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Wix vs Squarespace 2025 – flexibility or simplicity?


For this Wix vs Squarespace comparison, the Cybernews research team and I tested and evaluated both website builders across several categories, including pricing, ease of use, templates, business features, performance and customer support. Continue reading to discover which platform best suits your website needs in 2025.

Wix vs Squarespace: overview

WixSquarespace
⭐Rating
4.8
4.4
💵 PriceFrom $10.50/monthFrom $16.00/month
🎨Templates900180
🪄Flexibility800+ web apps, custom plugin integration, suitable for any siteNumerous plugins for shipping, inventory, sales, marketing, and finance
🔎SEO toolsMeta titles and descriptions, URL customization, Google Search integration, image optimization, structure data markup, and site inspectionMeta titles and descriptions, custom URLs, image alt text, and canonical tags
⚒️Additional toolsSales of digital products and services, email and newsletter builderEmail and newsletter templates, and email marketing analytics
🖼️Portfolio websitesCountless templates for various portfolio sitesIdeal for visual media, minimalist templates for showcasing work
✍️Blog websitesNumerous templates, easy-to-use site editor, ideal for creating blogsTemplates for blog websites
🛒eCommerce websiteseCommerce features for building an online storeTwo eCommerce plans for building an extensive online store
🔥Top dealsWix coupon 50% OFFGet up to 36% OFF Squarespace
Recent update
In the April 2025 update, I fact-checked the article to include only relevant information. Also, together with the Cybernews research team, I conducted speed and uptime tests to see how both providers perform.

Which is more affordable - Wix or Squarespace?

Wix and Squarespace are similar in terms of pricing and the features they offer. However, one of them offers lower entry-level plans and even has a free version. Take a look at the price breakdown below:

WixSquarespace
Free plan✅ Yes❌ No
Starting price$10.50/month$16.00/month
Most expensive plan$79.50/month$99.00/month

Wix and Squarespace each offer 4 paid plans, ranging from personal to business and commerce. Wix offers significantly more resources with customizable plugins, various helpers, and templates, while Squarespace stands out by providing unlimited storage on all plans. On the other hand, unlike Squarespace, Wix offers a basic free version, and its two entry-level plans are not only cheaper but also better than Squarespace’s most affordable plans.

Additionally, while Wix is more focused on personal and business websites, Squarespace’s plans are better suited for eCommerce. Wix’s business plans include marketing suites, site analytics, developer tools, and eCommerce features. In contrast, Squarespace’s most expensive plans primarily offer a marketing tools suite and eCommerce capabilities.

For more detailed pricing overviews, feature comparisons, and best value plans, you can take a look at Squarespace pricing breakdown and Wix pricing review.

Wix offers more resources for similar prices as Squarespace
Between Wix and Squarespace, the best value is in the Wix Business ($18.00/month) and Squarespace Basic ($16.00/month) plans. Both providers include a good amount of storage, collaboration options, and a broad range of built-in features to manage audiences, marketing, and eCommerce. Nevertheless, for almost the same price, Wix includes more advanced eCommerce and marketing features than Squarespace.

Which is easier to use - Wix or Squarespace?

Wix and Squarespace are popular among both beginners and professionals due to their user-friendly interfaces.

Now, let’s take a closer look at what you can expect from both Wix and Squarespace in terms of ease of use.

Using Wix

What I loved about Wix was that it was customizable and provided a smooth user experience. While it offers 900+ templates, it doesn't limit you to only these templates. You can still design your page structure however you want. On top of that, since your website's mobile version looks slightly different from your desktop's, you can edit it separately on the Mobile Editor. Additionally, Wix lets you fully customize the menus and navigation of your page. This means you can design the layout, control the menu's behavior, and personalize its appearance.

Wix also offers advanced AI tools to help you build your dream website. This includes an AI text generator, image creator, image editor, section generator, and portfolio creator.

The sheer number of AI tools can feel a little overwhelming initially, but I found Wix’s generative AI quite useful. For example, I gave the same prompt to both providers' AIs, and although both sound human-like and creative, Wix's generated text is more expansive and descriptive. These tools make Wix great for bloggers, content creators, copywriters, and other creatives.

On the other hand, the regular editor allows for a lot more freedom:

  • You start by picking one of the 900 templates available. wix setup themes
  • Then you move on to the editing part – this is a classic drag-and-drop editor, so customizing the look will be really easy. There are hundreds of various elements that can be added, mixed, matched, and combined on your Wix site. I was a bit annoyed since the editor takes a while to load, but once it’s all settled and ready, there are no noticeable loading times when designing your website. wix-setup-editor

Overall, using Wix can cause a bit of sensory overload. But there's a good reason for that – there's so much you can do. With two different editors, hundreds of themes, and abundant design customizability, you get a lot of freedom and flexibility. And once you get used to the editor, things start looking pretty intuitive.

