We reviewed the top website builders, here is an honest review of Squarespace

Review Of Squarespace: How Does Squarespace Stack Up?

How well does Squarespace work?

If you're looking for an all-in-one platform that can help you build a beautiful website and give you powerful tools for managing your content, Squarespace is definitely worth considering. The platform is easy to use and provides everything you need to get started, including templates, drag-and-drop editing, and integrations with Google Analytics. Plus, if you sign up for a paid Squarespace plan, you'll get access to additional features like ecommerce functionality and 24/7 customer support.

Of course, no platform is perfect, and Squarespace does have its drawbacks. For example, the platform can be a bit limiting if you want to customize your site beyond the available templates and designs. And if you're not careful, it's easy to rack up some pretty hefty hosting fees. But overall, Squarespace is a great option for anyone who wants an easy-to-use, all-in-one platform for building and managing a website.

Top Squarespace Alternatives:

• 75 million blogs and over 34% of the world’s websites use Wordpress
• WordPress offers a 30-day refund.
• Hosting is part of all plans.

Wordpress website builder

• Wix has over 150 million users in over 190 countries.
• There is Wix free websites, but you’ll be limited to 500MB in storage and Wix ads.
• 14 day money back guarantee.

Wix.com website builder

How much does Squarespace cost?

Great products come at a price, and that’s the case with Squarespace. You’ll pay more for most packages, but for many, the array of clean, beautiful templates, the robust e-commerce options and the ability to create an attractive, inviting site that appeals to customers make the additional cost completely worthwhile.

Squarespace is also very transparent about their plans (unlike some other builders). Each plan includes unlimited pages, unlimited bandwidth and unlimited storage. There are no hidden limits or fees.

Does Squarespace have a free or budget option?

Squarespace doesn’t offer a free option. A basic plan starts at $12 for a site of up to 20 pages (again, more expensive than most competitor’s entry level plans).

Does Squarespace have a money back option?

Squarespace gives you the option to try it free for 14 days, but you can’t go live with your website until you pay for an account.

What are the payment options?

Squarespace takes most major credit and debit cards, but not PayPal.

Is Squarespace easy to use?

This question is a little hard to answer. While the drag-and-drop functionality works well and it is fairly easy to use, Squarespace is not as intuitive and user-friendly as some of its competitors.

Templates are also more restrictive. BUT…the restrictiveness is all part of Squarespace’s yeti-clever plan. By confining you, Squarespace is actually making sure you don’t mess up the perfect design, user experience and SEO functionality. We aren’t all design pros, and by creating boundaries, Squarespace helps you create the best site possible.

Do you have to have any technical skills to use Squarespace?

While Squarespace isn’t as intuitive as other websites, the average person (or Sasquatch as the case may be) should be able to figure it, but perhaps not as quickly as you might like.

Can you make edits from a tablet or phone on Squarespace?

Yes – but only for iOS and Android devices. Squarespace offers a suite of apps to help you manage different parts of your website – Commerce for your store, Portfolio for your photos, Blog for your stories, and Metrics for your website analytics. Each of these is easy to use.

How is Squarespace’s template and photos selection?

How’s the template selection?

If you’re looking for the best templates in the biz, Squarespace is your spot. Templates are modern, artistic, perfectly designed, professional and responsive to all devices. The library keeps growing and there is something for every type of business/site.

If you’re someone who values design and imagery – a photographer, a designer, a wedding planner – Squarespace is going to offer you what you need. Personally, I use Squarespace to showcase my unique collection of pelts and peat moss (thought I’m still surprised how few customers I have). 

Another plus, your can easily switch templates without losing content.

How’s the stock photo and video selection?

Squarespace allows you to use free photos from Unsplash or you have the option to search and buy images from Getty, more premium professional stock photography. Squarespace also offer integrated Aviary online photo editing for your uploaded images, but be warned, there is no repository so you have to upload an image every time you want to use it. 

Squarespace offers lots of good options to showcase your imagery – carousels, grids, stacks, transition and light box options, etc.

Is Squarespace customizable?

Grandpa Squatch’ once told me, “know you limits…and if you don’t know your limits, at least bring a friend who does.’ Squarespace is like that savy friend who stops you from doing something stupid. It allows you to choose from hundreds of fonts and colours, but only to a point. It won’t let you pick bright yellow and maroon for example. This enforces good design, though some would say at the cost of creativity. At the end of the day, you’re almost guaranteed to have something that feels original and looks fantastic.

Can I insert my own code?

Using the Developer Platform (available at certain tiers) you can edit the source code of your template

What are Squarespace’s features & functionality like?

