The Squarespace Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Squarespace in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
Squarespace
The Insider’s Guide
Template-based website builder with an online store and invoicing
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among website and landing page builders, read from Squarespace’s own pages.
Made by Squarespace, Inc. · checked Oct 17, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Squarespace’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Squarespace’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 17, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.6
GPA, above 25 of the 30 other website and landing page builders we grade
Squarespace is a hosted website builder that starts from designer templates and adds an online store, invoicing, paid memberships and promotional tools. Every plan includes hosting, SSL and unlimited bandwidth, and paying a year at a time adds a free domain for the first year. Higher plans lower the fees on sales and unlock custom code, shipping labels and commerce APIs.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about Squarespace, taken from its own pages and our grades.
Templates do most of the design work, so you're mostly swapping in your own words and photos.
- 1
Best for polished template sites with a shop built in
Squarespace is the one for people who want a site that looks designed without designing it, with a shop, invoices and memberships already in the box.
- 2
Paid plans start at $19 a month
As its pricing page puts it: $19 per site / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly).
- 3
You can try it first
14-day free trial, no credit card required
- 4
It runs on 3 platforms
Web, iOS and Android.
- 5
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.
- 6
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.
- 7
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.
- 8
A 2.6 GPA, above 25 of 30
That is against the other website and landing page builders we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Keep it
The plain part of Squarespace you could make: templates, forms and invoicing. What surrounds it you could not. The 4 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
Squarespace at a glance
- Pricing
- Free trial, from $19 per site / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly)
- Free plan
- No
- Free trial
- 14-day free trial, no credit card required
- Runs on
- Web, iOS, Android
- Made by
- Squarespace, Inc., since 2003
- Category
- Website & Landing Page Builders
- Our grade
- 2.6 GPA, good
- Store rating
- 4.6 on the App Store, 18,849 ratings
The report card
Best for polished template sites with a shop built in
Squarespace is the one for people who want a site that looks designed without designing it, with a shop, invoices and memberships already in the box. Basic is $19 a month on yearly billing and takes 2% of store sales. There's no free plan, though, just a 14-day trial.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C | Basic 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. |
| Free plan and trial | C | No 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. |
| Features | B | Templates, 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. |
| Ease of use | B | 4.6 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. |
| Platforms and integrations | B | Web, 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. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who Squarespace is for
- Great if you want a good-looking site from a template and don't want to fiddle with layouts
- Handy when you invoice clients and sell a few things from the same site
- Good for photographers, designers and other creatives showing off their work
Who it is not for
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as there's only a 14-day trial
- Pricey if you sell a lot on Basic, since 2% of every store sale goes to Squarespace
- Tight if more than 2 people edit the site, because Basic allows only 2 contributors
Good to know
Good for
- 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
Worth knowing
- 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.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$19
A month to start
Squarespace is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $19 per site / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly).
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.
Trying it first
14-day free trial, no credit card required
Read from squarespace.com on Oct 17, 2026.
Ways to pay less
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%.
Stated on squarespace.comOther 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.
Stated on squarespace.comEducation
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.
Stated on squarespace.com
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
3
Places it runs: Web, iOS and Android
Template-based website builder with an online store and invoicing. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: public API, AI features, templates, forms, invoicing.
Templates, a drag-and-drop editor, a store on every plan, invoicing, memberships, forms, newsletters and SEO tools.
- 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.
Where it runs
- Web
- iOS
- Android
What it works with
- Google Workspace
- Mailchimp
- Zapier
- Stripe
- PayPal
- Printful
- OpenTable
- Google Merchant Center
Squarespace is made by Squarespace, Inc., and has been around since 2003.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
25/30
Other website and landing page builders it is graded above
Squarespace's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 25 of the 30 other website and landing page builders we grade, and level with 3.
It stands best on ease of use (B, above 27 of 30) and worst on value for money (C, above 2).
Its paid plans start at $19 a month, against a middle price of $14 for the category: 18 of the 29 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 3.0 out of 4. 2 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 31 website and landing page builders we grade, cut by the letter each got. Squarespace’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 2 of 30
- CFree plan and trialAbove 5 of 30
- BFeaturesAbove 18 of 30
- BEase of useAbove 27 of 30
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 8 of 30
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 30 website and landing page builders. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Squarespace is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
The plain part of Squarespace you could make: templates, forms and invoicing. What surrounds it you could not. The 4 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.6 is higher than 25 of the 30 other website and landing page builders we grade. It costs $228 a year.
