drop website builder with an AI agent and business apps
How we grade them
| 2.6GPASquarespaceGood | 2.8GPAWixGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CBasic is $19 a month for one site on yearly billing ($25 monthly), and it's the plan a small business would buy, since the store comes with it. That's the ordinary middle of this category ($9 to $22). Core at $29 drops the 2% store fee. | CLight is $17 a month for one site on yearly billing, with your own domain, no Wix ads and 2 GB, so it sits mid-range for this category. But it can't take payments or bookings, and Wix's own blog points small businesses to Core at $29, where this category's dearest tenth starts. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan. There's a 14-day trial with no card needed, which is long enough to build the thing and see if you like it, but after that every site needs a paid plan. | CThere's a free plan with the full editor and the AI agent, but it runs on a Wix address with Wix ads and 500 MB of storage. Fine for trying ideas, not for a business. Paid plans have no trial, just a 14-day money-back guarantee. |
| Features | BTemplates, a drag-and-drop editor, a store on every plan, invoicing, memberships, forms, newsletters and SEO tools. That's the whole job of a small business site. Custom code and pop-ups wait for Core, but nothing core is missing. | AThe widest set of built-in business tools in this category: a store, bookings, events, restaurant orders and hotel reservations, an AI agent called Aria, an app market and a headless developer platform. Few rivals come close. |
| Ease of use | B4.6 from about 18,800 App Store ratings for its phone app. Templates do most of the design work, so you're mostly swapping in your own words and photos. | B4.58 from about 16,800 App Store ratings. Thousands of templates and Aria drafting sections from a sentence make the start easy, though with this much in it there's more to find your way around than in a simpler builder. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Google Workspace, Mailchimp, Zapier, Stripe, PayPal and Printful, plus commerce APIs on Core and up. There's no desktop app, which keeps it off an A. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with an app market of Wix and outside apps such as QuickBooks Online and TikTok Ads, plus an API and Wix Headless. No desktop app, so not an A. |
| Best for | polished template sites with a shop built in | business sites with bookings, events and a shop |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Squarespace and Wix. How we grade
Price against what you get
Squarespace starts at $19 a month and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Wix starts at $17 a month and scores 3.3.
Wix scores higher and starts $2 a month lower. Of the other website and landing page builders on the chart, 2 score higher than Squarespace for less, and 1 scores higher than Wix for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Squarespace starts at $19 per site / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly). Wix starts at $17 per site / month, billed yearly (Light).
- Wix has a free plan. Squarespace does not, though it has a free trial.
- Squarespace also covers forms and invoicing.
- Wix also covers AI agents and no-code.
At a glance
| Squarespace | Wix | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $19 per site / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly) | $17 per site / month, billed yearly (Light) |
| Free plan | None | Build and publish on a wixsite.com address with Wix branding, 500 MB of storage and 500 MB of bandwidth. A custom domain needs a paid plan. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Squarespace, Inc. | Wix.com, Inc. |
| Price read from | squarespace.com | wix.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Squarespace
- Creatives and small businesses who want a polished site from a template
- Service businesses that also invoice clients and take payments
- Small shops that want the store and the website in one subscription
Wix
- Beginners who want to start free and upgrade when the site is ready
- Small businesses that take bookings, sell tickets or run a small store
- People who want an AI agent to draft pages they can still edit by hand
Worth knowing
Squarespace
- There is no free plan; after the 14-day trial every site needs a paid plan.
- Basic takes a 2% fee on online store sales and allows only 2 contributors; Core removes both limits.
- Custom JavaScript, code injection, pop-ups and shipping labels all need Core or higher.
- The free domain covers the first year of an annual plan only and then renews at Squarespace's standard rate.
Wix
- Light has no online payments; selling anything needs Core at $29 a month or higher.
- Monthly billing exists, but Wix's pages show only yearly prices, and monthly plans come without the free domain voucher or premium apps.
- Each plan upgrades a single site, so running several sites means buying a plan for each.
- There is no free trial of paid plans; Wix offers a 14-day money-back guarantee instead.
