Squarespace vs WordPress: An Honest Comparison
This is probably the most common question we get asked: "Why don't you use WordPress?" It is a reasonable thing to wonder. WordPress powers somewhere around 43% of the internet. It has been around for over twenty years. Most people have at least heard of it, and plenty of developers swear by it.
So let us be upfront. We have never worked with WordPress ourselves. We chose Squarespace from the start and built our entire career around it. But we have helped dozens of clients migrate from WordPress to Squarespace, we have seen the issues they were dealing with first-hand, and we have stayed across how both platforms have evolved over the years. That gives us a practical, informed perspective, even if it is not from the WordPress developer's side of the fence.
The Fundamental Difference
WordPress is an open-source content management system. You download the software, install it on a web server you have sourced yourself, choose a theme, add plugins for the features you need, and then manage the whole thing ongoing. It is powerful and flexible, but it is also a collection of parts that you are responsible for keeping together.
Squarespace is a hosted, all-in-one platform. Hosting, security, SSL certificates, software updates, templates, and core features are all included in your monthly subscription. You do not install anything. You do not manage a server. You log in, and everything works.
Neither approach is inherently better. They serve different needs. But this fundamental difference affects everything that follows.
Design and Templates
Squarespace templates are designed in-house by Squarespace's own design team. Every template is responsive, mobile-optimised, and visually polished out of the box. The Fluid Engine editor lets you customise layouts with drag-and-drop precision, and with some CSS knowledge you can push designs much further. There are around 150+ templates available, and every one of them meets a consistent standard of quality.
WordPress has thousands of themes available from thousands of different developers. The quality varies enormously. Some are excellent. Some are poorly coded, slow, and will cause you headaches for years. Choosing the right theme is a skill in itself, and a bad choice can mean rebuilding from scratch down the line. Page builders like Elementor and Gutenberg have improved the editing experience, but they add complexity and can slow your site down.
In our experience, Squarespace delivers better-looking results with less effort. WordPress can match or exceed Squarespace visually, but it takes more time, more expertise, and often more money to get there.
Maintenance and Security
This is where the difference becomes most significant for business owners.
With Squarespace, there is no maintenance. Squarespace handles hosting, security patches, software updates, SSL certificates, backups, and server management. You never need to think about any of it. Your site does not break because a plugin was not updated. It does not get hacked because an outdated theme had a vulnerability.
WordPress sites require ongoing maintenance. The core WordPress software needs updating. Each plugin needs updating. Your theme needs updating. These updates sometimes conflict with each other, breaking features or layouts. WordPress sites are frequent targets for hackers precisely because the platform is so widely used and relies on third-party code. Managing a WordPress site properly means either doing it yourself regularly or paying someone to do it for you.
We have helped multiple clients migrate from WordPress to Squarespace after their sites were hacked or broke following a plugin conflict. It is one of the most common reasons people come to us.
Total Cost of Ownership
WordPress itself is free to download. But a functioning WordPress website is not free. You need hosting (typically $5 to $50+ per month for decent quality), a domain, a premium theme ($30 to $100+), premium plugins for essential features like SEO, security, backups, and contact forms (which can add $100 to $500+ per year), and potentially a developer to handle updates and fixes.
Squarespace plans start at $16 per month (billed annually) and go up to $99 per month for the Advanced plan. That includes everything: hosting, SSL, templates, SEO tools, basic analytics, and 24/7 support. The Core plan at $23 per month is where most businesses land, and it includes custom code injection, advanced analytics, and zero transaction fees on e-commerce.
When you factor in the true cost of running a WordPress site properly, including maintenance time or a developer retainer, Squarespace often works out comparable or cheaper. And it is dramatically simpler.
SEO
There is a persistent myth that WordPress is better for SEO. This made more sense ten years ago when Squarespace's SEO capabilities were genuinely limited. In 2026, it is no longer true for the vast majority of websites.
Squarespace includes built-in SEO features: clean URLs, automatic sitemaps, meta titles and descriptions, alt text for images, SSL by default, fast hosting with a CDN, and mobile-responsive design. These are the fundamentals that matter for most businesses, and they work well out of the box.
WordPress can achieve excellent SEO with the right plugins (Yoast or Rank Math being the most popular) and the right hosting. It offers more granular control over technical SEO elements. But that control only matters if you know what to do with it. For most small to medium businesses, Squarespace's built-in SEO tools are more than sufficient.
The honest truth is that content quality, site speed, mobile responsiveness, and backlinks matter far more than which platform you are on. Both platforms can rank well. Neither has a meaningful inherent advantage.
E-commerce
Squarespace includes e-commerce on all plans (with transaction fees on the Basic plan), and it handles product listings, inventory, payments, shipping, and tax calculations natively. For businesses selling a focused range of products, memberships, digital downloads, or services, it works beautifully.
WordPress e-commerce typically means WooCommerce, which is a powerful and flexible plugin. If you need complex product configurations, hundreds of product variants, advanced inventory management, or deep customisation of the checkout process, WooCommerce gives you more options. But it also adds significant complexity and maintenance overhead.
For most of the businesses we work with, selling between 1 and 100 products or offering services and bookings, Squarespace handles e-commerce needs perfectly well.
When WordPress Is the Better Choice
We would recommend WordPress over Squarespace if you need:
A large, complex website with thousands of pages or highly custom functionality. A web application rather than a traditional website. Deep integration with enterprise systems or custom databases. A massive e-commerce operation with thousands of products and complex logistics. Full control over your server environment and hosting configuration.
If any of those apply to you, WordPress (or potentially Webflow) is likely the better fit, and we will tell you that in our discovery call.
When Squarespace Is the Better Choice
Squarespace is the better choice if you want a beautiful, professional website that you can manage yourself, that does not require ongoing maintenance or technical knowledge, that is secure and fast by default, and that lets you focus on running your business rather than managing your website.
That describes the vast majority of small to medium businesses, charities, churches, creative professionals, consultants, and service-based firms we work with.
Our Honest Take
Both platforms are capable of producing excellent websites. The choice depends on your needs, your budget, and how much ongoing management you are willing to take on.
We chose to specialise in Squarespace because, after working with both platforms, we saw that the vast majority of our clients were better served by a platform that just works. They want a stunning website that converts visitors, not a part-time job managing updates and security patches.
If you are unsure which platform is right for you, book a free discovery call. We will give you an honest recommendation, even if that recommendation is not Squarespace.