Like a luxury car, MacBook Pro or perfectly molded Sasquatch (wink), Squarespace not only offers superior design, but also high-end performance and functionality. While not all features are offered at all levels and there isn’t a third-party marketplace, most users are very satisfied with the options available. If you buy the business level or high, you’ll access a full suite of functional options, integration and marketing features.

Noteworthy: Squarespace has limited sub navigation and subpage options. If you have a complex, deep website, Squarespace might not be the option for you.

Does Squarespace integrate with apps?

Squarespace does not have a third-party marketplace. Ultimately, this leads to fewer options and integrations, but honestly, this shouldn’t impact most website builders. Squarespace has a very well-rounded selection of site integration/features, and they offer all the key ones – OpenTable, Amazon, Slack, Salesforce and MailChimp. Not all options are available at all levels, so if you are less than a “business” account, make sure you check out what’s available.

Does Squarespace have newsletter capabilities?

Squarespace has a newsletter service called Email Campaigns that can be integrated with your website and store, or you can always connect to MailChimp

How is Squarespace’s blog feature?

For a Sasquatch like me that has a lot to say, I love Squarespace’s blog platform. The only better option for blogging would be Wordpress. Squarespace has all the features you’d need – scheduling, roles, draft management, comments/moderation, etc. And…you won’t be surprised to hear this…Squarepace design makes your blog more beautiful than the common webbuilder.

A unique feature of Squarespace is high-quality podcast functionality. Your built-in RSS feed lets you publish to Apple Podcasts and other subscription services, while your website can help listeners find archived episodes, show notes, and more information about the podcast. If you’re podcasting or are considering podcasting, make sure to check it out.

Is Squarespace SEO (search engine optimization) ready?

Unlike the common Sasquatch, the whole point of a website is to be found. Squarespace’s SEO gets you well on your way as they have all the standard webbuilder SEO functionality and then some. All Squarespace sites are SEO-optimized through their HTML code, url structures, and page formatting. You can customize title tags, meta-description and URLs. Squarespace also automatically creates and builds a sitemap as you add more pages, which helps Google rankings.

Does Squarespace provide analytics?

All Squarespace sites have a built in analytics tool which shows you page views, search engine queries, mobile activity, etc. You can also view keyword and click-through rates. Commerce-level accounts get an extra Metric option—Sales Overview, which shows revenue and units sold by hour, day, week, or month.

Is Squarespace good for businesses?

What type of business is Squarespace best for?

Squarespace is the best option for any business that is image and design-focused – photographers, fashion, designers, travel companies and wedding organizers. But it’s not restricted to the fashionable, it’s a great option for any website builder.

If you are a nonprofit, you’ll want to strongly consider Squarespace as they have the best donation system of all the webbuilders. They’ve actually thought through what donors are looking for. 

Finally, it is a great option for restaurant (with a great menu display) and an excellent option for business (see below).

How is Squarespace for e-commerce?

Squarespace is among the best e-commerce sites out there. As with the rest of its platform, Squarespace has though through the user experience and tailored the design and features accordingly. For example, they reduce the abandoned checkout by having a single page, mobile-friendly page that accepts multiple payment options, include Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Venmo (note: you have to pay a 3% transaction fee unless you get the Commerce plans). Then, you can customers your receipt and follow emails, allowing you to potentially capture a secondary sale or referral. Digital downloads are made easy and Squarespace offers customer rewards programs.

Squarespace is the king pin of marketing. With great social media integration, SEO tools and email/newsletter functionality, it also has a fantastic suite of marketing tools to help you increase traffic, connect with customers and make the sell. 

Finally the number one reason to use Squarespace for ecommerce is their templates and design — websites showcase products beautifully.

How is Squarespace for reliability, speed and security?

Does Squarespace work on all devices?

Each Squarespace website is responsive, looking as beautiful on the small screen as the big screen.

How fast will my Squarespace site load?

While I haven’t tested it myself, the general consensus is that Squarespace site are slower than the competition. In today’s world, speed means a lot to customers, so frankly, I give Squarespace two giant, furry thumbs down on this front.

What is Squarespace’s uptime?

Can’t complain with a 99.98% uptime.

How secure will my Squarespace site be?

Squarespace has all the cyber bells and whistles, including PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliance for both Stripe and PayPal.

How is Squarespace for Customer Service?

How is Squarespace for customer service?

Squarespace has customer service dialed, except of course if you actually want to dial…they don’t offer telephone support. They do however provide 24/7 email support (typically responses within an hour) and offer live chat on weekdays from 4am to 8pm EST. Generally, Squarespace’s community support forums and knowledge centres are pretty good and easy to understand. Looking for a bit more? Squarespace’s’ online tutorial and video workshops are more than enough to get you started on the right foot.

What type of support does Squarespace offer?

They offer email 24/7, live chat during weekdays and a knowledge center.