Key features
Squarespace
- Templates and drag-and-drop editing
- Sites start from a designer template and are laid out in the Fluid Engine drag-and-drop editor. Every site is adjusted for phones automatically.
- AI site builder and AI credits
- Blueprint builds a starting site from a few answers, and built-in AI writes content. Credits run from 10 one-time on Basic to 120 a month on Advanced.
- Online store on every plan
- Sell unlimited physical products, services, digital goods, gift cards and subscriptions, with abandoned-cart emails on all plans. Basic adds a 2% fee on store sales.
- Invoicing, memberships and paid content
- Branded invoices and pay links are free on every plan. Courses, memberships and paywalled content carry a fee of 7% on Basic, falling to 0% on Advanced.
- Hosting, SSL and unlimited bandwidth
- Managed hosting, free SSL certificates and uncapped bandwidth and storage come with every plan. Video hosting runs from 30 minutes on Basic to unlimited on Advanced.
- Forms, newsletters and SEO tools
- Form and newsletter blocks feed a contacts panel, and SEO guidance and keyword reports come built in. Pop-ups and the announcement bar need Core or higher.
Wix
- Wix Harmony editor and Aria
- The editor mixes drag-and-drop layout with Aria, an AI agent that turns a written idea into sections, pages or custom components you can then edit. It is included on every plan, free included.
- Templates and design tools
- Start from thousands of templates or from AI, then adjust the design without code. Paid plans remove Wix branding and connect your own domain.
- Payments and online store
- Core and higher plans accept payments and run a store, with standard and advanced commerce tools on Business and Business Elite. Light cannot take payments.
- Bookings, events and restaurants
- Scheduling and services come with Core and higher. Further business solutions cover ticketed events, online programs, restaurant orders and hotel reservations.
- App market
- Add marketing, accounting, social and store apps from Wix and other developers, such as QuickBooks Online, TikTok Ads and Instagram feeds.
- Developer platform and headless
- Business Elite adds the advanced developer platform, and Wix Headless lets a custom front end run on Wix's back end and business tools.
Plans
Squarespace
Basic$19
per site / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly)
A full website and store with up to 2 contributors, 30 minutes of video, a 2% fee on online sales and 7% on paid memberships.
Core$29
per site / month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly)
Unlimited contributors, no fee on store sales, custom CSS and JavaScript, shipping labels, commerce APIs and 20 AI credits a month.
Plus$49
per site / month, billed annually ($65 billed monthly)
Lower card rates (2.7% + $0.30), a 1% fee on paid memberships, 50 hours of video and 40 AI credits a month.
Advanced$99
per site / month, billed annually ($139 billed monthly)
The lowest card rates (2.5% + $0.30), no fee on memberships, unlimited video and 120 AI credits a month.
Wix
Free$0
A Wix subdomain, Wix branding on the site, 500 MB of storage and bandwidth, the full editor and templates.
Light$17
per site / month, billed yearly
Custom domain, free domain for a year, no Wix ads, 2 GB of storage, a light marketing suite and 2 collaborators. No online payments.
Core$29
per site / month, billed yearly
Accept payments, basic online store, scheduling and services, 50 GB of storage and 5 collaborators.
Business$39
per site / month, billed yearly
Standard online store and marketing suite, 100 GB of storage and 10 collaborators.
Business Elite$159
per site / month, billed yearly
Advanced store and marketing tools, the advanced developer platform, unlimited storage and 100 collaborators.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom plans and pricing on request for large organizations.
Ways to pay less
Squarespace
- Annual discount
Pay yearly to save about 24% to 29%
Basic costs $19 a month billed yearly against $25 billed monthly, and Advanced $99 against $139. Squarespace's page advertises savings of up to 36%.
- Other savings
Free domain for a year with an annual plan
Annual website plans include one year of free registration for one domain on Squarespace's cheapest pricing tier; it then renews at the standard rate.
- Education
Students get 50% off the first year
Students who verify their status through Student Beans get 50% off their first full year on a new annual website plan.
Wix
- Other savings
Free domain for a year with a yearly plan
Yearly premium plans include a voucher for one year of free domain registration. Monthly plans do not include it.