What you could make
- Templates, forms and invoicing: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.
- It plugs into other products, Google Workspace, Mailchimp and Zapier among them, and has an API.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Squarespace’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
Wix, WordPress.com, Webflow, GoDaddy Website Builder and Framer
The 5 tools Squarespace is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 2.8GPA
Wix
Free plan · from $17/mo
Drag-and-drop website builder with an AI agent and business apps.
- 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.
- 3.4GPA
WordPress.com
Free plan · from $4/mo
Hosted WordPress with themes, plugins and a free plan.
- WordPress.com has a free plan. Squarespace does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only WordPress.com lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
- Squarespace also covers forms and invoicing.
- 2.4GPA
Webflow
Free plan · from $15/mo
Visual website builder with a CMS, hosting and code-level control.
- Webflow has a free plan. Squarespace does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Squarespace lists iOS and Android apps.
- Squarespace also covers templates and invoicing.
- 2.2GPA
GoDaddy Website Builder
Free plan
Template website builder with marketing tools and a free plan.
- GoDaddy Website Builder has a free plan. Squarespace does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Squarespace lists an Android app.
- Squarespace also covers invoicing.
- 2.6GPA
Framer
Free plan · from $10/mo
AI website builder with a visual canvas, CMS and hosting.
- Framer has a free plan. Squarespace does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Squarespace lists iOS and Android apps.
- Only Framer lists macOS and Windows apps.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
16
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is Squarespace free?
No, Squarespace is a paid product, but you can try it first. 14-day free trial, no credit card required.
How much does Squarespace cost?
Squarespace lists 4 plans. Basic: $19 per site / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly).
What platforms does Squarespace work on?
Squarespace is available on Web, iOS and Android.
Does Squarespace offer any discounts?
Squarespace publicly lists the following: Pay yearly to save about 24% to 29%; Free domain for a year with an annual plan; Students get 50% off the first year.
How is Squarespace rated?
Squarespace's iPhone and iPad app averages 4.6 out of 5 from 18,849 ratings on the App Store in the United States, as read on Oct 17, 2026.
Does Squarespace have a Windows app?
No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 17, 2026. Squarespace is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Does Squarespace have a macOS app?
No macOS app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 17, 2026. Squarespace is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Is Squarespace open source?
Squarespace is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 17, 2026.
Does Squarespace have an API?
Yes. Squarespace offers a public API, according to its own site.
What does Squarespace integrate with?
Squarespace's listing names Google Workspace, Mailchimp, Zapier, Stripe, PayPal, Printful, OpenTable and Google Merchant Center.
Does Squarespace have a student discount?
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.
Who makes Squarespace?
Squarespace is made by Squarespace, Inc. It dates from 2003.
What are the alternatives to Squarespace?
The closest alternatives to Squarespace in our directory are Wix, WordPress.com, Webflow, GoDaddy Website Builder and Framer.
How does Squarespace compare with other website and landing page builders?
Squarespace's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 25 of the 30 other website and landing page builders we grade, and level with 3.
Is Squarespace good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Squarespace C for value for money. Its paid plans start at $19 a month, against a middle price of $14 for the category: 18 of the 29 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of Squarespace?
The plain part of Squarespace you could make: templates, forms and invoicing.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Squarespace’s own pages on Oct 17, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 17, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Squarespace's own pages on 17 October 2026, and its App Store rating. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Squarespace, Inc. Prices change, so check squarespace.com before you buy.
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
1,880
Tools graded, in 47 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
ToolGPA is free to read. It may earn a commission from affiliate links and it works with sponsors, but anything paid for is labelled and no one can pay for a grade. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
1,880
tools graded
47
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- Squarespace, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/squarespace
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "Squarespace: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 17, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/squarespace
Know someone choosing between website and landing page builders?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/squarespace/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded website and landing page builders after Squarespace, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- Website & Landing Page Builders Insider's GuideEvery one of the 31 website and landing page builders we grade, compared
- WordPress.com Insider's GuideHosted WordPress with themes, plugins and a free plan3.4 GPA
- Wix Insider's GuideDrag-and-drop website builder with an AI agent and business apps2.8 GPA
- Carrd Insider's GuideOne-page website builder with yearly plans from $92.6 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Squarespace’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. ToolGPA uses affiliate links and may earn a commission from them, and it works with sponsors; anything paid for is labelled, and no one can pay for a grade. Squarespace is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Squarespace, Inc. Prices and plans change: check squarespace.com before you buy.