Using Squarespace

Squarespace offers fewer customization options, making the setup process a little less hectic. Even though it looks easier to navigate at first, I found Squarespace to be more confusing than Wix in the end. It's difficult to find basic customization options, and they don't always work the way you'd expect them to.

Building your website with Blueprint AI:

  • Just like Wix, Squarespace asks you to describe your website to get a better understanding of what elements would fit your website. However, unlike Wix, it doesn’t ask any specific questions, which can make it hard to describe if you don’t have a clear vision. Additionally, you can choose your brand personality to align with your website. ai-setup-squarespace-1
  • Then you’re taken to the editor where you can build the foundation of your website. Blueprint AI suggests the most important sections you should add based on your previous website description. However, it leaves most of the work of designing the website up to you. ai-setup-squarespace-2
  • Here, you can also add other pages to your website. Blueprint AI also has recommendations on what you should add. ai-setup-squarespace-3
  • Then, you can choose the color palette and font, and your website is ready to go.

Squarespace also offers plenty of generative AI tools, which I found to be less elaborate than Wix’s. However, you can ask the AI to simplify/shorten/lengthen the initial version, which is great if you like the text but want to tweak it a little.

  • Start by picking a template that fits your website idea. Even on a free trial, you can choose however many websites and templates that you like. squarespace setup themes
  • After picking your template, answer a couple of questions to set up your site. You are asked to share the site name and the pages required. There’s also a short tutorial on how Squarespace works. squarespace setup questionnaire
  • In the editor, you can customize your site’s appearance. I would like to note that while Squarespace does offer drag and drop functionality, it limits the item position to the grid layout, so it can get confusing at times. squarespace-setup-editor
  • Choose from several pre-made sections. They're all made to suit the template you pick in terms of style, fonts, and colors. adding a new block on squarespace

This system makes Squarespace a lot less customizable than Wix, but that’s perfect for beginners and more straightforward projects. Moreover, Squarespace’s approach ensures that the final website looks good on all types of devices.

Unfortunately, I ran into some trouble during the building process with Squarespace. For example, sometimes the editor would load the elements indefinitely until I refreshed the page. While I only had this happen to me a few times, it can turn into a real hassle when you’re designing a professional website.

Wix offers customization, and Squarespace is easier to navigate
Wix offers extensive options and customization, making it ideal for highly personalized projects, though it can be confusing to find elements at first. In contrast, Squarespace is easier to navigate initially but offers fewer design options, making it less customizable.

Which offers better templates and design options?

Wix offers 900 templates in multiple design categories, ranging from portfolios to stores, and many more. Squarespace includes 180 templates from 19 categories like fashion, food, fitness, and more. Both providers' templates are responsive and well-designed.

Let’s dive deeper into what kinds of templates Wix and Squarespace can offer.

Templates on Wix

To start, Wix offers 900 templates available that cover any possible theme you could think of. Also, it offers a classic drag-and-drop Wix editor, allowing you to customize the existing templates to your liking and boosting your experience.

wix-templates-1
Wix templates by category
wix setup themes
Wix template examples

With so many different template options, you can find the one that fits your needs easily – whether you need a classic-looking site or a modern one. In addition, the grouping by different topics allows for easy navigation.

Templates of Squarespace

Squarespace offers 180 templates, while Wix has 900. There are fewer topics to choose from, too. With 19 options, there are templates for photography, food, events, and everything in between.

There is also a section for My Favorites, allowing you to find a template you’ve used before very quickly.

squarespace-templates-1
Squarespace templates
squarespace-template-color-presets
Squarespace template color presets

Squarespace also uses a simplistic section-based editor. This doesn’t give you too many customization options, but it’s very easy to use, even for a beginner.

Better yet, with this simplistic editor, you can always be certain that your website’s design will not vary too far from the template and will stay modern and professional.

Wix offers quantity and quality; Squarespace only prioritizes quality
Wix offers quantity and quality, while Squarespace offers quality alone. But really, amazing themes can be found on both platforms. Squarespace offers a wide range of professional designer-built templates with limited customization, while Wix offers more choice and variation.

What business features do Wix and Squarespace provide?

To build a successful and attractive business website, both Wix and Squarespace offer additional useful business features. From general website builder features like free SSLs and custom domain names to more advanced tools like eCommerce features – both of these providers have you covered.

Wix and Squarespace offer a variety of features enabling you to build a professional-looking business website. Here’s a comparison table of all the business features that Wix and Squarespace offer:

Business featuresWixSquarespaceWinner
eCommerce featuresProduct management, sale of services, point of sale, shipping, app store, advanced booking system, types of products, and abandoned cart recoveryProduct management, bookings, payment and shipping options, types of products, point of sale, app store, and abandoned cart recoveryDraw
Security featuresSSL certificates, DDoS attack protection, and firewall securitySSL certificates, DDoS attack protection, and firewall securityDraw
Free domain✅ Yes, for the 1st year✅ Yes, for the 1st yearDraw
Email marketingEmail builder for newsletters, email campaigns, subscriptions, promotional videos, email marketing reports, other marketing tools, and email app integrationsEmail and newsletter templates, email campaigns, subscriber management, and integrated email marketing analyticsWix
Social media integrationFacebook ads integration (on Wix Stores only)Direct product sales on Instagram or FacebookSquarespace
AnalyticsTraffic, visitor behavior, revenue report monitoring, personalized suggestions, customer insights, and product portfolio managementTraffic and engagement monitoring, sales statistics, Google Analytics integration, and Purchase FunnelWix
SEO toolsMeta titles and descriptions, URL customization, Google Search integration, canonical tags, image optimization, and site inspectionMeta titles and descriptions, custom URLs, image alt text, Google Search Console integration, and canonical tagsWix
Wix offers more SEO and Analytics tools than Squarespace
With advanced SEO tools like Google Search integration, as well as analytics tools like traffic and user behavior monitoring with personalized improvement suggestions, Wix offers more opportunities to grow your site. On the other hand, Squarespace handles social media and email marketing a little better, with more advanced tools like email campaign analytics and the option to sell products directly through Instagram or Facebook. Also, while neither provider offers full automatic backups, they both have a backup option. Squarespace lets you restore changes made within the last 30 days, while Wix saves a new version every time you publish, so you can roll back if needed.

How do Wix and Squarespace perform in speed and uptime?

When comparing website builders, the number of templates and usability are not the only factors – performance also matters. You wouldn't like to lose users just because your website takes too long to load.

Together with our research team, I conducted speed and uptime tests to determine which provider performs better. Keep reading to find out which provider performed better: Wix or Squarespace.

Wix performance

My fully built Wix website rendered the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) in around 6.8s during tests. While you may optimize your website to improve it, it's still slow. Also, it is far slower than Google's recommended 2.5s, so your website may struggle with ranking.

wixresults11
Testing the speed of my Wix-created website
Testing the uptime of my Wix-created website
Testing the uptime of my Wix-created website

On the other hand, uptime tests showed lower results. After a month of monitoring, Wix delivered 99.88% uptime. This was 0.1% less than the previous month in February.

Squarespace performance

Squarespace showed far better results than Wix by rendering the LCP in 3.6s. While it's still slower than Google recommends your website to be, it's nearly two times better than Wix.

Testing the speed of my Squarespace-created website1
Testing the speed of my Squarespace-created website
uptime of my Squarespace-created website
Testing the uptime of my Squarespace-created website

Squarespace also wins with uptime. After testing it for a month, I can safely say it stayed up 99.99% of the time. There were also only a few minor hiccups and no major disruptions.

In addition, Squarespace can boost your website's performance with its Content delivery network (CDN) technology. It saves parts of your website on servers worldwide so they can be accessed more quickly. It also automatically resizes images, so your website loads faster.

Squarespace offers better performance with CDN
Squarespace wins the performance category because its speed is nearly two times better than Wix's. It also won the uptime comparison because it gave me 0.11% better uptime. On top of all of that, Squarespace uses CDN technology, which gradually boosts your website's performance by optimizing it and storing files worldwide.

Which platform offers better customer support?

Both Wix and Squarespace offer various customer support channels:

WixSquarespace
Live chat✅ Yes✅ Yes
Phone support✅ Yes❌ No
Email✅ Yes✅ Yes
Help Center✅ Yes✅ Yes
Social media/forums✅ Yes✅ Yes

Overall, Squarespace concentrates more on written responses, which can be great in certain situations. On the other hand, Wix favors direct support via phone and live chat.

Wix offers faster support via more channels
Wix offers more immediate customer support, and the provider also provides personalized support in 10 languages, including English, Japanese, and Spanish. While the provider only offers 24/7 callback support in English, it’s great to see a provider ready to support clients from different parts of the world.

Video review

Final verdict: which one is better?

The key difference between Wix and Squarespace is flexibility. Wix offers 900 templates, advanced customization, and powerful business tools, making it the better choice. While it has a slight learning curve, its versatility outweighs the cons.

Squarespace, on the other hand, is simpler but gives far better performance. By using CDN technology, Squarespace rendered the website nearly two times faster than Wix.

However, both are solid options in the end. Wix provides more design freedom, better business tools, stronger customer support, and a lower price. Meanwhile, with Squarespace, your website is simple but performs much faster, so your users won't be stuck on a loading screen.

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